Surgery & Anatomy

Surgery & Anatomy

The Doctors’ Riot of 1788: When New York Rioted Over a Dead Woman’s Arm

In April 1788, the United States was barely a country. The Constitution wasn’t even ratified yet. And in New York City, thousands of people were rioting in the streets over a dead woman’s arm. By the time it was over, a future Chief Justice had been hit in the…

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Surgery & Anatomy

Body Snatchers: Why Doctors Paid People to Dig Up the Dead

Imagine burying someone you love, then going back the next morning to find the grave disturbed and the coffin empty. For people in 1700s and 1800s Britain, this wasn’t a horror story. It was a real fear, and a common one. Families hired guards. Churches built watchtowers. Some people…

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