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This is Multiculturism Day, marking the unique and colourful, mosaic that is our country. According to legend, Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare, created the first olive tree. The portmanteau of ’smoke’ and ‘fog’, the word ‘smog’ entered the lexicon in 1905. It takes seven kilos of olives to make a litre of olive oil. Love is in the air and it’s highly polluted. Only 15% of business transactions in Sweden are cash. In ancient Greece, brides carried bouquets of garlic, not flowers. A macadamia nut contains 20 calories. Today in 1980,  O Canada became the national anthem. To make proper garlic toast, lift your glass and praise it for all of its accomplishments. Hydraulic systems convert existing energy from one form to another. Today in 1975, L’Anse aux Meadows Park in NL opened; the Viking town was found in 1961. Alliumphobes struggle with the irrational fear of garlic. Hewlett-Packard, Inc. is 80 years old. The Vikings’ head librar...

Oregon and Arizona joined the United States on this date in 1859 and 1912, respectively. Scientists have identified sixteen types of ice. Conn Smythe bought the Toronto St. Patricks and renamed them, today in 1927. From sea to sea to sea, 81% of us plan to do something special for Valentine's Day. One cannot skate on the other side of the ice. A novel must contain 50,000 words. On this date in 1966, Australia’s currency was decimalized. A group of firefighters is called a company. The average Canadian owes $8,539.50 in non-mortgage consumer debt. Deficit: The gap between the money Ottawa spends and the amount it dares to collect. Onions are 97% water. George Klein, at the National Research Council in Ottawa, invented the electric wheelchair for wounded WWII veterans. Wheat is the staple food for 35% of the world’s population.  Today in 1982, an 8.5-metre high wave hit the Ocean Ranger  oil platform, 84 lives were lost.  Injure...

A mari usque ad mare, 37 million mark Canada’s 151st birthday with parades, picnics and fireworks. Citizens of Burundi, Rwanda and Somalia mark their independence days this July 1st. The fewest babies are born in the month of February. It is estimated that as many as 20,000 shipwrecks lay in watery graves, off the coast of Atlantic Canada. Our main exports are hockey stars and cold fronts. Our #1 imports are baseball players and acid rain. ~ Pierre Trudeau A third of Montréalers change residences on July 1st, earning the unofficial holiday nickname of ‘Moving Day’. Camel's milk is richer in iron, vitamins, minerals and contains less fat than cow’s milk. Titanium has the highest tensile strength to density ratio of any metal; Tungsten ranks #2. Flying high over the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, Canada’s largest flag measures 18 metres by nine. Canada is America’s attic.  Mormons worship in 159 temples in more than 40 countries-11 more are cu...

Today in 1497, John Cabot landed in Bonavista, and claimed the New Founde Land for Britain.  No one’s telling, but there may be as many as 1,000 Chinese spies lurking in Canada.  At 23%, Canada and the United States have the lowest rate of domestic violence. In 190 days we will ring in 2019. 7.2 million Francophones celebrate la Féte-de-la-Saint-Jean Baptiste today, a statutory holiday in Québec. Cremation is a person’s last chance for a smokin’ hot body. Bulrushes, a.k.a. cattails, number thirty in variety.  410 years ago today, Samuel de Champlain sailed into the St. John River, site of Saint John, NB. Cremation is forbidden in Islam.  O Canada was performed for the first time on this date in 1880. Unsavoury citrus risk being beaten to a pulp. Canadians buy 40.4 billion litres of gas, annually. Globally, one out of every eleven adults suffer from diabetes. The harpsichord first appeared in 1397. The lifespan of an alm...