As early as 1400 BCE; this Egyptian stela portrayed a young man with a leg deformity showing the similar effects Polio causes. Polio was given it's first clinical description in 1789 by the British Physician; Michael Underwood and was recognised as a condition in 1840 by Jakob Heine. In 1908; polio virus was identified as the cause for polio; by Karl Steiner

Around the 1800's Polio was still a very uncommon disease with rarely any cases. But in the 1900's there was a large; global outbreak of the virus; especially in countries of unsanitary living standards and even in counties with high living standards (many European countries and in North America). In 1952; at the height of the Polio outbreak; in the United States; around 60;000 cases were reported with 20;000 resulting in a mild to disabling paralysis and approximately 3;000 deaths.