The space race goes into high gear when the Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, on October 4, 1957. The 184-pound satellite does little more than beep ...

October 8, 1958. External pacemakers, used to regulate heart rhythms since 1950, limited patient movement and provoked infection. Senning and engineer Rune Elmquist, at work on an implantable ...