William T. G. Morton
American dentistWikipedia
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14
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Search complete. 15 mentions across 14 episodes found for "William T. G. Morton".
Oct 16, 2026
BruceHOST
Anyway, 1846, disdain history.
BruceHOST
William Morton just demonstrated... for the ether anesthesia for the first time in public surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.
BruceHOST
So anesthesia became a thing.
BruceHOST
Thank
John SpencerHOST
Yes.
John SpencerHOST
On this date in 1846, dentist William Morton publicly demonstrated ether anesthesia during surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Carla CockrumHOST
Oh, okay.
Carla CockrumHOST
And aren't we glad.
Joe SchwarczHOST
I've written about it, so I think you, you know the, the, uh, the basics.
Joe SchwarczHOST
Uh, when des- dentist William Morton convinced, uh, uh, surgeon John Collins Warren to, uh, carry out an operation under ether anesthesia, and then pretty soon the idea of using ether as an anesthetic spread, uh, to Europe.
Joe SchwarczHOST
And this is where Robert-Houdin heard about it, and he decided to kind of make use of this in his act.
Joe SchwarczHOST
And what he did was suggest that the ether somehow had managed to temporarily overcome the effects of gravity, and that it was the fumes of ether that he pretended to have his son inhale that then allowed him to, uh, defy gravity.
Relebogile MabotjaHOST
Mm
Howard RadfordGUEST
... by William Morton.
Howard RadfordGUEST
And, uh, the surgeon who was present at that stage was heard to remark, "This is no humbug."
Relebogile MabotjaHOST
What does that mean? [laughs]
speaker_2NARRATOR
Then in the eighteen-forties, everything changes.
speaker_2NARRATOR
October sixteenth, eighteen forty-six, Massachusetts General Hospital, a dentist named William Morton demonstrates the use of ether as an anesthetic.
speaker_2NARRATOR
The patient, a young man named Gilbert Abbott, needs a tumor removed from his neck.
speaker_2NARRATOR
Morton administers the ether.
Carla CockrumHOST
He was so talented.
John SpencerHOST
On this date in 1846, dentist William Morton used ether while removing a patient's tooth in Boston.
John SpencerHOST
Days later, he gave a public demonstration that helped establish surgical anesthesia.
John SpencerHOST
And it greatly improved the phrase, you know, this may be uncomfortable.
Mike RogersHOST
Yeah, my butt.
Mike RogersHOST
And today's a big day in the history of dentistry, because it was on this date in 1846 that a dentist in Boston named William Morton, he got the idea to use anesthetic on a very grateful patient whose tooth he was pulling.
Austin YorkHOST
Yeah.
Mike RogersHOST
Could you imagine? Before that, it was just a bottle of whiskey.
Austin YorkHOST
Yeah, my butt.
Mike RogersHOST
[laughs] And today's a big day in the history of dentistry, 'cause it was on this date in 1846 that a dentist in Boston named William Morton, he got the idea to use anesthetic on a very-
Austin YorkHOST
Thank God
Mike RogersHOST
... grateful patient whose tooth he was pulling.
BeauHOST
On this day in 1846.
BeauHOST
Anesthetic ether is used for the first time by American dentist Dr. William Morton to extract your teeth.
BeauHOST
It's interesting.
BeauHOST
It's a classic thing people ask you when they become aware you're a history nerd or you've got a degree in history or something.
Cody JosephHOST
All right, I also have some history here to share with you, Jeff.
Cody JosephHOST
It was on this date in 1846, dentist Dr. William Morton Use the experimental anesthetic ether for the first time to painlessly remove a patient's tooth.
Jeff HarmatzHOST
Ouch? Well, no, I guess you said painlessly, so no ouch.
Jeff HarmatzHOST
Although, I bet it's still smarts.
4 more episodes mention William T. G. Morton.
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