The following represent major milestones in national organ and tissue donation and transplantation:

• 1668 First successful bone graft completed (bone from a dog's skull used to repair a defect in a human cranium)
• 1822 First fresh autograft (transplantation of tissue from
  one location on an individual's body to another)
• 1869 First fresh allograft (transplant from one individual
  to another) of skin
• 1906 First corneal transplant
• 1908 First cadaveric knee joint replacement
• 1911 First use of homologous vein tissue used in
  arterial reconstruction
• 1949 U.S. Navy establishes first U.S. tissue bank, in Bethesda, Md.
• 1954 First kidney transplant (brother to brother)
  performed, in Boston
• 1955 First fresh heart valve allograft put into
  descending aorta
• 1955 First frozen veinous allograft used for femoral
  artery bypass
• 1962 First fresh heart valve transplant in cadaveric position
  1963 First liver transplant, in Denver
• 1963 First lung transplant, Jackson, Miss.
• 1967 First heart transplant, Cape Town, South Africa
• 1968 Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, the first legislation pertaining to organ donation, is adopted
• 1969 First pancreas transplant, Minneapolis
• 1978 Introduction of Cyclosporin as a major immunosuppressant drug
• 1981 First heart/lung transplant, Palo Alto, Calif.
• 1984 National Transplant Act establishes National Task Force on Organ Transplantation, legislates federally funded centralized waiting list for organ recipients, outlaws buying and selling of organs, and mandates establishment of scientific registries to monitor transplant centers, organ procurement organizations, and hospitals
• 1985 Oregon, California, and New York become first states to pass Required Consent Laws, mandating that hospitals ensure that families of potential donors are offered the opportunity to donate
• 1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act amends Social Security Act to require all hospitals to adopt policies and procedures for identification of potential donors and notification to families of their option to donate
• 1998 Issued the National Organ and Tissue Donation
  Postage Stamp