Did a Canadian kill famed escape artist Harry Houdini? Are the streets of Yellowknife really paved with gold? What was Canada’s connection to those famous "Paul McCartney is dead" rumours of the late 1960s? And just how long does it take a drop of water to flow from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean?
The Great Canadian Trivia Book II brings you all these answers and more. In the much-anticipated sequel to their bestseller, The Great Canadian Trivia Book, award-winning writers Mark Kearney and Randy Ray dig even deeper into Canada’s curious characters, storied past, natural phenomena, cultural idiosyncrasies, and the peculiarities of our leisurely pursuits.
In the pages of this intriguing book, you’ll discover the Canadian who was responsible for introducing the glove to professional baseball, the story behind Canada’s blue two-dollar bill, how the robbery phrase "hands up" was connected to Canada, and whether a goalie can take a face-off in a hockey game.
Think it’s unlikely a Canadian might have been president of the United States? That Sir John A. Macdonald was the only one in his family to achieve political fame? Or that a Canadian rock group would turn down a chance to play at the famous Woodstock festival of 1969? The Great Canadian Trivia Book II will have you thinking again. And again.
Authors
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 971/.002
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 21
- General Note
- Originally published: Toronto [Ont.] : Hounslow Press, 1998 Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 9781770700154 0888821972
- LCCN
- F1008.3
- LCCN Item number
- K42 1998eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaBNVSL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (235 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)thg00602943 (OCoLC)281241359 (CaOOCEL)410589
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaBNVSL
Table of Contents
- Contents 6
- Acknowledgements 15
- Preface 16
- 1 OUR STORIED PAST 18
- Why was Sir Isaac Brock, hero of the War of 1812, buried four times? 19
- Is it true that Gabriel Dumont, commander of the Métis forces during the North-West Rebellion, was buried standing up? 21
- I'm told that Newfoundland entered Confederation on April Fool's Day. Is this another Newfie joke? 22
- Who is Canada's most decorated war hero? 23
- Is it true that North American Natives did not invent scalping but learned it from white settlers? 25
- I know Canadians fought in the American Civil War, but is it true some fought on the side of the South? 26
- It has often been written that, when John Cabot landed in North America, cod off the coast of Newfoundland were plentiful enough to impede the progress of his ship and could be caught with baskets. Is this true? 28
- What became of the World War II spy camp that was set up in Canada by Sir William Stephenson, also known as A Man Called Intrepid? 30
- Was there an American president who was born in Canada? 31
- Who was the first Canadian prime minister to meet with an American president and what happened? 33
- Who was the black Canadian who won the Victoria Cross back in 1857? 35
- Were draft dodgers who came to Canada to avoid fighting in the Vietnam War the first American draft evaders to settle in Canada? 36
- What is the BNA Act and where is it kept? 38
- What is the story behind the soldier who was awarded a Victoria Cross for action in Canada that didn't involve a battle? 39
- How many French Canadians served in the armed forces in World War II? And how many before conscription came into effect in 1944? 40
- Did the sister of the last czar of Russia live in Canada? 41
- Is it true that more than one spike was involved in the ceremony celebrating the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway? Where are these spikes today? 43
- Who closed the doors that saved the Library of Parliament from the fire that destroyed the rest of the Parliament Buildings? 45
- Where did Canada's early Parliament meet, and what cities were considered before Ottawa won out as the country's capital? 47
- Was a Canadian a key figure in the famous Great Escape of World War II? 49
- In what years were Canada's provinces and territories created? 50
- Is it true that many towns and cities in Canada are named after people who helped build the railways that linked the communities together in the early 1900s? 51
- 2 OUR NATURAL WORLD 52
- Has Niagara Falls ever run dry? 53
- How long does it take for water to pass through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean? 55
- While visiting the Channel Islands, I noticed in Guernsey a lot of signs with the word Sarnia. Is there any relationship between Guernsey and Sarnia, Ontario? 57
- Is it true that Lake Superior isn't the largest lake in Canada? 58
- Where in Canada is the North Magnetic Pole located? 59
- Is there any city or town in Canada that lies on the border of two provinces? 60
- I know Toronto and Montreal are Canada's largest cities, but how do they rank in population compared to cities in the United States and the rest of the world? 61
- Is there a Prince Edward Island other than the Canadian province? 62
- Where were the first dinosaur remains found in Canada? How old are they and where are they now? 63
