Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
@DrLindseyFitz
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NYTimes Bestselling Author. Medical Historian. Breast Cancer Survivor. Married to @TealCartoons. Find me on Bluesky (@[email protected]), Instagram, FB
United Kingdom
Joined December 2010
I'm thrilled to announce that my NEXT BOOK will be on the Victorian medical detective Joseph Bell. SLEUTH-HOUND will be a whirlwind tour of Victorian forensics from the perspective of the man who loaned a voice & razor-sharp logic to Baker St.’s famous resident: SHERLOCK HOLMES.
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5,000-year-old prosthetic eye made from a mixture of natural tar and animal fat. This incredible object was found near the city of Zabol in Iran. The world's earliest prosthetic eye, which was once painted gold, was worn by an ancient priestess who stood 6’ tall. #goldeneye
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(1/10) Today is the 270th birthday of #EdwardJenner, pioneer of vaccination who arguably saved more lives than anyone else in history. Here’s a THREAD 👇 in his honour. (Photo of two children - one vaccinated against smallpox, the other not - from @DrJennersHouse. Follow them!).
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In 2015, my ex ended our marriage by email while I was in the US visiting my grandma. When I returned to the UK, I was told I had illegally entered because my visa was contingent on being in a "knowingly subsisting marriage." Immigration is complex. These views are unhelpful.
We must deport those who come here illegally - no excuses. Anybody who sets foot in our country using illegal means must not be allowed to remain. Send a message - these people are not welcome in the United Kingdom. That's the ONLY way to stop the boats.
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The personal library of retired John Hopkins University Humanities professor Richard A. Macksey, housed in his home.
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A few years ago, midwives at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Lancashire created "dilation pumpkins" - and I don't think I've ever seen anything scarier in my life.* 😂😩 . *Posted with apologies to anyone who is pregnant.
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“Death blowing bubbles,” 18th century. The bubbles symbolize life's fragility. This plaster work appears on the ceiling of Holy Grave Chapel in Michaelsberg Abbey, Bamberg, Germany.
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This statue depicts Saint Bartholomew, an early Christian martyr who was allegedly skinned alive. If you look closely, you’ll notice that’s not a robe that he’s holding. It's actually his dissected skin hanging around him. This statute is by Marco d’Agrate, c.1562.
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Earrings like this depicting Louis XVI’s head being chopped off by a guillotine were popular shortly after the French Revolution.
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This statue depicts Saint Bartholomew, an early Christian martyr who was allegedly skinned alive. If you look closely, you’ll notice that’s not a robe that he’s holding. It's actually his dissected skin hanging around him. This statute is by Marco d’Agrate, c.1562.
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5,000-year-old prosthetic eye made from a mixture of natural tar and animal fat. This incredible object was found near the city of Zabol in Iran. The world's earliest prosthetic eye, which was once painted gold, was worn by a woman who stood 6’ tall:
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This is a carbonized loaf of bread from Pompeii, 79 C.E. - preserved for thousands of years in the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius. The baker left his stamp, which reads: “Celer, slave of Quintus Granius Verus." Celer survived, as his name later appears on a list of freed men.
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My (now ex) husband abruptly ended our marriage & reported me as illegally in the UK so I would be deported. I had no job, no money. He & his lawyers called me a “failed writer.” I wrote a proposal for #TheButcheringArt & months later sold it in a six-figure book deal.
Tell me about a time someone told you that you could not do something and you went ahead and succeeded out of spite.
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Happy Halloween! A few years ago, midwives at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Lancashire created "dilation pumpkins" - and I don't think I've ever seen anything scarier in my life.* 😂😩 . *Posted with apologies to anyone who is pregnant.
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Whenever I discuss the eradication of smallpox through vaccination, I get lots of comments: "I'm not anti-vaxx, but. " . I want to remind people this is what smallpox looks like. It killed over half a billion people in the 20th century alone. Vaccines work. Ask @DrJennersHouse.
