1908 → Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana
1928 → Entered medical school at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
1932 → Developed roller pump used in heart-lung machine
1937 → Joined faculty at Tulane University
1942 → Assigned to U.S. Surgeon General's office
1945 → Awarded Legion of Merit for developing MASH units
1948 → Moved to Houston and started at The Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine
1949 → Led movement to establish National Library of Medicine
1952 → Performed the first successful removal of a
blockage of the carotid artery, which
establishes the field of surgical treatment of stroke.
1950-53 → Developed Dacron artificial grants for cardiac bypass surgery
1953 → Performed first removal of blockage in carotid artery
1956 → Performed first patch-graft angioplasty
1959 → Received Distinguished Service Award from American Medical Association
1960 → Began development of artificial heart
1963 → Was first to use interactive telemedicine
1964 → Performed first aorto-coronary artery bypass
1964 → Appointed chairman of President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke
1966 → Was first to successfully use an artificial heart
1968 → Performed first of 12 heart transplants
1968 → Directs the first multiple organ transplants of a heart, one lung and both
kidneys from one donor to four recipients
1969 → Appointed president of Baylor College of Medicine
1969 → Presented with the Medal of Freedom with Distinction
1977 → Authored "The Living Heart"
1978 → The Michael E. DeBakey Center for Biomedical Education and Research created
1984 → Authored "The Living Diet"
1985 → The DeBakey Heart Center created
1987 → Awarded the National Medicine of Science
1991 → Given Lifetime Achievement Award of the Foundation for Biomedical Research
1993 → Received Honorary Doctorate from Moscow State University
1996 → Inducted into Health Care Hall of Fame
1996 → Serves as consultant for surgery of Russian president Boris Yeltsin
1998 → Celebrates 50 years at Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital
1998 → Appears live on NBC-TV's "Today" performing surgery with Dr. George Noon
1998 → DeBakey VAD developed with NASA implanted in first patients in Germany and Austria
1999 → Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from United Nations
2000 → Cited as Living Legend by U.S. Library of Congress
2000 → Named honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, first foreign physician to receive this honor
2000 → Surgeons at The Methodist Hospital implant first MicroMed DeBakey VAD in an American patient.
2002 → The MicroMed DeBakey VAD earns the NASA "Commercial Invention of the Year" award.
2003 → Given the American Heart Association Lifetime Achievement Award
2004 → Veterans Affairs Medical Center named in his honor
2008 → Received the Congressional Gold Medal
Source: The Methodist Hospital [1]
More on Dr. DeBakey:
Read our exclusive story on Dr. DeBakey's memorial service » [1]
Photo gallery of Dr. DeBakey's memorial service » [1]