5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Canada
According to data from the 2016 Best Countries rankings — a characterization of 60 countries based on a survey of more than 16,000 people from four regions — Canada is the second best country in the world.
(Germany is No. 1.)
Canada is seen as one of the world’s safest, best educated, and most business friendly countries — and it’s also possibly one of the world’s most offbeat.
Beyond what Canada is famous for — among them mountains, hockey, maple syrup, and copious use of the phrase “eh?” — there are some strange, little-known facts.
Here are five things you may not have known about Canada.
1. Hawaiian pizza was invented there.
Believe it or not, the pizza named after the tropical state has much chillier origins.
It was invented in a restaurant called the Satellite in Chatham, Ontario, by a Greek immigrant named Sam Panopoulos.
He wanted a novelty to bring customers to his new restaurant, and pizza was a novelty in Canada back in the ’60s, when he his brother opened the Satellite. Without any knowledge as to what toppings are normally put on pizza, Panopoulos began to experiment.
“I said ‘Let’s put some pineapple on it’ and all of a sudden we’re doing big business,” he explained to the Toronto Sun.
2. They’ve been racing bathtubs for 50 years.
For Canada’s centennial in 1967, in an effort to popularize the city of Nanaimo in British Columbia, Nanaimo Harbor played host to a 36-mile bathtub race.
About 200 watercraft entered the race. Only 47 finished.
Since then, the event has evolved into a four-day festival that welcomes people and boats of all kinds. The festival features an arts and crafts fair, boat safety displays, and a beer garden, among other activities.
3. Its prime minister is in a comic book.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has proved to be a global sensation, and soon he will keep company with superheroes.
In the upcoming fifth issue of Marvel’s “Civil War II: Choosing Sides,” to be released Aug. 31, Trudeau will play a pivotal role advising Alpha Flight, a Canadian group of superheroes, and will be featured on an alternate cover of the comic.
“I didn’t want to do a stuffy cover — just like a suit and tie — put his likeness on the cover and call it a day,” Toronto-based cartoonist Ramon Perez told CBC News.
“I didn’t want this to just be like a walk-on … rescued by superheroes and he thanks them and that’s the end of the story,” Chip Zdarsky, a Canadian artist and writer who was approached by Marvel to do the story, added to CBC News. “I think a lot of these real-life appearances in comics tend to go that way. I liked the idea of him actually engaging them in an ethical debate.”
4. Volunteers write thousands of letters from Santa every year.
This may very well be the most Canadian story ever told: Each holiday season since 1982, in an initiative spearheaded by the Canada Post, thousands of Canadians have volunteered to answer letters addressed to Santa.
For the past 14 years volunteer “elves” have sent over 1 million letters a year, and almost 25 million to date, in 30 different languages, including Braille.
In case you’re wondering (and let’s face it, you totally are), this is Santa’s address — don’t forget the postal code:
Santa ClausNorth Pole
Canada
HOH OHO
5. It’s home to the largest gathering of snakes in the world.
Have ophidiophobia? You may not want to visit the Narcisse Snake Dens in Manitoba.
Every spring, tens of thousands of garter snakes climb to the surface of the snake dens to mate. Visitors from all over the world travel to the dens to watch as a veritable sea of snakes undulates below them.
The limestone crevices and marshes in Manitoba’s Interlake Region make a perfect habitat for snakes in every season, National Geographic explains. In the winter, the snakes slither into the crevices deep below the frostline and spend about eight months of the year there. They then climb out in the spring to mate and glut themselves on the marsh’s wildlife in the summer before retreating underground again.
More from U.S. News
The 10 Safest Countries, Ranked by Perception
The 10 Countries With the Best Food, Ranked by Perception
Vietnam: 6 Facts You Didn’t Know
5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Canada originally appeared on usnews.com
