Phineas Gage

In 1848, Phineas Gage, a railroad foreman, had a tamping iron--which was 43 inches long and weighed 13 pounds--shoot through his skull. He survived but Gage’s friends later remarked he was “no longer Gage.” He could not stick to plans, uttered “the grossest profanity” and showed “little deference for his fellows.”