Final answer:
The first successful version of a tank respirator, also known as an iron lung, was developed by Drinker and Shaw at Harvard University in the 1920s.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first successful version of a tank respirator, commonly known as the iron lung, was developed by Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw at Harvard University in the 1920s. It was an essential piece of medical equipment used to help patients with paralyzed chest muscles to breathe. This invention significantly improved the treatment of poliomyelitis (polio), particularly during epidemics when many patients experienced respiratory paralysis.