Tuberculosis baccili discovered

From humble beginnings Robert Koch went on to achieve great things. Born the son of a German mining engineer and started his medical schooling at the age of nineteen at Gottingen University, graduating maxima cum laude four years later. In his own home-made laboratory he linked the anthrax bacteria to a known disease, which got him invited to Breslau to continue his work in more suitable settings. There, Koch developed many of the standard practices in use in biochemical research today — glass slides, bacteria staining and other — and turned his attention on a disease that has been plaguing humans since at least the ancient Greek times.

On this day, March 24, in 1882, on the occasion of the monthly evening meeting of the Berlin Physiological Society, Robert Koch presented his paper on this discovery of the tubercle baccili, a breakthrough towards the eradication of the tuberculosis disease.

Tuberculosis was written about in multiple sources in classical Greece, where it was already suspected of being contagious. A common definition of the disease was developed in the 17th century, and by 1865 physicians discovered the pathogens spread via animal waste. Although several other scientists claimed after Koch came forward to have isolated the baccila earlier, but credit goes to Koch for being the first to publish his research.