According to Chinese legend, the benefits of acupuncture were discovered when a soldier who had suffered from a stiff shoulder for many years was cured when an enemy arrow hit him in the leg!

Mithridates the Great of Pontus (a region of Persia) was in constant battle with Rome. Because he feared being poisoned, he would concoct different poisons and swallow them himself to build up a resistance. When the day came that he actually wanted to kill himself, he tried to poison himself, but it wouldn’t work.

Paracelsus was actually born Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim. He was a very high-spirited, independent and even rebellious individual, though he saw his father – a doctor/chemist – as a role model. Around 1516, when he graduated with his doctorate degree, he changed his name to Paracelsus because it translated to beyond/more than Celsus (a famous Roman physician).

Ever wonder where the name Listerine© came from? It’s named after Joseph Lister who spread the word about using antiseptics in hospitals.

Here’s some irony for you: Ignaz Semmelweis figured out that doctors need to wash their hands after performing an autopsy on another doctor who got sick from cutting his finger during surgery.

During the Black Plague, doctors wore amulets (charms) made of dried blood and ground up toads!

During World War II, Britain feared that the Germans would invade their country and consequently, get a hold of their penicillin. As a preventative measure, researchers smeared pocket linings with the penicillin mold to transport to the U.S.