For Canadians who are looking, it's easy to find our history anywhere — from the official plaques that adorn buildings across the country to modern roads that originally acted as First Nations' trading routes.
But one Canadian currently living in New York wants to spread the knowledge wider, and has created a Tumblr account, 365 Canadian Days, to do just that.
Luke Atkinson, a New Brunswick native with dual citizenship, started his project on Feb. 12, 2014, with an image of Michaëlle Jean.
"There was no significance to the date, it's just when my sketching and drawing stopped being an amorphous blob and took the first step towards evolving into this project," he tells The Huffington Post Canada. "I moved to the States when I was pretty young and a lot of Americans were curious about Canada — I always wanted to be able to share more knowledge about Canadian history, culture, and why the country is the way it is. I also miss Canada and drawing a Canadian for every day is a kind of love song to the place."
As he kept going, he discovered a passion for digging up lesser-known facts and people, and tying them to the days of the calendar year.
So March 13, for example, was honoured with Eileen Vollick, the first Canadian woman to be given a pilot's license in 1928:
And July 3 belongs to Joshua Slocum, from Briar Island, N.S., who completed the first solo circumnavigation of the globe on that date in 1898:
And in what turned out to be his most popular post yet, March 23 belongs to the Ankylosaur, marking the date a fossil for the dinosaur was found in Fort McMurray in 2011:
"I love finding people who did crazy things, brave things, or things that are typically overlooked. Things worth celebrating and acknowledging," says Atkinson.
"That said, the way I select people has changed over the course of the project. When I started, I did the first Canadians I came across. Some recorded history is easier to access than others and most of the Canadians I found came from the Anglo perspective. Since realizing that, I challenge myself to create something with more diversity and, hopefully, dimension — some sort of synthesis of all the cultures that coexist within Canada."
Other popular posts have included Paul Okalik, the first premier of Nunavut:
And Alannah Myles, the woman behind the 1990 hit song (and still fantastic karaoke tune), "Black Velvet":
Some more famous faces, like Celine Dion, haven't made it onto the site yet, but Atkinson is very open to suggestions (so bring 'em on in the comments below!).
"It would be nice if they cause people to take an interest in or celebrate Canadian history," he says. "I guess I am trying to create iconic images of Canadians that people can enjoy and use to remind themselves of all the people that worked hard and took risks to make Canada the place it is."
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