On this date in 1792 George Vancouver "discoverd" Vancouver Island. 10 things you might not know about Vancouver Island.
- It is located 61 km off the coast of Vancouver and is about 460km long and 100km wide, around 32,134 square km in total area, about the same size as the Netherlands. It has about 3400km of coastline. Vancouver Island is the world’s 43rd largest island, and Canada’s 11th largest.
- George Vancouver wasn’t the first person to discover the place. It was home to many indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Vancouver wasn’t even the first Brit to find it. Captain James Cook spent a month during 1778 at Nootka Sound, on the island's western coast and it was he who claimed it for Great Britain. Vancouver explored and mapped the area and negotiated with the Spanish navigator Juan de la Bodega y Quadra. Their dispute over which nation the island belonged to ended in a compromise resulting in the island being named Quadra and Vancouver Island, although Quadra was eventually dropped as the Spanish influence faded.
- The population of Vancouver Island was 864,864 in 2021. There are actually about 50 towns and cities there, ranging from Zeballos, with a population of around 110 to Victoria, with a population of around 84,000. Victoria is actually the capital of British Columbia, the Canadian province of which the island is part.
- If you want to see the world’s largest hockey stick and puck, this is where you’ll find them. On the front of the Cowichan Community Centre in Duncan, to be exact. The 205-foot hockey stick measures 205 feet in length and weighs 61,000lb. It was made in 1985 for the Expo ’86 World’s Fair Exposition in Vancouver. The Island also holds a Guinness Record for the largest street hockey tournament, which took place in Ladysmith.
- The world’s largest totem pole is located in Victoria.
- The Vancouver Island Mountain Range runs the length of the entire Island. The highest peak is the Golden Hinde at 2,195m.
- Canada’s highest waterfall is here, too. Della Falls is 440m high.
- There’s plenty of wildlife. Vancouver Island is thought to have the densest population of black bears, with a population of about 7,000, and around 600-800 cougars.
- There’s also a species of marmot which is only found on Vancouver Island. The Vancouver Island Marmot is larger than other marmots. It is, in fact, the largest member of the squirrel family. They are an endangered species. It was thought in the 1990s that they’d actually gone extinct, but have since been re-discovered and are protected by breeding and conservation programmes.
- Famous people from Vancouver Island include Pamela Anderson, Nelly Furtado and singer-songwriter Diana Krall. Kim Catrall wasn’t born here, but lived on the island as a child.
Character birthday
Eternal Flame
The Freedom League's numbers have dwindled to three - but leader Unicorn knows his team isn't finished yet. The turning point comes with Russell, a boy with bright red hair and a genetic variant ability to start fires. He's the first of an influx of new members who will take the League into the future.
Judith and Wil are child prodigies - Judith in physics and electronics, and Wil in medicine. They have another thing in common - they are both genetic variants. And another thing - they both have fiery red hair. They are drawn to one another as their destinies intertwine, but the course of true love doesn't always run smoothly!
Richard is not a variant. He's an Olympic athlete who has picked up useful knowledge from his unusual friends to add to his own natural abilities. A chance encounter with a dying alien throws him into a Freedom League mission in which his skills are put to the ultimate test, along with theirs.
The Freedom League's arch-enemy, the super-villain Obsidian, wants his family fortune all to himself. One person stands in his way - his niece, Fiona. Fiona, devastated by a family tragedy and her failure to get in to her first choice university, is miserable and has few friends. When she realises her brother's death was no accident, and his killer is also after her, she fears it may be too late to gather allies around her and learn how to use her own genetic variant powers.
The Freedom League's numbers have dwindled to three - but leader Unicorn knows his team isn't finished yet. The turning point comes with Russell, a boy with bright red hair and a genetic variant ability to start fires. He's the first of an influx of new members who will take the League into the future.
Judith and Wil are child prodigies - Judith in physics and electronics, and Wil in medicine. They have another thing in common - they are both genetic variants. And another thing - they both have fiery red hair. They are drawn to one another as their destinies intertwine, but the course of true love doesn't always run smoothly!
Richard is not a variant. He's an Olympic athlete who has picked up useful knowledge from his unusual friends to add to his own natural abilities. A chance encounter with a dying alien throws him into a Freedom League mission in which his skills are put to the ultimate test, along with theirs.
The Freedom League's arch-enemy, the super-villain Obsidian, wants his family fortune all to himself. One person stands in his way - his niece, Fiona. Fiona, devastated by a family tragedy and her failure to get in to her first choice university, is miserable and has few friends. When she realises her brother's death was no accident, and his killer is also after her, she fears it may be too late to gather allies around her and learn how to use her own genetic variant powers.
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Obsidian's Ark
Teenage years bring no end of problems. Daniel Moran's include getting hold of computer games his parents don't think he should have; a full blown crush on the beautiful Suki from Zorostan; maintaining his status as a prefect and getting his homework done. He must also keep from his parents and sister the fact that he is a superhero with a sword from another world.
Trish wonders how to get science whizz Tom to notice her; how to persuade him that the best way to stand up to the school bully is to fight back. She doesn't want her friends, especially not Tom, to know she is a genetic variant with superpowers. Little does she know that Tom has secrets of his own.
Suki struggles to make friends at school when she cannot understand everyday cultural references, and they all suspect her of being a terrorist. She, too, has a secret, but is it what her classmates assume?
When Daniel stumbles upon a plot by an alliance of supervillains to plunge the world into war, he tries to alert the established superheroes, but none of them believe him. When the Prime Minister's only daughter, Yasmin Miller, is abducted, Daniel knows the villains' plan is underway. It seems humanity's only hope may be Daniel and the ragtag bunch of teenage superheroes he recruits. Can he pull together, not only his own team, but the older heroes as well, in a bid to save the Earth from a devastating war?
Obsidian's Ark
Trish wonders how to get science whizz Tom to notice her; how to persuade him that the best way to stand up to the school bully is to fight back. She doesn't want her friends, especially not Tom, to know she is a genetic variant with superpowers. Little does she know that Tom has secrets of his own.
Suki struggles to make friends at school when she cannot understand everyday cultural references, and they all suspect her of being a terrorist. She, too, has a secret, but is it what her classmates assume?
When Daniel stumbles upon a plot by an alliance of supervillains to plunge the world into war, he tries to alert the established superheroes, but none of them believe him. When the Prime Minister's only daughter, Yasmin Miller, is abducted, Daniel knows the villains' plan is underway. It seems humanity's only hope may be Daniel and the ragtag bunch of teenage superheroes he recruits. Can he pull together, not only his own team, but the older heroes as well, in a bid to save the Earth from a devastating war?
Who's That Girl?
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