84 years ago today, on February 21, 1941 (January 26, 1941), Canadian medical scientist Frederick Banting died. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1923) Sir Frederick Grant Banting, KBE, MC, FRSC (SirFrederickGrantBanting, November 14, 1891 - February 21, 1941) was a well-known Canadian medical scientist and Nobel Prize winner. Banting was born in Alliston, Ontario. After graduating from the University of Toronto, he served as a member of the Canadian Army Medical Corps in World War I. Banting returned home in 1919 and opened a medical clinic in London, Ontario. He was a doctor at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto from 1919 to 1920, while also studying plastic surgery. And he was a lecturer in plastic surgery at the University of Western Ontario from 1920 to 21, and a teacher of pharmacology from 1921 to 1922. Banting received his medical degree and a gold medal in 1922. In the summer of 1922, while Banting and his assistants were working on a treatment for diabetes, they developed an injectable drug that controlled blood sugar. This drug is today's artificial insulin. Diabetes was an incurable disease until 1922. With this groundbreaking medical invention, Banting became the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923. He gave half of the Nobel Prize he received to his assistant. King George V awarded Banting the title of Knight in 1935. Although Canadians could no longer take the title of British in 1919, in 1935 the Prime Minister of Canada made an exception and allowed Banting to become a Knight of Banting. In the 1930s, Banting became concerned about the power of Nazi Germany. So he began several military scientific studies. "G-suit" is a military invention of Banting. During World War II, all Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilots wore his invention. He was also involved in research on biological and chemical weapons. At the height of his career, Banting died in a plane crash on February 21, 1941. The plane he was supposed to fly from Newfoundland to England. Although the real reason why he went to England is a mystery, the most likely reason is to persuade British scientists to mass-produce biological weapons to resist Nazi Germany. Banting's body is buried in Toronto, Ontario. Now the medical department classroom at the University of Western Ontario is named after him. And two schools in Canada bear his name. In 2004, Banting ranked fourth in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's "Greatest Canadian" election.