A Brief History On January 24, 2023, Americans celebrate National Peanut Butter Day, a day when we can savor the flavor of our favorite bread spread that lends itself to making cookies, pies, candies, and other foodstuffs. Who do we have to thank for this wonderful food? Digging Deeper It may surprise you that George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter, since he was such an influential proponent of the “Goober Pea” and is often erroneously given credit for this particular advance in eating pleasure. The ancient Aztecs and Incas made a form of peanut butter about 1000 BC,…
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A Brief History On January 22, 1992, NASA launched mission STS-42, the space shuttle Discovery, into space with a crew that included Ukrainian Canadian Dr. Roberta Bondar, a neurologist. The first Canadian woman and the first neurologist to become an astronaut, Bondar is a woman of many accomplishments, and is yet another example of Canadians of Ukrainian descent (such as Alex Trebek and Wayne Gretzky) to achieve great things. Digging Deeper A highly accomplished scholar, Bondar was educated at the University of Guelph (BSc), the University of Western Ontario (MSc), the University of Toronto (PhD), and McMaster University (MD). Bondar’s…
A Brief History On January 21, 2023, we celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day, one of the greatest holidays in all of the Rodent Kingdom! Digging Deeper Yes, squirrels are rodents, cousins to mice and rats, although with a much more attractive coat. Tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, prairie dogs and flying squirrels are all in this expansive family. Although squirrels are native to the Americas, Asia, and Africa, they had to be introduced to Australia and Europe. Often accused of crimes such as stealing food from bird feeders and burglarizing houses, squirrels provide a lot of visual enjoyment as they scurry…
A Brief History On January 19, 2007, 3 intrepid Britons and their equally intrepid Canadian comrade made an incredible journey across Antarctica, using only leg power driving skis and the assistance of kites, to reach a point known as the Antarctic pole of inaccessibility. Digging Deeper The team, called “Team N2i,” trekked almost 1100 miles over the frozen terrain to the place called POI, for short, a spot on the globe previously visited by explorers using motorized tracked vehicles and aircraft back in 1965. So, what is this “POI?” It is defined as the point in Antarctica that is furthest…
A Brief History On January 13, 2022, the National Shooting Sports Foundation warned American firearms enthusiasts of an online scam targeting those looking to buy a new firearm. Firearms are big business in the United States, with nearly 400 million guns owned by private citizens. Digging Deeper In a set of statistics that might just surprise you, the most popular single type of rifle in the US is the M-16/AR-15 family of weapons, with a total civilian ownership of between 20 million and 44 million, depending on the source. When other military looking types of guns are included in the…