Short answers, pulled from the story.
Hanaoka Seishu performed the first successful surgery using general anesthesia on the 14th of November 1804. He used a formula called tsusensan which combined Korean morning glory and other herbs to induce unconsciousness. This achievement remained unknown to the rest of the world for nearly forty years due to the national isolation policy of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Boston dentist William Thomas Green Morton performed the public demonstration of modern anesthesia on the 16th of October 1846. He used diethyl ether to remove a tumor from the neck of Edward Gilbert Abbott at the Massachusetts General Hospital. This event took place in the surgical amphitheater now called the Ether Dome.
John Snow administered chloroform to Queen Victoria in 1853 when she was in labor with Prince Leopold. This event granted chloroform royal approval and demonstrated its effectiveness for childbirth. The Queen stated the experience was delightful beyond measure.
Alice Magaw successfully provided more than 14,000 surgical anesthetics without an anesthetic-related death. Her records indicate she administered 1,092 cases including 674 ether cases and 245 chloroform cases without an accident. This outcome created a legacy defining that the delivery of anesthesia by nurses would serve the surgical community without increasing risks to patients.
The rate of deaths totally attributed to anesthesia alone is 1:185,056. This is significantly lower than the rate of deaths totally attributed to the patient's health which is 1:870. These statistics illustrate that the single greatest factor in anesthetic mortality is the health of the patient.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a Public Safety Communication warning on the 14th of December 2016. The warning stated that repeated or lengthy use of general anesthetic and sedation drugs during surgeries or procedures in children younger than 3 years may affect the development of children's brains.