Lobotomy
The first lobotomy on a human was performed in the 1890s because this dangerous procedure was actually thought to be a cure for certain mental illnesses. At the peak of its popularity, namely between the 1940s and 50s, this procedure was performed on more than 40,000 Americans.
The American physician who specialized in lobotomy, Walter Freeman, developed a method commonly known among doctors as a transorbital lobotomy, a.k.a. ice-pick lobotomy. His method consisted of using electroshocks to make the patient unconscious and then using an instrument that resembled an ice-pick to make a hole above the eyeball.
As soon as the ice-pick reached the brain, the instrument should have been moved back and forth in order to destroy neural pathways. However, even if lobotomy is rarely mentioned nowadays (maybe in movies, let’s say), the practice is still used today but in rare cases, and, of course, the procedure is different than it used to be.
