View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-we-conquered-the-deadly-smallpox-virus-simona-zompi

For 10,000 years, humanity suffered from the scourge of smallpox. The virus killed almost a third of its victims within two weeks and left survivors horribly scarred. But Simona Zompi commends the brave souls -- a Buddhist nun, a boy, a cow, a dairymaid and physician Edward Jenner -- who first stopped the spread of this disastrous disease, to make us smallpox-free today.

Lesson by Simona Zompi, animation by Augenblick Studios.