On October 30, 1948 the first Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) was conducted and published by the UK Medical Research Council in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on “Streptomycin treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis“.  This was a “methodological landmark because it provided detailed information about the trial, and in particular, the steps taken to prevent foreknowledge of treatment assignments.”

This publication marks the birth of Randomised Controlled Trials the the gold standard for medical research. [1]