Amazing people, events and places which infuse the country with life
An expert in brewing and business, Alexander Keith was also a politician. Elected mayor of Halifax several times, he was offered a Senate seat on the Confederation of Canada. Working for his uncle in northern England, Alexander Keith was only 17 years old when he was introduced to the fine expertise of brewing beer. Keith’s […]
A girl from small-town Canada immersed herself in the cosmetics trade and then initiated a company that grew into a world wide phenomenon – Elizabeth Arden. On December 31, 1878, a baby girl was born to the Graham family in Woodbridge, Upper Canada. The baby was named after a beloved and renowned nurse, Florence Nightingale […]
Appointed Postmaster General in 1851, James Morris negotiated a postal treaty with the United States and introduced Canada’s first postage stamps. Mail service in early colonial British North America was a sporadic, expensive event. Post offices were rare in the rural communities; the larger communities received mail deliveries on irregular schedules and pioneers travelled many […]
Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children was established in 1875. A focus on purity, the institution began milk pasteurization in 1908 to prevent dire diseases. Young Maggie was rushed to the hospital, the victim of agonizing scalds. While the outcome of her life is not known, the little girl made Canadian history. On April 3, 1875, […]
Ahead of her time, Maud Menten was a physician, pathologist, bioscientist and professor. Her scientific discoveries included the Michaelis-Menten Equation. Beautiful, brilliant and artistic, Maud Menten not only could create exhibit-worthy paintings and learn languages with ease, she also had the insatiably curious mind of a scientist. Imbued with a zest for life, the young […]
Captain Robert Bartlett and explorer/anthropologist Vilhajalmur Stefansson led Canadian Arctic Expedition scientists to the Beaufort Sea. A fearful icy disaster ended the mission. The steam-whaler heavily loaded with supplies and equipment to last for many months, Captain Robert Bartlett and his crew sailed north from Victoria, BC. Leaving port in June 1913, HMCS Karluk was […]
Montreal was the childhood home of actress Norma Shearer. The star of silent movies and talkies, the beautiful Shearer overcame her own shortfalls. The Shearer home in Montreal, Quebec was an unusual place. It seemed that parents Edith and Andrew Shearer did not have a close attachment, but the home was still held a pleasant […]
A farmer and lobbyist for rights, James Gladstone of Alberta’s Kainai Reserve arrived in the Senate of Canada with one big problem – First Nations people could not vote. In native headdress of long feathers held with a band crafted of beautiful, fine beadwork, and dressed in an elegant beaded coat to match, James Gladstone […]
Placed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, the Books of Remembrance honour the soldiers who sacrificed their all for others. World War One claimed tens of thousands of Canadian lives, lost in the battles far away in overseas war theatres. To recognize the great sacrifices made, the government of Canada […]
Overtaking horse and carriage, motor vehicles surged as means of transport. T.A. Russell built cars for the wealthy with quiet engines and luxurious interiors While other men were building cars for the masses in the early 1900s, low-priced vehicles that almost anyone could afford, Thomas Russell had his eye set on the well-to-do. Though he […]
A National Historic Site, the wreck of HMS Breadalbane lies deep in icy waters high above the Arctic Circle, off the coast of Nunavut In the summer of 1853, HMS Breadalbane and HMS Phoenix set sail from England carrying cargos of supplies. The expedition party of Sir Edward Belcher was running low on supplies; organized […]
Canada needed troops for WWI, and needed them soon. A great promoter, Samuel Hughes enlisted a substantial number of soldiers for duty in a short time. But Hughes was also a rogue. He and the Prime Minister sharply disagreed on policies, and then Jughes resigned. Samuel Hughes was a military man at heart. Born into […]