Daniel David Palmer founded chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa in 1895. Palmer hypothesized from his clinical observations and from his study of anatomy that misaligned vertebrae could impinge on spinal nerves, interfere with nerve conduction, and thereby negatively impact end organ and whole body function. He chose to use the term subluxation to describe this type of spinal lesion.

Dr. Palmer's first chiropractic patient was Harvey Lillard. Mr. Lillard
suffered from an acquired deafness which had occurred following trauma to the upper back, and that Dr. Palmer felt was attributable to vertebral subluxation in Lillard's upper thoracic spine. Dr. Palmer's treatment of this lesion by manual adjustment (now often called manipulation) of the involved spinal segment resulted in the restoration (or marked improvement) of Mr. Lillard's hearing.

Palmer School of Chiropractic was founded in 1897 in Davenport, Iowa. By 1998 there were 65,000 chiropractors practicing in the US. In 1999 there were 31 chiropractic colleges worldwide.