Jonas Salk was a virologist who discovered the first successful polio vaccine. He was born in New York City, NY on October 28, 1914. He died on June 23, 1995. Salk had three boys: Peter, Darrell, and Jonathan. Salk was educated in medical research at New York University School of Medicine. He began his research in 1947 at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1948, Salk was invited to be part of a project that was determined to find the different types of polio. However, Salk wanted to expand the project to find a vaccination for the disease. After seven years of dedicated work, Salk and his team discovered a successful vaccination for polio.

Salk’s discovery was praised and relieving to many. Polio, at the time, was one of the scariest epidemics.