Note: Among the least known of all celebrities despite their immense importance are our innovators and inventors. As a people, we could justly be criticized for showing far more interest in big muscles and big breasts than in big brains. Still, the individuals who appear below in this section of Celebrityblogsburg undeniably have gained celebrity among certain subsets of Americans. Presented here are a sample of men and women who are celebrated for one reputation-establishing invention or innovation, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Among the really important innovations since the end of World War II is the human heart transplant, a surgery first performed in 1967 in Pretoria by South African cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Christiaan Barnard.
Donor of the heart for this novel procedure was Denise Darvall, who was being kept alive by respirator. Her heart was transplanted into patient Louis Washkansky, who had been in an automobile accident.
Leading a large team of doctors and nurses, Dr. Barnard performed the operation successfully, although Washkansky died 18 days later of an infection. The second recipient of a transplanted human heart, Dr. Philip Bleiberg, lived for two years after his surgery.
Barnard was an ideal international celebrity. He was a handsome young doctor who appeared to like the attention from the media, and from such beautiful women celebrities as Gina Lollobrigida and and her screen rival Sophia Loren.
Barnard died in 2001 at age 78.
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