Timeline

1247

On Oct. 23, the priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem, later to become Bethlehem Hospital, was founded on land donated by Simon FitzMary at Bishopsgate Without, London. Bethlehem Hospital, or 'Bedlam,' later became notorious for its neglectful care of people with mental illness. The priory was first used to house 'distracted persons' circa 1377. This site is now located under the Liverpool Street railway station.

1773

The first U.S. public mental hospital, the Publick Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds, opened on Oct. 12 in Williamsburg, Va. The first 'keeper' was James Galt; the first patient, Zachariah Mallory. The hospital was closed during the American Revolution, raided by both sides in the Civil War, burned in 1885, moved elsewhere in Williamsburg in the 1960s and continues today as Eastern State Hospital.

1833

On Oct. 7, French physician Joseph-Honoré-Simon Beau began daily observations of his patients in a study of the relation between meteorological events and epileptic seizures. His last observations, made Nov. 20, 1833, concluded that epilepsy was unrelated to the weather. Other studies of this era showed that epilepsy was also unrelated to phases of the moon.

1890

Mary W. Calkins overcame Harvard University?s prohibition against female students and on Oct. 1 was allowed to enroll in a physiological psychology class. Calkins became APA president in 1905.

1968

On Oct. 15, the Soviet Union authorized doctoral-level degrees in psychology. Previously, degrees were awarded in 'pedagogical sciences' with a specialty in psychology.

1990

On Oct. 30, Congress passed Public Law 101-476, amending the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142). The amendments mandated the use of the term 'disability' instead of 'handicap' in official usage and expanded the scope of federal support for the education of students with disabilities.

Source: APA Historical Database, created and maintained by Warren R. Street, Central Washington University, and published as 'A Chronology of Noteworthy Events in American Psychology' (APA, 1994).