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The first successful human-to-human organ transplant took place in 1954. A kidney was transplanted from Ronald Herrick into his identical twin, Richard.

Organ transplants between twins were successful because their bodies did not reject the organ. In 1961 researchers developed Azathioprine, a rejection inhibitor which increased the odds of successful organ transplants.

In 1967 doctors successfully transplanted first human liver in Colorado. Later in the year, the first successful heart transplant took place in South Africa. The patient lived 18 days.

Although we usually associate the first artificial heart transplant with Barney Clark in 1982, doctors first transplanted a mechanical heart in 1969 as a bridge for transplant. No permanent artificial heart exists today but patients can receive a government-approved bridge device called the AbioCor.

Today, more than 16,000 kidneys transplants take place each year, making it the most common kind of organ transplant. Kidneys were also the first organs to be successfully transplanted.

Organs taken from deceased people are called cadaveric organs--but they are usually harvested from donors who are brain dead and on artificial life support.

Living donors can give kidneys and livers because we're born with two kidneys and the liver is regenerative.