EVENTS THIS WEEK IN HISTORY, WEEK OF March 27-April 2, 2011

 Mary Whilton Calkins Born 30 Mar 1863 was an educator and psychologist, she was the first American woman to attain distinction in these fields of study. Calkins studied psychology at Harvard as a “g
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uest,” since women could not officially register. After completing all requirements for a doctorate at Harvard, and with the strong support of William James and her other professors, Harvard still refused to grant a degree to a woman. She established the first psychology laboratory at a women’s college (Wellesley).


John Holter, Born 1 Apr 1916 was an American inventor of a pioneering valve used in the treatment of hydrocephalus (“water on the brain”). Shortly after birth (1955), his son suffered from hydrocephalus. Holter learned from surgeons Eugene Spitz and Frank Nulsen that a suitable valve to drain fluid from th
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e brain could maintain normal cranial pressure. To save his son, Holter invented a pressure-sealing valve made from silicone to avoid clogging problems. He subsequently refined and patented the device. Spitz and Holter set up a company to manufacture the shunts using Silastic silicone. The Spitz-Holter valve has helped millions around the world since the late 1950s


John Hughlings Jackson born 4 Apr 1835, was an English neurologist whose studies of epilepsy, speech defects, and nervous-system disorders arising from injury to the brain and spinal cord remain
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among the most useful and highly documented in the field. He was one of the first to state that abnormal mental states may result from structural brain damage. Jackson’s epilepsy studies initiated the development of modern methods of clinical localization of brain lesions and the investigation of localized brain functions. His definition (1873) of epilepsy as “a sudden, excessive, and rapid discharge” of brain cells has been confirmed by electroencephalography, a method of recording electric currents generated in the brain.


Hattie Elizabeth Alexander, Born 5 Apr 1901 was an American pediatrician and microbiologist whose groundbreaking work on influenzal meningitis significantly reduced infant death rates and advanced the field of microbiological genetics. She made a major contribution in her third published paper (1939), devising
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an anti-influenzal rabbit serum against H. influenzae type b, the causative organism of a then almost uniformly fatal meningitis in infants and children. Her antiserum reduced the mortality rate to 20 percent. When the advent of antibiotics made the antiserum obsolete, she quickly mastered their use against all the bacterial meningitides. Late in her career—the 1950s and 60s—she became a pioneer in microbial genetics


March 23-30th National Infant Immunization Week, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS E-05, Atlanta, GA 30333 www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/default.htm The World Health Organization estimated that 1.4 milli
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on of deaths among children under 5 years were due to diseases that could have been prevented by routine vaccination. This represents 14% of global total mortality in children under 5 years of age. National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) is an annual observance to highlight the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases and celebrate the achievements of immunization programs and their partners in promoting healthy communities. Since 1994, NIIW has served as a call to action for parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers to ensure that infants are fully immunized against 14 vaccine-preventable diseases: diptherian, Haemophilus influenzae , Hepatitis B, Measles, Meningitis, Mumps, Neonatal Tetanus, Pertussis (Whooping Cough), Poliomyelitis, Rotovirus, Rubella, Tetanus, Tuberculosis and Yellow Fever. Several of these disease attack the nervous system causing permanent damage and can be fatal.