Charles H. Best, who discovered insulin with orthopedic surgeon Frederick Banting, was born on this date in 1899. Best and Banting isolated insulin, a pancreatic hormone that monitors blood glucose, while the former was still a medical student at the University of Toronto Medical School. The researchers then used that discovery to improve treatment for diabetes. In 1925, Banting and another researcher, J.J. Macleod, won the Nobel Prize for discovering insulin. But Banting shared half of his cash award with Best, and Macleod divided his portion with J.B. Collip, a chemist who helped him purify insulin for drug trials in humans. Best became head of the physiology department at the University of Toronto in 1929. He died in 1978.

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