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I just hit 40K! Welcome followers, old & new. Over the next few days, I’ll be tweeting 40 FAVOURITE HISTORY OBJECTS, starting with #40: a medieval skull fused with chainmail. The soldier died at the Battle of Visby in 1361 in Gotland, Sweden. He was buried in his armour.
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This ingenious piece of Victorian luggage (c.1890) converts from steamer trunk to dresser so the traveler does not have to unpack.
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The graves of a Catholic woman and her Protestant husband, who were not allowed to be buried together due to cemetery regulations. They died in the 1880s. Note: the hands clasping over the dividing wall. Located in Roermond, the Netherlands.
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#ICYMI: Medieval skull fused with (chain)mail. This soldier died at the Battle of Visby in 1361. The dead were quickly buried in mass graves with their equipment & armor, making this a rich archeological site when discovered. Much of it is now at the Gotland Museum in Sweden.
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Grave of Antoine Michel Wemaer, a merchant-turned-pirate who died in 1837. This beautiful gravestone in Brugge General Cemetery.
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I’m excited to announce that my NEXT BOOK will be on the birth of plastic surgery told through the incredible story of Harold Gillies, the pioneering surgeon who first united art & medicine to address the horrific injures that resulted from WW1. More info:
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Ladies & Gents, I present to you “cocarettes” - CIGARETTES LACED WITH COCAINE - from the late 19th century. One company promised that they would "supply the place of food, make the coward brave, the silent eloquent and render the sufferer insensitive to pain.” Indeed.
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“Death blowing bubbles,” 18th century. The bubbles symbolize life's fragility. This plaster work appears on the ceiling of Holy Grave Chapel in Michaelsberg Abbey, Bamberg, Germany.
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Medieval badge depicting "Queen Cunt carried by Three Dicks," c.1375. Items like this were sometimes mass-produced. It could have been a way of ridiculing the display of relics in a mock procession. More info: I'll probably be banned from Twitter 😂
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In the 19th century, a man drove a nail through his penis & then used a hammer to break a bladder stone apart until it was small enough to pass through his urethra. Lithotomy (pictured here) to remove stones would have been done without anesthetic before 1846. #TheButcheringArt
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THREAD: This is a photo of Leonid Ivanovich Rogozov, who successfully removing his own appendix in 1961. Rogozov knew he was in trouble when he began experiencing intense pain in the lower right quadrant of his abdomen. It could only be one thing: appendicitis.
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Someone not only wore this sweatshirt, but some company made it. We historians have a lot of work to do, it seems. Let's start with this: follow @AuschwitzMuseum. Read their stories about those who died in the Holocaust. Learn about the past. Learn *from* the past.
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Life & Death, intertwined. While chasing prey, a Pike jumped out of the water, got stuck in a branch, and died. Now, a bird has made a nest in its mouth. Credit: BigFish Media. H/t @DeathCafePUNC
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I just completed the full draft of my next book on Harold Gillies, "Father of Plastic Surgery," who rebuilt soldiers' faces during the First World War. Four years of intense research & writing. The manuscript still needs editing, but it's a big milestone for this weary author.
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Skull of a soldier found wearing medieval (chain)mail. The Battle of Visby was fought on 27th July 1361 on the island of Gotland, Sweden. Today, Visby mass graves give researchers a detailed look at medieval combat and armour.
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I should also note that I had lived in the UK for 15 years at this point: first on a student visa while at Oxford University, then on a work visa while a postdoc at UCL, an then on a marriage visa. My entire life was here. As I said, immigration is complex. Nuance is needed.
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(1/13) THREAD 👇 In preparation for my next book on the history of plastic surgery, I’m immersing myself in diaries, letters, & literature from WWI to get a sense of what it was like to live and die in the blood-soaked trenches on the Western Front. Photo: Canadian War Museum
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The ingenuity of Victorian craftsmanship demonstrated in this "Reading Station" by Charles Hindley & Co., с.1890.
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After a year of legal wrangling, I sorted my visa. But it was difficult - especially as I was also battling an abusive ex hellbent on getting me deported so he didn't have to deal with me. People sometimes find themselves in difficult situations through no fault of their own.
