Today in Medical History

January 6 in Medical History

22 entries: discoveries, epidemics, drugs and the people who shaped medicine.

Events

6
  1. 1968Dr Norman E. Shumway performs 1st US adult cardiac transplant operationSurgery / Procedure / DeviceOnThisDay
  2. 1971Berkeley chemists announce the first synthetic growth hormonesDiscovery / ResearchOnThisDay
  3. 1992The US Government urges doctors to stop using silicone breast implants, outlining the health effectsSurgery / Procedure / DeviceOnThisDay
  4. 2000The flu outbreak in Britain puts pressure on NHSDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  5. 2022Tennis world No. 1 Novak Đoković 's visa into Australia cancelled after uproar over his COVID-19 vaccination exemptionDrug / VaccineOnThisDay
  6. 2025US records its first person to die from bird flu, in southwest LouisianaDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay

Born on this day

10
  1. 1525Caspar PeucerGerman reformer, born in Bautzen, Germany (d. 1602)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  2. 1714Percivall PottEnglish physician, born in London (d. 1788)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  3. 1889Dida DederdingDanish doctor and academic (died 1955)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  4. 1902Helmut PoppendickNazi physician, born in Hude, Germany (d. 1994)Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  5. 1914Godfrey Edward ArnoldAustrian-American physician and academic (died 1989)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  6. 1915John C. LillyU.S. psychoanalyst and writer, born in Saint Paul, Minnesota (d. 2001)Psychiatry / PsychologyWikipedia
  7. 1921Marianne Grunberg-ManagoRussian-French biochemist and academic (died 2013)Medical scientistWikipedia
  8. 1927Jesse Leonard Steinfeld11th US Surgeon General (1969-73), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2014)Health leader / ActivistWikipedia
  9. 1933Joseph SonnabendSouth African physician, researcher, activist and co-founder of the AIDS Medical Foundation (Foundation for AIDS Research), born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 2021)Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  10. 1944Rolf M. ZinkernagelSwiss immunologist and Nobel laureate, born in Riehen, SwitzerlandMedical scientistWikipedia

Died on this day

6
  1. 1731Étienne François GeoffroyFrench physician and chemist (1718 affinity table), dies at 58Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  2. 1884Gregor MendelAustrian monk and geneticist (discoverer of laws of heredity), dies at 61 (1822-1884)Medical scientistWikipedia
  3. 1981A. J. CroninScottish writer (Citadel, Shining Victory), dies at 84Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  4. 1994Virginia Clinton Kelley (née Cassidy)American nurse anesthetist, and mother of President Bill Clinton, dies of breast cancer at 70Nurse / MidwifeOnThisDay
  5. 2014Julian RotterAmerican psychologist and academic (born 1916)Psychiatry / PsychologyWikipedia
  6. 2026Angella FergusonAmerican pediatrician known for developing a blood test to diagnose sickle cell in newborns, dies at 100Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay

Sources: onthisday.com and Wikipedia's “On this day” (text under CC BY-SA 4.0), screened for medical relevance. Each entry links to its source.