The Effects of Tuberculosis on Human History

Tuberculosis is one of the oldest diseases humanity has faced, showing up in Ancient Egyptian mummies and ancient Chinese writings. TB was possibly brought over by the first Paleo-Indians or connected to marine mammals. There is even some evidence it was found in earlier human ancestor species. Regardless of its origin, tuberculosis is a deadly disease. Thus, it has driven human history in terms of the number of people it killed and the lengths people went to avoid it.

Additionally, tuberculosis has had surprising secondary effects throughout history, such as the invention of the Stetson cowboy hat by a man who went west to clear his lungs. Alexander the Great was killed by TB, putting a stop to the expansion of his empire. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination started WWI and broke up the Austria-Hungarian Empire, was not killed by TB, but...