Timeline Thursday 4 November 1847

Events on Thursday 4 November 1847 3

• 1809 – 1847 Felix Mendelssohn Romantic composer & conductor German Romantic composer who rediscovered Bach, wrote the famous Wedding March and composed the Violin Concerto and Italian Symphony.
• 1847 Chloroform anaesthesia demonstrated by James Young Simpson Edinburgh obstetrician tests chloroform on himself and colleagues On 4 November James Young Simpson and his assistants inhaled chloroform at his Edinburgh home and found its anaesthetic effect. He soon introduced it in childbirth. Its use spread rapidly, aided later by Queen Victoria's acceptance of it.
• 1847 First use of ether anaesthesia in Britain Robert Liston operates under ether in London Following the first public demonstration in Boston in 1846, surgeons in Britain adopted ether anaesthesia in December 1846 and early 1847. In January 1847 James Young Simpson in Edinburgh used ether in obstetrics. In November he demonstrated chloroform as a more convenient anaesthetic.