Happy birthday, New England Journal of Medicine!

In 1819, French physician René Laennec published a description of the cacophony of sick lungs, deciphered with his new invention: the stethoscope. Some 18 months later, doctors in New England read about his discoveries, delivered across the sea and by horseback to their offices in one of the early editions of what would become the venerable New England Journal of Medicine. The journal is marking its 200th birthday with a special website, a series of articles, and a symposium in June meant to highlight how far the field of medicine has come in two centuries.