Today in History |
December 3, 1967 |
On December 3, 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first human heart transplant. Operating on a 54-year-old patient, Barnard performed the procedure in his native South Africa. The patient, Louis Washkansky, received the heart from a woman killed the day before in an auto accident. Washkansky survived for only 18 days before dying of pneumonia. |