Germ Theory of Disease Established by Pasteur and Koch
- Date
- 1882 (Koch's tuberculosis bacillus, 24 March)
- Category
- Science, technology & invention
- Region
- Europe
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
The germ theory of disease holds that specific microorganisms such as bacteria invade the body and cause specific infectious illnesses, overturning the long-dominant miasma theory that attributed disease to bad air.
Louis Pasteur laid the groundwork in the 1860s and 1870s by disproving spontaneous generation, demonstrating that microbes cause fermentation and decay, and linking germs to disease in silkworms, work that culminated in his anthrax vaccine of 1881. The decisive proof came from Robert Koch, who isolated the anthrax bacillus in 1876 and, on 24 March 1882, announced before the Berlin Physiological Society that Mycobacterium tuberculosis was the cause of tuberculosis, then the leading cause of death in Europe. Koch followed with the cholera bacterium in 1883 and codified Koch's postulates, the rigorous criteria for proving that a particular microbe causes a particular disease. The establishment of germ theory revolutionised medicine, surgery, and public health, providing the scientific foundation for antiseptic practice, vaccination, sanitation, and the entire discipline of bacteriology.
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land — one good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Empires active in 1882 (Koch's tuberculosis bacillus, 24 March)
- German Empire1871 CE – 1918 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- Russian Empire1721 CE – 1917 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
Related science, technology & invention events
- Edison's Electric Light and Central Power1879 (Pearl Street 1882)
- Bell Patents the Telephone1876
- Discovery of X-rays and radioactivity1895–1898
- Opening of the Suez Canal17 November 1869
- Maxwell formulates the theory of electromagnetism1865–1873
- The Wright Brothers' Powered Flight17 December 1903
Further reading
The wider story
A Little History of Science
Warm, jargon-free tour of discovery from Babylonian stargazers to the genome.
Get it on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.