Chiropractic was founded near the close of the 19th century at a time when the medical profession was in its infancy, a time when medicine had just decided to wear gloves during surgery. The story of the day that Chiropractic was discovered has been told over and over again in each of the principled colleges within our profession. According to Dr. Daniel D. Palmer, it was an unusually warm afternoon on September 18, 1895 in Davenport, Iowa. He was taking a break from his work as a magnetic healer when he struck up a conversation with a janitor named Harvey Lillard. It was during this conversation that he ask the now famous two questions. "How long have you been deaf Harvey?" and, "Did something happen to you just before you lost your hearing?"

Harvey answered that he had been deaf for many years and yes, something did happen to him just before he lost his hearing! He was in a stooped position while cleaning under a desk when he felt a snap in the upper portion of his spine. He thought nothing of it and later went home for the evening. When he woke up the next day he had an approximate 80% middle ear hearing loss. D.D. examined Harvey and found a vertebra out of place in his upper spine. Dr. Palmer reasoned that if a vertebra which moves out of place could cause a hearing loss, then returning it to its proper position could possibly restore Harvey's hearing. He adjusted the vertebra back into position on three separate days. After the third adjustment, Harvey's hearing was restored!

At first, Palmer thought that he had discovered a cure for deafness. He placed ads in the local newspaper telling the news of a new type of care for deafness and received more than a few responses. On each deaf patient, he adjusted the same vertebra that he adjusted on Harvey. But, none of these deaf patients had their hearing restored. It was during this time, however, that he noticed something very strange. Many of these deaf patients had other health problems that seemed to disappear upon adjusting their spine, such as: high blood pressure would drop back to normal, stomach ulcers were healed, back pain would disappear, and many other conditions and symptoms also disappeared. Dr. Palmer discussed this in detail with a doctor friend named Samuel Weed. After listening to Palmer's detailed story of the events surrounding the results of adjusting deaf people, Dr. Weed was suitably impressed and stated the following: "Well, Palmer, it looks like you discovered a new science. What are you going to call it?" Dr. Palmer had not given this any thought whatsoever. Dr. Weed then went to his library where he opened a Greek to English dictionary. While D. D. Palmer continued to expound on the results of his experiment with deaf patients, Weed interrupted him with the following statement: "Palmer, I think I've found the name of your new science. It comes from two Greek words. We can anglicize the words and simply call it 'Chiropractic.' It means, done by hand." And so, Chiropractic was born!

D. D. Palmer wanted to keep this discovery a family secret but, thanks to his son, B. J. Palmer, who convinced his father to open a school to teach this new healthcare concept to others, Chiropractic was given to an unbelieving world. The Palmer School of Chiropractic opened its doors in 1898 in Davenport, Iowa. Almost immediately, Chiropractic was attacked by the medical establishment of the day. Since the early days of this school which taught this new Vitalistic concept, more than a few of its students refused to accept the philosophical foundation upon which the science was based. They, instead, tried to apply the medical reductionist paradigm which states that man is but a physical being only. They completely rejected the concept of a vital life force existing within the body. This sad trend continues today, where we have a divided profession: one group of doctors who follow the true Vitalistic Chiropractic paradigm and another group of doctors who use the medical paradigm of treating symptoms or conditions and do not care to understand or follow the Vitalistic paradigm of Chiropractic. This unfortunately, has left the public confused and uninformed about the true nature of Chiropractic.

During the first half of the 20th century, 714 Doctors of Chiropractic went to jail for practicing Chiropractic. They went there defending the Chiropractic Vitalistic paradigm of healthcare, they did not go to jail because D. D. Palmer got Harvey Lillard's back feeling better. Three of these noble Chiropractors died due to their unjust imprisonment. These sad incidents happened because the political situation at that time was totally dominated by the medical establishment.

Dr. B. J. Palmer was responsible for the growth of Chiropractic during the first half of the 20th century. He is know as the "Developer of Chiropractic." He introduced diagnostic X-Rays into the Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1907. He developed, along with an engineer friend, diagnostic devices for locating subluxations, which is a state in the human spine where a vertebra is interfering with the communication between brain cell and tissue cell. Once this interference is removed, health will be restored. In 1930, he opened the B. J. Palmer Research Clinic for the purpose of proving the Vitalistic concepts of Chiropractic. Many healthcare miracles took place in this clinic. Just in the last couple of years, the results of all the research from B. J.'s clinic is being slowly entered into a computer and will eventually be published for the entire Chiropractic profession. B. J. authored 39 books on Chiropractic and published research papers and articles too numerous to mention. He owned two radio stations and one TV station. He expanded his father's development of the philosophy of Chiropractic into 33 principles or laws, upon which our science is based. Dr. R. W. Stephenson compiled these writings on Chiropractic's concepts and published them in "The Chiropractic Textbook" in 1927. Since it is a textbook and not a novel, it is meant to be studied, not just read!

During his lifetime of dedicated service to mankind, B. J. was attacked from all directions within the healthcare industry. Sadly, the most abusive and hurtful attacks came from the medically oriented doctors within his own profession. Ridicule was the order of the day as these Medipractors (medical oriented chiropractors) tore into Chiropractic's Principles trying to convert our science into a medical paradigm, therefore, acceptable to the medical profession. B. J. stood his ground and refused to allow anyone to change the ethical, scientific or philosophical foundation of Chiropractic discovered by his father. Dr. B. J. Palmer died on May 27, 1961. The funeral had to be postponed for several days because over thirty thousand Chiropractors and friends had to make arrangements to come to Davenport, Iowa to pay their last respects to their fallen hero. He fought the good fight for over sixty years against those who would change our profession. Most of these battles he won. Because of B. J. Palmer and his dedication to Chiropractic, the true essence of Vitalism still exists within our noble profession today among principled Chiropractors. It was during his last talk to a group of principled Chiropractors that he left us a solemn message: "You have in your hands a sacred trust… guard it well!"