We take for granted how much safer, easier, and healthier our lives are today thanks to discoveries made in the past. We owe a lot to previous generations, and the postwar WW2 period especially put into place many of the things that made our modern world. Among these are the many medical breakthroughs that came in the 1950s. Let’s take a look at some of the most important of them.
Penicillin
This antibiotic was discovered in 1928 and was put into use over the next two decades, but it was not until 1957 that it was first chemically synthesized which led to its mass production. Few medications in history have been as important and beneficial.
Polio Vaccine
Polio is so rare today that few people even know what it is. However, it was once one of the most devastating diseases around. Its near eradication is thanks to the inactivated vaccine that Jonas Salk developed in the 1950s.
Kidney Transplants
It was only in the 50s that the first human organ transplants were successfully performed, and it was with kidneys from both living and dead donors.