Whose invention was the vaccine against smallpox?

Edward Jenner carried out the first successful smallpox vaccination in 1796. He observed that milkmaids who caught cowpox often did not get smallpox, so he tested this idea by inoculating a boy named James Phipps with material from cowpox lesions. The approach led to vaccination, from vacca, the Latin word for cow. Jenner’s work eventually helped lead to the global eradication of smallpox, certified by the World Health Organization in 1980.