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18th-century dildo with plunger to simulate ejaculation. The sex toy was found in a convent in Paris, having been hidden for almost 100 years in the seat of a Louis XV armchair. It has its own cloth bag. This one is for @WhoresofYore (I'll probably get banned from Twitter now😂).
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CEMETERY GUN, 19th century - used to protect against bodysnatchers. Guns like this were set up at the foot of a grave, with three tripwires strung in an arc around its position. Coffin collars, fixed around the necks of a corpse & bolted to the bottom of a coffin, were also used.
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#HappyValentinesDay: here's a 440-pound heart from a blue whale, the largest known animal to ever exist. The heart was so large, it had to be doused in over 1,000 gallons of formaldehyde before the plastination process could begin. Photo: @ROMtoronto.
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Shortly before dying from cancer in 2002, anthropologist Grover Krantz arranged to have his body donated to the Smithsonian under one condition: his remains and that of his dog would be displayed to replicate his favourite photo. More info:
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A 300-year-old carved skull from Tibet. According to a Tibetan Khenpo, skulls like this were often carved to take a curse off a family or to guide the mislead soul onto the right path. The depiction on the forehead appears to be a Tantric posture: the bow & arrow.
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This Victorian Christmas card somehow feels appropriate for 2021.
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"Death blowing bubbles,” 18th century. The bubbles symbolize life's fragility. This plaster work appears on the ceiling of Holy Grave Chapel in Michaelsberg Abbey, Bamberg, Germany. After the monastery’s dissolution in 1803, the buildings were used as the city's hospital.
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It's December 1st!! Here's a creepy Victorian Christmas card to get you in the holiday mood.
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The ingenuity of Victorian craftsmanship demonstrated in this "Reading Station" by Charles Hindley & Co., с.1890.
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Apothecary's Cabinet, c.1730. The small central alcove can be removed to reveal a hidden pulley system that opens a set of secret drawers where the potent drugs would have been stored. Photo: Rijksmuseum. #histmed
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This statue depicts Saint Bartholomew, an early Christian martyr who was allegedly skinned alive. If you look closely, you’ll notice that’s not a robe that he’s holding. It's actually his dissected skin hanging around him. This statute is by Marco d’Agrate, c.1562.
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With #ValentinesDay just around the corner, I thought I’d start doing a series of tweets about the history of venereal diseases. Aren’t you glad you follow me?! Let’s start with this sculpture entitled "Syphilis" by @paulkomoda, demonstrating the disease in its final stages.
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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but this gingerbread man cookie will make you think twice before taking a bite!
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Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” as a Shakespearean Sonnet.
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Thanks, Fred. As a matter of fact, it is "Wellcome" - as in the Wellcome Collection, named after the pharmaceutical entrepreneur, Henry Wellcome. If you read my blog carefully, you would realize this. But thanks for your concern over my site's credibility. 🤯😱
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(1/12) THREAD 👇Contrary to popular belief, George Washington's dentures were not wooden. At his inauguration in 1789, he only had one tooth. John Greenwood—a dentist from New York—fashioned a set of dentures from ivory, and a mixture of cow & human teeth. [From @NYAMhistory]
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Here's your #DailyDistraction! Medieval skull fused with (chain)mail. This soldier died at the Battle of Visby in 1361. The dead were quickly buried in mass graves with their equipment & armor, making this a rich archeological site. Now on display at the Gotland Museum in Sweden.
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For anyone who has ever uttered the words "the good old days," this THREAD👇is for you! 10 MEDICAL PROCEDURES FROM THE PAST that will make you happy to be alive in 2019. Here we go.
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"Shaken, scorched, and boiled in its own juices, this 4000-year-old human brain has been through a lot. It may look like nothing more than a bit of burnt log, but it is one of the oldest brains ever found." More info:
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To kick off #NewYear2021, I'll be sharing 21 stories & images of Frontliners from history. From world wars to past pandemics, these are the unsung heroes who worked tirelessly to keep others safe during troubling times. This thread is dedicated to all the #Frontliners of 2020.
