Hepatitis in History

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Historical Events

  • 1971-03-29 Development of a serum hepatitis vaccine for children announced
  • 1980-05-16 Brian May of rock group Queen collapses on stage with hepatitis
  • 2014-04-12 The new drug, ABT-450, with a 90-95% success rate for treating Hepatitis C, is announced
  • 2018-05-09 Oldest viral DNA, a form of hepatitis B, reported discovered in 7,000 year old skeleton found in Germany
  • 2020-10-05 Nobel Prize for Medicine awarded jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of hepatitis C virus [1]

Famous Birthdays

  • 1919-08-30 Maurice R. Hilleman, American microbiologist who developed over 36 vaccines including measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia, born in Miles City, Montana (d. 2005)
  • 1925-07-28 Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American scientist, (1976 Nobel laureate for Physiology or Medicine for work on Hepatitis B), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2011)

Famous Deaths

  • 1953-12-05 Jorge Negrete [Moreno], Mexican singer and actor (The Rebel, La madrina del diablo), dies of hepatitis at 42
  • 1973-07-07 Veronica Lake [Constance Ockleman], American actress (Sullivan's Travels, I Married a Witch), dies from hepatitis and acute kidney injury at 50
  • 1973-09-19 Bobby Gilbert, American actor (Some Like It Hot, The Rebel Set), dies of hepatitis at 75
  • 1974-12-05 Pietro Germi, Italian actor, writer and director (Divorce Italian Style, The Facts of Murder), dies from hepatitis at 60
  • 1977-01-26 Margaret Hayes, American actress (Blackboard Jungle, Robert Montgomery Presents), dies from cancer and hepatitis at 60
  • 1979-06-13 Darla Hood, American child actress (Little Rascals, The Bat), dies from acute hepatitis at 47

Person of interestAllen Ginsberg

1997-04-05 Allen Ginsberg, American beat poet (Howl, The Fall of America) and 1960s counterculture icon, dies of liver cancer via complications of hepatitis at 70

Beat Poet Allen Ginsberg
Beat Poet
Allen Ginsberg

Person of interestJames Earl Ray

1998-04-23 James Earl Ray, American assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., dies while still under detention of complications related to kidney disease and liver failure caused by hepatitis C at 70

Assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. James Earl Ray
Assassin of Martin Luther King Jr.
James Earl Ray
  • 2005-04-11 Maurice R. Hilleman, American microbiologist who developed over 36 vaccines including measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia, dies at 85
  • 2011-04-05 Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American scientist, (1976 Nobel Laureate for Physiology or Medicine, for work on Hepatitis B), dies at 85
  • 2017-06-13 Anita Pallenberg, Italian model and actress credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones, dies of complications of hepatitis C. at 75