Who conducted the first successful blood transfusion and what year did it occur?

The first successful blood transfusion was conducted by James Blundell in 1818. Blundell was a British obstetrician who recognized the potential of blood transfusions in treating conditions like postpartum hemorrhage. He experimented with different methods and successfully transfused blood from a husband to his wife, demonstrating that transfusions could save lives. This marked a significant advancement in medical practice, paving the way for future developments in transfusion medicine.

In contrast, Edward Jenner is known for developing the smallpox vaccine; Joseph Lister is celebrated for his work in antiseptic surgery; and William Harvey is best known for his discovery of the circulation of blood, which provided a theoretical foundation for understanding how blood functions in the body but did not involve actual transfusion techniques. Each of these individuals made crucial contributions to medicine, but their work did not specifically concern the success and practice of blood transfusion as Blundell's did.