Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin, a drug used to treat malaria. This was a watershed moment, recognizing her groundbreaking work and its global impact on public health.

Project 523 was initiated in China, dedicated to finding a new treatment for malaria. This was a secret project, launched due to requests from North Vietnam during the Vietnam War and the prevalence of malaria in Southern China. Tu Youyou would later play a crucial role in this project.

Establishment of the People's Republic of China. This event is significant in Tu Youyou's biography because she is regarded as a representative figure of the first generation of Chinese medical workers since this establishment.

Tu Youyou, the Nobel Prize-winning Chinese malariologist and pharmaceutical chemist, was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. This marks the beginning of the life of a scientist who would later make significant contributions to tropical medicine and save millions of lives through her discovery of artemisinin.