I remember hearing about that in Carlin's King of Kings podcast. Wikipedia article was a cool read too, I love ancient history.
The Italian guy surviving getting lost in the Sahara is crazy. I can't believe he entered the race twice more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Liston
Quote:
was a pioneering Scottish surgeon. Liston was noted for his skill in an era prior to anaesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival.
Quote:
Liston's most famous case
Amputated the leg in under 21⁄2 minutes (the patient died afterwards in the ward from hospital gangrene; they usually did in those pre-Listerian days). He amputated in addition the fingers of his young assistant (who died afterwards in the ward from hospital gangrene). He also slashed through the coat tails of a distinguished surgical spectator, who was so terrified that the knife had pierced his vitals he dropped dead from fright.
That was the only operation in history with a 300 percent mortality.
The article lists his 4 most famous cases, they're all pretty good.