Did you know that tuberculosis (TB) brought us the Adirondack chair? TB patients used to recline, completely immobile, upon that now-iconic piece of furniture on the orders of their doctors. TB also brought about the cities of Pasadena, California, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, which were founded as places for TB patients to seek fresh air. And did you know that before penning "Sherlock Holmes," Sir Arthur Conan Doyle debunked a supposed cure for TB that had been overhyped in the press in the 19th century?
In "Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection" (Crash Course Books, 2025), John Green recounts these unsung ways in which TB shaped history. He also highlights how public perception of the disease has shifted through time. TB was once seen as a romantic condition that rendered people with the illness "beautiful," "waiflike" and "sensitive," but the illness later became seen as a stigmatizing disease of poverty.