- Where is the coldest spot in Canada, and is it ever too cold to snow? 65
- What is the southernmost point in Canada? 66
- 3 LET US ENTERTAIN YOU 68
- What was the longest continuous running television show in Canada? 69
- Who was the Canadian described as "one of the top five movie directors of the twenties and thirties"? 70
- How did Canada's national newsweekly magazine Maclean's get its name? 72
- What can you tell me about the Canadian who was the daughter of Hollywood movie director Cecil B. DeMille? 73
- Is it true that Canadian actress Mary Pickford had a brother who also acted in films? 74
- Where was the first play staged in Canada? 76
- What can you tell me about Canadian actress Joan Miller's contribution to television? 77
- What was the Canadian connection to those "Paul McCartney is dead" rumours back in 1969? 78
- What is the best selling book ever written by a Canadian? 79
- Why is there a Canadian magazine with the strange name Emergency Librarian? 80
- What is the highest-grossing Canadian movie ever? 81
- How long have the Governor General Awards for writers been around and who were the first winners? 82
- 4 FINANCIAL FACTS AND PECUNIARY PECULIARITIES 84
- What is Canada's most valuable coin? 85
- How many millionaires are there in Canada? 87
- What happens to goods seized at border entry points into Canada? 88
- What can you tell me about a blue $2 bill I have in my currency collection? 90
- Which Canadian is considered to be the founder of credit unions in North America? 91
- How long have credit cards been in use in Canada? 93
- Is income from illegal activities taxable in Canada? And are offenders who are thrown in jail required to pay tax on their ill-gotten gains? 94
- When did Canada begin using its own currency, and what kind of money did we use before dollars and coins, such as nickels and dimes, came into circulation? 95
- What happens to coins that tourists throw into the pool surrounding the Centennial Flame at Parliament Hill. And where does the money collected from other public fountains, such as those found in shopping centres, end up? 97
- What features in Canadian money guard against counterfeiting? 99
- 5 A SPORTS TIME OUT 102
- Can a goalie take a face-off in a hockey game? 103
- Is it true Maurice "Rocket" Richard was not one of the hockey players chosen when the NHL named its alltime all-star players to celebrate the NHL's seventyfifth anniversary? 104
- When were lights first used in Canada for night football games? 105
- Who was the first Canadian woman to be a world champion in her sport? 106
- I say Jacques Plante was the first goalie to wear a mask in the National Hockey League, but my friend disagrees. Who's right? 108
- Did Lord Grey do anything of importance other than donating the Grey Cup? 109
- Was the first baseball game played in Canada rather than in Cooperstown, New York? 110
- Has Canada ever had the chance to show off its prowess at lacrosse at the Olympics? 113
- How much does the Stanley Cup weigh and what is it made of? 114
- We' ve all heard of Babe Ruth, but someone told me there was a Canadian pitcher in the major leagues in the 1940s also nicknamed Babe. True? 115
- Who was the first American to play in the National Hockey League? 116
- What national anthems would be played if the Toronto Blue Jays met the Montreal Expos in the World Series? 117
- Which Canadian is credited with introducing the slide delivery to curling? 118
- When was the penalty shot introduced to professional hockey? 120
- Who was the Canadian who invented the baseball glove? 121
- Has a hockey player ever been charged with murder after injuring another player during a hockey game? 122
- Did Babe Ruth's home-run prowess get its start in Canada? 123
- Who was the first player ever to be drafted into the National Hockey League? 124
- Canadians such as Larry Walker and Ferguson Jenkins have left their mark in modern-day baseball, but how did our homegrown players fare in the early days of the sport? 125
- 6 PEOPLE MAKE CANADA TICK — CRAZY CANUCKS? NOT REALLY! 128
- Who was Canada's first female medical doctor? 129
- What is the link between shipping entrepreneur Samuel Cunard and the infamous pirate "Blackbeard"? 130
- Who was the man who called himself the Poet Laureate of Canada? 132
- Is there a Canadian connection to the hold-up command "Hands Up"? 133
- Is there any record of the first non-Native child born in what is now Canada? 136
- Did Evita, the wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron, secretly visit Canada shortly before her death to receive treatment for cancer? 137
- What can you tell me about Louis Cyr, a Canadian strongman from Quebec? 139
- Did a Canadian kill famed escape artist Harry Houdini? 140
- What was author Charles Dickens doing in Canada in the 1840s? 142
- What is the Canadian connection to the popular Hardy Boys series? 143
- Who was the first Canadian to fly an airplane? 145
- Was the woman who inspired the Broadway musical The King and I from Canada? 146
- Who took the first photographs of Canada? 147
- Who was the Canadian who started the Fuller Brush Company? 148
- What is the Canadian connection to the three-quart milk jug? 149
