Every year on 1 July, people from the Great White North gather round to celebrate Canada Day – a holiday which marks the nation’s history.
Over the past few years we have seen some extraordinary records be broken in honour of the day, including some remarkable Canadians achieve a number of impressive feats.
In honour of Canada Day 2018, here are our top records that truly embody the spirit of the country.
Smallest national flag
Canada may be the country that produced the world’s Smallest national flag, but the country is quite large itself! Measuring 0.697 square micrometres, and was achieved by the Institute for Quantum Computing in Waterloo, Ontario, as measured on 6 September 2016. Its colour was created by oxidising a bare silicon wafer in a tube furnace in order to grow a layer of Silicon dioxide of a carefully chosen thickness.
Thin film interference effects in the silicon dioxide layer gives the flag a red colour.
However, the flag is too small for conventional imaging techniques, so the only images we are able to see of the flag are in electron-microscopy grayscale. The Institute for Quantum Computing created the flag in celebration of Canada's sesquicentennial anniversary, and to bring a spotlight to the quantum and nanoscale research being undertaken in the country.
Largest human maple leaf
Last year, several Canadians gathered to celebrate the nation’s 150th birthday by forming a huge maple leaf. The group consisted of 1,589 people, and was achieved by Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Organisers felt that the attempt was the best way to celebrate the exciting milestone the Great White North had achieved – and it appears they were right!
Heaviest aircraft pulled by a man
Kevin Fast is one of our most famous Canadian record holders – having several incredible strongman titles. One of his most prominent is his 2009 achievement of pulling a CC-177 Globemaster III, weighing 188.83 tonnes (416,299 lb)! He managed to haul the aircraft a distance of 8.8 m (28 ft 10.46 in) at Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ontario, in just a matter of one minute and 16 seconds.
In addition to this record, he also has 10 other titles, a few of them being Most cars pulled by an individual (male), Heaviest house pulled by a man, and Most people supported on the shoulders.
Largest scavenger hunt
More than 3,000 participants took part in the massive scavenger hunt in celebration of Canada's 150 anniversary. Participants attempted to complete as many of the 150 tasks throughout the city of Ottawa, including specialized trivia stations, posting more than 31,000 images to Instagram with the tag #find150.
A total of 2,732 participants were involved in the record-breaking hunt and was organised by Escape Manor Inc., in Ottawa, Ontario, last year.
Most people wolf howling
Though many might not think this title as directly related, the Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, Ontario, attempted this record last year in honour of the 150th Canada Day. All 803 participants involved varied in ages – from small children to grandparents – helping to celebrate the holiday in a unique way.
Largest dome igloo (ice)
Everyone knows Canada gets very chilly during their winter season, so it’s only fitting they hold the record for the Largest dome igloo (ice). With an internal diameter of 9.2 m (30 ft 5.5 in) and an internal height of 5.3 m (17 ft 8 in) was constructed by ZIP ZAG.ca in Grand Falls, NB, in 2011.
A total of 2,500 ice blocks were used to make the igloo allowing outside guests to enter into the 9.89 m (32 ft 5.5 in) high and 5.68 m (18 ft 8 in) wide creation.
Largest maple leaf
This title couldn’t be anymore Canadian! The world’s Largest maple leaf measured 53 cm (20.86 in) wide and 52.2 cm (20.55 in) long and was discovered by Vikas Tanwar and family in Richmond, British Columbia, on 14 December 2010.
Longest journey by wheelchair
Rick Hansen is a rather admirable Canadian record holder, having achieved the Longest journey by a wheelchair after being paralysed from the waist down in 1973 as a result of a motor accident. Rick steered his wheelchair 40,075.16 km (24,901.55 miles) through four continents and 34 countries - starting his journey from Vancouver, British Columbia,on 21 March 1985 and arrived back there on 22 May 1987.
Most women's ice hockey world championships won by a country
No surprise that Canada succeeds in the sport of ice hockey. In fact, since the first world championships for women have been held since 1990they've won nine times which include the years 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2007.
Biggest user of the poo emoji (country)
And while we are learning so many interesting records, it’s only fitting to share they are the nation who makes most use of the infamous "smiling pile of poo" emoji. That was the finding of British touch-screen keyboard developer SwiftKey when they drilled down into their data to find out the nations in which particular emojis are used the most.
