Modern surgery would be very different without the numbing effects of anesthesia, and a dentist in New England was the first to experiment with its use.
In 1844 Dr. Horace Wells and his wife attended a “laughing gas” demonstration in Hartford, Connecticut, where showman Gardner Colton called upon volunteers to try out the nitrous oxide. Wells noticed that one man didn’t react as he banged his leg against a bench while high from the gas. After the nitrous oxide wore off, the man had no memory of obtaining the bruises on his shins.
Nearby
Sites
| Name | Since | Distance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovering Historic Main Street, Hartford en | 3.9km | site_izi | |||
| Historic Butler McCook Garden en | 3.9km | site_izi | |||
| Cedarcrest Hospital | 2020 | 2.9km | site_ao | ||
| A Portrait of the Charter Oak in a Frame Made from the Charter Oak | 2018 | 4.3km | site_ao | ||
| Abandoned Comet Diner in Hartford | 2017 | 4.5km | site_ao | ||
| A Tiny Monument to a Massive Flood | 2017 | 3.9km | site_ao | ||
| Ancient Burying Ground | 2016 | 4.4km | site_ao | ||
| Remembering the First Public Payphone | 2017 | 4.5km | site_ao | ||
| Statue of Rover | 2017 | 3km | site_ao |
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