May 12 - International Nurses Day

International Nurses Day takes place on the 12th of May every year, celebrated on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth, a woman remembered as "The lady with the lamp" for her undying commitment to the cause of health care.

International Nurses Day celebrates and applauds the nursing fraternity for their 24/7 service to promote health. Nurses are the backbone of the health care system, the "pivot in the 'Hospital-Doctor-Patient' paradigm". They provide preventative care, home care, and hospital care for their patients. They carry out prescribed treatment measures, but more importantly, they provide comfort and advice to their patients during troubled times.

If there are nurses in your life, show them the appreciation they have earned, today and every day!

Today is also Hug Your Cat Day, Limerick Day, Mother's Day (of course!), National Doodle Day, and World Fair Trade Day!

Here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history:

- British naval officer and explorer George Vancouver, known for his exploration of the BC Pacific coast, died in London, England in 1798.
- The Manitoba Act received royal assent in 1870. It created the new province of Manitoba and came into effect on July 15.
- Painter J. E. H. MacDonald, whose best paintings were done north of Lake Superior, often of great vistas in a turbulent style, was born in Durham, England in 1873.

- Louisiana legalized prize fighting in 1890.
- National Hospital Day was 1st observed in 1921.
- Also in 1921, Farley Mowat, reputedly Canada's most widely read author, published in over 40 countries, was born in Belleville, Ontario.

- 1500 Jews were gassed in Auschwitz in 1942.
- A formal NORAD (North American Air Defence) agreement between Canada and the US was signed in 1958, integrating Canadian and American air defence forces under a central command at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

- Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run in 1970.
- South African prisoner Nelson Mandela saw his wife for the 1st time in 22 years in 1984.
- At the age of 22, Susie Maroney of Australia, became the 1st person to swim from Cuba to Florida in 1997.
- Premier Gordon Campbell led the BC Liberal Party to a third consecutive majority in 2009, the first premier in 25 years to do so.
- An Afriqiyah Airways Flight crashed and killed everyone but one person on board in 2010.

Check out what happened last week in science:

Stay tuned for our next, "On This Day in History"!

May 11 - World Bellydance Day

Started in 2007, World Bellydance Day occurs on the 2nd Saturday of May every year, to unite the initiative of dancers around the world to celebrate the wonderful art of belly dance. It was inspired by the idea of holding an event that would serve as a reminder that belly dance is indeed an art form, a cultural event, a sport, and a social and family entertainment.

Many consider belly dance to be a provocative form as dance, akin to exotic dance. The organizers of World Bellydance Day want to break through the stereotypes, advertising their events as family friendly.

Check out events in your local area: http://worldbellydanceday.com/worldbellydanceday/blog/tag/canada/

Today is also Birthmother's Day, Eat What You Want Day, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day, Mother Ocean Day, National Babysitters Day, and National Train Day!

Here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history:

- Fifty-four members of the Knights Templar were burned at the stake in France for being heretics in 1310.
- Charles Doherty, founder of the Canadian Bar Association, was born in Montreal in 1855.
- A derailment outside Lompoc, California killed 32 Shriners when their chartered train jumped off the tracks at a switch near Surf Depot in 1907.
- Montana's Glacier National Park formed in 1910.
- Author Sheila Burnford, whose first novel, The Incredible Journey, was an immediate international best-seller, was born in Scotland in 1918.
- Tje Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences formed in 1927.
- Siam renamed itself Thailand in 1949.
- Elvis Presley entered the UK charts with "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1959.
- The first contraceptive pill is made legally available in 1960.
- The Monty Python comedy troupe formed in 1969.
- Pianist Angela Hewitt won the Toronto International Bach Piano Competition over 166 contestants in 1985, launching a stellar international career.

- In 1999, Chevron Canada of Calgary announced that explorers had found one of the largest natural gas deposits in Canada, near the town of Fort Liard, NWT.
- Alberta's Health Care Protection Act (Bill 11) passed in 2000. Seen by the government as an act to preserve the health care system, Bill 11 was intended to expand the role of private surgery facilities.
- The Nisga'a Final Agreement, recognizing Nisga'a lands and self-government, went into effect in 2000.
- Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands unveiled the Man With Two Hats monument in Ottawa in 2002, and Apeldoorn on May 2, 2000, symbolically linking both the Netherlands and Canada for their assistance throughout the Second World War.
- Anson Carter scored in overtime against Sweden as Canada won the world hockey championship in Helsinki, Finland  in 2003.
- Chinese scientists broke a world record by transferring photons over 97 kilometers using quantum teleportation in 2012.

Stay tuned for our next, "On This Day in History"!

May 10 - Fintastic Friday!

