Health & biology · 1901

Blood types

Karl Landsteiner discovered the A, B and O groups, explaining why transfusions often killed.

Landsteiner's 1901 finding made safe, cross-matched transfusion possible, first used successfully in 1907. Blood banking followed in the 1930s, and it underpins modern surgery and trauma care.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 1

Cell theory 1839

What it led to 2

Organ transplant 1954
Monoclonal antibodies 1974

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Maternal mortality in the UK since 1847 Latest: 9.84 deaths per 100,000 births (2020) Source: Our World in Data

Life expectancy in the UK since 1543 Latest: 81.3 years (2023) Source: Our World in Data