20 October — On this day in medicine

Austin Flint was born on 20 October 1812. The American physician helped teach examination of the heart and lungs, and his name remains associated with a murmur of aortic regurgitation. This date marks his birth, not the description of the sign, published in 1862.

English surgeon William Morrant Baker was born on 20 October 1839. A teacher at St Bartholomew’s, he described synovial cysts associated with joint disease. The popliteal cyst bearing his name recalls his work published in 1877.

Paul Jules Tillaux died on 20 October 1904. A professor of surgery in Paris, he studied the relationship between anatomy and surgical practice. Several anatomical and clinical terms bear his name, including a fracture of the distal tibia.