October 18

1952 – Newspaper "The New York Times" reports that a mechanical heart was used for the first time to maintain the blood circulation of a 41-year-old man during an 80-minute operation on his heart.
1962 – Drs. Watson, Crick and Wilkins win the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for their work in determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
1963 – "Félicette," a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space.
1967 – Probe Venera 4 reaches Venus, and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
2019 – NASA Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch take part in the first all-female spacewalk on board the International Space Station.