31 October — On this day in medicine

On 31 October 1885, James Leonard Corning published his experiments injecting cocaine near the spine. They represent an early step in neuraxial anaesthesia, probably extradural rather than intrathecal.

Ladislas Joseph Meduna died in Chicago on 31 October 1964. The Hungarian neuropsychiatrist played a pioneering role in the history of convulsive therapy and biological psychiatry.

Paul Dudley White died on 31 October 1973. An American cardiology pioneer, he co-described Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome in 1930 and helped advance clinical electrocardiography.