Chronic fatigue syndrome was first proposed as a diagnostic label in 1988 to classify a disorder characterised by severe fatigue and exhaustion after minimal physical and mental effort accompanied by other unexplained somatic symptoms.1 It was introduced partly as an acceptable clinical alternative to the term myalgic encephalomyelitis, which described a similar presentation and had been coined in 1956 in the aftermath of an outbreak of illness among the nursing and medical staff of the Royal Free Hospital.2 The condition was widely assumed to be a new addition to the medical scene. In the popular press, and occasionally in the professional publications, attempts have been made to explain chronic fatigue syndrome as a product of the unwelcome features of modern life, such as pollution, stress, working practices, and new infections.
You can read the full article here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1127098/
Source: Jones E, Wessely S. Case of chronic fatigue syndrome after Crimean war and Indian mutiny. BMJ. 1999 Dec 18-25;319(7225):1645-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1127098/ (Full article)