During the outbreak of the bubonic plague in Italy in the 1650s, it was believed that the doctors taking care of the sick would dawn these masks in addition to long garb and wide-brimmed leather hats.

But while the plague doctor has become an eerie symbol of pandemic death, there's much about the outlandish costume that's more practical than you might think.

Plague doctors filled their masks with theriac, a compound of more than 55 herbs and other components like viper flesh powder, cinnamon, myrrh, and honey.

Long ago, European physicians believed that "bad air" caused illnesses—scientists like Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, and Joseph Lister hadn’t yet delivered scientific proof of the germ theory of ...

Tending to plague patients paid well but was risky business. Of 18 plague doctors who worked in Venice during the Black Death of the 14th century, five died and 12 fled.

Although plague doctors are thought to have been around in Europe from the 14th century, the harrowing, beaked uniform originated at some point in the 17th century, ...