Dr. Jonas Salk Creates A Polio Vaccine and Decides Not To Apply for A Patent

He famously said, "Can you patent the sun?"

February 23, 1954

Polio inoculation of children begins on this date, when Dr. Jonas Salk uses the polio vaccine he created in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a limited trial test. Nationwide inoculations and testing began two months later, and to the delight of the world the vaccine proved to be a smashing success.

Salk developed the first successful vaccine …