The Story: January 23, 1922
It is rare that we can point to a single day and say: “The world changed here.” But for millions of people, that day was January 23, 1922.
In a hospital ward at Toronto General, a 14-year-old boy named Leonard Thompson was dying. He weighed only 65 pounds. He had Type 1 Diabetes, which in 1922 was a death sentence. Doctors had put him on a starvation diet (the only known treatment), but he was slipping into a coma.
Earlier in the month, a team led by Dr. Frederick Banting had tried injecting him with a new extract from a cow’s pancreas, but it failed.
On January 23rd, they tried again. This time, they used a purified extract developed by James Collip.
The results were immediate—and miraculous. Leonard’s blood sugar dropped to normal levels. He woke up. His strength returned.
The “extract” was named Insulin. Within months, the “miracle from Toronto” was saving lives around the world. Leonard Thompson, who was supposed to die within weeks, lived another 13 years.
Also On This Day…
While 1922 gave us a medical miracle, other events on this day were a mix of tragedy and trivia.
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1909: The First “SOS” Rescue When the ocean liner RMS Republic collided with another ship in dense fog, a young wireless operator named Jack Binns became a hero. He sent out the new “CQD” (the predecessor to SOS) distress signal. It was the first time radio was used to coordinate a sea rescue, saving over 1,500 lives.
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1957: The Birth of the Frisbee On a lighter note, this is the day the “Pluto Platter” was sold to the Wham-O toy company. They renamed it the “Frisbee,” and it became a staple of every Canadian cottage and beach trip for the next 50 years.
Snapshot: The Cost of Living in 1922
When insulin was discovered:
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A dozen eggs: 44 cents.
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A pound of butter: 48 cents.
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Average Annual Income: About $1,000.
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Life Expectancy: 57 years (unless you had diabetes, in which case it was often less than 1 year).
Your Turn to Reminisce
The Frisbee might seem trivial compared to insulin, but it brings back memories of summer. What was the “must-have” toy when you were growing up? Was it a Frisbee, a Hula Hoop, or just a stick and a puck?