First ever human heart transplant was conducted on Dec 3
South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard conducted the first ever human heart transplant surgery on December 3, 1967. 53-year-old Lewis Washkansky was transplanted with Denise Darvall's heart, a 25-year-old woman who was fatally injured in a car accident. Washkansky’s new heart functioned normally until he died of double pneumonia 18 days after the surgery.