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Bacteria have flourished on the earth for over three billion years. They were the first life forms on the planet.
The first documented use of surgical anesthesia in the United States was in Connecticut in 1844.
Approximately one in three babies in the United States is now delivered by cesarean section. The number of cesarean sections in the United States has risen 46% since 1996.
Cancer has been around as long as humankind, but only in the second half of the twentieth century did the number of cancer cases explode.
As the western states of America were settled, pioneers often had to drink rancid water from ponds and other sources. This often resulted in chronic diarrhea, causing many cases of dehydration and death that could have been avoided if clean water had been available.