#642 Angel's Glow

 Fun Fact # 642

Angel’s Glow

April 9th, 1862 was a day of great mourning. The previous 3 days had seen some of the most bitter fighting of the American civil war up to that point with The Battle of Shiloh, and The Battle of Fallen Timbers costing upwards of 24,000 lives. It even stuck President Lincon’s personally as his brother-in-law (Samuel B. Todd) was found dead around a piece of artillery –in a Confederate Uniform. So many and so vast was the field that for many it would be days before they saw medical attention. 

Yet then something unexpected happened, which would remain unexplained until the cause was finally discovered in 2001. Many of those who were badly injured began to glow a pale blue, and the wounds which had glowed never festered or became infected. It was a miracle, one which is credited with saving many lives as this battle went on to have the lowest statistical death rate from infection of any battle of the war. The soldiers called this miracle: “Angel’s Glow”.

Yet what was Angels’ Glow? The answer would only be discovered 150 years later when two High school students found that the Bio-Lumenescent bacteria contained in microscopic worms at Shiloh held anti Microbial properties. Better yet, this bacteria thrived in cold, wet environments rich in iron like the morning after the battle and the iron in soldier’s blood. As a result The worms got a feeding frenzy, and the soldiers’ wounds were treated –in some cases days before help arrived.