36 years ago: Implant history was made in Australia

On June 4, 1987, 4-year-old Holly McDonell (now Holly Taylor) of Sydney, Australia became the first child to receive a commercial multi-channel cochlear implant system (Nucleus made by Cochlear, LTD).

McDonell became profoundly deaf from a bout with bacterial meningitis. Holly still has her original implant and had several sound processor upgrades.