December 23, 1954: Surgeons Joseph Murray, John Merrill and J. Hartwell Harrison -- left to right, top row in this photo -- perform the world's 1st successful kidney transplantation, at Brigham Hospital in Boston, between identical twins Richard J. Herrick (seated at left) and Ronald Richard Herrick. Identical twins were chosen because of the reduced risk of organ rejection.
The recipient, Richard Herrick, died 8 years after the transplantation, due to complications with the donor kidney that were unrelated to the transplant. Ronald became a teacher, and lived until 2010.
Merrill, who became known as "The Father of Nephrology," the study of the kidney, lived until 1984. Harrison, who had a similar role in the advancement of urology, the study of the urinary system, also died in 1984. He was a member of the Harrison political family of Virginia, which produced a Signer of the Declaration of Independence and 2 Presidents.
In 1990, Murray was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for pioneering work not only in transplant surgery, but also in organ rejection and the drugs that fight it. He lived until 2012.
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December 23, 1954 was a Thursday. The only major character on the TV show The West Wing whose specific birthdate was mentioned was Toby Ziegler, the White House Press Secretary, who was said to be born on that day.
Baseball was out of season. No college football bowl games were played on the day. The NFL Championship Game was played 3 days later, and the Cleveland Browns beat the Detroit Lions, 56-10. No games were scheduled for the NHL.
There was 1 game played in the NBA: The Fort Wayne Pistons beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 92-82 at Huntingburg High School in Huntingburg, Indiana. The school was renamed Southridge High School in 1972. This was nowhere near Fort Wayne: 254 miles to the southwest. It was nowhere near anything: 130 miles southwest of Indianapolis, 77 miles west of Louisville, 53 miles northeast of Evansville. Why there? Among people still alive today, who knows?
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