Bloody Marvellous

On this day in 1914, Belgian doctor Albert Hustin conducted the first successful non-direct blood transfusion, though prior to this, doctors, scientists and passing lunatics were always trying to cram in or yank out plasma from unfortunate human beings. For centuries, physicians had experimented with using animal blood on their human patients, leading to their fast and inevitable death. Which makes you wonder why they kept trying. It wasn’t until the early 20th Century that pioneers like Hustin realised that human blood might be a slightly better option.