Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904 in his grandmother's house in Washington DC. His father, Richard Drew, was a carpet layer and his mother, Nora Drew, was a teacher/homemaker. The eldest of five children, Charles had a charmed childhood and excelled in sports and academics. As a youngster he was an award-winning swimmer. In high school, he starred in football, baseball, basketball and track, and was named his high school's best all-around athlete.  In college, he was captain of the track team and starred as a halfback on the football team, and won the most valuable player award in his junior year, and named to the All-American team. Upon graduation from college in 1926, he was recognized as the man who contributed the most to Amherst College athletics during his four years there. Charles's future athletic career looked bright. After graduation, he coached basketball and football at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland where, in two years, he helped to turn the teams into collegiate champions. At MSU, he also worked as a biology instructor.

But, instead of a career in athletics, Charles decided to follow his dream of a career in medicine, which was greatly influenced by the fact that his little sister, Elsie, had been sick with tuberculosis and died of pandemic influenza in 1920. Charles moved to Montreal, Canada in 1928 and attended McGill University's Medical School. It was at McGill that he became interested in blood research.  He graduated second in his class of 127 students in 1933, earning Master of Surgery and Doctor of Medicine degrees. After completing his internship and residency at Montreal hospitals where he researched blood chemistry, he accepted an appointment as instructor in pathology at Howard University in 1935, and returned to his hometown of Washington, DC.

His medical successes while at Howard University earned him a recommendation for a Rockefeller fellowship in 1938 at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York.  While at Columbia, he devoted his research to studying blood transfusions and the storing of blood. He discovered that plasma (the liquid portion of blood that does not contain cells) could be dried and stored for an extended period of time without deteriorating. Prior to this discovery, blood could not be stored for more than two days because of the rapid breakdown of red blood cells. Dr. Drew also discovered that by separating the plasma from whole blood, and refrigerating it separately, it could be combined as long as a week later for blood transfusions. Additionally, he found that, while everyone has a certain type of blood (A, B, AB, or O) and are prevented from receiving a full blood transfusion from someone with different blood type, everyone has the same type of plasma. Thus, in certain cases where a whole blood transfusion is not necessary, it was sufficient to give a plasma transfusion which could be administered to anyone, regardless of their blood type. This great discovery was noted worldwide. In 1939, he received a grant from the Blood Transfusion Association and opened a blood storage bank at Columbia hospital, and subsequently in 1940 became the first African-American to earn a Doctor of Science in Medicine degree.

The threat of war was in the air in Europe at this time and Dr. Drew was asked by a former associate to assist in exporting plasma from New York City hospitals to Great Britain (called the "Plasma for Britain" project). His notable contribution at this time was to transform the test tube methods of many blood researchers (including himself) into the first successful mass production techniques. Dr. Drew became a leading authority on mass transfusion and processing methods. He was soon afterward appointed director of the Red Cross Blood Bank in 1941 in charge of blood collection for the United States Army and Navy, a project similar to the "Plasma for Britain" project, but on a smaller scale.

Then, a 1941 War Department regulation required the Army, Navy, and the newly formed Red Cross Blood Bank to separate blood banks for blacks and whites.  And because the blood had to be collected and stored separately, it was costly and time consuming.  Commenting on this situation and calling it "a stupid blunder," Dr. Drew said, "There is no scientific basis for the separation of the bloods donated from different races except on the basis of the individual blood types or groups."  Shortly afterward, Dr. Drew resigned his position with the United States Army in strong  protest of blood segregation and returned to teaching medicine at Howard University.

Dr. Drew spent a total of seven months on the two blood projects. Yet, in this very brief but productive period of his professional life, he made an outstanding contribution to what was to become a highly successful World War II blood procurement effort.  Experience gained through Dr. Drew's efforts at the Red Cross Blood Bank in New York proved invaluable, and during World War II, 35 blood bank centers were in operation. By the war's end, millions of donations had been received by the Red Cross, donations that made it possible to save thousands of lives of wounded U.S. servicemen -- lives that would have been lost in earlier wars when blood therapy was unknown.

