Great Moments in Comedy History

Jonas Salk is the man responsible for the polio vaccination. But did you know he is one of the great pranksters in both comedy and medical history?

While trying to develop a cure for “poliomyelitis,” or what is more commonly known as polio, Dr. Jonas Salk played one of the all-time classic practical jokes in the scientific community.

While lunching, a fellow science colleague argued that immunization is possible against diphtheria and tetanus through the use of a chemically-treated toxin. Salk retorted that to immunize against a virus disease, one first must experience the infection, allowing one to induce immunity with a so-called “killed”, or inactivated, chemically-treated virus preparation.

Clearly both doctors could not be right!

As his colleague sipped at his milk, prankster Salk pulled out a diseased petri dish and shouted “Booga-booga!” His colleague, now hunched in fits of laughter, leaned over to examine the contents and was squirted with a long stream of water emitting from the diseased petri dish. Ah yes: the classic squirting-diseased-petri-dish stunt! He went there!

Not only did Salk prove his point about his cure for crippled children, but he also caused his colleague to laugh so hard that milk sprayed out his nose and all over both the lunchtable and his labcoat! Three Cheers For Jonas Salk: Founder of the Polio Vaccination… And One Funny Son Of A B*tch!