- Which Canadian was one of the few black surgeons to participate in the U.S. Civil War? 151
- What is the story behind Sydney Guilaroff, the Canadian who was known as the "hairdresser to the stars"? 153
- Who was frontiersman Jerry Potts, the man some call "Canada's Davy Crockett"? 154
- 7 MUSIC LOVERS TAKE NOTE 156
- Is it true that band members from "The Tonight Show" played on a number-one Canadian record? 157
- What Canadian band declined to perform at the Woodstock Festival in 1969? 158
- Did Bobby Gimby, the man who wrote "Ca-na-da ," do anything else of note? 159
- Which Canadian musician has won the most Juno Awards over the years? My bet's on Gordon Lightfoot 160
- What can you tell me about the album that was recorded in the 1960s by Canadian actor William Shatner of "Star Trek" fame? 161
- What Canadian singer tried to sell his Juno Award at a garage sale? 163
- What Canadian rock band was involved in Canada's first professional pop music video? 164
- What was Canada's musical connection to once-popular television sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies"? 166
- Was a Canadian group responsible for the song considered to be the first rock 'n' roll hit? 167
- What Canadian rock group posed nude in the early seventies to promote their album? 168
- How did Canadian band A Foot in Coldwater get its name? 169
- Which Canadian band had one of the best selling singles ever in Japan? 170
- What Canadian folksinger once taught Paul Peterson of the television program "The Donna Reed Show" how to sing? 171
- Canadians Céline Dion and Alanis Morissette have done well at the Grammy Awards in recent years. What other Canadians have won? 172
- What Canadian group was known as the "heaviest band in the world?" 173
- 8 OUR POLITICAL AGENDA 174
- Who held the office of prime minister for the shortest period of time? Who has been PM the longest? 175
- Where in Canada did women first have the legal right to vote? 176
- It seems that men have always dominated Canadian politics, but what can you tell me about an allwoman municipal council in eastern Ontario back in 1967? And what are some other political firsts for women? 177
- Seventeen of Canada's twenty prime ministers bear the title Right Honourable. Why not the other three? 179
- What is the significance of world leaders and dignitaries planting trees at Rideau Hall in Ottawa? 181
- What kind of jobs did our MPs have before being elected? Have any made names for themselves outside of politics? 182
- Did Sir John A. Macdonald have a son who was also a successful politician? 184
- Have Canadians always voted on the same day in federal general elections? 185
- How do young Canadians become pages at Parliament Hill? Is it true that there was once a height restriction? 187
- What can you tell me about a series of underground shelters built by the Canadian government during the Cold War years? 189
- I understand it is against the law to use the name Parliament Hill for commercial purposes. How did this come about? 192
- How much were MPs and the prime minister paid in the days of Confederation? How do their paycheques compare today? 194
- 9 THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER THING 196
- Are the streets of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories paved with gold? 197
- Where can you watch a play where the stage is in Canada but the audience sits in the United States? 198
- In what province do people drink the most and least amount of beer? 200
- Why did the Canadian brewing industry switch from tall bottles to "stubbies," then back to tall ones? 201
- How many people are in jail in Canada every day and what does it cost to keep them there? 204
- Do Canadians hold the world record for building the biggest snowman? 205
- What is the story behind the S.S. Moyie, a sternwheeler docked at Kaslo, British Columbia? 206
- Whatever happened to the alternate name — the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway — for Highway 401 in Ontario? 208
- Which animal is more popular among Canadian pet owners — dogs or cats? 210
- Have Canadians ever been commemorated on American postage stamps? 212
- How did the Kiwanis club get its name and did it start in Canada? 214
- I used to rely a lot on Coles Notes when I was in high school. Are they still popular? 215
- Where is Canada's largest tombstone? 217
- How long have station wagons been available in Canada? 218
- Do those little balls that move around on the side of gasoline pumps when you fill up have any purpose? 220
- I've heard Canada is home to the world's largest dump truck. True? 221
- Can Canada boast the world's longest bar? 223
- How can Canadians get their homes into the movies? 224
- What can you tell me about the first patent filed in Canada? How is patent protection obtained? 226
- Some art history books say the Group of Seven consisted of as many as ten Canadian painters. Who were the original seven and who joined later? 228
- What is the narrowest building in Canada? 229
- Is it true the Bloody Caesar cocktail is a Canadian drink? 230
- How do you get your name in Canada's various who's who books? 231
- Where is the smallest jail in North America? 233
- Why was whiskey called "fire water" in the early days of the Canadian West? 234
- Where was Canada's first zoo? 236
