I would like to know what the rhesus monkey has to do with blood type. Someone was telling me that it has to do with rh factor. But I would like to know if this is true and what is the connection all about. (I am definately skeptical about this)

One of the characteristics of blood is it's Rhesus factor or Rh factor. If you have this factor on the surface of your blood cells you are said to be Rh positive. If you don't, you are Rh negative. This factor was indeed named after the rhesus monkey where it was first identified by Karl Landsteiner in 1940.

The Rhesus System

good answer...can't add to it.

I can add one thing--Rh is most significant in pregnancy, particularly if the mother is Rh- adn the child Rh+. The mother then develops antibodies against the child (this doesn't happen in the first pregnancy--only subsequent ones). My father nearly died from this--he needed a blood transfusion and bone marrow transplant at birth, and had to be in an incubator for the first 6 months of his life (and he was born at 5 months 3 weeks--1 lb 1 oz).