On Nov. 23, 1964, Dr. Michael DeBakey and his team performed the first successful coronary artery bypass graft procedure. The first transplant patient, Everett Thomas, lived for 204 days with the heart donated from a fifteen-year-old girl. The surgery used techniques perfected on animals.

In 1968, DeBakey performed the first of 12 heart transplants. Dr. DeBakey worked with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to develop a self-contained, miniaturized artificial heart.