| 1500 | First reported successful Cesarean section (mother and child surviving). | Jacob Nufer |
| 1701 | First successful ovariotomy. | Robert Houstoun |
| 1795 | Pueperal sepsis first proposed to be due to infectious contagion as a result of observational, epidemiologic study in Aberdeen, Scotland. | Alexander Gordon |
| 1809 | First ovarian cystectomy (Danville, Kentucky). | Ephraim McDowell |
| 1812 | First recorded vaginal hysterectomy (performed accidentally and unplanned). | Palletta |
| 1813 | First modern, documented total vaginal hysterectomy (though certainly not the first). | C.J.M. Langenbeck |
| 1825 | First ever blood transfusion, performed for postpartum hemorrhage. | James Blundell |
| 1827 | Fetal heart tone auscultated for the first time. | John Creery Ferguson |
| 1833 | First detailed account of fetal heart tones made. | Evory Kennedy |
| 1843 | First abdominal hysterectomy (the patient died). | Charles Clay |
| 1846 | Ether first administered to a woman in labor. | Crawford Williamson Long |
| 1847 | Puerperal fever shown to be caused by infectious contagion through interventional trial proving that it could be prevented. | Ignaz Semmelweis |
| 1847 | Chloroform first used as an anesthetic, used during labor. | James Young Simpson |
| 1849 | Vesicovaginal fistula successfully treated with surgery. | J. Marion Sims |
| June, 1853 | First successful adbominal hysterectomy (Lowell, Massachusetts) | Walter Burnham |
| Sept., 1853 | First successful, planned abdominal hysterectomy (Lowell, Massachusetts) | Gilman Kimbell |
| 1866 | First human artificial insemination. | J. Marion Sims |
| 1869 | First operative hysteroscopy performed. | D. Commander Pantaleoni |
| 1872 | First oopherectomy for sepsis. | Robert Lawson Tait |
| 1872 | First bilateral oopherectomy for menorrhagia. | Robert Lawson Tait |
| 1876 | First successful Cesarean-Hysterectomy. | Edoardo Porro |
| 1878 | First cholecystotomy (patient died). | J. Marion Sims |
| 1879 | First successful cholecystotomy. | Robert Lawson Tait |
| 1880 | First removal of hydatid cust. | Robert Lawson Tait |
| 1880 | First appendectomy for acute appendicitis. | Robert Lawson Tait |
| 1882 | Classical Cesarean Section technique (including closing myotomy) first described. | Max Sänger |
| 1883 | First successful salpingectomy for ectopic pregnancy. | Robert Lawson Tait |
| 1890 | First successful series of vaginal cesarean sections reported. | Alfred Duhrssen |
| 1894 | Use of rubber gloves in surgery popularized. | Hunter Robb (Gyn.) |
| 1898 | First successful radical abdominal hysterectomy for cervical cancer. | Ernst Wertheim |
| 1900 | Transverse skin and fascial incision reported. | Hermann Pfannenstiel (Gyn.) |
| 1900 | Spinal anesthesia first used in labor. | Oskar Kreis (Ob.) |
| 1901 | Epidural anesthesia first used in labor. | Walter Stoeckel (Ob.) |
| 1901 | First successful laparoscopy performed (through incision in vaginal fornix). | Dimitri Oh (Gyn.) |
| 1921 | Lower uterine segment incision for cesarean section shown to be superior. | John Martin Munro Kerr |
| 1936 | Sulphonamides first used to treat puerperal fever in Queen Charlotte’s Hospital. | Leonard Colebrook |
| 1941 | First screening test for cancer introduced (for cervical cancer). | Geroge Nicholas Papanicolau |
| 1942 | Penicillin first used successfully in a human patient, Anne Miller, to treat septic abortion. | Orvan Hess (Ob.) |
| 1943 | Clinical efficacy and pharmicokinetics of Penicillin established (originally for treatment of syphilis). | Wallace E. Herrell |
| 1944 | Modern laparoscopy technique introduced (insufflation, Trendelenburg position, etc.). | Raoul Palmer (Gyn.) |
| 1953 | Oxytocin synthesized (the first posterior pituitary hormone synthesized) | Vincent du Vigneaud |
| 1958 | Ultrasound developed (originally for obstetric use). | Ian Donald |
| 1958 | First solid tumor cured by chemotherapy (choriocarcinoma, methotrexate). | Hertz and Li |
| 1960 | Automatic insufflator invented for laparoscopy. | Kurst Semm (Gyn.) |
| 1978 | In vitro fertilization first performed successfully. | Patrick Christopher Steptoe |
| 1987 | First laparascopic cholecystectomy performed (during a gynecologic laparoscopy). | Philippe Mouret |
