Short answers, pulled from the story.
The 1735 New England diphtheria outbreak was caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae bacteria. This bacterial infection resulted in the death of 32 percent of all children under the age of ten in one New Hampshire town.
Swiss bacteriologist Edwin Klebs first observed the diphtheria bacterium in 1882. German bacteriologist Friedrich Loeffler subsequently cultured the organism in 1884 and identified the diphtheria toxin as the true agent of destruction.
Emil von Behring and Shibasaburō Kitasato developed the first diphtheria antitoxin in 1890 using serum from horses immunized with heat-treated diphtheria toxin. This treatment neutralized the poison before it could bind to human tissues.
The 1925 Nome Alaska diphtheria outbreak required a relay of mushers and dogs to transport antitoxin over 674 miles in five days and five hours. Gunnar Kaasen and his lead dog Balto completed the final leg of the journey to save the town.
Diphtheria cases surged after 1991 due to falling vaccination rates in countries that were part of the Soviet Union following its collapse. As many as 200,000 cases were reported between 1991 and 1998, resulting in 5,000 deaths.
Princess Alice and her daughter Princess Marie died of diphtheria in 1878, and Eleanor Roosevelt's mother Anna Hall Roosevelt died in 1892. Ruth Cleveland, the eldest daughter of former President Grover Cleveland, also died of diphtheria in 1904.