Jun 27, 2019
By Jane Brown
Ahead of our nation’s 152nd birthday, a new poll suggests Canadians have some progress to make when it comes to learning about the quirky parts of the country’s history.
An online survey from Historica Canada quizzed respondents on 30 pieces of colourful Canadiana using true or false questions, and 67 per cent of people failed.
But CEO Anthony Wilson-Smith says passing the test isn’t the point. Instead, it’s about learning a little more about Canada.
“I also like things that give you remarkable scale. For example, Lake Superior is roughly the size of Austria,” Wilson-Smith explained, “which gives you a real sense.”
Other fun tidbits in the quiz include that Anne of Green Gables has been part of Japan’s public school curriculum since 1952, and the southwestern Ontario city of Kitchener was once named Berlin but changed its name during the First World War, primarily because of some anti-German sentiment.
Wilson-Smith says many Canadians are under the mistaken impression that the country’s history is boring. But he says people just haven’t bothered to look closely enough at the real human stories and the unique things that have happened in Canada.
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