Born in Bonnet Carre, Louisiana (see red diamond, left), Rudolph Matas (1860 to 1957) was raised in Spain and then Texas before returning to his birth state for eventual medical schooling at the future Tulane University School of Medicine. After earning his M.D. at 19 yr of age, Dr. Matas began transforming himself into “the most learned surgeon” that Dr. Will Mayo had “ever known.” Along the way, in 1889, Dr. Matas would also conduct America's first spinal anesthetic. By December of 1940, Matas was completing his eighth year of penning (right) a five-volume medical history of Louisiana. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists' Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)