The person most widely credited with inventing chiropractic is Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer , a Canadian-born American healer who performed the first recognized chiropractic adjustment in Davenport, Iowa, in 1895.

Quick Scoop: Who Invented Chiropractic?

  • Inventor: Daniel David Palmer (often called D.D. Palmer).
  • When: First chiropractic adjustment on September 18, 1895.
  • Where: Davenport, Iowa, USA.
  • On whom: A janitor named Harvey (William Harvey) Lillard, who had partial deafness.
  • Core idea: Misaligned vertebrae (he called them “subluxations”) could affect nerves and overall health, and manual spinal adjustments could help.

How Chiropractic Started

Palmer was originally a grocer and teacher who became a magnetic healer before developing chiropractic. In 1895, he met Harvey Lillard, who said his hearing worsened after something “popped” in his back. Palmer felt a vertebra out of place, adjusted Lillard’s spine, and later claimed Lillard’s hearing improved, which he took as proof that spinal manipulation could influence overall health.

To promote and teach his new method, Palmer founded the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport in 1897, which became the first chiropractic school and helped formalize the profession. His son, B.J. Palmer, later expanded the school and was key in turning chiropractic into an organized, growing healthcare field.

A Note on “Invention”

Some historians point out that joint manipulation and “bonesetting” existed long before Palmer, in various folk and traditional practices. What makes Palmer the recognized inventor is that he systematized these ideas into a specific philosophy, coined the term “chiropractic” (with help from Rev. Samuel Weed, who combined Greek words for “done by hand”), and built schools and a movement around it.

Simple HTML Table of Key Facts

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<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Aspect</th>
      <th>Detail</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Inventor</td>
      <td>Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer[web:3][web:5][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Year of first adjustment</td>
      <td>1895[web:1][web:3][web:5]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Place</td>
      <td>Davenport, Iowa, USA[web:1][web:3][web:5]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>First patient</td>
      <td>Harvey (William Harvey) Lillard, a partially deaf janitor[web:1][web:4][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>First school</td>
      <td>Palmer School of Chiropractic, founded 1897[web:1][web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Name origin</td>
      <td>“Chiropractic” from Greek words meaning “done by hand,” suggested by Rev. Samuel Weed[web:5]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

TL;DR: Chiropractic as a formal, named practice was invented in 1895 by D.D. Palmer in Davenport, Iowa, after he performed a spinal adjustment on Harvey Lillard and built a whole system and school around that idea.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.