Canadians don't spend a lot of time bragging, but as this collection shows, our citizens have a lot to be proud of--the many amazing firsts that have come from this country and its people and their impact on our culture and the world:

* In 1974, Dr. Joseph MacInnis established Sub-Igloo, the world's first polar dive station, and led the first scientific expedition into the waters of the North Pole
* Alexander MacKenzie was the first recorded explorer to complete the transcontinental crossing of North America
* Greenpeace was founded in Canada as the ''Don't Make a Wave'' committee in 1971
* In 1885, Banff National Park was the first patch of land ever recognized as a national park
* Canadian-born Gideon Sundback was the first to patent a ''separable fastener,'' a.k.a. the zipper, in 1913
* The first kidney transplant performed between identical twins took place at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital in 1958
* Montreal's Maurice Richard was the first hockey player to record a 50-goal season in 1944-45 and the first to score more than 500 goals in his career
* The Hudson's Bay Company, established on May 2, 1670, is the oldest, continuously operating company on the continent
* The 12.9-kilometre-long Confederation Bridge between mainland Canada and Prince Edward Island is the world's longest uninterrupted span
* In 1962, at just 15 years old, Petra Burka became the first woman figure skater in the world to complete a triple Salchow.

And so much more…