During his late teens and early twenties Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist and naval administrator under Charles II, suffered from bladder stones. By the time he was twenty-five the pain which this caused became so intense that he decided to seek medical treatment. He was eventually cut for the stone on 26 March 1658. Although the operation was both extremely painful and dangerous, his surgeon, Thomas Hollier, was highly experienced and had successfully operated on numerous patients, and Pepys would live for another 45 years. In his diary entry for 26 March 1660 – the first year of his diary – Pepys recalls the experience as follows :

Pepys would commemorate the ‘solemn day’ and ‘solemn feast’ of his successful operation throughout his diary, neglecting to mention its anniversary only in 1666 and 1668 (by 1669 he was in doubt whether the operation took place ten or eleven years ago).