Medicine
Insulin, the hormone used to treat diabetes, was discovered by Sir Frederick Banting of Toronto and Charles Best. The study guide credits the discovery with saving 16 million lives worldwide.
Dr. John A. Hopps invented the first cardiac pacemaker. Dr. Wilder Penfield, a pioneering brain surgeon at McGill University, was known as “the greatest living Canadian”.
Communication
Alexander Graham Bell came up with the idea for the telephone at his summer home in Canada. Reginald Fessenden helped invent radio and, according to the guide, sent the world’s first wireless voice message.
More recently, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie of Research in Motion produced the BlackBerry.
Getting around, and keeping time
Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the snowmobile, a light winter vehicle. Sir Sandford Fleming invented the worldwide system of standard time zones.
The guide also credits the first electric light bulb to Matthew Evans and Henry Woodward, who sold their patent to Thomas Edison.
Space
The Canadarm, a robotic arm used in outer space, was invented by SPAR Aerospace together with the National Research Council.
Sport
Basketball was invented by a Canadian, James Naismith, in 1891. Hockey is Canada’s most popular spectator sport and its national winter sport, and lacrosse — an ancient game first played by Aboriginal peoples — is the official summer sport.
The quick-reference list
If you only have a minute, learn these pairs:
- Insulin — Banting and Best
- Telephone — Alexander Graham Bell
- Snowmobile — Joseph-Armand Bombardier
- Standard time zones — Sir Sandford Fleming
- Radio voice transmission — Reginald Fessenden
- Cardiac pacemaker — Dr. John A. Hopps
- Canadarm — SPAR Aerospace and the National Research Council
- BlackBerry — Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie
- Basketball — James Naismith, 1891