January 6 – On This Day in Medical History

Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with January 6.

Events

1968 – Norman E. Shumway (1923-2006), performed the first successful human heart transplant in the United States. at the Stanford Medical Center in Stanford, California

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Births

1714 – Sir Percivall Pott (1714-1788), English surgeon. Described Pott fracture (1768), Pott puffy tumour, Pott puffy tumour, Pott cancer and Pott disease

1809 – Henri-Louis Roger (1809-1891), French paediatrician; described Bruit de Roger (Roger’s murmur) (1879) and Maladie de Roger (Roger’s disease)

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Deaths

1891 – Hugh Owen Thomas (1834-1891), Welsh Orthopaedic Surgeon. Described the Thomas test (1875) and invented the Thomas knee splint (1865), Thomas collar and Thomas wrench

1916 – Sir Frederic William Hewitt (1857-1916), English anaesthetist; inventor of the Hewitt airway (1908)

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Further reading

• The enormity of the first U.S. adult heart transplant. Stanford Medicine

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