Randy Ray - The Great Canadian Trivia Book

THE GREAT CANADIAN TRIVIA BOOK

A Collection of
Compelling Curiosities
from Alouette to Zed

Mark Kearney & Randy Ray

The Great Canadian Trivia Book

Copyright 1996 by Mark Kearney & Randy Ray

Second Printing November 1996

Third Printing December 1996

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Hounslow Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from the Canadian Reprography Collective.

Hounslow Press

A member of the Dundurn Group

Publisher: Anthony Hawke

Editor: Liedewy Hawke

Designer: Sebastian Vasile

Printer: Webcom

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Kearney, Mark, 1955

The great Canadian trivia book

ISBN 0-88882-188-3

1. Canada - Miscellanea. I. Ray, Randy, 1952

II. Title.

Publication was assisted by the Canada Council, the Book Publishing Industry Development Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Ontario Arts Council.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The authors and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credit in subsequent editions.

Printed and bound in Canada

To Catherine and Janis for their ideas and support, and especially for bearing with us during the many hours we spent discussing this book and several other projects.

Any book that covers such a wide range of items on Canada cannot be done without the help of many people. Although we were ultimately responsible for the researching and writing, we are grateful to the librarians, authors, and other experts who gave their time, answered our questions, or pointed us in the right direction. To everyone who contributed photographs and illustrations for the book, we appreciate your help.

We would also like to thank all of the editors who over the years provided space in their newspapers for our trivial pursuits in columns and articles, including Donna Maloney of the Toronto Star, Reg Vickers of the Calgary Herald, Ned Powers of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Rod Jerred of the Oakville Beaver, Joe McLaughlin of the Red Deer Advocate, and Dave Dauphinee of the London Free Press. And thanks to all the readers who sent us questions and information.

A special tip of our hats to Tony Hawke, who was supportive and encouraging of Canadian trivia as a book project, and to his wife, Liedewy, whose skilled editing pencil helped keep our prose flowing and our commas in place.

Finally, wed like to acknowledge an inanimate object the dock at Randys cottage near Havelock, Ontario. It was here we tossed ideas back and forth, came up with interesting trivial items, and hammered out the concept for this book. Now thats a piece of trivia!

Mark Kearney and Randy Ray

The pie-in-the-face gag and the phrase Beatlemania. The mini-skirt and the first radio quiz show. The creation of the Academy Awards and Winnie the Pooh.

You might do a double take if we told you all these items, diverse as they are, have Canadian roots. During our travels across Canada, digging through the shelves of various libraries, talking on the phone to a myriad of experts, and answering queries from readers who saw some of our newspaper articles on these and other subjects, we unearthed several surprises.

After six years of researching the weird and wonderful side of Canada, it is clear this country is not just a land famous for maple syrup, ice hockey and Trivial Pursuit. In fact, we are as good a source of trivia as you would ever want.

Like the time, not too long ago, when Canada had a plan to invade the United States. Or the nude sunbathing at Meech Lake. And the tale of the notorious doctor from London, Ontario, and later London, England, who some thought was Jack the Ripper.

Lurking not too far below the bland exterior Canada is so often accused of having, lies a rich world of oddities, accomplishments, and downright silliness.

Canadians dull? No way, eh!

Canada is still saddled with the image that its history is dull. We seem to lack the violent tinge that permeates much of the history of our neighbours to the south.

We arent a major world power, we dont have dashing figures who have become the stuff of Hollywood legend; we simply thrive on peace, order, and good government.

Bunk.

As you will soon read, we had a plan as recently as 1920 to invade the United States. Our most legendary historical figure shouldnt have been hanged for treason on a technicality. And our country almost got called Ursalia.

Who knows, maybe our dull image got started because Great Britain once tried to trade us for the island of Guadeloupe.

Q. Is it true that a Chinese explorer discovered Canada long before the Vikings or other European explorers sailed here?

A. Leif Eriksson, Chris Columbus move over. Make way for Hui-Shen. Its possible that the fifth-century Chinese explorer may have reached North Americas western shores long before others who have made the claim.

When we think about discoverers of Canada and the rest of the New World (other than the native people who had been here for centuries), we usually picture Vikings braving the cold waters of the Atlantic a thousand years ago. Or the epic adventures of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot.

But what about explorers who sailed the Pacific Ocean? According to works by Chinese historians, it is possible that Hui-Shen, a Buddhist monk, made it here first.

These historical works describe a country called Fusang that bears a resemblance to the west coast of North America. Although some historians claim the description best fits Mexico, others believe it is closer to British Columbia.

Hui-Shen may have discovered Canada in 499. Apparently there were many monks at that time who were exploring new lands to spread the doctrines of Buddhism. The jury is still out on this one, but a Pacific route may well have been the first one used in the discovery of Canada.

Q. Was Canada considered an important colony to Great Britain from the start?

A. No. In fact, at one point there was a widely held view in Britain that Canada should be traded back to France in exchange for the West Indian island of Guadeloupe.

It may sound crazy now, but around 1761, many Britons believed acquiring Guadeloupe would be more advantageous than holding on to cold and barren Canada. The debate, covered in the pages of the