Chiropractic emerged as a distinct form of healthcare in September 1895.

However, the significance of the spine to human health and performance was already understood by scholars such as Hippocrates and Herodotus. Hippocrates advised Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases, whilst Herodotus gained fame curing diseases by correcting spinal abnormalities.

The practice of correcting spinal misalignment remained crude and poorly understand though, until Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer developed the philosophy, which forms the basis of Chiropractic, and the art of the specific spinal adjustment.

D.D. Palmer D.D. Palmer was born in Ontario, Canada in 1845. He moved to the United States aged 20 and spent the next twenty years in a variety of professions including school teaching, bee keeping and raspberry selling. In 1885, D.D. was introduced to the work of Paul Caster, a magnetic healer, prompting him to learn the techniques and open the Palmer Cure & Infirmary in Davenport, Iowa in 1887.

The 1st Adjustment

Working late in his office on 18th September 1895, D.D. noticed that the janitor working nearby, a man named Harvey Lillard, failed to react to a noisy fire engine passing by. After attempting to strike up a conversation with the man Palmer realized that Lillard was deaf. Patient communication revealed that Lillard had had normal hearing for most of his life, before after bending over in a cramped, stooping position, he had felt something pop in his back. After standing up, Lillard realized he was deaf.

Palmer deduced that the two events the popping in his back and the deafness were connected. Running his hand carefully down Lillard's spine, he felt that one of the vertebra was not in it's normal position.

I reasoned that if that vertebra was replaced, the man's hearing should be restored Palmer recorded later. With this objective in view, a half hour's talk persuaded Mr. Lillard to allow me to replace it...soon the man could hear as before.

Hand Treatments (Chiropractic)

Over the following months, other patients came to Palmer with every conceivable problem including flu, sciatica, migraine headaches, stomach complaints, epilepsy and heart trouble. D.D. Palmer found that each of these conditions responded well to specific spinal adjustments, known at the time as hand treatments. Later he developed the term chiropractic from the greek Chiro (hands) and practice (practice).

Although he never used drugs, under Palmer's care, fevers broke, vision improved, infections healed, stomach disorders disappeared pain ended, and hearing returned. Often the success of his adjustments surprised D.D., so he returned to his studies of anatomy and physiology to learn more about the vital connection between the spine and health.

Palmer changed the name of his clinic to the Palmer School & Infirmary of Chiropractic and in 1898 he accepted his first students.

Jail Sentence

Years after the restoration of Harvey Lillard’s hearing, the news media delighted in vilifying the pioneer Chiropractor. The medical community, afraid by his success and frustrated by their own failure to heal disease joined the crusade and accused D.D. of practicing medicine without a license.

D.D. Palmer defended himself against the attacks by presenting arguments against the medical procedures of vaccination and surgery. He also cautioned against introducing medicine into the body, saying it was often unnecessary and even harmful.

However, in 1905 a minor victory was achieved by the medical establishment when D.D. was indicted for practicing medicine without a license and sentenced to 105 days in jail and was required to pay $350.

Before passing away in Los Angeles at the age of 68, D.D. Palmer authored two texts for the Chiropractic profession, The Science of Chiropractic and The Chiropractors Adjuster.

B.J. Palmer Following D.D. Palmers death the Chiropractic profession was extended by his son Bartlett Joshua (B.J.) who was just as enthusiastic about Chiropractic as his father. The development of Chiropractic into a clearly defined and unique health care system is credited to B.J. Palmer. He was instrumental in getting Chiropractic recognized as a licensed profession. Obviously the profession has advanced tremendously since the days of D.D. and B.J. Palmer, but the basic philosophy of Chiropractic as a drug-free method of correcting vertebral subluxations to remove nerve interference and restore human health and performance remains.