Question 1

True or false: Charles Best was a cousin of the famous Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky.

Accepted Answer

False. No relation exists. Best's family had no notable hockey ties; this myth likely stems from confusion with a different 'Best' surname.

Question 2

True or false: Charles Best won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering insulin.

Accepted Answer

False. Banting and Macleod won the 1923 Nobel; Best was controversially excluded. Banting shared his prize money with Best.

Question 3

True or false: Charles Best co-discovered insulin as a medical student working in Frederick Banting's lab.

Accepted Answer

True. Best, just 22, was Banting's assistant in 1921 and helped isolate insulin, saving millions of lives with diabetes.

Question 4

True or false: Charles Best was born in the United States and moved to Canada as a child.

Accepted Answer

False. Best was born in West Pembroke, Maine, USA, in 1899, but his family moved to Toronto, Canada, when he was a child.

Question 5

True or false: Charles Best co-founded the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research at the University of Toronto.

Accepted Answer

True. After Banting's death, the department was renamed in honor of both, and Best served as its director for decades.

Question 6

True or false: Charles Best later became a pioneer in the study of histamine and blood transfusions.

Accepted Answer

True. After insulin, Best made major contributions to histamine research and developed safer blood storage methods during WWII.

Question 7

True or false: Charles Best was the first person to inject insulin into a human patient.

Accepted Answer

False. Banting and Best injected insulin into themselves first. The first human patient was Leonard Thompson, treated by Dr. Collip.

Question 8

True or false: Charles Best served as a captain in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during World War II.

Accepted Answer

True. Best joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, where he researched blood transfusions and plasma drying for field use.

Charles Best Trivia Questions