In 2011, WhaleTimes teamed up with the scientists at the Shark Research Institute to raise awareness of the plight of sharks. Fintastic Friday always occurs on the 2nd Friday in May.

As many as 100 million sharks are killed every year for their fins. These sharks have little to no protection from the humans that slaughter them. Roughly 11 415 sharks die every hour. In many ecosystems, shark populations have plummeted 75-90 %.

Oregon, Washington, and California have joined Hawaii in passing shark protection laws as of 2011.

A great site for more information about sharks is "The Dorsal Fin": http://www.thedorsalfin.com/

Today is also Child Care Provider Day, Lupus Day, Windmill Day, and Military Spouse Appreciation Day.

Here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history:

- Columbus discovered the Cayman Islands in 1503.
- Jamaica was captured by the English in 1655.

- An unauthorized American citizens’ militia called the Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allan and Benedict Arnold, took Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point over 2 days in 1775. The Forts were ideally located for controlling the waterways into Canada during the American Revolution.
- Banks in New York City suspended specie payments in 1837, meaning they would no longer redeem commercial paper in specie at full face value. Unemployment reached record levels, the recession lasting seven years. Became known as the "Panic of 1837".
- The capital of Canada was moved from Kingston to Montréal, Canada East in 1844.

- Victoria Woodhull became the 1st woman nominated for the US presidency in 1872. She was also a leader in the women's suffrage movement.

- Aaron Mosher, who became Canada's foremost exponent of national unionism, was born in Halifax County, Nova Scotia in 1881.
- J. Edgar Hoover became the first Director of the FBI in 1924.
- Celebrated Acadian novelist Antonine Maillet was born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick in 1929.

- Journalist and author Peter C. Newman was born in Vienna, Austria in 1929.
- The Nazis staged public book burnings in Germany in 1933.
- "Laverne & Shirley," aired for the last time on ABC-TV in 1983.
- Michael Ondaatje won the inaugural Trillium Book Award for his novel In the Skin of a Lion in 1987. He won again in 1992 for The English Patient.

- Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa's 1st black President in 1994.

- The Red Cross suspended all humanitarian work in Pakistan in 2012 after a worker was kidnapped and killed.

Stay tuned for our next, "On This Day in History"!

Greatest Books of All Time Week 15

Greatest Books of All Time
Week 15

100 Greatest Books
of All Time.

What is your favourite book of all time? Cast your vote by commenting here at the bottom of this post, posting a note on our facebook page or adding it to our in-house ballot box.

This week's nominees: 

The City of Ember

 Holy Bible

The Birth House

 

The Cupcake Diaries

Each Friday we will tabulate the votes and post them on our
Facebook, Twitter and Blog accounts.

One vote per visit please.

The final Top 100 will be announced at the end of December.

 

And still in the lead is...

The Stand
by Stephen King

May 9 - Pontiac's War

Pontiac's War remains the most successful First Nations resistance to the European invasion in our history. Though it failed to oust the British from native lands, the conflict forced a recognition of native rights that has had far-reaching consequences to this day.

In late July of 1766, a great council was convened at Fort Ontario (Oswego). A weary superintendent of Indian Affairs William Johnson had called together the chiefs of the Great Lakes nations in order to find an end to the war.

A loose coalition of tribes in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley area had captured 9 frontier forts, killed around 2500 "whites", and laid siege to Forts Detroit and Duquesne for months.

Many chiefs played their parts in the ensuing conflict, but the greatest among them was the Ottawa chief Obwandiyah, known to the English as "Pontiac".

He was an imposing figure, tall, strong, and heavily tattooed, as was the custom of the Ottawa. He was courageous, commanding respect far beyond his own people. Pontiac believed "if you allow the English among you, you are dead. Maladies, smallpox, and their poison will destroy you totally."

By the spring of 1763, Pontiac was contemplating war. With the support of the neighbouring Potawatomis and Hurons, he planned to capture Fort Detroit, but a spy revealed his intentions. On May 9th of 1763, he and his men began a series of raids against the English forts. Historians have called the conflict that followed a "conspiracy", "treason", or an "uprising". For the First Nations, especially for Pontiac, it was a war of liberation.

The war lasted for months, until Pontiac's alliance slowly began to disintegrate. On July 6, the Potawatomis dissociated themselves from him, and Také's Hurons followed suit. Despite a final appeal by Pontiac, most of his Ojibwa and Ottawa followers deserted him in October for their winter hunting grounds.

