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25 December 2009
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Myths and Legends
Edward Jenner vaccinates James Phipps (actually aged 8!) with cowpox, which makes him resistant to subsequent inoculation with smallpox.
© Mary Evans Picture Library
From myth to legend

Old wives tales and folklore filled medical textbooks in the early 1700s; medicine was a emerging profession. One of the world’s most famous doctors, Edward Jenner found a way to marry myth with medicine and in doing so saved millions of lives by discovering the way to halt the deadly disease smallpox; all with the help of a milkmaid. More...

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Look back into the past using the Legacies' archives. Find nearly 200 tales from around the country in our collection.

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