The history of the IEEE EMBS runs hand in hand with the history of Biomedical Engineering both as a scientific discipline and as a profession. The conferences and publications led by IEEE EMBS, amongst other activities were a mirror of the evolution of Biomedical Engineering over the years and they equally contributed to shape Biomedical Engineering as we view it today. The IEEE EMBS provides a testimony of how a broad and diverse scientific community that comes from many diverse areas such as medicine, engineering, physics and chemistry and shares common purposes and interests can successfully work under the same designation of biomedical engineers. This account is a review of the history of Biomedical Engineering and the development of the IEEE EMBS since the inception of its predecessors, the AIEE Committee on Electrical Techniques in Medicine and Biology and the IRE Professional Group in Medical Electronics.