James Young Simpson

Sir James Young Simpson was a Scottish obstetrician and professor at the University of Edinburgh who, on the night of 4 November 1847, tested chloroform on himself and his assistants and recognized its potential as an anesthetic in childbirth. His advocacy for chloroform, later reinforced when Queen Victoria used anesthesia during childbirth, helped establish obstetric and surgical anesthesia as accepted medical practice. He also improved the design of obstetric forceps still associated with his name, served as physician to the Queen in Scotland, and was made a baronet in recognition of his work; when he died in 1870 an estimated hundred thousand people lined the streets of Edinburgh for his funeral procession.