In which year was ether first used in surgery?

• A. 1840
• B. 1846
• C. 1847
• D. 1850

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is the moment when ether began to be used as a real surgical anaesthetic, turning painful surgeries into something manageable for patients. In 1846, a public demonstration in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital showed that ether could render a patient insensible to pain during surgery. William Morton administered the ether, and the operation was conducted under the support of surgeon John Warren. This event is widely regarded as the birth of modern anaesthesia and spread quickly, transforming surgical practice.

Earlier experiments and other dates are sometimes mentioned in broader histories—for example, Crawford Long used ether in 1842, but his work wasn’t published and widely recognized until later. So the date most exam writers expect for the first widely acknowledged use is 1846.