Feb
08

5 Random Things About Charles Richard Drew

By Tamahome Jenkins · February 8, 2010 · Comments (0)

Dr. Charles DrewCharles Drew was an African-American physician who pioneered the field of blood transfusions and in many eyes “invented” the blood bank. I put invented in quotation marks, because a blood bank is an idea, and there were already methods of blood storage, but Drew’s research greatly improved the length of time that blood could be stored. Drew also pioneered the concept of separating blood from plasma, and recognized that while there are separate blood types there is only one type of plasma. He was also vehemently opposed to the policy of racial segregation which stated that the blood from white donors should be separate from the blood from black donors. In honor of Black History Month, here are 5 more random facts about Charles Drew.

  1. Charles Drew was the first African-American to serve as an examiner on the American Board of Surgery.
  2. Charles Drew was the first African-American to receive a Doctor of Medical Science degree from Columbia University.
  3. Charles Drew was also an outstanding athlete. In high school he played football, baseball, basketball, track and field, and swimming, and won his high school’s award for best all-around athlete. In college, he captained the Amherst College track team and also played halfback on the football team, winning All-American honors in the latter.
  4. Before entering medicine, Charles Drew served as Athletic Director and head football coach for two years at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. The football team had a 8-2-2 record during that span.
  5. Charles Drew died from injuries sustained in a car accident on April 1, 1950. A popular urban legend states that he was denied a blood transfusion at an all-white hospital because of his race. However, this has been found to be untrue, as Drew suffered from massive internal injuries and a blood transfusion would not have helped him because his injuries were too severe.

If it wasn’t for the research and efforts of the real Dr. Drew, college students everywhere would have to find another way to sell their body for ramen.

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Yesterday we got to see the captivating matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, and the two teams did not disappoint. It was a thrilling game performed by the two best offenses in the NFL. I didn’t write this post to gush, so let’s get to it. Here’s a collection of [...] Continue Reading…

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Feb
06

Links of Interest Vol. 6

By Tamahome Jenkins · February 6, 2010 · Comments (1)

It’s hard to believe that it’s already the first Saturday in February. That means its time for your heaping helping of all the history/trivia that the Internet has to offer. Which one of these is your favorite?

Funny Money: Unusual and Fascinating Currency
“John Lennon Signed My Album” – Here’s a hint: it was his last [...] Continue Reading…

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Yesterday would have been Rosa Parks 97th birthday (God rest her soul). Since we’re having issues with the weather and electricity in western North Carolina I was unable to post this yesterday. Here is a collection of images that serve as a timeline of the life of Rosa Parks.

Prior to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, [...] Continue Reading…

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With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, let’s examine the history of the song, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” It was first written in 1910 by Beth Slater Whitson and Leo Friedman, a duo that first teamed up to write “Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland” in 1909. “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” was much [...] Continue Reading…

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Feb
03

Exciting Site Updates!

By Tamahome Jenkins · February 3, 2010 · Comments (4)

Courtesy of moleitau on Flickr

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Those of you who got a slew of duplicate emails last night are aware that I spent the better part of yesterday tinkering with the site. I apologize for those emails and have disabled the offending plugin, so that won’t happen again. Not all is lost, [...] Continue Reading…

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Some things are just common knowledge. For example, everyone knows that George Washington Carver invented the peanut and that Thomas Edison invented electricity[!]. These people don’t need any extra push because history has been kind to them. Instead, this post is dedicated to the unsung heroes who create stuff that we take for granted [...] Continue Reading…

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