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Greeks erect buildings for the dying |
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c. -430 |
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Romans give soldiers free burial in army recruitment drive |
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c. -20 |
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| Roman cremation Wellcome Library, London
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Romans take a lenient view over suicide |
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c. 50 |
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| Seneca committing suicide in a bath Wellcome Library, London
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Christianity teaches the 'Art of Dying' |
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c. 1200 |
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| The death of Dick Whittington Wellcome Library, London
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First public dissection of a human body in Christendom |
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c. 1315 |
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| Mondino de' Luzzi dissecting at Bologna, c. 1315 Wellcome Library, London
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Death from illness seen as a sign of God's displeasure |
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c. 1400 |
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| Christ throwing pestilential arrows Wellcome Library, London
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Reformation dispenses with Purgatory |
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c. 1550 |
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| Purgatory Wellcome Library, London
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Suicides buried with stakes through the heart |
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c. 1600 |
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| Woman preparing to stab herself Wellcome Library, London
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Harvey dissects body of supposed 152-year-old |
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1635 |
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| William Harvey dissecting the body of Thomas Parr Wellcome Library, London
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Acts of Burial in Woollen passed |
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1666 |
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| Burial of a corpse wrapped in linen Wellcome Library, London
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Judges permitted to sentence murderers to death and dissection |
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1752 |
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| Public execution, Spain Wellcome Library, London
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Royal Humane Society founded |
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1774 |
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| Man brought ashore, apparently drowned Wellcome Library, London
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Dr Guillotin favours humane capital punishment |
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1789 |
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| Marie Antoinette kneeling before the guillotine, 1793 Wellcome Library, London
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Undertakers set up shop on British high streets |
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c. 1800 |
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| The undertaker's visit Wellcome Library, London
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Autopsies become routine |
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c. 1810 |
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| ‘Rest in peace' Wellcome Library, London
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Fear of premature burial hits epidemic proportions |
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1832 |
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| ‘The precipitate burial' Wellcome Library, London
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Anaesthesia regarded as 'controlled death' |
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c. 1847 |
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| Experiment with suspended animation Wellcome Library, London
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Working-class parents accused of murdering their children |
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c. 1850 |
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| Babies watched by Death Wellcome Library, London
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Laws against suicide repealed in UK |
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1870 |
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| Gin-mad girl throws herself from a bridge Wellcome Library, London
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Cremation introduced in Britain |
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1885 |
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| William Price of Llantrisant Wellcome Library, London
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Pavlov experiments on dogs |
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1900 |
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| Five experimental dogs in Pavlov's laboratory Wellcome Library, London
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Saunders founds hospice movement |
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1967 |
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| Hospice care Wellcome Photo Library
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Brain death defined |
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1977 |
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| Resuscitation Wellcome Photo Library
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Euthanasia legalized in Netherlands |
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2000 |
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| ‘The right to choose a merciful death' Wellcome Library, London
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