The exact historical time and location of the sparkens<\/strong> first appearance is unknown, but according to the Nord\u00f8sterdal Museum in Norway, a picture dating back to between 1675 and 1725 was found in the Netherlands of a man on a spark<\/strong> pushing something. \u00a0See picture below:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It makes a lot of sense that the spark<\/strong> would first appear in a place like the Netherlands where it is mostly flat and there are a lot of canals that freeze over in the winter. \u00a0To the dismay of many Norwegians (as sparken<\/strong> is widely thought to be one of the most \u00b4Norwegian\u00b4things there are), historical accounts tell us that Sweden first used the spark<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Regardless, sparken<\/strong> is still widely used today, particularly in small country towns and villages where the roads are not sanded or salted. \u00a0The spark <\/strong>is known to be, and deserves its name, \u00b4the world\u00b4s most environmentally friendly vehicle.\u00b4<\/p>\n One last fact: sprinters on sparks<\/strong> have been recorded traveling 40 km per hour!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I guess I have sledding on my mind. \u00a0Maybe it\u00b4s because I have not gone sledding once this winter or maybe it\u00b4s because we are in the midst of another dumping of snow on our already snowy grounds here in MN. \u00a0We enjoyed a few days of melting and puddles, to which I gladly…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2011\/02\/t-spark-350x306.jpg\")