Invention of Nitrous oxide Anesthetic(1800) laughing gas
Davy's "laughing gas" proves an effective form of pain relief. Anesthetic effects of nitrous oxide were first noted by Humphry Davy. The gas is colorless and almost odorless. while experimenting at the Pneumatic Institute in Bristol, England. Nitrous oxide caused Davy to laugh (creating the term "laughing gas") and relieved his toothache at the same time. He wrote in 1800 that the gas could "be used with advantage during a surgical operation." Following his observations, nitrous oxide became popular at fairground shows and laughing parties, but surgical use did not begin for forty years. At one fair in the United States, Horace Wells, a Connecticut dentist, observed a man who gashed his leg while under the influence of nitrous oxide. He seemed to be pain-free, and wells immediately had one of his own teeth removed while breathing in the gad. In January 1845, Wells demonstrated the use of nitrous oxide in a dental extraction at the Harvard Medical scho...