It was not until 1658 that Johann Jacob Wepfer, a physician practicing in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, identified the root causes of stroke. Based on postmortem examinations of people who had died of the condition, Wepfer identified two forms of stroke that modern medicine still distinguishes between today.

When did they discover strokes?

In modern terms: ischemic infarction of the brain. Thus by 1820, the two basic modern concepts of stroke had been discovered.

Why is stroke called stroke?

The hole in the artery wall means blood flow is reduced farther downstream. That causes blood to spill into the tissue surrounding the artery. Any time blood flow to a part of the brain is disrupted, the event is called a stroke.