William T. G. Morton demonstrates ether anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital

Background. Morton, an American dentist, had previously administered ether for a painless dental extraction on 30 September 1846. A favorable newspaper account of this procedure prompted Boston surgeon Henry Jacob Bigelow to arrange a public demonstration at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The event took place in the hospital's operating theatre, known as the Ether Dome, where Morton was invited to show how inhaled ether produced insensibility to pain during surgery.

The Demonstration. On 16 October 1846, Morton administered diethyl ether to Edward Gilbert Abbott, a local printer. Following the induction of anesthesia, MGH Chief of Surgery John Collins Warren removed a tumor from Abbott's neck. The procedure was performed painlessly, marking the first successful public demonstration of ether as a general anesthetic. This event revolutionized modern medicine by introducing diethyl ether as a viable surgical agent.