Timbits2Toonies

The Pied Piper leads the parade; this is Rat Catcher’s Day in Hamelin, Germany. Bread exposed to radiant heat for a period of time is called toast.  Cheers! Salut! Drink up! This is National Dairy Month.  The Canadian Coast Guard is under the purview of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Doctors and nurses at the Mayo Clinic do their best to care for wounded sandwiches. Today in 1959, the Queen and US President Eisenhower opened the St. Lawrence Seaway.  33.3% of Australians were born outside of the country. Mercury was the Roman god of thieves and tricksters.  Christmas became a legal holiday in the United States 149 years ago. A day on Mercury lasts about 1,408 hours, or about the same as an Earth Monday.  Buckwheat, rice, quinoa, sorghum and oats are gluten-free whole grains.  The £1.22 million attack submarine HMS Artful can stay submerged for 25 years. Today in 1990, Justice Minister Kim Campbell ta...

In the earliest version, Little Red Riding Hood was Italian. Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia is the medical term for brain freeze. Today in 1968, Pierre Trudeau was sworn in as the nation’s 15th Prime Minister. The plural of mongoose is mongooses.  The world would be a kinder, gentler place if we ate more ice cream.  The Detroit River is 44 kilometres in length.  As a member of the goose-foot clan, spinach is related to beets. On this date in 1989, the last  $1 paper bill was printed. The most common surnames in Jamaica are Campbell, Brown and Clarke. You can’t borrow money from leprechauns because they’re a little short. As copper oxidizes, the green carbonate that forms is called verdigris.  Adidas and Reebok are the second and third largest shoe manufacturers on the planet. Today in 1946, the League of Nations convened for the last time. Canada geese number more than five million.  One day we will need t...

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. ‘Men of the forest’ is the origin of the surname Frazier. Onward Christian Soldiers was written in 1865—for children. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of pawnbrokers. Get down! Incoming fire has the right-of-way.  Trees can die of old age; the oldest tree in the Dominion is a 519-year old sugar maple. The first anti-bullying campaign was in 1872 with  Sticks and Stones may Break my Bones. 90% of the 2 million vehicles manufactured in Canada are exported. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands today in 1982. A sheep was arrested on the Trans-Canada Highway for making a ewe-turn. 85% of Malagasians practise Christianity.  Without the number 2, positive and negative could not exist. The word ‘bionics’ was coined in 1958; a portmanteau of biology and electronics. Today in 1975, the CN Tower was completed, the world’s tallest free-standing structure. There’s nothing wrong with the Tower of Pisa...

Today in 1973, construction began on the CN Tower. Sea water contains 4.95 millilitres of oxygen per litre. The two main purposes of clothing are warmth and protection.  Ancient Egyptians forged the first known peace treaty, made with the Hittites. Fashion is something that goes in one year and out the other.  A $30 million Canadian Pacific contract was inked today in 1873, to tie British North Americans together.  An ant can carry 50 times its own weight.  The average human appendix measures nine centimetres. At amazon.ca, a bubble machine will set you back $38.04 plus HST and shipping.  The Mounties found the highjacked train by following its tracks.  For the 21st consecutive year, Honda's Civic is the best-selling passenger car. The Taj Mahal welcomes eight million visitors a year.  Chinese New Year celebrations kick off today. This is the Year of the Pig. There is no saltwater in saltwater taffy....