Amazing people, events and places which infuse the country with life
First Commercial Trucks in Canada were Electric-Powered Carriages Simpson’s store and Parker’s Dye Works boldly used the new horseless vehicles to enhance their delivery services to customers. They were pioneers of the trucking industry There weren’t many roads, just dusty, dirt paths, mostly. There were a few paved city streets, but no such things as […]
An open runabout style, the innovative first electric car manufactured in Canada raced around the roads of Toronto, Ontario 130 years ago. Frederick Bernard Fetherstonhaugh was a man of the future. A well-heeled lawyer in Toronto, Ontario, his home was one of the first to have electricity and the conveniences that brought with it. Fetherstonhaugh […]
New Year’s Day a Good Time for Canadian Announcements, Policies Prohibition and bootleggers, health care, citizenship and standard time were a few of the announcements made on the first day of the new year over the decades. January 1st is a day with special meaning, the start of the new year, a sign of new […]
Ten Canadians were recipients of the silver “George Cross” for uncommon bravery, the medal intended to honour exceptional gallantry unrelated to battle. Wielding his sword, St. George slays the large and intimidating dragon. Radiating strength and courage, the image in silver is a fitting symbol for the Commonwealth’s civilian award equivalent to the military’s Victoria […]
The Canadian Division of the Campbell Soup Company Organized in 1931 Since the 1800s, soup has been good business for the American food company, Campbell’s Soup. Opening a division in Canada was a natural step forward. Part of a small canning factory that opened in New Jersey in the 1860s, chemist Dr. John Dorrance of […]
While others searched for wealth, Anna’s quest was not for gold 53-year-old Anna Degraf travelled on her own from California to Canada’s Klondike, carrying her sewing machine and hope. An indomitable spirit is not a possession of only the young. The spirit of adventure, of hope and of resolution filled Anna Degraf with the ability […]
James Bay is in sight! Land ho! The 1668 expedition to Canada’s north by explorers Groseilliers and Radisson was a success. It led to a Charter for HBC. Two sturdy masts stood straight and tall on the Nonsuch, with the sails extending their grasp on the wind. Captain Zachariah Gillam plotted the ketch’s course across […]
Canada’s First Flight of Powered, Heavier-Than-Air Plane Constructed of silk balloon cloth, pipe, wood, tape and wire, and with a Curtiss 40-hp engine, JAD McCurdy flew the Silver Dart on Feb 23, 1909 at Baddeck Bay, NS It didn’t look like the sturdy, solid aircraft flying the skies today. Built with an open-air design using […]
American Industrial magnate Andrew Carnegie used his wealth to promote education and literacy for all. A portion of his fortune was used to construct 125 libraries in Canada “There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth […]
The DHC2-Beaver: A Canadian Aviation Engineering Success Nicknamed “Workhorse of the North”, the versatile and ruggedly functional DHC2-Beaver made history as an essential part of aircraft fleets in Canada and the world. Whether flying deep into the wilds of mountainous Alaska, across stretches of the Canadian Territories, or hauling American cargo and soldiers into the […]
‘Zero Energy Experimental Pile’ Had First Reaction in 1945 The research on atomic theories performed with the ZEEP reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, lead to the large scale atomic reactors providing nuclear power today. The ‘Zero Energy Experimental Pile’ was the test model for the NRX, a large reactor in the planning stages. The NRX […]