Canada is the world's second largest country by area, occupying most
of the northern portion of North America. Extending from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, Canada
shares land borders with the United States to the south and to the
northwest. Inhabited originally by Aboriginal peoples, Canada was
founded as a union of British colonies, some of which had earlier been
French colonies. Now a federal dominion of ten provinces and three
territories, Canada peacefully obtained sovereignty from Britain in a
process spanning from 1867 to 1982. Canada is a parliamentary
democracy and constitutional monarchy, and defines itself as a
bilingual and multicultural nation; both English and French are
official languages.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1713:
After Queen Anne's War, French residents of Acadia were given one year
to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadia)
1887:
Banff National Park was created, becoming Canada's first national
park.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banff_National_Park)
1894:
The International Olympic Committee was founded at the Sorbonne in
Paris.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Olympic_Committee)
1941:
Lithuanian 1941 independence: Members of Lithuanian Activist Front
declared independence from the Soviet Union.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_1941_independence)
1985:
A bomb destroyed Air India Flight 182 above the Atlantic Ocean,
killing all 329 on board.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"We thought: we're poor, we have nothing, but when we started losing
one after the other so each day became remembrance day, we started
composing poems about God's great generosity and — our former
riches." -- Anna Akhmatova
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anna_Akhmatova)