Benjamin Rubin (September 27, 1917 in
New York, New York – March 8, 2010
) was an American
microbiologist, known as the
inventor of the
bifurcated vaccination needle,
which played an important role in the eradication of
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
. Rubin invented this device by taking the eyelet of a
sewing machine needle and grinding it down.
In 1992, Rubin was inducted into the
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...
.
References
1917 births
2010 deaths
American microbiologists
Jewish American scientists
Vaccinologists
21st-century American Jews
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