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1492
1492
The first-ever recorded blood transfusion. Pope Innocent VIII had a stroke and then was given a transfusion of three young boys' blood. All people involved in the transfusion died. -
1658
The first successful blood transfusion involved two dogs and an IV made out of a pig's bladder and quill. This was the first groundbreaking start to the transfusion evolution. -
1665
Richard Lower was able to keep dogs alive with the same species of blood. This showed people this could be a genuine treatment if researched more. -
1667
First animal-to-human transfusion. A mentally ill man was given the blood of a calm sheep to cure his insanity. The man became very ill. This showed the inconsistency of different species transfusions. -
1795
Philip Syng Physick performed the very first transfusion using human blood. This was unsuccessful but showed lots of progress with research. -
1818
James Blundell bleed dogs until near death then would use the same species' blood to revive them. He continued transfusion research to process the process. -
1828
James Blundell invents the "Gravitor" and learns the importance of not getting air inside the veins and the importance of rapid injection to prevent coagulation. -
1873
The use of milk became normalized as a blood substitute. Physicians used milk from cows, goats, and humans. This caused many bad effects like headaches, chest pains, involuntary eye movements, and death. -
1884
Saline is much more common and is used instead of milk due to the effects. This is still used to this day. -
1900
Karl Landsteiner discovers blood types A, B, and C. C is later changed to O. This makes transfusions a lot safer. -
1902
Alfred Decastello and Adriano Struli added AB to blood typing which completes our blood typing chart. This makes transfusions extremely more safe and accurate. -
1907
Ludvig Hektoen creates the basic understanding to cross-match receiver and donor. This makes transfusions more limited but a lot more successful and safe. -
1908
Reuben Ottenberg performs the first transfusion using blood typing and cross-matching. This made transfusions very successful. -
1914
Long-term anticoagulants and sodium citrate were discovered to make blood last longer. This lets blood for transfusions last longer in transportation and storage.