Edward Jenner is credited with inventing the smallpox vaccine in 1796, using material from cowpox lesions to protect people from smallpox.

Quick Scoop

  • The smallpox vaccine was developed by Edward Jenner, an English physician often called the “father of immunology.”
  • In 1796, he inoculated a boy named James Phipps with cowpox, then exposed him to smallpox, showing that the boy was protected.
  • Jenner’s work created the world’s first vaccine and laid the foundation for modern vaccination programs that eventually led to the global eradication of smallpox in 1980.

In later historical reviews, some researchers note that others, like farmer Benjamin Jesty, used cowpox to protect against smallpox earlier, but Jenner’s experiments and publications convinced the world and made vaccination a formal scientific practice.

TL;DR: Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine in 1796 by using cowpox to safely protect people from deadly smallpox, launching the age of vaccination.

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