I don’t know how I could have missed this exceedingly important day in history. It really should have been on my calendar…

On October 5 (the day I should have made this entry) 1823, the extremely prestigious medical journal The Lancet, made its debut. It is published out of the UK, and has spawned a little family over the decades; The Lancet Oncology, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, and The Lancet Neurology. Published out of the UK, the journal is named for the short, wide surgical knife with a double-edged blade that is used to slice and dice patients. Now why would a medical journal be named after an instrument of torture, you may wonder. Then again, this is the land that produced Frankenstein and Dracula (Bram Stoker was Irish by birth, but wrote Dracula while living in London, while business manager of the Lyceum Theatre). No wonder they found sharp instruments so exciting, and intriguing enough to name a medical journal after one.

I am a bit prejudiced towards The Lancet since I have written extensively for it, as well as its offspring. It is a fabulous medical journal, and the staff that I’ve worked with there are some of the best to found anywhere–in regards to their professionalism and the relationship with writers.

So happy belated birthday.