1. Manitobans consume the most Slurpees from 7-Eleven in the world. And they've held that title for 16 straight years.
2. In fact, 7-Eleven erected a Slurpee statue in Winnipeg — now the biggest in the world. Congrats.
Extended: Record breaking 711-litre Slurpee made in Winnipeg http://t.co/MFfvrBWs0h
3. Residents of Churchill, Manitoba are asked to leave their car doors unlocked in case their neighbours need somewhere to escape from a polar bear.
4. They have the first-ever, and only, polar bear prison for naughty bears who walk saunter into town.
5. Churchill children are advised not to dress up as polar bears on Halloween so police can tell them apart from actual polar bears.
6. Because most groundhogs are hibernating in Manitoba on February 2, the province has to use a puppet groundhog to predict how much winter they'll see.
Happy Groundhog (Groundfog) Day Winnipeg! Manitoba Merv didn't see his shadow. What does he know? He's just a puppet:
7. Manitoba has fewer residents, but more curling clubs, than Ontario and Quebec combined.
8. On one random day in 2012, customers at a Winnipeg Tim Hortons picked up the tab for the next customer 288 times in a row.
9. In 1874, a magistrate had to try himself for public drunkenness, so he charged himself five dollars and his closing statement — to himself — was "...taking into consideration past good behaviour, your fine is remitted."
11. During the first royal visit to Manitoba in 1939, the king (George VI) and queen (Elizabeth) were met by Mr. King (Mackenzie King, the then-prime minister), and Mr. Queen (the then-mayor of Winnipeg). It was King and King, and Queen and Queen.
12. Even though Sir John A. Macdonald doesn't have a fancy shmancy political city named after him (like Washington does in the States), Manitoba named a small rural municipality "Macdonald" as a wink to the first Prime Minister.
"Thanks, guys!" — John A. back then, taking what he could get.
13. "Honey dill," a sauce only available in Manitoba, was created from a mistake trying to steal and copy someone else's sauce. It's now become one of the most popular sauces.
14. The town of Flin Flon was actually named after a sci-fi character. Oh, yeah, and it's where the Canadian government commissioned the largest weed farm.
The town has also dedicated a giant statue to the fictional character "Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin" it is named after. (The jolly man to the right.)
15. We, of course, must not forget Winnie The Pooh was named after Winnipeg, Manitoba.
16. And in November of last year, a writer for ManitobaHot.com set polar bear footage to random songs, hidden in the depths of YouTube, with only a handful of views each. Please watch these overlooked pieces of art on the Internet.
View this video on YouTube
17. Truly.
View this video on YouTube
I realize this is not-so-much a "fact," but representative of the darling place we call Manitoba. The world needs to know.