Many Americans would be quick to write Canada off as their timid, maple-scented upstairs neighbor, but those Americans are definitely missing out. Canada is packed with some of the most majestic sights in the hemisphere, from coast to coast, south to north.
Take the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick for example, this aquatic fantasia is home to a 50ft tidal range, the world’s highest tide, and it’s five times higher than the average on the Atlantic. Twice every day, around 160 billion tons of water move in and out of the Bay of Fundy, which is enough to fill the Grand Canyon.
Chuckwagon Racing
For one week in July, the city of Calgary transforms into the home of the Calgary Stampede. The first time the chuckwagon race was held was at the Calgary Stampede occurred back in 1923, with prizes totaling $275.
To get the Canadian Championship title, each ensemble - which consisted of four horses, wagon, driver, and four helpers - were required to make a figure of eight around barrels, head out through a backstretch, then around a track, unhook the horses from the wagon, and first one to finish wins.
The Pager was Invented in Canada
Alfred J. Gross, a Toronto-based communications pioneer, invented the pager in 1949. He is also often recognized as the inventor of the walkie-talkie, he shares this distinction with fellow Canadian Donald Hings, who is also credited for having created the two-way radio in 1939.
Alfred J. Gross also invented the cordless phone and the CB radio. Before he died, he said: "I was born thirty-five years too soon. If I still had the patents on my inventions, Bill Gates would have to stand aside for me."
The First Pace-Maker
Canada also boasts of inventing the first subcutaneous pacemaker! It was built in 1949 by Canadian engineer John Hopps, based on two Toronto-based cardiac surgeons, Wilfred Bigelow and John Callaghan. Their research and experiments with heart surgery made them notice that an electrical pulse could restart the heart.
They contacted electrical engineer Hopps to build a clinical device for them. Further progress made by them, and other inventors, led to the first implantable pacemaker in 1958. It was used on a Swedish man who, thanks to the device, lived to the age of 86. Wilson Greatbatch is considered the inventor of the first practical implantable pacemaker.
Rideau Canal
As Canada's capital, Ottawa attracts tourists from all over the world to visit its historic sites and landmarks, enjoy its culture, and appreciate its sights and sounds. Ottawa is home to the Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, which connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston, Ontario.
It is 202 kilometers long. This canal is also a UNESCO world heritage site, and in winter, it happens to house the world's longest skating rink.