JEFFREY BROWN:

In December 1799, George Washington was about two-and-a-half years into his retirement and was still very actively managing his estate at Mount Vernon, Virginia.

In the early morning hours of the 13th, following a day on horseback in freezing rain and snow, he woke up with pain and shortness of breath. By 10:00 that night, he was dead.

We know a lot about what happened in those hours from an account written by Washington's chief aide, from notes by his doctors, and from later detective work by medical researchers.

Dr. Howard Markel is the director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan. He wrote the piece on our Web site and joins us now.

So, Dr. Markel, a seemingly healthy George Washington wakes up in the middle of the night with shortness of breath. What happens then?

DR. HOWARD MARKEL, University of Michigan: Well, first, you know, he was out overseeing his estate and developed a sore throat and some hoarseness.

But when he woke up at 2:00 in the morning, he simply couldn't breathe. His throat was so inflamed, he couldn't get air in. And, of course, Martha, his wife, was very concerned. And so she sent out for his aide-de-camp, Colonel Tobias Lear, who then sent out for some doctors and a bloodletter.