Timbits2Toonies

In 100 days we ring in the year 2020. Sweden's Carl XVI Gustaf is the seventh monarch of the House of Bernadotte.  Turin is the home of Vermouth. The toponym Okanagan is Salish for 'place of water'.  New Year's is a publisher's holiday so you can't use use last year's calendar. Raggedy Ann was born in 1915; Raggedy Andy, five years later. The population of Regina is 1.162 million.  The surname Warren means 'dweller in or keeper of a game reserve. 131 years ago today, the first  National Geographic Magazine appeared. Czechs are most Praguematic.  It takes seven kilos of uranium-235 to build a deadly nuclear bomb. Goodwill operates 162 thrift stores in Canada and the US. Poles feast on clear, ruby-red borscht every Christmas Eve. This is the last day of summer. My neighbour must be a kamikaze pilot--all his jokes bomb. Wet burritos are eaten with a fork and knife. Australia's National Tartan was proclaimed in 1984.

Today in 1977, Vietnam was admitted into the UN. More than a hundred medicines are derived from cattle. The most common surname in this country is Li. Zucchini is the only fruit that starts with the letter 'Z'. Newborn baby beavers can swim 24 hours after birth. Once a sunflower's seeds are removed, the head makes an excellent scouring pad. Ford, Toyota, Honda and Chev are the Top Four best selling vehicles in Canada. The atmosphere is 80% nitrogen.  Eight people a second join Facebook. Robert Goddard invented liquid rocket fuel in 1926. Cinnamon is high in fibre and calcium. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia get half of their electricity from coal plants. Brides originally carried bouquets of flowers to mask body odours.  Sold in 29 languages, we have played Scrabble for 81 years. Humans are the only mammals that have chins. Québec law has forbidden women to take their husbands' last name since 1981. Food for Thought:   Keep yo

Today in 1642 AD, the City of Ville-Marie (Montréal) was founded. Paper is the traditional gift given to couples on their their first anniversary. The British military issues antimicrobial underwear that can be worn for 90 days at a time. Lions fear giraffes, hippos and elephants. I wanted to share a joke about paper but it was tearable.  Today in 1893, women in New Zealand were given the right to vote. X-ray machines were once a popular way to remove unwanted body hair.  The game Musical Chairs was first played in 1877. 60 milliltres of maple syrup contains 100% of the daily allowance of manganese. Heard a great local  band called the Blank Cheques but they're still unsigned. Eyeballs can get sunburnt.  Newfoundland has 6 million hectares of forest; Labrador has an additional 5.2 million. Porsche and Volkswagen merged in 2011. Official Texas chilli does not include beans. It takes forever to get reservations at the library, they're completely booked.

The UN has declared 2019 to be the International Year of Indigenous Languages. In fourteen days, summer ends in the Northern Hemisphere. The name Anne means 'grace'. In and out. In and out. 70% of body waste is eliminated by breathing. Yoga without breathing is just stretching.  StatsCan reports that an average of 1,525 Americans move here, annually. The first bomb was detonated in 1221 AD. One can pack 29 elephants into a Boeing 787. St. John Bosco is the patron saint of magicians. My neighbour invented a nuclear vacuum sweeper. It bombed. In China, camphor is used to repel moths.  All kittens are born with blue eyes. A jug of Tropicana orange juice costs $26.30 in Iqualit. The term 'blue collar' to define trade jobs was coined in 1924. Oranges are the most intelligent of fruit because they concentrate. The Amazon River begins in the Peruvian Andes.  From St. John's to Victoria, 42% of Canadian kids play soccer.   White birch bark

Today in 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey. Now a kitchen staple, the blender was patented in 1922. Five Prime Ministers graduated from the University of Toronto. To report an emergency in the UK, France, Russia and India, call 112. Aggressive students hit the books. There are an estimated 25 billion chickens on the planet Earth. Vancouver's Fire Department was first to motorize, 112 years ago. The word alum comes from the Latin alumen, meaning 'bitter salt'. 6,600 perished when a  hurricane hit Guadeloupe and Martinique, today in 1776. A chicken and an egg walked into a pub. The barkeep asked, "Who's first?" Radishes are an excellent source of Vitamin C. During WW II, GM employees in Windsor, ON produced 25,000 Browning machine guns. Lachanophobics struggle with an irrational fear of vegetables.  Today in 1910, the Saskatchewan Roughriders came into existence.  Some folk believe that gun-free sc

Binoculars gallows, glasses, pliers, scissors, shears and tongs  exist only in plural form. The tongue depressor was invented in 1923. Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix are the triple crown of auto racing. Folks speak 140+ languages in Windsor, ON; the nation's third most cosmopolitan city.  An interpreter is a ventriloquist using two dummies. The Roman deity of September, Vulcan was the god of fire and forge. 27,195 souls live in Labrador.  Yellow tennis balls were used at Wimbledon for the first time in 1986. The word checkmate comes from Arabic; it means 'The king is dead'.  My neighbour says he slept like a log; he woke up in the fireplace. Frankenstein's monster was vegan. The first colour photograph as taken in 1861. 63% of Canadians choose Chinese cuisine, when eating out. The International Space Station runs on Greenwich Mean Time.  Old astronauts never die, they just space out.  Tofu can be made from almonds,