Unfortunately, on the morning of April 1, 1950, after spending long hours the previous night working in an operating room, Dr. Drew, age 45, was driving with three associates to deliver a speech at a scientific conference at the Andrew Memorial Clinic of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama when he fell asleep at the wheel and ran off the road just outside Burlington, North Carolina.  Although his associates received only minor injuries, Dr. Drew suffered severe leg injuries when his legs were pinned under the gas pedal.  He died a half-hour after receiving medical care. Survived by his wife and four children, Dr. Drew's pioneering medical work has endured over the years. Many lives have been saved because of his genius in turning basic biological research into practical production methods. It is a certainty that mankind owes a debt of gratitude to Charles Richard Drew.

The most expensive paper money ever sold was the "Grand Watermelon" one thousand dollar bill printed in 1890 and bearing the portrait of Civil War-era General George Gordon Meade who commanded Union Army troops at the Battle of Gettysburg.  The bill was sold by an anonymous collector at auction in 2006 for $2,225,000 to another anonymous East Coast collector of art and rare currency.

What makes the Grand Watermelon note special is the red seal on the face of the paper and is called the Grand Watermelon because of its green-striped zeros in the "1,000" printed on the reverse, making it look like watermelons.  There are also brown-seal Grand Watermelon notes, of which only 6 are in existence, and the not-so-grand hundred dollar bill known as the "Watermelon."  Watermelon notes were minted by the U.S. Treasury in the late 1890s as a way for the newly-rich silver barons in Nevada to absorb the massive amounts of silver that were being unearthed; the Treasury Notes could only be used for the purchase of silver, which is indicated on the front of the bills by the words ". . . in coin," and which caused the early demise of the Watermelon notes. Both Treasury Notes and Silver Certificates purchased silver from the silver barons but only the Treasury Notes could be redeemed in coin - gold coin. Holders of large amounts of silver could sell silver to the Treasury at the highest prevailing price and receive the lovely Grand Watermelons in return, which could then be used to buy gold coin from the Treasury - anyone with large holdings of silver could make a fortune selling these Treasury Notes for gold! By 1893, when Congress finally negated the benefits of the Treasury Notes, many fortunes had been made and the reserves at the United States Treasury were seriously depleted.

The only other known red seal Grand Watermelon in existence today is in the museum at the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco.

According to the American Medical Athletic Association (AMAA), people who live in areas of the country with high heat (100+ degrees) and high humidity perspire more. That means they lose more fluids and become more susceptible to dehydration than those who live in milder climates. Being "acclimatized" to high heat makes you more tolerant to the heat, but actually means you have to drink more fluids because you sweat sooner and faster than people who are not acclimatized. Children are at particularly high risk because they generate more body heat and absorb more heat from the environment than adults, causing body temperature to rise more quickly when they become dehydrated and are exposed to high temperature and humidity.  Others at risk include the elderly, outdoor workers and active adults who exercise in the heat. Here's what you can do to help avoid dehydration during hot weather:

·         Drink before you're thirsty. When thirst kicks in, you're already slightly dehydrated.

·         Wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothes.

·         Take periodic breaks from the sun.

·         During activity, avoid drinking caffeinated beverages and alcohol because they stimulate urine production and can promote dehydration.

·         During activity, avoid drinking fruit juices or soft drinks because those beverages are high in sugar, which slows fluid absorption by the body.

·         Remember to bring fluids with you to activities because they may not be readily available.

The one or more warning signs of dehydration:

·         Dry lips and tongue

·         Headache

·         Nausea or vomiting

·         Swollen hands and feet

·         Muscle Cramping

·         Irritability

·         Weakness, dizziness or exhaustion

·         Concentrated or dark-colored urine.

Seek medical attention immediately if someone becomes disoriented or unconscious in the heat.