History of Canada

Today in Canadian history for September 10th, I'm Mark Affeld.

It was on this day in 1939 that Canada officially declared war on Germany, marking its entry into the Second World War.

Canada's declaration came a full seven days after those of Britain and France.

And so that everything just didn't fall on the individual.

You know, you lost your job, you were thrown into poverty, too bad, you know, kind of thing.

Today is a day full of Canadian history.

On this day in 1616, Samuel de Champlain arrived in France with a map of what was then known as New France.

Former wife of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Margaret Trudeau, was born in Vancouver on this day in 1948.

[jazz music] Today in Canadian History for September the 9th.

I'm Joe Berima.

Well, it's September.

So at the museum you can see the original hydrofoil and you can also see a full-scale replica.

So it's just a great place to visit and I'd certainly encourage anybody who's at least been interested in the history of Canadian science to drop by.

As always, today is a day full of Canadian history.

Canadian Marilyn Bell became the first person to swim the 51 kilometers across Lake Ontario on this day back in 1954.

Simon Fraser University opened on this day back in 1965 in Burnaby, BC.

Today in Canadian History for September 8th, I'm Mark Affelt.

The Klondike Gold Rush was an era of rough-and-tumble prospectors, dirt roads, loud saloons, dance hall girls, and the iron fist of the Northwest Mounted Police.

The rush brought men from all around the world, all of them hoping to strike it rich in the Yukon River Valley.

Once they got sanitation and some issues like that worked out in Dawson, it might have been a better place for them.

But it was a pretty tough place to live for many decades after the gold rush.

Today is a day full of Canadian history.

In 1952, Edwin Alonzo Boyd, the leader of the Boyd Gang, escaped from Don Jail.

He's captured eight days later in a barn near Leslie Street in North York.

Today in Canadian history for September the 6th, I'm Joe Berimma.

Walk into any house in Canada.

I recommend, of course, that you knock or maybe ring the doorbell first.

I often find that Canadians, whenever I travel across the country, They primarily will say to me, yeah, well, you covered this about my area, but you didn't say this and this, and I appreciate that.

But I also like to say to them, what else have you learned about Canada? If you're a Quebecer, have you learned about Alberta? And if you're an Alberta, Albertan, what have you learned about Quebec? And I think that, you know, in that way, we can be a great tool to unify the country.

As always, today is a day full of Canadian history.

René Lecavier passed away in Montreal on this day back in 1999.

He was the first commentator for the French-language version of Hockey Night in Canada and was known as the voice of hockey for many Montreal Canadian fans.

In

case you want more Canadian history, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were the first founding provinces, and Newfoundland and Labrador, and Newfoundland was the last one to join in 1949.

So there you go.

There's your Canadian history for today.

Newfies.

Newfies.

Today in Canadian history for August the 30th, I'm Joe Burima.

There are many ways to get to Toronto.

Dr. Seuss had it right.

If you want this badly enough, if you're willing to work for it, you can achieve it.

And it's amazing when the kids start believing in themselves what they can achieve.

As always, today is a day full of Canadian history.

On this day back in 1953, Vancouverite Doug Hepburn won the World Weightlifting Championship, defeating long reigning champion John Davis by 10 kilograms.

Back in 1972, Frank Calder was appointed to the BC cabinet.

Today in Canadian History for August the 27th, I'm Joe Barama.

On this day back in 1912, Thomas Willoughby dipped an empty bottle into the Atlantic Ocean, put a cap on it, and tossed it in the back of his car.

Now I know what you're thinking, not particularly a big deal.

Definitely not worthy of an episode of Today in Canadian History.

Well, it kind of is a big deal.

You see, that bottle went with Thomas Willoughby and his companion Jack Haney all the way to the Pacific Ocean in a 1912 Rio Special.

It got a lot of publicity.

Now, whether it did anything to actually further the construction of a transnational highway is doubtful because that didn't come for a long time.

Today in Canadian history for August 26th, I'm Mark Affeld.

Famed Canadian geologist and cartographer Joseph Burr Tyrrell passed away on this date in 1957.

Working with the Geological Survey of Canada, Tyrrell discovered significant coal reserves near Fernie, British Columbia and in the Red Deer Valley of Alberta.

And this is sort of during the peak of dinosaur diversity and dominance.

So it's the top carnivore of the time.

Today is a day full of Canadian history.

On this day in 1969, the Criminal Law Amendment Act came into effect.

The bill decriminalized homosexuality, oral contraceptives, and abortion, while regulating gambling, drinking and driving, animal abuse, as well as other offenses.

Today in Canadian history for August the 25th, I'm Joe Burima.

On this day back in 1991, Donald Marshall Sr., Grand Chief of the Mi'kmaq Nation of Eastern Canada, passed away.

The man was a leader and advocate for Aboriginal and human rights.

And over the years, that has grown so that in 2008, it was a very big event that went on all day long with... exhibitions and church ceremonies and awards ceremonies and dinners, etc., with all three levels of government participating, the Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Canadian government, and the British Crown was also represented.

So it's really grown into a major event that recognizes what the Mi'kmaq Nation signed in the 18th century.

As always, today is a day full of Canadian history, in particular on this day, newspaper history.

The first issue of the Montreal Gazette was published on this day in 1785.

The first issue of the Saskatchewan Herald was also published on this day in 1878.

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Today in Canadian History for August the 24th.

I'm Joe Buruma.

Back in 1916, Canadian World War I soldier Benjamin DeFer spent his last night on this earth.

Um, and yeah, one of the...

It was based on one soldier being granted a pardon, and sort of from there the, the government decided to grant it to all soldiers.

As always, today is a day full of Canadian history.

On this day back in 1814, British forces burned Washington, D.C.