Canada played a big role on the global stage through the importance of Canadian innovations during the 20th century. Frederick Banting, Charles Best and James Collip made the world a better place when they discovered medical insulin in 1922. Before that discovery, diabetes was a feared disease that often led to death… Canadian pipe mines were used in Britain during WWII. [They] were invented by Canadians in 1940 but then shipped to Britain and used there during WWII against the Germans… [Lastly,] it was [Canadian] Helmut Lucas, who came up with a solution for a big problem in 1971, especially in post-war times: the prosthetic hand.