On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the outbreak of the lethal Coronavirus had become a worldwide pandemic. We’ll examine some of the most devastating plagues in human history, as well the scientific advances to combat these diseases, including the development of Edward Jenner’s vaccine for smallpox in the 1790s. Jenner’s vaccine was one of the first major breakthroughs in modern medicine and helped to end humanity’s superstitious attitude towards disease. But in the future, might we face diseases that are different from the ones we’ve experienced in the past?