Do just one thing

You've heard of secondhand smoking, but did you know there is also thirdhand smoking? The children's health advocacy group Healthy Child Healthy World says thirdhand smoking is when toxic residues left behind from a smoker remain on things like clothes, fabric, furnishings, walls, bedding and other porous surfaces in a room. While the simplest step to protect children is to avoid smokers altogether, that can't always be the case. If you go into a room that has traces of smoke, open a window and use fans to circulate air. Ask people who smoke to change clothes and wash hands before interacting with infants and children.

In 1911, the federal Conservatives under Robert Borden ousted Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals in a hotly contested election, winning 133 of 221 seats. The key issue was free trade with the U.S., which the Liberals supported. More than 75 years later, a free-trade deal took effect after Brian Mulroney's Conservative government retained power in a divisive election over the same issue.

In 1921, more than a thousand people were killed in an explosion at a dye plant in Oppau, Germany.

In 1928, Canada introduced airmail stamps.

In 1933, in Germany during Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Martin Niemoeller began organizing the Pastors' Emergency League. More than 7,000 churches joined, although about 2,500 later withdrew under Nazi pressure. The league gave birth to the more famous Barmen Synod, formed in May 1934.

In 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit” was first published.

In 1938, a deadly hurricane slammed into the south coast of New England. It killed more than 600 people, injured 32,000, left 93,000 homeless and caused an estimated $300 million in property damage.

In 1939, Romanian premier Armand Calinescu was assassinated in Bucharest.