Charles Drew was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C. His nickname was “Big Red” because he had reddish skin and hair. When he was twelve years old, his sister died during a flu epidemic. Because of this, he decided on a career in medicine. He graduated from medical school at McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 1933. Charles Drew is famous for developing a system for storing blood plasma. Dr. Drew established the American Red Cross blood bank and he was the first director. He also organized the world's first blood bank drive, nicknamed "Blood for Britain". Drew died in a car accident on April 1, 1950.