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(1/7) THREAD👇Here’s a true story about a woman who survived her execution, only to end up on the anatomist’s dissection table in the 17th century. Follow along as I untangle this terrible tale for you.
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I'm currently writing a book on Harold Gillies, the "Father of Plastic Surgery," who rebuilt soldiers' faces during WWI. I want you to know that this book floats on a river of my own tears. Some of these cases are devastating. I only hope I can do these men's stories justice. 💔
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Next time you visit York, take note of this carving of a PLAGUE DOCTOR outside York Minster Cathedral. It was recently carved out of magnesian limestone to replace figures eroded by time, as part of the ongoing restoration of the East Front. I ♥️ this little fellow.
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1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. This week, I became one of them.👇
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Italian health pass enabling bearer to pass despite quarantines due to plague, 1722. The word quarantine was derived from the Italian words quaranta giorni, meaning 40 days - the number of days a ship from an infected port had to wait before entering Venice. From @ExploreWellcome
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Possibly the earliest born woman ever captured on film. Her name is Hannah Stilley, and she was born in 1746. which means she was 30 when the Declaration of Independence was signed! She was photographed here in 1840 at the age of 94.
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#ICYMI: Angiogram of the hand of the professional yo-yoist David Schultz (yeah, that’s a thing!) See the ruined veins of the index finger? This happens when a string wrapped around your finger chronically prevents the blood to flow properly.
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Another year, another weird Victorian Christmas card. Happy holidays to all!
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Hannah Stilley was born in 1746, and is one of the earliest born women ever captured on film. She was 30 when the Declaration of Independence was signed! This photo was taken in 1840 - when she was 94.
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After 18 years living in Britain, I'm finally a citizen! It's official. I have a gold coin to prove it.
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Facial prosthesis, c.1917. THREAD👇. From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: mankind’s military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. Bodies were battered, gouged, hacked, and gassed.
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In this vivid painting by Christopher Fisher, you can see a surgeon using a falciform amputation knife. The curved blade was common in the early decades of the 19th century when surgeons preferred to cut through the skin and muscle before amputating the bone. (1/5)
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Sir, may I draw your attention to this?👇. The final stage of tetanus when nerves fire continuously and body contorts into agonizing posture known as opisthotonus. The mastication muscles also clamp down to form the hallmark lockjaw.
My doctor talked to me like a child when I refused a tetanus booster. This disease kills about 2 Americans per YEAR!.
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Medieval skull fused with (chain)mail. This soldier died at the Battle of Visby in 1361. The dead were quickly buried in mass graves with their equipment & armor, making this a rich archeological site when discovered. Much of it is now at the Gotland Museum in Sweden.
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For #Caturday: a poignant photo by Paul Koudounaris of a beloved pet's tombstone. Despite popular belief, the cat's name was *not* Dewey (that was the family's surname). "He was only a cat" but human enough to to be a great comfort in hours of loneliness and pain. 💔
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Vaccines are on everyone's mind, so let me remind you: this is the FINAL STAGE OF TETANUS, in which the nerves fire continuously & the body contorts into an agonizing posture known as opisthotonus. This painting now hangs in @surgeonshall. A vaccine wasn’t developed until 1924.
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“Wound Man” is an illustration which laid out schematically the various wounds a person might suffer in battle or otherwise, often with corresponding treatments. This example is from the Wellcome Collection, London. #histmed
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A poignant photo by my friend Paul Koudounaris of a beloved pet's tombstone. Despite popular belief, the cat's name was not Dewey. This was the surname of the cat's family. "'He was only a cat,' but he was human enough to be a great comfort in hours of loneliness and pain." /1
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CEMETERY GUN, 19th century - used to protect against bodysnatchers. Guns like this were set up at the foot of a grave with tripwires strung in an arc around its position. Coffin collars, fixed around the necks of a corpse & bolted to the bottom of a coffin, were also used.
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Self-isolating? Here are 450 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free to keep your mind occupied👇.
