Amazing people, events and places which infuse the country with life
“Queen of the Great Lakes” was the finest and largest fresh-water cruise ship. Ignited in a closet, flames soon engulfed the SS Noronic at a Toronto dock. A luxurious passenger ship, the SS Noronic plied the waters of the Great Lakes. Cruise ships toured the fresh water lakes just as liners cruise the oceans today. […]
Financed by prominent businessmen, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad was built in 1836 as a portage to enhance transportation from Quebec to New York. Growing commerce and expanding business, colonists in British North America risked the rapids of the Lower Richelieu River to carry goods and people from Quebec to New York. There had […]
Martin’s Opera House featured an opulent interior and spacious stage. Later renamed Grand Theatre, a fire destroyed the building but not the spirit Lavish costumes, enchanting actors, riveting music, and scripts to suit almost every audience, the theatre was a highlight of entertainment in the late 1800s in Canada. The residents of Kingston, Ontario yearned […]
Political tensions ran high in the 1950s. Aggravations between the USSR and the United States stirred frightening visions of Cold War hostilities turning into the heat of nuclear battle. If this happened, Canada would be midway under soaring atomic bombs. Governments devised an ingenious strategy. An underground bunker would keep a protected eye on the […]
In May 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) was established to share the culture and creativity of Canadians with our own country and the world. Film and video are a way of life in this era of Canadian life, on television, the Internet, on DVDs and a range of video players. Under the […]
Stepping into the sleek car, passengers are whisked to upper floors or downward at great speed. Safety is imperative, especially as residential and commercial buildings stretch higher toward the clouds. The Fensom Elevator Works thrived in Hamilton for nearly two decades, then merged with the world leader in elevators, Otis Elevator Company. Moving freight in […]
Realizing the need for healthy and sanitary dental care in the mid-1800s, Barnabas Day organized a group to submit a bill to government, leading to the first regulations on dental profession. Pick up a box of dental instruments in the 1800s or earlier, set out a shingle with your name and new title, and […]
Working 11 to 12 hours a day, six days a week, the Toronto Typographical Society went on strike. The reactions and outcomes changed Canadian labour law. The significance of unionization is gaining recognition again in 2022. The workforce in the Industrial Age put in long, exhaustive hours, six days a week to earn even the […]
A sharp eye for artistic style and an aptitude for science are essential for many categories of construction. Add bio-science skills—botany, ecology, plus environmentalism and psychology—and you might have an aptitude for landscape design. Lorrie Dunington and her husband Howard Grubb did. They left their mark throughout southern Ontario as Dunington-Grubb landscape architects. Howard Grubb […]
Thomas F. Ryan (1872-1961) changed the bowling world. Shrinking the tenpin ball and pins, Ryan invented rules for 5-Pin Bowling. A favourite, it’s only in Canada, eh! “These are just too heavy,” customers grumbled to bowling club owner Thomas F. Ryan, no doubt hefting the weighty game spheres in their hands as they spoke. “The […]
Dubbed Victory Loans, War Bond campaigns raised billions of dollars to support Canadian soldiers and the war effort during WWI and WWII. As soldiers fought the enemy in grim battles overseas in World War One, the Government of Canada fought another battle. The costs of war were extensive and money was urgently required. A plan […]
Established in 1867, the G. S. Dunn Mill produces mustard flour that is sold across the globe. Prairie farmers grow nearly 85% of the world’s demand for mustard. What item is made from small and roundish seeds and is grown in Canada’s Prairie fields? This mystery thing has a vast range of applications from […]