Timeline

1869September 23—Mary Mallon is born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland.
1870–1910More than 20 million immigrants come to the United States.
1870February 3—George A. Soper is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1873November 15—S. Josephine Baker is born in Poughkeepsie, New York.
1880Karl Eberth identifies the typhoid bacterium.
1883Mallon immigrates to America.
1896Georges Widal develops a test for typhoid fever.
1898Spanish-American War.
1900SeptemberTYPHOID: Mamaroneck, New York, family; 1 victim.
 September 8—A deadly hurricane strikes Galveston, Texas; Soper helps with cleanup.
1901DecemberTYPHOID: New York City family; 1 victim.
1902JuneTYPHOID: Drayton family, Dark Harbor, Maine; 9 victims.
 November—Robert Koch announces the discovery of healthy typhoid fever carriers.
1903JanuaryTYPHOID: Epidemic begins in Ithaca, New York; the city water supply is blamed.
 March–August—Soper helps control the Ithaca epidemic.
1904JuneTYPHOID: Gilsey family, Sands Point, New York; 4 victims.
1906August–SeptemberTYPHOID: Warren family, Oyster Bay, New York; 6 victims.
 OctoberTYPHOID: Kessler family, Tuxedo Park, New York; 1 victim.
 Fall—Soper is hired to investigate the Oyster Bay outbreak and begins his search for Mallon.
1907FebruaryTYPHOID: Bowne family, New York City; 2 victims, including 1 death.
 March—Soper tells New York City Department of Health about Mallon. She is captured and detained.
1908Summer—Baker becomes director of the Division of Child Hygiene.
 September—The nickname “typhoid Mary” first appears in print, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
June 20—Popular press first uses nickname “Typhoid Mary,” in the New York American.
1909June 28—Mallon’s lawyer files a petition for her release in New York State Supreme Court.
 June 29—Mallon appears in court.
 July 16—Court orders Mallon returned to North Brother Island.
1910February—Mallon is released by the health commissioner.
1911U.S. Army requires all soldiers to receive the typhoid vaccine.
 December—Mallon files a lawsuit against New York City.
1914July—World War I breaks out.
 October—Mallon is hired as a cook at Sloane Hospital for Women in New York City.
1915January–February—TYPHOID: Sloane Hospital for Women; 25 victims, including 2 deaths.
 March 26—Mallon is arrested and taken back to North Brother Island.
1917–18United States fights in World War I until its end.
1918Mallon is hired as a helper at Riverside Hospital and allowed day trips off North Brother Island.
1923Soper becomes managing director of the American Society for the Control of Cancer. Baker retires from the Department of Health and begins a speaking and consulting career.
1932December—Mallon suffers a debilitating stroke.
1938November 11—Mary Mallon dies on North Brother Island. Veterans (Armistice) Day is observed for the first time in the United States.
1945February 22—S. Josephine Baker dies in New York City.
1948Scientists discover an antibiotic to treat typhoid fever.
 June 17—George Soper dies on Long Island, New York.
1963North Brother Island is abandoned.