Malaria is an ancient disease for which there have been reports since 2.700 BC in China and later in Mesopotamia and India, while Hippocrates was the first one to describe the symptoms in 4^th century BC.

Crucial points in modern science:

1880-	Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French military surgeon, observes for the first time the parasite in the blood of an infected soldier. For this discovery, he wins the Nobel Prize in 1907.
1886-	Camillo Golgi, Italian neurophysiologist, describes the tertian and quartan fever and discovers merozoites (form of malaria pariste in the human blood). He wins the Nobel Prize in 1906.
1890-	Giovanni Batista Grassi and Raimond Filetti, Italian researchers, introduced the names  Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium malariae for two of the responsible plasmodium species for the human malaria.
1897-	William H. Welch, American doctor, names the responsible for the malignant tertian fever plasmodium Plasmodium falciparum Ronald Ross, British officer, discovers that the mosquitoes are the responsible vector for malaria transmission and describes the mosquito life cycle. In 1902 he wins the Nobel Prize.
1898-	Giovanni Batista Grassi, Amico Bignami and Giuseppe Bastianelli, Italian investigators, describe the parasite life cycle.
1922-	John William Watson Stephens, doctor, describes the fourth malaria plasmodium species that infects humans,  Plasmodium ovale.
1931-	Robert Knowles and Biraj Mohan Das Gupta, doctors, describe   Plasmodium knowlesi for the first time in an ape of genus Macaque.
1934-	Hans Andersag discovers chloroquine.
1939-	Muller discovers the insecticidal properties of DDT.
1965-	The first P. knowlesi human infection is recorded.
1982-	American researchers discover hypnozoites (form of parasite that stays dormant in human liver).