AQA Health and the People
A companion learning deck for the GCSE exam "Health and the People"
Last updated
Mar 02, 2026
Cards
49
Dates
60
Links
00
Density
0
Timelines published by our users.
A companion learning deck for the GCSE exam "Health and the People"
Last updated
Mar 02, 2026
Cards
49
Dates
60
Links
00
Density
0
[Start]
Roman baths, sewers and clean-water systems set an early public health standard later lost after Roman withdrawal.
Galen argued disease came from imbalance and should be treated with opposite remedies; this influenced medicine for centuries. He publishes many texts, and this date is just an estimate.
[End]
Roman baths, sewers and clean-water systems set an early public health standard later lost after Roman withdrawal.
[Start]
Monasteries and convents offered care, hospitality and basic treatment to the poor and sick.
Avicenna's medical encyclopedia systematized diagnosis and treatment and was studied in Europe for centuries.
[Start]
Diagnosis and treatment relied on balancing humours, urine charts, and astrological calendars. These dates are the rough period of high and late middle ages in England.
One of England's oldest hospitals, showing institutional care in medieval towns.
[Start]
The plague killed a large share of the population and triggered major social and health responses. It was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria.
[End]
The plague killed a large share of the population and triggered major social and health responses. It was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria.
This influential surgical text improved professional knowledge and remained important for centuries.
Arderne documented practical surgical methods, including treatment ideas for battlefield injuries. He is considered one of the fathers of surgery, described by some as England's first surgeon. In this year he wrote his most famous work, the Practica Chirurgiae (Practice of Surgery).
Parliament banned dumping waste in streets and rivers, showing early state action on sanitation.
Printing accelerated the spread of medical ideas and challenged reliance on old handwritten texts. William Caxton is thought to have introduced a printing press into England in this year.
[End]
Diagnosis and treatment relied on balancing humours, urine charts, and astrological calendars. These dates are the rough period of high and late middle ages in England.
The College regulated trained physicians in London and helped professionalize medicine.
[End]
Monasteries and convents offered care, hospitality and basic treatment to the poor and sick.
Ambroise Paré tied blood vessels during amputations instead of cauterizing with red-hot irons. He was a French barber surgeon who served in that role for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. Date is an estimate. His publications improved surgical methods across Europe.
[Start]
Closure of monasteries by King Henry VIII reduced charitable hospital care and changed how the sick poor were supported.
The Fellowship of Surgeons merged with the Barbers' Company in [1540], forming the Company of Barbers and Surgeons. This formalized surgical roles in England.
[End]
Closure of monasteries by King Henry VIII reduced charitable hospital care and changed how the sick poor were supported.
Andreas Vesalius corrected Galen using human dissection, challenging old anatomical errors.
William Harvey proved the heart pumps blood in a closed circulatory system. Published in his book De Motu Cordis.
Encouraged observation and experiment, helping science challenge traditional authority.
[Start]
A major bubonic plague outbreak that prompted quarantine, isolation and local health orders.
Rebuilding after the fire improved some urban conditions and reduced plague risk in central London.
[End]
A major bubonic plague outbreak that prompted quarantine, isolation and local health orders.
Thomas Sydenham emphasized bedside observation and careful recording of symptoms. He was the author of Observationes Medicae in this year, which became a standard textbook of medicine for two centuries so that he became known as 'The English Hippocrates'.
Just at the limit of what his lenses could make out, and no one else would see them again for over a century. His results were published to the Royal Society on this date.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu promoted smallpox inoculation after seeing it used in the Ottoman Empire.
Edward Jenner used cowpox to protect James Phipps from smallpox, beginning vaccination.
Government funded free vaccination and banned inoculation, increasing safer prevention. This was set out in the government's Vaccination Act [1840].
Linked poverty and disease to bad sanitation, driving demands for public health reform. Published (at his own expense) in his "Report on The Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain".
James Young Simpson's chloroform made pain control in surgery more practical.
Created a central health board and allowed local action on drainage, water and waste.
Snow mapped cholera cases and linked outbreak to contaminated water, not miasma.
[Start]
Florence Nightingale improved hospital sanitation and sharply reduced death rates.
[End]
Florence Nightingale improved hospital sanitation and sharply reduced death rates.
Joseph Lister used carbolic acid to kill germs and reduce post-operative infection.
Louis Pasteur showed microorganisms cause decay and disease, transforming medical science. On this date he patented the process to fight the "diseases" of wine, which became known as pasteurization. This was part of his consolidation of Germ Theory.
Made local sanitary reforms compulsory, including clean water, drains and waste removal.
Robert Koch identified bacteria as the causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax. He is regarded as one of the main founders of modern bacteriology. His work supported Germ Theory. He made several discoveries over several years, starting on this date.
X-rays allowed doctors to see inside the body without surgery, transforming diagnosis.
[Start]
Recruitment figures showed many men were unfit, increasing pressure for state intervention in health.
Seebohm Rowntree's survey linked poverty to poor health and weak diet in industrial Britain. It was published in his book: Poverty, A Study of Town Life.
[End]
Recruitment figures showed many men were unfit, increasing pressure for state intervention in health.
[Start]
A series of acts of social legislation in the United Kingdom passed by the Liberal Party after the [1906] general election, which improved nutrition, child health and social support for workers and families.
Paul Ehrlich's Arsphenamine, also known as Salvarsan or compound 606, is an antibiotic drug that was the first effective treatment for the deadly infectious diseases syphilis, relapsing fever, and African trypanosomiasis. The antisyphilitic activity of this compound was discovered by Sahachiro Hata in [1909].
Introduced state-backed health insurance for workers, expanding access to medical care.
[End]
A series of acts of social legislation in the United Kingdom passed by the Liberal Party after the [1906] general election, which improved nutrition, child health and social support for workers and families.
[Start]
War accelerated blood transfusion methods, plastic surgery, and practical X-ray use.
[End]
War accelerated blood transfusion methods, plastic surgery, and practical X-ray use.
Alexander Fleming observed penicillin mold killing bacteria, opening the antibiotic era.
Prontosil and related sulfa drugs became the first widely effective antibacterial medicines.
Oxford team purified and tested penicillin, enabling clinical treatment and later mass production. This research began on this date, and extended for a few years until they had a refined process that allowed production.
[Start]
Oxford team purified and tested penicillin, enabling clinical treatment and later mass production.
[End]
Oxford team purified and tested penicillin, enabling clinical treatment and later mass production.
Set out plans to tackle major social problems and shaped post-war welfare and health policy.
National Health Service began, offering healthcare free at the point of use.
Doll and Hill's research provided strong evidence that smoking causes lung cancer.
Godfrey Hounsfield's CT scanner gave detailed internal imaging and transformed diagnosis.