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Tag Archives: February

21 February- Frederick Banting Diabetes

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Frederick Banting was a Canadian physician who was the first person to use insulin to treat diabetes in humans. For his work Banting, with his colleague John Macleod, was the co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1923. Though insulin was like a miracle drug it did not cure diabetes. However it assists people with diabetes to lead an almost normal life and is one of the biggest discoveries in medicine.

Frederick Grant Banting was born in Alliston, Ontario, Canada on November 14th 1891. He studied medicine at the University of Toronto and graduated with and MB degree in 1916. He 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. He 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, the first person to receive insulin was a 14-year old boy named Leonard Thompson in January 1922. 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.

Frederick Banting, who was the first person to use insulin to treat diabetes in humans, died aged 49 in the year 1941 On This Day.

Frederick Banting Diabetes photo

Photo by Ken Lund

Banting House, Birthplace of Insulin, London, Ontario

 

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21 February-Eric Liddell

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Eric Liddell was an athlete who competed for Great Britain in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924. The award winning film ‘Chariots of Fire’ tells the story of Liddell and another British athlete Harold Abrahams. They both won Gold Medals at the games. Chariots of Fire was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1982 and won four.

Eric Liddell was born in Tientsin, China on January 16th 1902. His parents were Scottish who were working as missionaries in China. Liddell was an outstanding athlete who was educated at the University of Edinburgh. He competed successfully in sprint races and played on the wing for the Scotland national rugby union team in the 1922 and 1923 Five Nations Championships.

In the 1924 Olympic Games Liddell was listed to compete in the 100m. A heat for the race was to be held on Sunday. Because of his Christian convictions Liddell would not compete on the Sabbath. Liddell later competed in the 400m race and won gold. In 1925 Liddell returned to China to work as a missionary.

Eric Liddell, Olympic Gold Medal winner, rugby player, and missionary whose story was told in the film Chariots of Fire died aged 43 in an internment camp in China in the year 1945 On This Day.

File:Eric Liddell.jpg
http://lewishamlegacy.wdfiles.com/local–files/eric-liddell/EricLiddell
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20 February-Frederick Douglass

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Frederick Douglass was an escaped African-American slave. He escaped from slavery in the state of Maryland on September 3rd 1838. Following his escape Douglass became a leader of the abolitionist movement in America.  He travelled first to New York and later settled in Massachusetts. In the years following his escape he travelled the northern states to speak at rallies demanding the abolition of slavery.

In 1845 Douglass visited Ireland, where he met Daniel O Connell. He gave lectures, which were very popular, in several locations across Ireland. In a letter to the abolitionist William Garrison, Douglass wrote: I have travelled almost from the hill of Howth to the Giant’s Causeway and from the Giant’s Causeway to Cape Clear. Plaques in Waterford and Cork commemorate visits by Douglass to those cities.

During his travels Douglass spoke at meetings in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Wexford and Waterford. He described the great sense of freedom which he felt while visiting Ireland. “I am covered with the soft, grey fog of the Emerald Isle. I breathe, and lo! The chattel becomes a man. I gaze around in vain for one who will question my equal humanity, claim me as his slave, or offer me an insult”.

Frederick Douglass, who was an escaped African-American slave, died in Washington DC in the year 1895 On This Day.

Frederick Douglass photo

Photo by Internet Archive Book Images

 

 

 

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19 February-Lee Marvin

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Lee Marvin was an award winning actor who was a native of America.  He appeared in over 70 films during his acting career. His most famous films include ‘Cat Ballou’, ‘The Dirty Dozen’ and ‘Paint Your Wagon’.

Lee Marvin was born in New York City in 1924. Following service in the US Marine Corps during World War II he began his stage career in New York. He appeared in several television shows and made his film debut in 1951 in ‘You’re in the Navy Now’. He went on to appear in over 70 films and won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his roles in ‘Cat Ballou’ in 1965.

Lee Marvin, award winning actor whose most famous films include ‘Cat Ballou’, ‘The Dirty Dozen’ and ‘Paint Your Wagon’, was born in New York City in the year 1924 On This Day.

Lee marvin 1971.JPG
By NBC TelevisionUploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia – eBay itemphoto frontphoto backTransferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by SreeBot., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16446080

 

 

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18 February-Robert Oppenheimer

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Robert Oppenheimer is often referred to as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’. He was a theoretical physicist who worked at institutions such as the University of California, Berkeley and Princeton University. Oppenheimer was also director of the Los Alamos Laboratory where the atomic bomb was developed.

Robert Oppenheimer was born Julius Robert Oppenheimer was born in New York City on April 22nd 1904. Following graduation from Harvard University Oppenheimer moved to England in 1925 to Study at Cambridge University. A year later he moved to the University of Göttingen in Germany where he was awarded a PhD in 1927 at the age of 23. He was appointed Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in 1929 where he taught until 1942.

The growth in popularity of the National Socialist Party (Nazi Party) in Germany and Hitler’s rise to power had a major influence on Oppenheimer. It led him to support resistance movements and he became associated with left wing politics. He supported the letter sent by Einstein and others to President Roosevelt at the beginning of World War II which indicated that the Nazi’s had the capability to develop a nuclear bomb. Roosevelt established the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico and Oppenheimer was appointed scientific director of the project in 1942.

On July 16th 1945 the first atomic bomb was successfully exploded in New Mexico. Within a month a further two atomic bombs were exploded, one in Nagasaki, Japan, and the other in Hiroshima, effectively ending World War II.

Oppenheimer refused to support the development of the hydrogen bomb in 1949 because of his regrets at the mass destruction caused by the atomic bomb. He was accused of having communist sympathies because of his previous association with left wing politics and he resigned from his post. He was appointed Director of the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton University where he remained until 1966.

Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who is referred to as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’, died aged 62 in the year 1967 On This Day.

Robert Oppenheimer photo

Photo by QuotesEverlasting

 

 

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