History of Blood

  • Jan 1, 1200

    Eminent Cairo

    First discovery of pulmonary circulation or the flow of blood to and from the lungs.
  • Fabricius

    First drawing of vein valves.
  • Jan Swammerdam

    Jan Swammerdam
    First person to observwe red blood cells.
  • Marcello Malpighi

    first time the capillary system was observed.
  • Richard Lawer

    Richard Lawer performed the first blood transfusion in animals. The eventually led to blood transfusions in humans.
  • Jean-Baptiste Denis

    Jean-Baptiste Denis
    Transfuses teenage boy with lambs blood. Procedure used multiple times with no harm caused until one death.
  • Anton van Leeuwenhoek

    Anton van Leeuwenhoek
    More precise description of the red blood cell. He is able to approximate the size of the cells.
  • William Hewson

    William Hewson
    Publishes book on blood coagulation and his success at arresting clotting.
  • Philip Syng Physick

    Philip Syng Physick
    First unpublished human to human blood transfusion. He doesnt recieve credit.
  • James Blundell

    James Blundell
    First recorded human-human blood transfusion.
  • William Osler

    Discovery that small cell fragments from the bone marrow make up the majority of clots formed in blood vessels;these cells are later called platelets.
  • Karl Landsteiner

    Karl Landsteiner
    Discovery of the three major types of blood: A, B, and C. Finds that different blood types cannot mix.
  • Alfred von Decastello and Adriano Sturli

    Fourth type of blood, type AB, discovered.
  • Dr. Ludvig Hektoen

    First to propose testing donors blood prior to transfusion.
  • Reuben Ottenberg

    First transfusion using cross matching, and over the next several years virtually eliminates transfusion reactions.
  • Albert Hustin

    Albert Hustin
    Adding sodium to blood will prevent it from clotting.
  • Richard Weil

    Citrated blood can be refrigerated for a few days before transfusion.
  • Richard Lewisohn

    The optimum concentration of sodium citrate is formulated that can be mixed with donor blood to prevent coagulation.
  • Francis Peyton Rous and J.R. Turner

    A solution of citrate-glucose is created to help preserve blood for a few weeks before transfusions.
  • Oswald Robertson

    Oswald Robertson
    First blood depot.
  • Percy Lane Oliver

    Begins running a blood donor service out of his house.
  • Soviets

    Soviets are the first to establish facilities that collect and store blood for use in transfusions at hospitals.
  • Dr. Serge Yudin

    First to perform a blood transfusion with cadaver blood.
  • Mayo Clinic

    Anesthesiologists in Rochester first to begin storing citrated blood and utilizing it for transfusions within hospitals.
  • Federico Duran-Jorda

    Established blood transfusion service that collects, tests, and stores blood to be shipped during the Spanish Civil War.
  • Bernard Fantus

    Bernard Fantus
    Coins the term "blood bank.''
  • Karl Landsteiner and Alexander Wiener

    Discover Rh blood group.
  • Max Perutz

    Max Perutz
    First able to unravel the structure of hemoglobin, the protein within red blood cells that carries oxygen.
  • Elliot Richardson

    Elliot Richardson
    The responsibility of regulating the blood banking industry is transfered from the Divisions of Biologics Standars to the Food and Drug Administration.
  • AIDS

    AIDS
    The first case of Gay-releated immunodeficiency (GRID), now known as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)< is discovered.
  • Bruce Evatt

    Bruce Evatt
    Discovers that AIDS is a blood borne disease.
  • AIDS Virus

    AIDS Virus
    The virus causing AIDS is isolated and labled lymphadenopathy-associated virus.
  • Robert Gallo

    Robert Gallo
    The virus that causes AIDS is identified and called HTLV III (human T-cell lymphotropic virus)
  • The ELISA Test

    The ELISA Test
    After multiple Americans have been diagnosed with AIDS after blood transfusions, the ELISA test, the first blood-screening test, is licensed by the US government to detect the presence of HIV antibodies.
  • Screening Tests

    A series of more sensative blood-screening test are created to test for diseases in donated blood.