Before the mid-1800s, surgery meant excruciating pain—patients were held down or knocked out with booze. Relief came thanks to a few curious minds and some party tricks.

In 1844, dentist Horace Wells saw someone injure themselves under the influence of laughing gas—and feel nothing. He tried it during a tooth extraction, and it worked. Two years later, William Morton publicly demonstrated ether anesthesia during surgery in Boston, changing medicine forever.

Chloroform followed, made famous when Queen Victoria used it during childbirth. With anesthesia, surgeons could finally operate without causing agony, ushering in a new era of medicine.