Smallpox one-third of the cases resulted in blindness. These deaths included those of four reigning monarchs and a queen consort. In the 20th century smallpox killed 200-300 million people. Edward Jenner discovered in 1798 that vaccination could prevent smallpox. In 1967, the WHO intensified efforts to eliminate the disease. Smallpox is one of two infectious diseases to have been eradicated, the other being rinderpest in 2011. The term "smallpox" was first used in Britain in the 15th century to distinguish the disease from syphilis, which was then known as the "great pox". Other historical names for the disease include pox, speckled
History of smallpox a few small scratches on the arm of an eight-year-old boy who had never before contracted either smallpox or cowpox, named James Phipps. Phipps recovered as expected. Two months later, Jenner repeated the procedure using matter from smallpox, observing no effect. Phipps became the first person to become immune to smallpox without ever actually having the disease. He was variolated many more times over the course of his life to prove his immunity. When the next cowpox epidemic broke out in 1798, Jenner conducted a series of inoculations using cowpox, all of them successful except on his own son Robert.