28 December-Stan Lee

Stan Lee was a comic book writer and publisher who was a native of the USA. He was one of the creators of superheroes such as the Fantastic Four, The Avengers and Captain America. He later created several comic book characters including Spider-Man. Lee was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1995. He received the National Medal of Arts in 2008 from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Stan Lee was born Stanley Martin Lieber in New York City in 1922. Following graduation from high school in 1939 he joined a comic company. The company would eventually became Marvel Comics with Lee as editorial director and publisher. Marvel grew to become a multimedia corporation creating characters such as X-Men, the Hulk and Thor.

Stan Lee, comic book writer, publisher and creator of characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Hulk and Thor was born in the year 1922 On This Day.

Stan Lee

 

 

13 June-Hiccup World Record Holder

Charles Osborne was a native of America. He is entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the person who holds the record for the longest attack of hiccups. A hiccup is an involuntary spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm.

Charles Osborne was born in Anthon, Iowa in 1892. In 1922 he began hiccupping while attempting to weigh a pig on his family farm. He was unable to find a cure and continued to hiccup for 68 years. It is estimated that he hiccupped over 430 million times before stopping in February 1990.

Charles Osborne, who hiccupped for 68 years, hiccupped for the first time in the year 1922 On This Day.

Hiccups

 

11 January-Diabetes

Leonard Thompson was the first person to receive an injection of insulin for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes. He received the injection at Toronto General Hospital in 1922. Thompson was 14 years old at the time, weighed only about 30kg and was close to slipping into a diabetic coma. Frederick Banting was the physician who administered the insulin injection.

Frederick Banting had been carrying out research on diabetes at the University of Toronto. He had graduated with an MB in 1916 and served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps during World War I. He was wounded at Cambrai, France in 1918 and was later awarded the Military Cross. Banting returned to Canada after the War. He worked in various medical posts and continued his medical studies.

Banting was awarded an MD in 1922. He became interested in diabetes and was given facilities to carry out research at the University of Toronto. Following successful experiments on animals, Leonard Thompson’s father gave Banting permission to try the new drug for the first time. Thompson was at the time extremely ill but he recovered rapidly. The testing was quickly expanded to other people suffering from diabetes. The results were positive. The discovery by Banting has led to millions of people suffering from diabetes to lead almost normal lives.

Leonard Thompson was the first patient to receive insulin injections for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes in the year 1922 On This Day.

 

 

Frederick Banting photo

Banting House, Birthplace of Insulin, London, Ontario

Photo by Ken Lund

Frederick Banting photo

Banting House, Birthplace of Insulin, London, Ontario

Photo by Ken Lund

 

 

 

 

 

05 January-Shackleton

Ernest Shackleton was a polar explorer who was born at Kilkea Co Kildare, Ireland on February 15th 1874. He was the leader of expeditions to explore the Antarctic. He was knighted by King Edward VII following his second expedition in 1909. On that occasion Shackleton came within 180km of the South Pole. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen led the Antarctic expedition which was the first to reach the South Pole on December 14th 1911.

With the race for the South Pole over Shackleton set out to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. On August 6th 1914 he sailed for the Antarctic on board the ship Endurance with a crew of 27. It was his third expedition to the Antarctic. Though he did not succeed his expedition is recognised as an epic feat of endurance. Shackleton led an expedition to explore the Antarctic coast in 1921. He died on board his ship the Quest. The Quest at the time was moored in South Georgia, where he is buried.

Ernest Shackleton, polar explorer who was a native of Co Kildare, Ireland died while his ship was moored in South Georgia in the year 1922 On This Day.

File:Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton in 1917 (cropped).jpg

Ernest Shackleton

Shackleton’s Endurance

Shackleton Range

 

 

26 November-Charles M Schulz

Charles M Schulz was an award winning cartoonist who was a native of the United States. He is best known as the creator of the popular comic strip ‘Peanuts’. The strip which featured characters such as Charlie Browne and Snoopy became a global publication. It was published in over 2000 newspapers around the world. Charles M Schulz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996.

Charles Monroe Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1922. Educated locally, he was interested in drawing from a young age. His drawing of the family dog ‘Spike’ was published when he was 15 years old. Schulz began submitting drawings to various publications and on October 2nd 1950 ‘Peanuts was published for the first time. Its popularity grew quickly. Over almost 50 years the comic strip appeared in publications in 75 countries around the world.

Charles M Schulz, the cartoonist who created the popular comic strip ‘Peanuts’ was born in the year 1922 On This Day.

Charles M. Shulz at “Camp Snoopy’s” 10th anniversary, 1993

Peanuts