Amazing people, events and places which infuse the country with life
Under the direction of Fuller and Jones, Ottawa’s beautiful Library of Parliament opened in 1876, rich in carvings and beautiful, classic architecture. Crates of books, maps, papers and important records were packed and unpacked with each move of the United Province of Canada’s parliament. Containing the business of government from the Legislatures of Upper Canada […]
During a brief air battle in WW2, Audet raised the RCAF bar by shooting down five enemy aircraft over Osnabruk in five minutes from his Spitfire. High over the battlefield in World War Two, the young pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force scanned the skies for enemies. His Spitfire swooping and soaring under his […]
With no formal training, Maud Lewis painted the colourful scenes and character of rural Nova Scotia using random art supplies and painful hands Her hands gnarled into untenable positions, her shoulders permanently hunched and with a chin marred at birth, Maud Lewis sat at the window in her tiny home and created bright, cheerful scenes […]
The patented Oliver Typewriter was developed by Canadian-born minister and inventor, Thomas Oliver. A million “Visible Print” machines were sold for business and home use. An Oliver Number 9 Typewriter A minister needs to compose a lot of sermons. He needs to be able to read with confidence and grace at the pulpit to his […]
Enjoying hockey games, Lord Stanley realized a challenge prize was needed. A silver punch bowl purchased in 1892, the Stanley Cup is a coveted annual award. Watching his sons and daughter enjoy the winter sport of hockey on the winter ice in Ottawa, Governor General Lord Stanley began to ruminate about the popular game. His […]
The Canadian National Railways Radio station in Montreal, Quebec produced Canada’s first series of national radio dramas for avid listeners across the country. As the strains of orchestral music drew silent, the radio speaker crackled. “And now it’s time,” the CNR Radio announcer may have said in his smooth, inviting voice, “for this week’s episode […]
Joining the CWACs in WW2, Molly Lamb was sent overseas to paint the soldiers and the aftermath of the war. Prolific, Lamb Bobak’s paintings are Canadian treasures. “It was the humanity I tried to capture in my paintings,” said Molly Lamb Bobak in a past article about her wartime artistic involvement entitled, “I Love the […]
During WW2, women were encouraged to volunteer for the armed forces, first as an auxiliary service, then transferred as an integral, essential part of the Canadian Army. It was time. The bloody grind of World War Two was underway and more manpower was needed. Canadian women wanted to participate, serve the country and make a […]
On his second trip to the New World, explorer Jacques Cartier and his men spent the winter near Stadacona and celebrated Canada’s first recorded Christmas. The first recorded Christmas celebration in Canada, said CBC.ca, was held by French explorer Jacques Cartier in the year 1535. The 44-year-old experienced explorer was on his second trip to […]
The Alaska Highway was built by the US Army across Canada’s north to Alaska, a road across mountains, permafrost and rivers, as a military supply route The Japanese were making Canada and the United States nervous in WWII. The enemy was getting too close, bombing Pearl Harbour in 1941, threatening the west coast and the […]
Dr. Frederick Banting earned Nobel Prize in 1923 and was knighted in 1934 for Insulin discovery. Sir Banting was also an artist, painting with members of Group of Seven Frederick Grant Banting was born in the small rural town of Alliston, Ontario on November 14, 1891, the youngest of six children. Graduating from the local […]
Robert Service earned international fame with his book “Songs of a Sourdough” and two lively ballads, “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. Robert William Service was not born Canadian, but became known as one of Canada’s best poets. Born in Lancashire, England on January 16, 1874, Service spent his young […]