What if I told you that some of the bravest scientists in the world... milk spiders?

The Day Sydney Funnel-Webs Got Their Superpowers Solved!

Scientists figured out how to save people from one of Earth's deadliest spiders

Scientists created antivenom from spider venom and saved their first patient on this day!

Imagine a spider so venomous that just one bite could make a grown-up very, very sick in just minutes! The Sydney funnel-web spider is one of the most dangerous spiders on Earth, and it lives in Australia.

For years, scientists worked super hard to create an antivenom — a special medicine that could stop the spider's poison from hurting people. On October 20, 1981, something amazing happened: the first person was successfully treated with the brand-new funnel-web antivenom at a hospital in Sydney!

But here's the wild part — to make this life-saving medicine, scientists needed LOTS of spider venom. How do you get venom from a grumpy spider? Very carefully! Brave scientists at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories actually "milked" the spiders, collecting tiny drops of venom from their fangs. It took venom from about 70 spider milkings to make just ONE dose of antivenom!

Before the antivenom existed, people who got bitten were in serious danger. But after 1981? Not a single person has died from a funnel-web bite when they got the antivenom in time. That's over 40 years of saved lives!

💡 It takes venom from about 70 spider milkings to create just ONE dose of funnel-web antivenom — and volunteers still donate spiders today!