My granddaughter, Lexi, wrote this delightful poem for Halloween and I asked her if I could share it with my readers today.
1920 – Frederick Banting dreams up a treatment for diabetes. 1918 – Global Spanish Flu Pandemic Hits Canada. 1517 Martin Luther posts 95 theses on Wittenberg church – precipitates the Protestant Reformation. 1926 Houdini is dead. 1892 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes published.
Banting was a physician, physiologist, and Nobel laureate, born at Alliston, Ontario; died February 21, 1941, in a plane crash over Labrador en route to England. After medical training at the University of Toronto, Banting entered the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1915, becoming a Captain and medical officer of the 46th Canadian Battalion, 13th Field Ambulance Brigade; 1918 September 28 awarded the Military Cross for valour at Haynecourt; while wounded in the arm, he neglected his own safety, and dressed the wounds of others in the battalion for nearly seventeen hours; 1919-21 practiced medicine in London, Ontario. Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… October 31st”
Tina Frisco treats us with a beautifully-written Halloween short story. Please, read on…
No one escaped her claws. Everyone…
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1995 – Jacques Parizeau narrowly loses his Québec Referendum on sovereignty. 1938 Welles scares the USA. 1811 Sense and Sensibility is published. 1945 Henry “The Fonz” Winkler is born. 1893 The World’s Columbian Exposition closes in Chicago.
NOTE: As Spain wrestles with separatist forces today, here’s what happened in Canada in 1995.
By a bare majority of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, citizens of the province of Quebec vote to remain within the federation of Canada. The referendum asked Quebec’s citizens, the majority of whom are French-speakers, to vote whether their province should begin the process that could make it independent of Canada. Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… October 30th”
Jill Dennison presents a chilling case about a sick ten-year-old girl being inhumanely detained by US immigration authorities. Please, read on…
Rosa Maria Hernandez … you are likely to hear that name a lot in the coming days, for she is, at age ten, one of Donald Trump’s “bad hombres”.
Rosa Maria came to the U.S. when she was three months old and her family settled in Laredo, Texas. She had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and her parents brought her to the U.S. seeking treatment for her condition. Rosa Maria has the mental capacity of a child half her age. Last Tuesday, Rosa Maria was in a great deal of pain and was ultimately diagnosed with a diseased gall bladder that would require emergency surgery. However, the hospital in Laredo was not equipped to do the surgery on such a young special needs child, and she was sent by ambulance to Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christie, Texas.
Along the way, the ambulance had to pass through a Border Patrol…
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As North America stands poised to turn the clocks back to Standard Time on November 5th, Opher Goodwin gives us a sneak preview from ‘across the pond’ in the UK. Please, read on…
Today the Clocks went back!!
What an absolute farce. I now don’t quite know what the hell the time is. Every time I look at a clock I have to ask myself if it has automatically updated itself or not. Some do and some don’t. I have to go around in the same muddled state that the country was in when we went decimal. Some measurements are in old and some new – some in pounds and ounces and some in kilos, some in old pounds shillings and pence and some in newfangled pence. So what is the time in real time? Did we go forward or back? Do I take an hour off or do I add it on? And how does that now line up with other countries?
Supposedly I got an hour extra sleep. Not that I noticed. I woke up and checked the clock and my…
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1831 – David Willson’s Children of Peace sect celebrate the opening of the Sharon Temple. 1998 John Glenn returns to space. 1956 Israel invades Egypt – Suez Crisis begins. 1618 Sir Walter Raleigh executed. 1929 Stock market crashes.
The Children of Peace (1812–1889) were an Upper Canadian Quaker sect under the leadership of David Willson, known also as ‘Davidites’, who separated during the War of 1812 from the Yonge Street Monthly Meeting in what is now Newmarket, Ontario, and moved to the Willson’s farm. Their last service was held in the Sharon Temple in 1889. Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… October 29th”
What does “Patriotism” have to do with “Education”? Hugh Curtler explains quite eloquently within the American context something that I think applies to democratic countries everywhere. Please, read on…
Back in July of 2012 I wrote this post about the relationship between education and democracy, a relationship I, like many others, consider essential. A part of that discussion is about patriotism, and given today’s sudden interest in the notion, featuring many who have no idea whatever what the word means, I thought it timely to trot out the post and ask readers to consider it once again. I have modified the post a bit to bring it up to date.
Years ago John Dewey wrote a book titled Democracy and Education in which he argued convincingly that a democratic system required an educated citizenry. In fact, Dewey went so far as to insist that the purpose of education is to turn out citizens who are enlightened enough to select their leaders and understand what they are up to. It’s not about jobs or self-esteem; it’s about gaining…
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1830 – Josiah Henson and family arrive in Upper Canada on the Underground Railway. 1914 – War Cabinet orders the registration of all ‘alien enemies,’ especially Germans and Ukrainians. 1965 Gateway Arch completed. 1905 George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession is performed in New York. 1886 Statue of Liberty dedicated.
Josiah Henson, spiritual leader, author, founder of the Black community settlement at Dawn, Canada West [Ontario] (born 15 June 1789 in Charles County, Maryland; died 5 May 1883 in Dresden, ON). Born enslaved, Henson escaped to Canada in 1830. Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… October 28th”
1918 – Billy Barker awarded Victoria Cross for downing 4 German planes while wounded. 1904 New York City subway opens. 1962 The United States and Soviet Union step back from brink of nuclear war. 1659 Quakers executed for religious beliefs. 1970 Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber release Jesus Christ Superstar.
William George (Billy) Barker, VC, fighter pilot, war hero, businessman (born 3 November 1894 in Dauphin, MB; died 12 March 1930 in Ottawa, ON). One of Canada’s foremost First World War flying aces, Barker is, to date, the most highly decorated military serviceman in Canadian history. Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… October 27th”
Fiora Books by John Fioravanti 