Today is Thursday July 1, 2010

Canada Day

Canada, Oh Canada! Today is the birthday of America's neighbor, eh! The first Canada Day was celebrated in 1867 with the British North America Act, which united Canada as a single country with four provinces.

Famous Canadians that are sure to partake in today's festivities are actor Jim Carrey, NHL star Sidney Crosby and singer Celine Dion.  Nearly 35 million Canadian citizens will join them on this day of national pride.

These “canucks” celebrate Canada Day with many of the same traditions that Americans practice on July 4th: barbecues, parades, fireworks and air-shows. It's not hard to understand why July 1st is such a popular day in Canada, from Ottawa to Toronto to Montreal to Vancouver! If you're not Canadian, today is a great day to tip your hat to the creators of ice hockey and snowmobiles.

So spend some loonies and toonies, have some poutine, and celebrate with your neighboring Canadians!

July is National Grilling Month & National Ice Cream Month

Today is also International Joke Day & National Ginger Snap Day

"Images and text courtesy of MyPunchbowl.com" -- http://www.mypunchbowl.com/

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On this day in History:

1847 - The U.S. Post Office issued its first adhesive stamps. 1863 - During the U.S. Civil War, the first day's fighting at Gettysburg began. 1867 - Canada became an independent dominion. 1916 - The massive Allied offensive known as the Battle of the Somme began in France. The battle was the first to use tanks. 1943 - The U.S. Government began automatically withholding federal income tax from paychecks. 1946 - The U.S. exploded a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. 1968 - The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was signed by 60 countries. It limited the spreading of nuclear material for military purposes. On May 11, 1995 the treaty was extended indefinitely. 1997 - The sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred from Great Britain to China. Britain had controlled Hong Kong as a colony for 156 years.

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Quote of the Day:
"Change is an easy panacea. It takes character to stay in one place and be happy there."

--Elizabeth Clarke Dunn

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Today's Tip:

Missed your connecting flight? Don’t stand in line to rebook with a gate agent. Instead, call the airline’s customer-service number: You may have a better shot at a seat on the next flight.