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Medieval skulls fused with (chain)mail. This soldiers died at the Battle of Visby in 1361 on the island of Gotland, Sweden. The dead were buried in mass graves until they were discovered in the early 20th century. More info & images on my IG page:
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“Wound Man” is an illustration which laid out schematically the various wounds a person might suffer in battle or otherwise, often with corresponding treatments. This example (15th century) is from the Wellcome Collection, London. #histmed
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The Plague Doctor has stolen the spotlight during this global pandemic. But what about CHOLERA PREVENTION MAN? This illustration from the 1830s depicts our hero covered from head to toe in protective layers in an attempt to safeguard himself from the oncoming cholera epidemic.
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Snapdragons make cute flowers, but when they die, they turn into macabre skulls.
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This image is of the blood vessels in a pigeon’s head. It was captured by Scott Echols as part of the Grey Parrot Anatomy Project, which aims to develop ways to aid diagnosis & treatment for a host of animals, from birds to humans. It won the 2017 Wellcome Image Award.
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Shortly before dying from cancer in 2002, anthropologist Grover Krantz arranged to have his body donated to the Smithsonian with one condition: his remains and that of his dog would be displayed to replicate his favorite photo.
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The “Heart Book” from c.1550 is a collection of 83 Danish love ballads collected at the court of King Christian III. It is the oldest known Danish manuscript of its kind, and an early example of the heart being used to signify romantic love.
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To Kick off 2020, I'll be tweeting 20 WEIRD & WONDERFUL OBJECTS FROM HISTORY, starting with #20: an 18th-century jeweled skeleton from the Waldsassen Basilika in Germany, the “Sistine Chapel of Death.” Photo by Paul Koudounaris's book Heavenly Bodies:
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THREAD: Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. In extreme cases, the virus can cause spinal and respiratory paralysis, making it impossible to breathe. 1/7
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(1/8) THREAD👇. During the American Civil War, serious attempts were made to reconstruct the faces of soldiers injured in battle. Pictured here is Private Roland Ward, who underwent several operations without anesthetic to repair his face in the 1860s. Photo: @CivilWarMed
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Rogan Brown's paper cuts of microorganisms are simply amazing. An excellent example of #sciart.
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(1/17) A thread on DECAPITATION👇: I once heard a story about a man who attended a friend's execution during the French Revolution. Seconds after the guillotine fell, he retrieved the severed head & asked questions to test consciousness. Was this an 18th-century urban legend?
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This ingenious piece of Victorian luggage (c.1890) converts from steamer trunk to dresser so the traveler does not have to unpack.
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(1/12) Here's a THREAD👇 about how smallpox - one of the deadliest & most contagious disease known to man - was used as a biological weapon during the American Revolution in one of the earliest documented examples of germ warfare. Photo: @ExploreWellcome
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Femme Fatale Ring Gun, mid-19th century. French. Shoots 2.5mm rounds (similar to pellet guns today.) Typically worn by women for added protection when traveling alone.
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It’s been a long, emotional day… but all my scans came back normal. One year since diagnosis, and I’m currently cancer free. Long may it continue. ❤️
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(1/10) THREAD 👇: This is a photo of Leonid Ivanovich Rogozov, who successfully removing his own appendix in 1961. Rogozov knew he was in trouble when he began experiencing intense pain in the lower right quadrant of his abdomen. It could only be one thing: appendicitis.
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“Death blowing bubbles,” 18th century. The bubbles symbolize life's fragility. This plaster work appears on the ceiling of Holy Grave Chapel in Michaelsberg Abbey, Bamberg, Germany. After the monastery’s dissolution in 1803, the buildings were used as the city's hospital.
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It's #InternationalWomensDay: here's photo of Anna Coleman Watts Ladd creating a mask for a soldier who was facially disfigured during the First World War. She created hundreds during the war. Her work was not technically medical, but it was healing. WOMEN IN MEDICINE.
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The Tower of Faces displays photos taken between 1890 & 1941 in Eišiškės, a town in what is now Lithuania. They show a vibrant Jewish community that existed for 900 years. In 1941, an SS squad entered the village & massacred the entire Jewish population. #HolocaustMemorialDay
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