July 26 – On This Day in Medical History
Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with July 26.
Events
July 26, 1881– William Stewart Halsted (1852-1922) performed one of the earliest recorded human-to-human blood transfusions in the United States. While visiting his sister Minnie in Albany, New York, he found her critically ill from postpartum haemorrhage. With no time to spare, Halsted drew blood from his own arm using a syringe and injected it directly into hers. He later recounted:
After checking the hemorrhage, I transfused my sister with blood drawn into a syringe from one of my veins and injected immediately into one of hers. This was taking a great risk but she was so nearly moribund that I ventured it and with prompt results.
Births
1904 – Marino Ortolani (1904-1983), Italian pediatrician; described the Ortolani sign and test (1936)
Deaths
1868 – Heinrich Adolf Rinne (1819-1868), German otologist; described Rinne test (1834)
Further reading
- Halsted Letters. Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. 1952
BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Passion for rugby; medical history; medical education; and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Co-founder and CTO of Life in the Fast lane | On Call: Principles and Protocol 4e| Eponyms | Books |