Canada’s first million-selling author was Margaret Marshall Saunders, with her novel Beautiful Joe in 1894. In response to the publishing industry’s male-dominated nature, and she shortened her name to Marshall Saunders.
In 1889 Saunders submitted “Beautiful Joe” to publication in 1893, both the book and its subject received worldwide attention. It was the first Canadian book to sell over a million copies, and by the late 1930s had sold over seven million copies worldwide.
Unusual Tax Returns
Canadians can deduct several things from their tax returns, but I bet you didn’t know that dog food is tax-deductible in Canada.
It began when the Tax Court decided a farmer could claim cat and dog food because they were outdoor pets meant to keep wildlife away from their blueberries. Dog food is also deductible if it is for a service dog.
Poutine
Poutine has been called many things, some people think of it as the national dish of Canada. Others call it an instant artery-clogger, and there's even a restaurant in Montreal that offers the bravest among its patrons with a 15-pound monstrosity called "The Heart Attack."
Poutine is comprised of three main ingredients: French fries, brown gravy, and cheese curds. It comes from rural Quebec and has been traced back to the 1950s.
Insulin is From Canada!
Insulin was first discovered in 1921 by Toronto doctor Frederick Banting and further developed at the University of Toronto by Banting, Charles Best, John Macleod, and Bertram Collip.
Banting and Macleod were both awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine two years later. According to the Nobel Prize website, the team patented their insulin extract but sold the university's rights for $1, which used the money to fund new research.
Nobel Prizes
As we just mentioned the incredible discovery of insulin, we thought we'd segue into the subject of Nobel prizes. Canada boasts 15 Nobel Prize laureates, the first being in 1923: Frederick G. Banting, Nobel Prize in medicine for the discovery of insulin.
The last one was in 2019: James Peebles, Nobel Prize in physics for physical cosmology, mapping out the chemical makeup of the universe at its beginning and later describing the way that galaxies are formed.