Standing at 173 feet tall, the wooden tribal totem in Alert Bay, British Columbia, is demonstrably the tallest totem pole in the entire world. While most totem poles represent a single family, this pole represents different factions of the Kwakwaka’wak people.
The figures include the Sun Man, a whale, an old man, a wolf, the Thunderbird and its cousin, a two-headed serpent, a bear holding a salmon, and a raven holding copper.
Canadian Weather Phenomenon
Calgary is famous for its Chinooks – this weather phenomenon that can raise the temperature by 10 degrees in a matter of minutes. A strong chinook wind can make snow one foot deep nearly vanish in one day. The snow partly melts and partly sublimates in the dry wind.
Chinook winds have been seen to raise winter temperature, usually from below −4°F to as high as 50–68°F for a few hours or days, then temperatures plummet to their base levels.
The Baseball Glove
Baseball may be the National sport in the United States, but the baseball glove was invented in Canada in 1883 by Arthur Albert Irwin. He had an Irish dad and a Canadian mom, and at 25 years old, he was playing shortstop for the Providence Grays when he broke two fingers.
Rather than quit playing, the wily fielder proved he deserved his reputation when he got an oversized leather glove, added padding to it, stitched fingers three and four together, and invented the fielder's glove.
Elizabeth Catherine Bagshaw
Elizabeth Catherine Bagshaw was one of Canada's first female doctors and the first medical director of a birth control clinic in Canada. She has been recognized as contributing outstanding enrichment to the quality of life of women in Canada. She pursued a career in medicine at a time when women were not accepted in the field.
Still, despite her obstacles, Dr. Bagshaw entered Toronto Women's Medical College in 1901, just 18 years after it opened. Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw's devotion to women's health is a treasured part of our nation's medical heritage.
Canada's Official Flag
Canada got its very own flag 100 years after it became a country! — on February 15, 1965. In 1964, Canada's Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson formed a committee to resolve the ongoing issue of their official flag, or rather the lack thereof, sparking a serious debate about changing the Union Flag.
Out of three choices, they chose the maple leaf design by George Stanley. The flag then made its first appearance on February 15, 1965, with this date now being celebrated as National Flag of Canada Day.