Belgian immunologist Jules Bordet was awarded the 1919 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his "discoveries relating to immunity." Working from principles established by Pasteur and Behring, Bordet discovered hemolytic sera by recognizing that the introduction of red blood corpuscles into one animal from another animal brought about the formation of a specific antibody. This discovery led to important future immunity research, including Wasserman's test for syphilis. With Gengou, he also discovered the organism responsible for causing whopping cough in 1906. Bordet died on this date in 1961 at the age of 90.

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