Edward Jenner Jenner was born on 17 May 1749 (6 May Old Style) in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, as the eighth of nine children. His father, the Reverend Stephen Jenner, was the vicar of Berkeley, so Jenner received a strong basic education. He went to school in Wotton-under-Edge and Cirencester. During this time, he was inoculated for smallpox, which had a lifelong effect upon his general health. (Crucially this meant that he underwent variolation and not vaccination.) At the age of 14, he was apprenticed for seven years to Daniel Ludlow, a surgeon of Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, where he gained most of the
Caitlyn Jenner D. Weldon encouraged Jenner to switch to the decathlon. In 1970, Jenner placed fifth while debuting in the decathlon at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. Jenner graduated from Graceland College in 1973 with a degree in physical education. At the 1972 U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, Jenner was in fifth place in the men's decathlon, behind Steve Gough and Andrew Pettes. Needing to make up a 19-second gap on Gough in the men's 1500 metres, Jenner qualified for the Olympic team by running a fast final lap, finishing 22 seconds ahead of the other runners. ( @25:58)