Dr John Langdon Haydon Down
Person Male Born 18/11/1828 Died 7/10/1896
Doctor specialising in mental illnesses who classified what is now called Down's Syndrome in 1862. We think the family used 'Langdon Down' as their surname.
Born Cornwall. Aged 18, he came to London to work for a surgeon. He was interested in a connection between ethnicity and mental health, hence the initial term 'Mongoloid' for Down's syndrome. More recently the term has been found offensive both to those with the syndrome and their families, and to the Mongol people so the term Down's Syndrome is preferred.
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