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Jul 20, 1200
Pulmonary Circulation discovered
Ibn al-Nafis discovers the blood flow that goes to and from the lungs. -
Period: Jul 20, 1200 to
Blood History
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Feb 18, 1553
Michael Servetus is burned at the stake
Michael Servetus suggests that blood flows from one side of the heart to the other via the lungs contrary to Galens theory of it going through the wall between the ventricles. He gets burned at the stake as a heretic for denying the Trinity. -
Feb 18, 1555
Andreas Vesalius publishes DE FABRICA
The Italian Andreas Vesalius publishes his seventh volume work detailing human anatomy, DE FABRICA. -
ON THE VALVES IN VEINS
Fabricius, the anatomist from Padua, publishes his work ON THE VALVES IN VEINS, featuring the first drawings of vein valves -
ANATOMICAL TREATISE ON THE MOVEMENT OF THE HEART AND BLOOD IN ANIMALS is published
William Harvey publishes EXERCITATIO ANATOMICA DE MOTU CORDIS ET SANGUINIS IN ANIMALIBUS in which he explains that blood circulates within the body and is pumped by the heart. -
First person observes and describes red blood cells
Jan Swammerdam, a 21-year-old Dutch microscopist, is the first person to observe and describe red blood cells -
Marcello Malpighi observes the capillary system
Italian anatomist Marcello Malpighi observes the capillary system, the network of fine vessels that connect the arteries and the veins. -
Richard Lower performs the first recorded blood transfusion in animals
In England, Richard Lower connects the jugular vein of a dog he's bled to the neck artery of second dog, resuscitating the former. -
Jean-Baptiste Denis transfuses a teenage boy suffering from a persistent fever with nine ounces of lamb's blood
French physician Jean-Baptiste Denis attaches the lamb's carotid artery to a vein in the boy's forearm, without the patient suffering any negative consequences. He then starts to use the same procedure on other patients. -
Arthur Coga recieves a transfusion of sheeps blood
Drs. Richard Lower and Edmund King give Arthur Coga a transfusion of several ounces of sheep's blood for a fee of 20 shillings -
Dr. Denis sues Antoine Mauroy's widow
Dr Denis sues Antoine Mauroy's widow for slandering his reputation. The case precipitates the French Parliament's ban on all transfusions involving humans. -
Anton van Leeuwenhoek provides a precise description of red blood cells
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch linen draper turned microscopist, provides a more precise description of red blood cells, even approximating their size, "25,000 times smaller than a fine grain of sand." -
EXPERIMENTAL ENQUIRY INTO THE PROPERTIES OF THE BLOOD
British anatomist William Hewson details his research on blood coagulation, including his success at arresting clotting and isolating a substance from plasma he dubs "coagulable lymph." -
First human-to-human blood transfusion
Philadelphia physician Philip Syng Physick performs the first human-to-human blood transfusion -
First recorded human-to-human blood transfusion
British obstetrician and physiologist James Blundell uses a syringe to inject a patient suffering from internal bleeding with 12 to 14 ounces of blood from several donors. -
Discovery of platelets
Sir William Osler observes that small cell fragments from the bone marrow make up the bulk of clots formed in blood vessels. They are later named platelets. -
Karl Landsteiner discovers the three blood groups
Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner publishes a paper detailing his discovery of the three main human blood groups -- A, B, and C, which he later changes to O. -
Alfred von Decastello and Adriano Sturli identify a fourth blood group
Dr. Landsteiner's colleagues Alfred von Decastello and Adriano Sturli identify a fourth blood group AB -
First transfusion using cross matching
Dr. Reuben Ottenberg performs the first transfusion using cross matching, and over the next several years successfully uses the procedure in 128 cases -
Discovery that sodium citrate in the blood will prevent it from clotting
Albert Hustin of Brussels and Luis Agote of Buenos Aires discover that adding sodium citrate to blood will prevent it from clotting -
Prevention of coagulation
Dr. Richard Lewisohn formulates the optimum concentration of sodium citrate that can be mixed with donor blood to prevent coagulation, but pose no danger to the recipient -
Blood can be stored for a few days
Dr. Richard Weil determines that citrated blood can be refrigerated and stored for a few days and then successfully transfused. -
Blood can be stored for a few weeks
Francis Peyton Rous and J.R. Turner develop a citrate-glucose solution that allows blood to be stored for a few weeks after collection and still remain viable for transfusion. -
First blood depot established
Dr. Oswald Robertson collects and stores type O blood, with citrate-glucose solution, in advance of the arrival of casualties during the Battle of Cambrai in World War I. Thereby, he establishes the first blood depot. -
Percy Lane Oliver begins operating a blood donor service
Percy Lane Oliver begins operating a blood donor service. He recruits volunteers who agree to be on 24-hour call and to travel to local hospitals to give blood as the need arises. -
First tests for transfusing humans with cadaver blood
Dr. Serge Yudin is the first to test the efficacy of transfusing humans with cadaver blood. He successfully resuscitates a young man who's slashed both his wrists attempting suicide by injecting him with 420 cc of blood from a cadaver of a 60-year-old man. -
The Spanish-Canadian Blood Transfusion Instituteis founded
Canadian surgeon Dr. Norman Bethune, a volunteer with the leftist forces in the Spanish Civil War, organizes The Spanish-Canadian Blood Transfusion Institute. -
Barcelona Blood-Transfusion Service is established
Federico Duran-Jorda establishes the Barcelona Blood-Transfusion Service. The service collects blood, tests it, pools it by blood group, preserves and stores it in bottles under refrigeration, and by way of vehicles fitted with refrigerators, transports it to front line hospitals during the Spanish Civil War. -
Dr. Bernard Fantus coins the term "blood bank"
Dr. Bernard Fantus coins the term "blood bank" to describe the blood donation, collection, and preservation facility -
Unknown antibody in the blood discovered
Drs. Philip Levine and R.E. Stetson uncover an unknown antibody in the blood of a woman who's given birth to a stillborn, and postulate that a factor in the blood of the fetus, inherited from the father, triggers the antibody production in the mother. -
Rh blood group discovered
Drs. Karl Landsteiner and Alexander Wiener discover the Rh blood group, through experiments with the red blood cells of Rhesus monkeys, and identify the antibody found by Levine and Steston to be anti-Rh. -
Blood plasma is discovered as a substitute for blood
U.S. organizes the Plasma of Britain campaign, run by Dr. Charles Drew in New York which he developed to separate and preserve blood plasma, which he finds to be a viable substitute for whole blood, Dr. Drew devises a modern and highly sterile system to process, test, and store plasma for shipment overseas by the Red Cross. -
Red Cross organizes blood donor service
The American Red Cross agrees to organize a civilian blood donor service to collect blood plasma for the war effort. The Red Cross collects over 13 million units of blood over the course of the war. -
American association of Blood Banks is formed
Directors of independent, community blood banks join together to form a national network of blood banks called the American Association of Blood Banks.
