This man was the last person on Earth to catch smallpox naturally.

On October 26, 1977, Ali Maow Maalin, a hospital cook in the town of Merca, Somalia, developed the rash of smallpox. Health workers traced his contacts, vaccinated everyone around him and contained the outbreak. He recovered, and the virus never again spread naturally among people.

In 1980, the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated, the first human disease ever wiped out. Maalin later worked as a volunteer in campaigns against polio.

Which disease do you hope humanity eliminates next?

#TheHistoryDecodedChannel