Daniel Hale Williams: First successful open-heart surgery - Episode 97

Stevie Wonder’s 1976 album, Songs in the Key of Life, contains a tribute to the black pioneers of humanity in a song titled, Black Man.  Within the lyrics of that song are the following words:

Open heart surgery – was first done successfully - by a black man.

Stevie Wonder’s lyrics don’t mention the name of the black physician who performed the world’s first successful open-heart surgery, but there’s no question as to who he was.  He was Dr. Daniel Hale Williams who was born January 18, 1856 – well over 150 years ago.  And although he wasn’t the first to attempt open-heart surgery, he was the first, as Stevie Wonder points out, to have the patient able to talk about the surgery afterward.

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories. These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual. Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

Each podcast episode features one of the over 450 stories featured in Winterton’s Award-Winning* series, narrated by the author and his son, William Winterton.

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