OK, how about these factoids?
- While not invented by Canadians, the rules of Lacrosse were first codified by a Montreal Dentist (from the Indian games) which led to the adoption of the game by US colleges and prep schools in the 1870's.
- The Christmas tree on Boston Common is donated each year by the people of Halifax, Nova Scotia to the residents of Boston in appreciation of their response to the Halifax Explosion of 1917. 2018 will mark the 100th year of this tradition.
- During WWII, the only joint American- Canadian military unit was formed from picked men. Call the First Special Service Force, their unit insignia was a red arrowhead. Both American and Canadian Special Operations Forces trace their lineage to this unit.
- If you go to Montreal or Quebec City, be sure and tell them you are American. It's OK for dumb Americans not to speak French, but if you don't tell them and they think you are Anglo-Canadian, it doesn't go so well....
- The national sport of Canada is not Hockey. It's smuggling. (Stole that from my ex-pat buddy).
- Speaking of smuggling, it is not widely known or often forgotten that Canadian diplomats actively assisted in the smuggling of six American diplomats out of Tehran after the capture of the American embassy there. We shouldn't forget that too often.
- Five Canadian snipers in Afghanistan were nominated for the Bronze Star for Valor by American commanders in 2002. The medals were approved. Canadian Defense Force brass would not let them receive the medals, and later discharged three of them: apparently for doing their jobs too well. It has since become the subject of an internal investigation.
Anybody born north of Interstate 10 is a yankee to me.
