Sweet elixir of death
Even today, being stricken with pneumonia, meningitis or strep throat is serious, but in the early 20th century these bacterial infections were killers. Then in 1937 a powerful new cure arrived: sulfanilamide, a derivative of a red dye that German microbiologist Gerhard Domagk had discovered was stunningly effective against bacterial infections. Better still, sulfanilamide was …