1967: Dr. Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001)  performed the first successful heart transplant on a human. This South African cardiac surgeon first performed kidney surgery, then went onto experiment with heart transplants in animals such as dogs. Following successful experiments, Barnard embarked on a real human transplant, where he harvested a living heart from a brain damaged woman and transplanted it into a man suffering from terminal heart disease. The surgery was a success, but the patient lived only 18 days before succumbing to pneumonia and passing away.