September 18, 1895 It was a hot and dusty afternoon in Davenport, Iowa. Relaxing in his favorite chair after several busy hours of seeing his patients, Dr. Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer sat reading a book. He overheard a very loud conversation between his deaf janitor, Harvey Lillard, and one of his friends out in the hall of the Ryan Building. D.D. joined them in the hall and inquired of Harvey as to how he had lost his hearing. Lillard related that he had been so deaf for the past 17 years that he could not hear the sound of the wagon wheels on the street or the ticking of a watch. It had all started 17 years earlier when he had been working in a closet under the stairway. While working in a cramped, stooping position, something "gave" in his back, and he immediately became deaf.
D.D. Palmer
Founder of Chiropractic
Harvey Lillard
First Chiropractic Patient