Here are 26 Interesting Alberta facts.
1-5 Alberta Facts
1. With less than 24 hours notice before the 2014 Olympics Hockey final Canada vs Sweden, Alberta changed the liquor law to allow bars to open at 5 am and serve liquor so people could watch the game at the bar. – Source
2. An almost perfectly preserved dinosaur was found in a Canadian oil sands mine in 2011. The 2,500-pound fossil was unveiled to the public in 2017 and is currently on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada. – Source
3. The Canadian province of Alberta has effectively prevented rats from spreading there, and it’s even illegal to have a pet rat. – Source
4. Alberta is the only place in the world where you are legally allowed to throw coins at strippers. – Source
5. Aurora enthusiasts in Alberta discovered a previously undocumented ribbon of light in the sky similar to the aurora borealis. They named it “Steve” in tribute to the animated film “Over the Hedge,” in woodland creatures name an unknown object “Steve” to make it appear less frightening. – Source
6-10 Alberta Facts
6. An over a month after a large rockslide cut off the entrances to mine in the town of Frank, Alberta, crews digging to reopen the mine discovered that a horse named Charlie had survived underground by eating wood from the supports. He died after the rescuers overfed him with oats and brandy. – Source
7. The people of Calgary, Alberta once petitioned to change the outgoing Prime Minister’s name from Stephen Harper to “Calgary International Airport”. – Source
8. There is a natural geological formation in Alberta, Canada called the Badlands Guardian, which resembles a Native American head. – Source
9. In the 1940s Britain had a plan to create an aircraft carrier made out of ice and actually created a prototype in Alberta, Canada. – Source
10. The largest beaver dam known to exist is in Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada and measures 2,790 feet (850 m) in length. – Source
11-15 Alberta Facts
11. Vulcan, a town in Alberta has a large replica of the Enterprise. – Source
12. In 1959, the Government of Alberta approved a plan to nuke Fort McMurray. – Source
13. Red Deer, Alberta had an earthquake of 4.6 and that these quakes are associated with the ancient mountain-building process that created the Rocky Mountains. – Source
14. In 1928, the Alberta government enacted a Sexual Sterilization Act that forced individuals to be sterilized to “prevent the transmission of undesirable traits to offspring.” In 1972, the board was finally repealed but had already sterilized 2,832 individuals. – Source
15. According to Guinness World Records, the world’s largest parking lot is located at the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada. It can hold 20,000 vehicles. – Source
16-20 Alberta Facts
16. The largest fire in North American history, the 1950 Chinchaga fire in NW Alberta, covered 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) and smoke from the fire covered the Eastern seaboard of the USA and was seen as far away as France. – Source
17. The town of Mundare in Alberta, Canada has a 42′ tall statue of a sausage coil. – Source
18. The first-ever indoor water park “World Waterpark” was built in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in 1985. It’s still the world’s largest indoor water park, at over 817,800 sq ft (75,980 m2) in size. – Source
19. The British Army keeps a training field for large-scale training in Suffield, Alberta, Canada. – Source
20. In 2006, every Canadian resident who resides in Alberta received a cheque for $400.00. – Source
21-26 Alberta Facts
21. In 2004, an Alberta radio station had to apologize for faking a call from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to Alberta Premier Ralph Klein over a hockey bet. They used a computer-generated impersonation of Schwarzenegger to trick the Canadian Politician. – Source
22. An Alberta judge wrote a 188-page ruling in order to explain and deconstruct the arguments used by the so-called “freemen” or “sovereign citizens” in their attempts to clog the legal system. – Source
23. Ginger beef was invented in Calgary, Alberta. – Source
24. There is a financial institution in Alberta, Canada which was created by the provincial government basically as a “Screw you” to federal legislation and privately owned banks. – Source
25. Alberta has the highest STI rate in Canada. – Source
26. There is a place called head smashed in buffalo jump in Alberta, Canada. – Source
