1955—First Heart Valve Transplants: Dr. Gordon Murray of Toronto, Ontario, performs the world's first heart valve transplant on a patient with a severely leaking aortic valve. The transplanted valve functions well for over eight years.

From Christiaan Barnard to Barney Clark to the Jarvik-2000, take a look at the evolution of the heart transplant. Though not all transplant procedures resulted in patients who survived, they all were each was a powerful lessons for the medical community. The proof? The current five-year survival rate for heart transplant recipients is a staggering 72 percent for men and 68.5 percent for women.