100: John Hunter and Charles Byrne
England's most legendary surgeon and the "Irish Giant"
On June 1, 1783, a 7'7" Irishman named Charles Byrne died of tuberculosis and complications with giantism. Eagerly awaiting his death was a man regarded as England's greatest surgeon, who was competing with others in the medical community to earn the opportunity of dissecting such a rare medical specimen. Byrne, however, was terrified of post-mortem dissection, and begged his friends to take any measures to keep his body away from the mob of doctors... but Hunter didn't take "no" for an answer.
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