It was September 18, 1895 (113 years ago today) that a magnetic healer by the name of Daniel David Palmer racked a vertebrae back into position on the neck of a janitor who had gone deaf some 17 years earlier.

The man, who became known as the Father of Chiropractic, was practicing the art of magnetic healing in the Ryan building in Davenport Iowa when he encountered building janitor Harvey Lillard, who had been deaf for many years after suffering an injury.

As the story goes, DD Palmer palpated a lump on the janitors neck, theorizing that the two were related. Moving the vertebrae back into position Harvey Lillards hearing was reportedly restored and what was to become the practice of Chiropractic was born.

DD was born in Canada (March 7, 1845) and he moved to the United States when he was 20 years old. During his young years DD held jobs as a schoolteacher, beekeeper, and grocery store owner. He had a great interest and the health philosophies of the late 1800s, including topics such as magnetic healing and spiritualism.

His theory of the day centered on the concept that altered nerve flow was the cause of all dis-ease, and that misaligned spinal vertebrae had an affect on nerve flow. Palmer believed that restoring misaligned spinal vertebrae to their proper position would result in restoration of health.

To say his theories and postulations were met with great criticism would be an understatement but they were radically different from those commonly being presented at the time.

113 years later I I’m here writing about this on the Interwebz and I think that’s pretty darn cool. Party on DD!