Christmas is a Christian holy day, but it has become a secular celebration for many cultures around the world. Test your knowledge of these unusual Christmas traditions.

1. In Austria, a ghoulish creature wanders the streets in search of badly behaved children. What is the name of this devilish character?
2. In which country do spider web ornaments decorate Christmas trees?
3. In which country is KFC a special Christmas Eve meal?
4. The Christmas tree tradition started in Germany in the 16th Century. What do parents hide amid the tree branches for children to find?
5. In Finland, family members observe a solemn ritual on Christmas Eve to honour their ancestors. What do they do?
6. In what country do children leave their shoes by the fireplace before Christmas?
7. Who brings treats to children on Jan. 5 in Italy?
8. What locally harvested insect is eaten at Christmas in South Africa?
   Answers:
9. Krampus … a legendary horned beast. Masked people wearing furs roam the streets, scaring children.
10. In Ukraine spider webs are good luck. A folktale tells of a widow who could not afford to decorate a tree for her children. A spider spun beautiful webs all over the tree, which the children awoke to find on Christmas morning.
11. Japan …where Christmas isn’t a national holiday but families celebrate with takeout chicken.
12. A cucumber pickle.
13. On Christmas Eve, it is customary to take a long and respectful stint in the sauna before heading out to evening celebrations.
14. In the Netherlands children hope Sinterklaas will place treats in their shoes. The children leave carrots for his horse.
15. According to folklore, an old woman named Belfana visits all the children of Italy on Epiphany Eve to fill their stockings with candy and leave them presents if they’ve been good. Just like Santa Claus, Belfana enters through the chimney. The children leave her wine and local delicacies.
16. Fried caterpillars are enjoyed during the holiday season. The Pine Tree Emperor Moth, or Christmas caterpillar, is a good source of protein. All who eat them receive luck in the coming year.

“Virus” is a word all too familiar to us during the past two years. Covid-19 is caused by a new virus called SARS-CoV-2 that seemed to come from nowhere in 2019. With breakneck speed scientists collaborating around the world analyzed the genetic code of the novel corona virus and created vaccines to improve our immunity to it. But less than a century ago, we knew next to nothing about viruses.
On this day in 1935 it was announced that a virus had been crystallized, providing a breakthrough into the study of a pathogen that up until that time had remained mysterious. A virus “crystal” consists of several thousand viruses and, because of its purity, is well suited for chemical studies.
Wendell Meredith Stanley crystallized tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in 1935. For his work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1946.
Dutch microbiologist Martinus Beijerinck was the first to recognize that viruses are reproducing entities that are different from other organisms. He was the first, in 1898, to call “virus” the infectious agent of the tobacco mosaic disease.
Fast forward to 1953 when a pandemic of poliomyelitis swept Canada. Polio is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis.
The virus mainly came in waves during the summer. On the Prairies, swimming pools were closed and children kept at home. I was one of the thousands of children hospitalized with polio. Fortunately my symptoms were mild. I only spent a month in hospital and have had no lasting effects. However, my roommate in university was partially crippled by polio and often wore a brace on her leg.
Immunizations were the great turning point in the battle against polio. In 1955, scientists Carlton E. Schwerdt and Fred L. Schaffer announce they had crystallized the polio virus which meant they could better determine the virus’ chemical and biological properties. The first vaccine against polio was introduced by an American, Dr. Jonas Salk, in 1955. The vaccine was developed in Canada with the help of Connaught Laboratories (then part of the University of Toronto).
Like an episode out of a TV drama, Salk first tested his experimental killed-virus vaccine on himself and his family in 1953, and a year later on 1.6 million children in Canada, Finland and the USA. The results were announced on April 12, 1955, and Salk’s inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). Although vaccine production was a private industry free for all in the US, but Canadian federal and provincial governments shared the full cost of the vaccine testing and production and distributed it free to children in grades 1 to 3, who were most susceptible to polio.
The Salk vaccine was given by injection, but in 1960 a vaccine that could be swallowed became available. Oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) or Sabin vaccine was named for its inventor, American physician and microbiologist Albert Sabin. OPV contains live attenuated (weakened) virus and is given orally. I remember it as a red, fruit-flavoured liquid served in a little paper cup.
Polio is spread by person to person contact, likely through fecal matter. (Yuck). I believe I got the virus as Sunday School since it was the only place we went off the farm when I was four. Children are not reliable hand washers and the church lacked indoor plumbing. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out how I got sick.
Despite the ravages of polio, the most deadly virus in our lifetime has been Ebola which spreads through blood and body fluids. As many as 50 percent of those infected will die.
The most deadly pandemic during the past century was the so-called Spanish Flu. It was caused by the H1N1 virus in 1918 at the end of the First World War. Soldiers were traveling and spread the virus around the world as they returned from the battlefields of Europe. More people died from the H1N1 pandemic than from the war. With SARS-CoV-2, strict lockdown measures were put in place early in the pandemic, which limited the spread of the disease even within cities.
The current pandemic is also different in that Covid-19 mainly causes severe symptoms in people over 65 and those with underlying health conditions, whereas the 1918 influenza caused severe symptoms in young and healthy populations.

If someone tells you to “pull up your socks,” they are telling you to make an effort to improve your work or behaviour. The idiom encourages us to get up and achieve something, try extra hard to do it. It can also mean to prepare yourself for a difficult situation.

It’s a strange phrase that seems to have retained its meaning for more than a century. The phrase can be found from a cricket club report in a newspaper dated 1887. In the report a supporter encourages his team to “pull their socks up” if they intend to perform better in future cricket matches.

Another newspaper refers to the increase in drunkenness in Wales during the 1880s during a trial where the crowd is constantly asking for Port wine. The speaker tells the crowd to stop being drunken fools and to pull their socks up. The meaning from the 1880s seems to be the same as the phrase that we use today.

Another possible origin of the phrase is with the British army. Soldiers, when they were away on duty, would usually sleep in their full uniform including their boots. When they were awakened, the commanding officer would order the soldiers to “pull your socks up” as this was the only thing the soldiers needed to do to be fully dressed and ready for action. (Source: wordhistories.net)

Others say the phrase originates from the sport of running. To pull up the socks would mean that the race is about to start and hence the athletes would have to be prepared for it. (Source: theidioms.com)

A grimmer origin of the phrase relates to Australia which was settled as a British penal colony. Prisoners wore shackles which left ugly scars on their ankles. When they were freed of their chains they were advised to pull up their socks before looking for work.

Socks are important for the health of your feet. Socks absorb moisture and help prevent shoes from rubbing on bare foot. Socks provide cushioning to pad the feet and help keep them warm.

In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. The felted wool foot coverings used by ancient Mongolians were called uggs, a word transformed today into a brand name for a popular soft boot.

In the 8th century BC, Greeks wore socks with sandals. These stockings were made from matted animal hair. As we do today, the sandals were removed when entering the house and people walked around the house in their socks.

The earliest knitted socks were crafted in Egypt. Ancient knitted garments were made of natural fibres such as cotton, wool and silk.

So whether you want to improve your behaviour, or you just want to keep your feet warm, “pull up your socks”, and know that you are continuing an ancient practice.