1557
First report of ruptured aorta
Vesalius, Italy
Vesalius  described the case of a patient who died of a ruptured aorta after being thrown from a horse.

1913
First successful repair of penetrating injury to thoracic aorta
Djanelidze, YY (2.8.1883 - 14.1.1950)
Yustin Y. Djanelidze successfully repaired a penetrating injury to the intra-pericardial ascending aorta in St Petersberg, Russia on 27th October 1913.

The patient, a 20-year-old man, had been brought into the emergency room with multiple stab wounds in his head, chest, and right arm. There were no signs of pneumothorax or cardiac tamponade. The patient was initially stable, and the wounds were closed in standard fashion. However, 2 hours later, the patient developed arrhythmia, tachypnea, cardiac tamponade, and progressive rapid hemodynamic deterioration, and the decision was made to operate.

There was a 3-cm stab wound at the 1st intercostal space left of the sternum, which Djanelidze extended down 12 cm, parallel to the sternum. He removed the second rib, transected the cartilage of the 3rd rib, and ligated the left internal thoracic artery. The pericardium was opened, and a large amount of fresh blood was evacuated. A wound, 8 mm in length, was found on the ascending aorta about 1 cm from its origin at the heart. Djanelidze repaired this wound with 3 interrupted sutures. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and he was discharged 30 days after surgery. Djanelidze presented the patient at the meeting of the Russian Surgical Society in November 1913.

Lilienthal H. Thoracic surgery: the surgical treatment of thoracic diseases. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1925:489

First aortic repair, 1913