Author Archives: Danielle Dray

Cyanide is perhaps one of the most notorious poisons in the world. It comes in many different forms, and has been a popular method of dispatch throughout history. Cyanide is famously implicated in many real-life murders and suicides, and continues to be a popular trope in fictional writing due to its deadly reputation and universal […]

The art of embalming is believed to have been started by ancient civilisations, most notably the Ancient Egyptians, who are perhaps most famous for their mummification techniques. However, the desire to preserve the body has endured over the millenia, and many different techniques have been used to try and forestall the decay of the deceased. […]

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral which is made up of fibrous crystals. It is highly heat resistant, and therefore was long considered to be a ‘Miracle Mineral’ that was used to create a plethora of heat resistant and fireproof items. Not only was it found in an array of building and construction materials, such […]

Highly controversial even in its heyday, lobotomy was just one of many experiments within the realm of psychiatry in the quest to find a cure for mental illness. Due to new discoveries about the functions of different areas of the brain at the end of the 19th century, new ideas about surgical treatments for mental […]

Electro-convuslive therapy (better known as ECT) was introduced in 1938, and quickly became widely used in psychiatric hospitals as a new therapeutic treatment. It was found to be particularly useful in treating major depression, and ECT rapidly replaced the use of less safe drugs that had previously been used to induce seizures, such as Metrozol. […]

In 1925, General Motors found that they needed to improve their engine performance as a way to compete with Ford’s new and more powerful Cadillac. The octane boosting properties of Tetraethyl Lead (known as TEL) had been discovered in 1921 by General Motors’ chief chemist Thomas Midgley, who suggested adding it to petrol as an […]

The discovery of radium in 1898 by Marie Curie was followed by a craze for all things radium as people rushed to find commercial applications for this new and exciting element. During the 1910s, glow in the dark products took the public by storm, with glowing clocks and watch dials becoming extremely popular.   A Glowing […]

Ergot is a fungus that grows on rye and other cereal crops when conditions are unusually damp. Before the discovery of the fungus, ergot poisoning caused several outbreaks of illness that at the time were either unexplained or attributed to supernatural phenomena. Ergot poisoning has two distinct types of symptoms; convulsive ergotism presents with tingling […]

On 29th April 1961, Leonid Rogozov was faced with a decision that nobody would want to make. He had developed acute appendicitis, and knew that his appendix would have to be removed or he would almost certainly die. There was just one problem; he was the only doctor within 1600 miles. Complete Isolation Leonid Rogozov […]

The advent of the industrial revolution at the beginning of the 19th century saw new manufacturing processes which were able to turn out products on a never before seen scale.  Arsenic was a by-product of the mining and smelting industry, and began to be produced in enormous quantities during the 1800s. Arsenic was already a […]