John A. Macdonald (1815–1891) was the
firstPrime Minister of Canada (1867–73, 1878–91). The
dominant figure of
Canadian Confederation, he had a political career which spanned almost half a century. His family immigrated from Scotland to
Kingston in the colony of
Upper Canada (today in eastern
Ontario) when he was a boy. He became a lawyer, and was involved in several high-profile cases, quickly becoming prominent in Kingston. Seeking and obtaining a legislative seat in 1844, he served in the legislature of the colonial
United Province of Canada and by 1857 had become
premier under the colony's unstable political system. When in 1864 no party proved capable of governing for long, Macdonald agreed to a proposal from his political rival,
George Brown, that the parties unite in a
Great Coalition to seek federation and political reform. Macdonald was the leading figure in the subsequent discussions and conferences, which resulted in the
British North America Act and the birth of Canada as a nation on 1 July 1867. Macdonald is credited with creating a Canadian Confederation despite many obstacles, and expanding what was a relatively small country to cover the northern half of North America. By the time of his death in 1891, Canada had secured most of the territory it occupies today. (
Full article...)
... that Daniel Ashelman built a cabin on Ashelman Run in the early 1800s and the land was still owned by the Ashelman family in 1982?
... that the Lenborough Hoard, found just before Christmas 2014, is believed to be one of the largest hoards of
Anglo-Saxon coins ever discovered in Britain?
A Diet Coke and Mentos eruption is a reaction between the
carbonated beverage
Diet Coke and
Mentos mints that causes the liquid to spray out of its container. The mints cause
nucleation that releases dissolved carbon dioxide so fast it pushes the liquid up and out of the bottle, in what has been described as an eruption or geyser. Though this was demonstrated on television as early as 1999, the reaction went
viral in 2005, after
Steve Spangler posted a video to
YouTube.
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