1895-1976. Danish biochemist who discovered 
vitamin K. For his success in this field he 
shared the 1943 Nobel Prize for Medicine with 
Edward Doisy. In 1928 Dam began a series of
experiments to see if chickens could live on
a cholesterol-free diet. The birds, it turned
out, were able to metabolize their own
supply. Yet they continued to die from
spontaneous haemorrhages. Dam concluded that
their diet lacked an unknown essential
ingredient, which he eventually found in
abundance in green leaves. As it controlled
coagulation, Dam named the new compound
vitamin K.