​Let’s all be proud Canadians!

Without the contributions that Canadians have made to the world throughout history, the lives of all global citizens would be very different than they are today. We, Canadians, should take pride in the great advances our people have made in science, medicine and many other fields.

A few to think about:

• More than 400-million people in the world today suffer from diabetes. At one time, the life expectancy of those with diabetes was very short. That all changed in 1921 with the discovery of insulin in London, Ontario, by Dr. Frederick Banting and his associate, Charles Best. Banting was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1923 for his accomplishment.

 

• Dr. Wilfred Bigelow was born in Brandon, Manitoba, but it was his work at the Banting Institute, University of Toronto, that led to breakthroughs in the use of hypothermia in open heart surgery and the invention of the pacemaker, a device that has saved the lives of millions around the world. The work of electrical engineer, Jack Hopps, was also essential to the creation of the first working prototype in 1950.

 

• Canadian inventors Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans of Toronto took the world out of the dark when they created the first incandescent lightbulb, which they patented in 1876. Unfortunately, they did not have the financial means to exploit their idea. They, eventually, sold their patents to an American, Thomas Edison, who most people now think of as the inventor.

 

• Alexander Graham Bell was born in Scotland, but living in Brantford, Ontario, when he came up with the idea of the telephone back in July of 1874. Not long after, the telephone became widely used and Bell became a rich man.

 

• When’s the last time you used your smartphone? Most people can’t be without one today. Well, you might want to thank Mike Lazaridis of Waterloo, and his company, Research in Motion. Back in 2003, their “Blackberry” smartphone was the first hand-held device of its kind and a forerunner of the phones we use today.

 

• Let’s talk peanut butter. Many people have been credited for originating this gooey substance, including George Washington Carver; however, it was Montreal pharmacist Marcellus Gilmore Edson who patented it in 1884. He called it peanut paste.

There are so many other Canadian innovations to be proud of. How about these: time zones, UN Peacekeeping, the Canadarm, the black box and the G-suit for aircraft, the CB radio, the walkie-talkie, the pager, IMAX movies, the electric wheelchair, basketball, the snowblower, the snowmobile, the Robertson screwdriver, the paint roller, Plexiglass, pablum and let’s not forget, the goalie mask!

So, this Canada Day, take a moment to think proudly about the contributions Canadians have made, and are still making, to the betterment of our world.