Atherosclerosis has plagued humankind since ancient times, and its understanding has much evolved over the centuries. For Rokitansky, a proponent of the ancient humoral theory, the thickening of the arterial wall was due to deposits derived from the blood. For Virchow, the father of cellular pathology, thickening resulted from a cellular reaction. For both, fat deposition was the result of secondary degeneration. Anitschkow showed that atherosclerotic lesions resulted from the combined effect of hypercholesterolemia (toxic injury) and hypertension (mechanical injury). Other landmarks include the discovery of the scavenger receptors and of the cellular cholesterol cycle, and the identification of platelet-derived growth factor, which gave rise to the response-to-injury hypothesis. With some modifications, this concept still prevails today...