Peekaboo
American mosquito nets (left) afforded explorers better vision and ventilation than English ones (right). That’s according to the 1926 National Geographic article in which this photo appeared, which chronicled an exploration of the Amazon Valley.
- 8 From The Archive
Pictures of Old-School Mosquito Prevention
Take a look at how we combated malaria and other diseases in the early 20th century.
You might have noticed an uptick in new “holidays” in recent years, like National Splurge Day and National Onion Ring Day. While many such days don’t really celebrate anything, Saturday’s World Mosquito Day commemorates an important event in medical history.
On August 20, 1897, Sir Ronald Ross made a huge discovery—he found a malaria parasite inside a mosquito. This was important because while some had hypothesized that mosquitoes spread malaria, the theory hadn’t yet been proven.
Ross’s discovery helped doctors and scientists realize that female Anopheles mosquitoes could spread the disease—and that people could prevent it by protecting their skin from the pests. Ross's work was honored with a Nobel Prize and is now remembered every
