In 1905 scientist Robert Koch gave a famous lecture on his discovery of the tuberculosis bacterium. He demonstrated and explained his work, bringing his entire laboratory equipment and tissue samples for the audience to examine, and left everyone speechless. This lecture catapulted him to fame and earned him the Nobel Prize. In addition to a discussion of this lecture, this article talks about the incidence of tuberculosis worldwide, how it is treated, and evidence of its existence in ancient Egypt and throughout history.