
Sep 13 1848
A 13-pound tamping iron is blown through the head of railroad construction foreman Phineas P. Gage, entering beneath the left cheekbone and exiting the top of his head. The metal bar lands 30 yards away, taking with it much of his left frontal lobe. Gage never loses consciousness, even while the doctors examine his wound. Two months later, he is well enough to return home and resume an active life of work and travel. The steel rod, along with a cast of Gage's head, and his skull, are now on display at Harvard Medical Schools's Warren Anatomical Museum.
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