Two brothers who grew up in Pennsylvania's Amish country played an active role in medicine in the 19th century. John Atlee was a founder and president of the Lancaster County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania Medical Society and the American Medical Association. His younger brother, Washington, was instrumental in the formation of the American Gynecological Society. Together, the brothers revived the procedure involving surgical removal of an ovary. Washington performed the first successful myomectomy (surgical removal of a fibroid tumor of the uterus) on this date in 1844. He also followed his brother's footsteps as president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society and the AMA.

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