The first doctor known by name was Imhotep of Egypt (2650 BCE).

The first surgical procedure was trepanation over 10,000 years ago.

The first pharmacy was established in Baghdad in the 8th century.

The first medical text was the Edwin Smith Papyrus from ancient Egypt.

The first recorded dental work dates back to 7000 BCE in India.

The first prosthetic limb was a wooden toe found in ancient Egypt.

The first use of stitches was documented in ancient India.

The first organized hospitals appeared in ancient India and Rome.

The first herbal remedies were used in China over 5,000 years ago.

The first pulse diagnosis was developed in traditional Chinese medicine.

The first description of blood circulation was by Ibn al-Nafis in 1242.

The first microscope used for medicine was by Leeuwenhoek in the 1600s.

The first identification of a pathogen was anthrax by Koch in 1876.

The first anesthesia used in surgery was ether in 1846.

The first antiseptic technique was developed by Joseph Lister in 1865.

The first X-ray was taken by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895.

The first MRI scan was developed in the 1970s.

The first CAT scan was performed in 1971.

The first discovery of a virus was Tobacco Mosaic Virus in 1892.

The first understanding of DNA structure came in 1953 by Watson & Crick.

The first vaccine was for smallpox by Edward Jenner in 1796.

The first antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered by Fleming in 1928.

The first insulin therapy was given to a diabetic patient in 1922.

The first chemotherapy treatment began in the 1940s.

The first HIV treatment was AZT, approved in 1987.

The first polio vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk in 1955.

The first malaria treatment came from quinine bark.

The first modern birth control pill was introduced in 1960.

The first COVID-19 vaccine was approved in 2020.

The first cancer immunotherapy was approved in 2010.

The first full dissection of the human body was done in ancient Greece.

The first anatomical drawings were by Leonardo da Vinci.

The first artificial heart was implanted in 1982.

The first pacemaker was implanted in 1958.

The first successful heart transplant was in 1967 by Dr. Barnard.

The first face transplant was done in France in 2005.

The first hand transplant was performed in 1998.

The first full-body CT scan was done in the 1970s.

The first 3D-printed organ prototype was made in 2010.

The first robotic surgery system was introduced in 2000.

The first psychiatric hospital was built in Baghdad in 705 CE.

The first use of electroshock therapy was in the 1930s.

The first antidepressant was iproniazid in the 1950s.

The first diagnosis of schizophrenia was made in the 1800s.

The first psychological lab was founded by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879.

The first lobotomy was performed in 1935.

The first use of talk therapy was by Freud in the late 1800s.

The first use of brain imaging in psychology began in the 1980s.

The first autism diagnosis was by Leo Kanner in 1943.

The first PTSD diagnosis was after World War I, called “shell shock.”

The first recorded childbirth assistance was by midwives in ancient Egypt.

The first caesarean section where mother and child survived was in 1500s.

The first neonatal incubator was developed in the 1880s.

The first maternity hospital was established in Paris in 1630.

The first HPV vaccine was approved in 2006.

The first in-vitro fertilization baby was born in 1978.

The first ultrasound for pregnancy was used in the 1950s.

The first breast cancer surgery was performed in the 1800s.

The first contraceptive device was used in ancient Egypt.

The first mammogram was developed in the 1960s.

The first public hospital was built in Sri Lanka in 4th century BCE.

The first ambulance service began in Paris in the 1790s.

The first health insurance system was started in Germany in 1883.

The first nursing school was founded by Florence Nightingale in 1860.

The first quarantine laws were enforced in Venice during plague outbreaks.

The first health department was formed in the U.S. in 1798.

The first pandemic response system emerged during the Black Death.

The first electronic health record system was created in the 1960s.

The first medical robot used in hospitals was PUMA 560.

The first AI doctor assistant was IBM Watson Health in 2011.

The first laser surgery was performed in 1960.

The first transplant of a pig heart to a human was in 2022.

The first organ grown from stem cells was in 2006.

The first bionic eye implant was in 2011.

The first gene therapy trial was in 1990.

The first blood bank was established in 1936.

The first cochlear implant was done in the 1980s.

The first wearable insulin pump came in the 1970s.

The first exoskeleton-assisted walk happened in the 2010s.

The first wearable ECG device was introduced in the 2010s.

The first health campaign was for cholera in the 1800s.

The first medical charity was Médecins Sans Frontières in 1971.

The first global pandemic was the Plague of Justinian in 541 CE.

The first WHO disease eradication was smallpox in 1980.

The first AIDS awareness day was held in 1988.

The first health law was the Public Health Act in 1848 in Britain.

The first public handwashing campaign was by Semmelweis in 1847.

The first health emoji was 🩺 added in 2020.

The first pandemic vaccine passport appeared in 2021.

The first pandemic lockdown happened in Wuhan in 2020.

The first female physician was Merit-Ptah of ancient Egypt.

The first modern nurse was Florence Nightingale.

The first Black doctor in the U.S. was James McCune Smith in 1837.

The first woman to earn a medical degree was Elizabeth Blackwell in 1849.

The first Indigenous surgeon in Canada was Dr. Peter Bryce.

The first Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Emil von Behring in 1901.

The first blind medical graduate was David Hartman in 1976.

The first gender-confirmation surgery was performed in the 1930s.

The first transgender surgeon was Dr. Marci Bowers.

The first deaf doctor in the U.S. was Dr. Philip Zazove.

The first CRISPR gene-edited babies were born in 2018.

The first lab-grown meat was eaten in 2013 for health sustainability.