Bifurcated Vaccination Needle
1980

Declaring war on smallpox
On December 9, 1979, the World Health Organization announced what has been called the single greatest achievement in medical history: the global eradication of smallpox. Much of the credit for the victory against this dreaded plague goes to stainless steel needles like the one shown here. Invented by Benjamin I. Rubin in 1968 and manufactured by the Wyeth Laboratories in Philadelphia, such needles quadrupled the vaccine supply. Vaccinators could be trained in minutes, and the needles could be sterilized and reused. A single field worker could carry out as many as 1,500 vaccinations in a day.

	Invented, 1968 by Benjamin I. Rubin
	Smallpox was essentially eradicated in 1979 by the World Health Organization.
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