A Brief History On May 6, 2014, Canadian author Farley Mowat died only a week before turning 93 years old. Digging Deeper A World War II veteran, Mowat saw combat in Sicily and Italy with the infantry and later served as an intelligence officer, including working with a German general to allow the Allies to drop food and supplies to Dutch civilians behind German lines. Promoted to the rank of Captain, Mowat would have been promoted to major had he stayed in the Army. After the war, he began a career in writing and environmental causes and was known as…
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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 April 8, 2006, the bodies of 8 people murdered by gunshot wounds were found in a field a couple of miles (5 kilometers for the metric oriented) North of Shedden, Ontario, Canada, an event labeled as the “Shedden Massacre.” The bodies were found inside 4 cars by the local farmer. (If you were a fan of Sons of Anarchy on television, perhaps you have a bit of a clue as to the nature of motorcycle clubs.) Digging Deeper Canada, a particularly friendly nation (as this author can attest, having gone there probably close 100 times over…
A Brief History On April 6, 2018, a bus carrying a junior hockey team, the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, crashed into a semi-tractor trailer near Armley, Saskatchewan, leaving 10 members of the team dead and also killing an additional 6 persons. Another 13 people were injured, but the driver of the semi survived. In spite of the horrific cost in lives, this particular tragedy was not among the absolute worst in the history of Canada. Today we remember some of those terrible traffic accidents that rank among the worst in Canadian history. Among the worst Canadian…
A Brief History This date in history has always marked the beginnings of winter in Canada, and what a special time that is. The skies become cloudy and the weather gets cold, and you take out those fancy coats and jackets to enjoy the beautiful weather. While winter in Canada is indeed wonderful, it can also be perilous, especially when it comes to driving. It is never easy to navigate your vehicle on slippery roads, and you need to know how to handle yourself and the car when it is snowing because it can also get a bit overwhelming. These…