October 26, 1977: The Eradication of Smallpox

October 26, 1977: The last natural smallpox case is discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination and, by extension, of modern science.

Three years later, with no new cases having been found, the WHO declared smallpox eradicated, the first potentially fatal disease ever considered as such. The fatality rate had been as high as 30 percent, and survivors were often left badly scarred, sometimes blind.

Smallpox had been introduced into the Western Hemisphere by the Spanish conquistadors in the 1520s, and into the land that would become part of the United States by the English in the 1600s. It devastated the indigenous population, wiping out maybe 90 percent of the people who were called the "Indians," and now the "Native Americans," who, unlike the Europeans, had never faced it before, and had not built up a genetic tolerance for it. It's why the Jamestown colony in Virginia struggled in the 1600s and 1610s, but the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts had a chance in the 1620s: Just in that short period of time, the difference had been made.

There had been attempts at vaccination from the 15th Century onward, but it was in 1796 that English physician Edward Jenner developed the cowpox vaccine -- the word "vaccine" comes from "vaca," the Spanish word for "cow" -- that turned the tide of the fight against the disease.

*

October 26, 1977 was a Wednesday. Actor Jon Heder was born.

The baseball season ended 8 days earlier, when the New York Yankees won the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 6 games. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the New Orleans Jazz, 123-106 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Pete Maravich scored 30 points.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 113-110 in overtime at the Rutgers Athletic Center (now the Jersey Mike's Arena) in Piscataway, New Jersey. William "Bird" Averitt scored 32 in defeat for the Nets.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Golden State Warriors, 123-107 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Phil Smith scored 32 in defeat for the Warriors.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-108 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Buffalo Braves, 97-92 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Fred "Downtown" Brown scored 37 for the Sonics, to lead all scorers on the night.

There were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 2-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Atlanta Flames, 6-2 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* In an "Original Six" matchup and an arch-rivalry, the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a tie, 2-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 2-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Minnesota North Stars beat the Boston Bruins, 3-0 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

And there were 3 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The New England Whalers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 7-1 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Indianapolis Racers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* And the Houston Aeros beat the Edmonton Oilers, 8-7 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")