Peace was concluded at Fort Ontario in July of 1766. On July 25, Pontiac declared to William Johnson, "I speak in the name of all the Nations to the westward whom I command, it is the will of the Great Spirit that we should meet here today and before him and all present I take you by the hand and never will part with it." His acceptance of peace set his former allies against him, gaining him banishment from his own village. His own life was later taken at the hand of a Peoria in Cahokia, considered by many historians to be a bitter irony.

Today is also National Moscato Day, Occupational Safety and Health Professionals Day, and School Nurse Day!

Here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history:

- Reported witch burnings took place the courtyard of the Atrecht episcopal place in 1460.
- Colonel Thomas Blood attempted to steal the Crown Jewels in 1671.
- Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's "molly house" in London were executed at Tyburn in 1726.
- British inventor Joseph Bramah patented the beer-pump handle in 1785.
- Judge Matthew Begbie, famous for bringing British law to a rough BC frontier, was born at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa in 1819.
- At Batoche, the Métis effectively resisted General Middleton's forces for 3 in 1885 days until drawn out of their rifle pits by a concerted attack.

- The steam locomotive City of Truro became the first steam engine to exceed 100mph in 1904.
- Hank Snow, influential pioneer of country and western Music, was born in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia in 1914.
- A laser beam was successfully bounced off the Moon for the 1st time in 1962.
- 100 000 demonstrators converged on Washington, DC to protest the Kent State shootings, and the Nixon administration's incursion into Cambodia in 1970. It was a near spontaneous response to the events of the previous week.
- The Supreme Court of Canada declared that federal Cabinet decisions would be subject to judicial control under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1985.

- The final episode of the "Golden Girls" aired on NBC-TV in 1992.
- Twenty-six miners were killed at Plymouth, Nova Scotia in 1992, when a blast triggered by the ignition of stray methane led to a chain reaction of lethal methane and coal-dust explosions.

- Judge David Nevins of the Ontario Supreme Court struck down an Ontario law preventing homosexual couples from adopting children in 1995.
- Dorothy Joudrie was acquitted of charges of the attempted murder of her estranged husband, Calgary businessman Earl Joudrie in 1996. The jury found that she was suffering from a mental disorder.
- 127 football fans died in Ghana in 2001, in what would become known as the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster. The deaths were caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of teargas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee handling a crucial match between arch-rivals Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

"I Am My Brother's Keeper" - Memorial in Honour of the 127 Lives Lost

- United States President, Barack Obama, officially stated his support for same sex marriage in 2012.

Stay tuned for our next, "On This Day in History"!

May 8 - World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day

 

World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is an annual celebration of the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is celebrated on May 8th in honour of the birth of Henry Dunant (May 8, 1828), the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize.

It started just after World War I, with the idea for an "annual action that could take hold in the whole world ... that would be a major contribution to peace", and evolved out of the Red Cross Truce, an initiative that was studied by an international commission established at the 14th International Conference of the Red Cross. The results were then presented to the 15th International Conference in Tokyo in 1934 to great success. The General Assembly of the International Federation of the Red Cross Societies eventually asked the League of the Red Cross Societies to study the feasibility of adopting an annual International Red Cross Day. The proposal was adopted two years later, and first Red Cross Day was celebrated on May 8, 1948.

The official title of the day has changed over time, becoming "World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day" in 1984.

Today is also Donate A Day's Wages to Charity Day, McHappy Day ($1.00 from every Big Mac, Happy Meal, and hot McCafe is donated to the Ronald McDonald Houses and local children's charities across Canada), No Socks Day, and Occupational Safety & Healthy Day.

Here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history:

- Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, author of the French words to the Canadian national anthem, "O Canada," was born in St-Placide, Lower Canada in 1839.

- Alexander Wolcott patented the Photographic Process in 1840.
- John Norquay, Manitoba's only Premier of mixed European and native ancestry, was born near St. Andrews, Manitoba in 1841.
- John Brown held an antislavery convention in 1858. He was later captured during an unsuccessful raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, and executed by hanging in 1959.
- By the Treaty of Washington in 1871, Americans were granted fishing rights in Canadian waters and the use of Canadian canals and the St. Lawrence River in; Canadians were allowed to navigate Lake Michigan, the St. Clair Flats Canal and Alaskan rivers.
- The 1st Westminster Dog Show was held in 1877.
- Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local Atlanta pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola in 1886, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacob's Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced "excellent", and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink.

- The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin opened in 1899.
- Mt. Pelee erupted in 1902, wiping out St Pierre, Martinique, and killing 30,000.
- Bill Miner stuck up a CPR train near Kamloops, but the robbery was bungled. Miner and 2 accomplices were captured by the Royal North-West Mounted Police in 1906.

