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


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)


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)


Further reading

BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Passion for rugby; medical history; medical education; and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Co-founder and CTO of Life in the Fast lane | On Call: Principles and Protocol 4e| Eponyms | Books |