Typhoid Mary
“The original Typhoid Mary was a New York City cook in the early 1900s who loved her job. Unfortunately, she had been exposed to typhoid, and although she was immune to the disease herself, she was able to pass the disease to others by way of the food she prepared. Health officials identified her as Mary Mallon, an Irish-born immigrant, and they quarantined her to stop the spread of the disease. Three years later, Mary was released with a warning not to cook professionally again. But in 1915, she was discovered working as a cook at a maternity hospital identified as the source of a new typhoid outbreak, and she was forcibly returned to quarantine, where she remained until her death in 1938.”
This was M-W.com’s Word of the Day and I found it interesting. I am often too skeptical of early 20th Century investigations, as though they’re all witch hunts using archaic methods to deduce crimes…but then I realize that I’m quite pompous in my WiFi hydrogen fuel cell Internet world.
Up Next: Descriptions of Surroundings Meant for Less Modern Magicians