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Herophilus, the first Greek anatomist to openly dissect a human, predicted that veins were thinner than arteries, and that arteries carried blood.
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Egyptian physician and author Ibn al-Nafis discovers the flow of blood to and from the lungs, or what is described as pulmonary circulation. This discovery's date is uncertain, but was sometime during the mid 1200's
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Pope Innocent was transfused with the blood of three ten-year old boys by mouth as he sank into a coma. All four of the participants died. The operation was ultimately considered unsuccessful.
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Michael Servetus theorizes that blood flows from one side of the heart to the other through the lungs, not through the wall between the ventricles, This refuted Galen's theory.
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Paduan anatomist Fabricius publishes his work, "On the Valves in Veins, featuring the first drawings of vein valves.
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William Harvey publishes his piece called "Anatomical Treatise on the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals." In it, he explains how the blood is pumped by the heart in order to circulate within the body.
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British physician William Harvey explains that blood is pumped by the heart and circulate throughout the body. Harvey experiments on animals and on the surface veins of arms of living subjects.
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Using a microscope, Dutch biologist Jan Swammerdam observes red blood cells for the first time.
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Marcello Malphighi discovers the Capillary System using a rudimentary microscope. This is a system of vessels that connect veins and arteries.
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Jean-Baptiste Denis gives the first blood transfusion to a teenage boy suffering from a persistent fever. He gave him nine ounces of lamb's blood. He attached the lamb's carotid artery to a vein in the boy's forearm.
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Because of the lack of knowledge of sanitary conditions, many things went wrong during blood transfusions around this time, which led to suing. The French Parliament banned the practice and the ban later went on to other countries, like England.
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Anton van Leeuwenhoek predicted the red blood cell to be roughly 25,000 times smaller than a grain of sand, a much more precise description.
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William Hewson explains his research on blood coagulation which includes his success at arresting clotting and isolating a substance from plasma he names the "coagulable lymph."
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James Blundell performs the first published human blood transfusion. The patient, after showing signs of improvement, died :D
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Sir William Osler observes that cell fragments from the bone marrow make up the clots formed in blood vessels; these cell fragments will eventually be called platelets.
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Egyptians use bloodletting as a medical treatment. It was believed that illness was caused from having too much blood and that letting it out would cure many forms of discontent.
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Karl Landsteiner publishes a paper where he details his discovery of the 3 main blood types, A, B, C. (Later renamed "O")
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Alfred Von Becastello and Adriano Sturli discover the 4th blood group, AB blood..
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Ruben Otenburg performs the first transfusion using cross matching, or when you check the blood of donors and recipients for signs of compatibility
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Albert Hustin and Luis Agote discover that adding sodium citrate to blood will prevent it from thickening.
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J.R. Turner creates a solution that allows blood to be stored for weeks and still be used successfully for a transfusion.
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Dr. Oswald Robertson has the first blood depot. He collects and stores type O blood.
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Percy Oliver operates a blood donor service in his own home. He hires volunteers and has some on call twenty four hours a day in case blood is needed quickly.
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Soviets come up with several ways of collecting and storing blood, which get used for Blood Transfusions in hospitals.
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During this time period, many blood banks, or places where blood was stored for the purpose of transfusions, sprung up. They emerged throughout the world.
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Dr. Serge Yudin was the first to test the use of the blood from a cadaver.Also, the soviets are the first to create a network where they store blood for transfusions.
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A group of anasthesiologists are the first to store and use citrated blood in blood transfusions.
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Karl Landsteiner and Alexander Weiner experiment with the blood of Rhesus monkeys and discover the Rh blood group.
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Red Cross gathers civilians to donate blood plasma for those at war.
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Dr. Carl W. Walter uses plastic bags for the storage of blood, a much more sanitary alternative than using glass.
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Hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells, was identified by Dr. Max Perutz using X-ray crystallography.
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Dr. Judith Pool studied slowly thawed frozen plasma and discovered that the plasma had higher clotting power than regular plasma.
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A disease named GRID, later changed to AIDS, is discovered and is highly prevalent among gay men.
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Dr. Bruce Evatt believes that the disease prevalent among homosexual men, GRID, is bloodborne.
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Blood can be tested for HIV with a "heat-treated" factor available, making it safe to receive blood without fear of contracting the HIV virus.
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Robert Gallo discovers the virus that causes AIDS, HIV.