Happy 70th birthday Thorax

March 1946 saw the appearance of new journal, from the Association for the study of Diseases of the Chest, edited by Norman Barrett and J G Scadding. Thorax was born. In 1946, a year's subscription cost 25 shillings and each edition contained 4–5 original manuscripts. Seventy years and 603 issues later, Thorax publishes around 10 original manuscripts per issue (along with editorials, reviews and education pieces) and costs rather more for a year's subscription. This month in the journal, we celebrate the 70th birthday of Thorax and the contribution of the exceptional clinicians and scientists who have published in the journal over the years. In this issue, former editors Anne Tattersfield (1987–91) and Anthony Seaton (1977–82), aided by an ensemble of previous editors, recount the history of Thorax through a selection its most influential papers (see page 203, Editors' choice). The last 70 years have seen huge advances in the treatment of tuberculosis, the prevention of occupational and smoking related lung disease …