 "On February 23, 1954, a group of children from Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh received the first injections of the new polio vaccine, known as inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) or Salk vaccine. Illustration: Santan")
In the early 20th century, polio was one of the most feared diseases in industrialised countries.
The disease paralysed hundreds of thousands of children every year.
It was only in the mid-century that effective polio vaccines to be widely used were introduced.
On this day, in 1954, the first polio vaccine was administered in Pittsburgh, United States.
But have you wondered who received the first-ever vaccine? In our ongoing series History Today , we take a look at this and other important events that shaped the world we live in today.
First polio vaccine delivered
On February 23, 1954, a group of children from Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh received the first injections of the new polio vaccine, known as inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) or Salk vaccine.
Developed by American physician Jonas Salk, the vaccine helped in reducing about 99 per cent of the polio cases globally by the 21st century.
However, the achievement wasn’t without struggles.
Polio or poliomyelitis was then a highly contagious disease, attacking the nerve cells, and even the central nervous system sometimes.
Even as medicines advanced in the first half of the 20th century, polio persisted, affecting mostly children.
The most famous victim of a 1921 polio outbreak in America was future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was then a young politician. The disease spread quickly and left his legs permanently paralysed.
Dr Salk, Virus Research Lab’s head at the University of Pittsburgh, had figured out that polio had as many as 125 strains of three basic types.
Salk created his vaccine by multiplying polio virus samples and then deactivating, or “killing,” them by adding a substance called formalin. This allowed the vaccination to immunise without actually infecting the patient.
The vaccine had an amazing success rate of about 60-70 per cent.
However, tragedy occurred when a single defective batch of the vaccine triggered an outbreak of about 200 polio cases. This had prompted the manufacturers to raise the production standards, and by the following year, about four million polio vaccines had been administered.
From 14,647 in 1955 to 5,894 cases in 1956, the US then witnessed a significant drop in the cases.
Also, since the vaccine was so successful, almost 90 additional nations embraced it.
Also read: Why are polio cases rising in Pakistan once again?
The Gutenberg Bible published
This day is also significant for many historians who agree that the Gutenberg Bible was first published in Mainz, Germany on February 23, 1455.
It was the first book produced in Western Europe using movable metal type, that had been in use for nearly 100 years in China and Korea. For those who are unaware, movable type is made up of blocks of separate letters and symbols that may be easily rearranged to produce various words and sentences.
Johannes Gutenberg, the man who created the Gutenberg Bible, is credited with creating the metal types, oil-based ink, and wooden printing press that were utilised in the new printing method.
He published about 160-180 large-format copies of the Latin Bible in 1455, making it rare and expensive. There are currently 48 whole or partially surviving Gutenberg Bibles.
Prior to the Gutenberg Bible, every Western manuscript had been manually copied, which could take several years as well as a lifetime’s earnings.
Books were deemed a luxury at the time, available only to the very rich, religious and educational institutions.
Nearly all literate people today have access to books and knowledge thanks to the technology that sparked the so-called “Gutenberg Revolution.”
Also read: Sotheby’s to auction Hebrew Bible estimated at $50 million: Why is it so special?
R Kelly sentenced
Fast forward to 2023, on this day, American R&B singer R Kelly was sentenced to an additional year in federal prison atop his previous 30 year he was serving on a separate federal sentence in New York.
The additional year stemmed from a verdict in September 2022 in a federal court in Illinois, in which he was found guilty of making child pornography with three victims, including his godchild, “Jane,” 14.
The disgraced musician had been facing allegations on sexual abuse for more than two decades.
The allegations went back to the start of his career in the 1990s, with many counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.
His original sentence and conviction stemmed from a 2021 trial that found him guilty on nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Notably, the singer himself was the victim of child sexual abuse.
He had shared details in his autobiography how he was raped by a female family member when he was eight years old.