Joseph Lister sprayed carbolic acid and cut surgical deaths dramatically

Inspired by Pasteur's germ theory, surgeon Joseph Lister began sterilizing wounds, instruments, and even the operating theatre's air with carbolic acid starting in 1865. Infection rates in his surgical wards plunged, and his techniques founded modern antiseptic surgery.

— Joseph Lister, On the Antiseptic Principle in the Practice of Surgery — The Lancet, 1867