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Sunday Newsletter 2000-13Su. September 24, 2000. This week is lucky issue number 13, and if you are truly worried about this number then you would be considered as suffering from triskaidekaphobia, or the fear of the number thirteen. Just to prove that I have no fears, I have moved this week's biography from its normal second place position (after question of the week) to third spot. Read on and find out why. My apologies to those that are not interested in hockey, but we like to report all pertinent Canadian history when the time is appropriate. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == SPORTS HISTORY == "Here's a shot. Henderson made a wild stab. Here's another shot right by... and scores! Henderson has scored for Canada! Henderson, right in front of the net and the fans and the team are going wild!" How many of you remember these immortal words spoken by one of the most well known hockey broadcasters in history, Foster Hewitt? It was 28 years ago this Thursday (September 28, 1972) when Paul Henderson scored what has come to be known as hockey's most famous goal. For those of you born after this date, or too young to remember, perhaps a little re-cap is in order. Born on January 28, 1943 (appropriate because it was 28 years ago, the goal was scored on the 28th and Paul was born on the 28th), at Kincardine, Ontario, Paul's life started in what, one might say is, true hockey folklore. Quoted directly from Mr. Henderson is the following remembrance of his birth, as told to him; "... maybe one of the reasons I wanted to be a hockey player was because I was born on a sleigh in the middle of a snowstorm. The roads were closed and my parents couldn't get to the hospital, so they hitched up the team of horses and put my mother on the sleigh and we headed to the hospital. But maybe, because I was always fast on the ice, I was a little fast in this case also, and we didn't make it to the hospital and I was born on a sleigh." Moving ahead almost three decades found Paul coming off his best NHL season ever and playing for Team Canada against the Soviet Union's best players. This eight game showdown has become known as the "Summit Series", and Paul's winning goal with only 34 seconds remaining in the final game gave Canada a 6-5 lead and allowed Canada to win the series with a record of four wins, three losses and a tie. This was a thrilling and exhilarating series and this final goal has become firmly etched in the memories of millions of Canadians. In fact, a poll done at the end of 1999 placed this event at number eight of the most significant events in Canadian history during the preceding 100 years. It out-distanced all other sporting events by a long shot, and only trailed such epic events as the battle for Vimy Ridge during WW I, and the Normandy landing during WW II on D-Day, June 6, 1944. What many may not remember is the fact that after the first four games were played here in Canada, and the first of four games was played in the Soviet Union, Canada trailed the Soviets with one victory, three losses and a tie. Canada needed to win the final three games to ensure victory in the series and the title of the best hockey team in the world -- one loss and the Soviets would win the "Summit Series". Paul not only scored the winning goal in the final game (eight), but also scored the winning goals in games six and seven as well! He finished the series with ten goals and three assists. His last goal, however, was the one to assure him of hockey immortality among other hockey legends. To hear Foster Hewitt's play by play of the 12 seconds prior to the goal, please click on this link. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == THIS WEEK'S QUESTION == Terra Nova National Park is located in which province? Answer near the bottom. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == BIOGRAPHY == Clint "Benny" Benedict. This Hockey Hall of Fame member was born 106 years ago tomorrow in Ottawa, Ontario (September 25, 1894). Clint played professional hockey for 19 years between 1912 and 1931. Thirteen (there's that number again) of those years were spent playing in the NHL for the old version of the Ottawa Senators and the defunct Montreal Maroons. From 1912 until 1917 he played in a league called the NHA which folded on November 26, 1917, opening the way to the formation of the NHL whose inaugural season was also 1917. Back then teams played only 44 games per season, having to rely mostly on the rail system to get them from venue to venue. On October 20, 1924, after the 1923-24 season ended, Clint was traded to the Maroons with Punch Broadbent for cash. It was in Montreal that Clint began to shine, registering a goals against average (GAA) under 2.00 in four of his six seasons there. During the 1926-27 season he recorded the fourth highest total of shutouts in a season ever by accumulating the amazing total of 13 (there it is again) and a league leading 1.42 GAA. His NHL career totals were 362 games played, 191 wins, 142 losses and 28 ties. He had 858 goals scored against him on his way to a 2.30 GAA, and 58 shutouts. His nine appearances in the NHL post season where even better, making 48 appearances, earning 15 shutouts and a GAA of 1.80. Way back in issue number seven of this newsletter, I dispelled the myth that Jacques Plante was the first goalie to wear a mask. It was actually Clint. You can click on this link to see the very primitive mask worn by Clint back in 1930. Mr. Benedict died on November 12, 1976, at the age of 82. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == MYTH DISPELLED == "One, two, three, four. Is it snowing where you are, Mr. Theissen? If so telegraph back and let me know." Few people know these to be the first words ever broadcast and heard by another person over wireless radio waves. If asked, most people would guess Guglielmo Marconi uttered the first words transmitted without wires, while incorrectly accrediting him as the inventor of radio. However, we are dispelling the myth that Marconi invented the radio, since he neither transmitted this message nor invented the radio. Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, a Canadian born on October 6, 1866, successfully delivered that message by radio from Washington, DC, to Arlington, Virginia, on December 23, 1900. Six years later, almost to the day, on December 24, 1906, Fessenden made history when he successfully broadcast his voice, music and Christmas wishes over two-way radio from Massachusetts to ships in the Atlantic on equipment that normally received Morse Code. Marconi had only sent one-way Morse Code radio signals from England to Newfoundland in 1901, for which a commemorative plaque was erected in his honour. Despite Fessenden's ingenuity and historical achievements, his first two-way radio broadcast went unnoticed while Marconi received undeserved acclaim as inventor of the radio. Inspired by Alexander Graham Bell, Fessenden was convinced that the wireless telegraph, which then transmitted only Morse Code, could carry the human voice. He theorized that sound waves continuously rippled outward, as happens when a stone is dropped into water, while Marconi hypothesized that waves were generated by creating a spark that caused a whiplash effect. Fessenden's critics, including Thomas Edison and the Canadian government, discounted his theory of voice transmission and supported Marconi's incorrect whiplash assumption. Even today, Fessenden's achievements are overlooked in many books and encyclopaedias. Fessenden not only developed the technology for wireless radio voice transmission, but he is credited with 500 other inventions including a sonar system that could have prevented the ill-fated sinking of the Titanic by using sound waves to detect distance from icebergs. Fessenden also took Thomas Edison's invention of the light bulb and made a better working model, easily used in homes and businesses. Edison (as mentioned above) was one of Fessenden's doubters and few other people shared Fessenden's belief that broadcasting voices was possible. When he asked the opinion of the great Thomas Edison on wireless radio transmission, Edison replied, "Fezzie, what do you say are man's chances of jumping over the moon? I think one is as likely as the other." Edison was wrong. Reginald Fessenden died in Bermuda in 1932, his ingenuity and historical wireless radio broadcast still not recognized. Some scholars still promote Marconi as the inventor of radio. However, Canadians should be proud and aware of Fessenden's achievements, to dispel the Marconi myth once and for all. I would like to thank Cathy, one of our readers, who, while working in Korea, found the time to write this fine article. Cathy has now become the first contributor from outside our realm of three. Please feel free to visit her Web site at this link to find out lots about being a Canadian living and teaching in Korea. Also, don't forget to take her squat pot poll! ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == GEOGRAPHICAL WISDOM == Another one of our readers is Ken, who has come up with two contributions himself. The first is shown below and deals with the confusion between St. John's and St. John and a catchy way to remember them. "To remember which St. John's is where; St. John's (with the 's') is in the province *without* the 's' -- Newfoundland. Saint John (without the 's') is in the province *with* an 's' -- New BrunSwick." I like this and hope you all do as well. Ken's second offering is in our new pet peeves section. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == HUMOUR FOR THE WEEK == A young Canadian boy is being held in Miami by a group of Canadian expatriates who refuse to let him be returned to his father in Canada. The boy, one Ernie MacDougal, was visiting Disney World with his mother when she fell out of the ride on Splash Mountain. After what some say is a miraculous survival aided by members of the Miami Dolphins football team, he reached the end of the ride, where he was interviewed by Disney security. Asked repeatedly where he was from, he kept answering "Saskatoon, Saskatchewan". Taking this as the babbling of delirium, the boy was turned over to Dr. Phil McCracken, the physician on duty at the park at that time. As luck would have it, Dr. McCracken is a Canadian who had himself fled the tyranny of having the Canadian government tell him how to run his medical practice, and had come to the United States in hopes of having large publicly traded corporations tell him how to run his medical practice. Recognizing that the boy was a fellow countryman, his family swept the boy away to their home in Miami and called the media to announce their intention to prevent the boy from being returned to a country where he could not be free to take a gun to school to defend himself against the other six-year-old kids with guns. Other Canadian expatriates have formed a human shield around the house, linking arms and shouting, "Hell no, he won't go, eh!" The boy's father in Saskatoon has issued a public demand for his return, but as yet has shown no sign of willingness to travel to Miami. State Department experts on Canada believe that he is not allowed to leave Canada until he manages to complete a multi-page passport application in flawless French. Ironically, the boy's mother survived her fall but was later found shot in the Disney parking lot, where muggers mistook her for a German tourist. Further developments as they occur. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == PET PEEVES == Ken says; "My pet peeve is the same as yours, *but* I get more annoyed when the police seldom enforce *any* traffic violations on the highway except speeding. Tailgating, passing on the right, no lane change signals, going too slow in the fast lane, and failing to yield, all seem to be given the blind eye by the constabulary. Why are they not enforcing poor driving?" Ken has elaborated on my peeve given last week. I would say his points are equally valid and this insight frustrates me also. Please don't forget to send your pet peeves to john@factscanada.com . You can also send in any ideas for features or articles and we will do our best to feature them. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE == To encourage hunting, our country's Ministry of the Environment announced guidelines last month allowing children as young as 12 to learn to shoot geese and ducks. "Canada now has 60 percent fewer hunters than 10 years ago," said a spokesman for the Canadian Wildlife Service, "which has led to animal overpopulation." Participating kids must have had a safety class and must be accompanied by a licensed hunter at least 18-years-old. This will no doubt lead gun-control and children's advocates to "go ballistic", so to speak. All this happening while Ottawa prepares their mandatory registration of firearms, which we featured in an article released in our Friday Feature edition three, on September 8. I can see little Billy now in the lineup to register his 12 gauge, fraternizing with all sorts of folks also patiently waiting for Ottawa to shout out, "Next please!" ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == ANSWER TO THIS WEEK'S QUESTION == Terra Nova National Park is located in Newfoundland. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø We managed to get through our 13th issue without any bad luck! I hope Craig is doing as well with the Web site. He says we are still on track to meet our October 2nd deadline for a working Web site with all of our previous newsletters archived, and new ones archived weekly. See you next week. ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø == LINKS AND RESOURCES == FactsCanada.ca -- http://www.factscanada.ca NinerNet Communications Today's resources |
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