PEDIATRICS Vol. 64 No. 1 July 1979, pp. 110
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TWO AMERICAN CASE REPORTS OF THE SUDDEN DEATH SYNDROME: THE FIRST IN 1686 AND THE SECOND IN 1863

T. E. C. Jr. MD

I believe the first recorded American case of the sudden infant death syndrome will be found in Samuel Sewall's diary for February 13, 1686.1 He wrote:

Feb. 13, 1686. Mr. Eyre's little son dyed, well to bed: dyed by them [the parents] in the Bed. It seems there is no Symptom of Over-laying.

In 1863 Dr. David W. Cheever of Boston wrote:2

March 9th; "Sudden Death of an Infant without Known Cause":—

An infant, 10 weeks old, apparently in perfect health, suddenly died while sleeping, and after having been asleep one and a half hours.