- Paramount Pictures was formed in 1914.
- Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry held the south shoulder of the breach over Frezenberg Ridge in 1915.
- Edward George Honey first proposed the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate The Armistice of World War I in 1919, which later resulted in the creation of Remembrance Day.

- Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India in 1933.
- Jockey Ralph Neves unexpectedly revived after being declared dead after a fall in 1936. His wife fainted when he returned to the track.

- Mad Magazine debuted in 1952.
- Jim Pattison opened his first car dealership, Jim Pattison Ltd, located on Cambie Street in Vancouver in 1961. In 1987 Pattison was awarded the Order of Canada, and in 1990, the Order of British Columbia.
- Muhammad Ali was indicted for refusing induction into the US Army in 1967.
- The Rollercoaster Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical flip, opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 1976.
- The World Health Organization announced that smallpox had been eradicated in 1980.
- Gilles Villeneuve, of the Ferrari Formula One team, died at Zolder, Belgium during a high-speed qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix in 1982. In his honour, the city of Berthier established the first museum dedicated to a race car driver. Maranello, Italy, home of Ferrari industries, named a street for him. In Montréal, the Grand Prix circuit was named for him.

- Former soldier Denis Lortie went on a shooting spree at the National Assembly in Quebec in 1984, killing 3 and injuring 13.
- 16-year old Keron Thomas disguised himself as a motorman and took a NYC subway train with its 2000 passengers on a 3 hour ride in 1993.
- Austin Clarke (Barbados born, now lives in Toronto) won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book for his novel The Polished Hoe in 2003.
- The new Canadian War Museum opened its doors in 2005.

- The last piece of Yankee Stadium fell in the Bronx, New York in 2010, marking the end of the two year demolition process.

Stay tuned for our next, "On This Day in History"!

May 7 - World Asthma Day

 

World Asthma Day was first held in 1998, celebrated in more than 35 countries, organised by the Global Initiative for Asthma to improve asthma awareness and care around the world.

Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, characterized by variable and recurring symptoms (wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing), reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm (a sudden constriction of the muscles in the walls of the bronchioles).

World Asthma Day always occurs on the first Tuesday of May. Every year the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) chooses a theme and organizes preparation and distribution of World Asthma Day materials and resources. This year's theme follows last year's with "Your Can Control Your Asthma", with a sub-theme of "It's Time to Control Asthma".

World Asthma Day activities are organized in each country by health care professionals, educators, and members of the public who want to help reduce the burden of asthma.

Today is also Accountant's Day, Childhood Depression Awareness Day, and National Teacher Day!

Here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history:

- In 1620, Louis XIII wrote to Samuel de Champlain, commissioning him to govern New France and to do so in accordance with the laws and customs of France. From that point, Champlain devoted himself almost exclusively to administration and his career as an explorer ended.

Champlain's drawing of Port Royal

- Stockholm's royal castle (dating back to medieval times) was destroyed by a fire in 1697. It was replaced in the 18th century by the current Royal Palace.

- The city of New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in 1718.
- Jacques Viger, journalist, author, militia officer, civil servant, politician, known primarily for having been the first mayor of Montréal, was born in Montréal in 1787.
- Greece became an independent republic in 1832.
- The Columbia University approved plans for awarding the Pulitzer Prize in several categories in 1912. The award was established by Joseph Pulitzer.

- The first exhibition of the Group of Seven was put on display at the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1920, remaining there until the 27th. The Group articulated a sense of a distinctly Canadian art, rooted in the Canadian landscape.

"Group of Seven" members

- The RCMP schooner St. Roch was launched at the Burrard Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, North Vancouver, BC in 1928. It would become the first ship to sail the Northwest Passage from west to east and to circumnavigate North America.
- The Pulitzer prize awarded to Sidney Kingsley in 1934 for Men in White.
- The David Dunlap Observatory at Richmond Hill, Ont, was completed in 1935, the second largest in the world at that time.

Astronomers at the David Dunlap Observatory

- A Nazi decree ordered all Jewish pregnant women of Kovno Ghetto executed in 1942.
- Hostilities ceased in Europe in 1945. The unconditional surrender of Germany was signed at Rheims on May 7, and it was ratified at Berlin on May 8.
- Victory in Europe Day (VE-Day) riots broke out in Halifax in 1945. About 10 000 servicemen looted and vandalized the city's downtown.
- Pianist Janina Fialkowska, celebrated as one of the great interpreters of Liszt, was born in Montreal in 1951.

- The Mamas & Papas "Monday Monday" hits #1 on the charts in 1966.
- Edvard Munchs painting, "The Scream"  was recovered in 1994, 3 months after it was stolen.

- The tomb of Herod the Great was discovered in 2007.

Stay tuned for our next, "On This Day in History"!