It is #IrishHeritageMonth and this is the story of the Irish Famine Immigrants in Toronto!
In 1847, Toronto had a population of 20,000 people but between May and October of that year, it saw the influx of 38,560 Irish immigrants, fleeing the Irish Famine.
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The immigrants had travelled on overcrowded ships across the ocean, with the goal of settling on land in Canada West.
Unfortunately, many were sick with typhus.
Bishop Michael Power tended to the immigrants before he died of typhus on Oct. 1, 1847 at the age of 42.
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Knowing a huge influx of immigrants was arriving, Toronto created its first board of public health in February 1847.
The board built a dozen sheds for immigrants suffering from typhus, located on the corner of King and John Street.
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By the end of 1847, 1,186 of the immigrants had died, with 1,100 buried in a mass grave by St. Paul's Basilica at Queen St E. & Power Street.
Despite the influx of people, by 1848 most of the Irish immigrants had moved on beyond Toronto to find family, land & work.
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It is believed only 781 of the Irish Famine immigrants settled in Toronto.
They settled in what became known as Cabbagetown, located near Parliament and Gerrard St. E.
It received that name because the immigrants used their lawns to grow cabbage.
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It is the longest recreational, multi-use trail network in the world.
The trail extends over 28,000 km and took 25 years to complete.
Today, it is maintained by thousands of people.
This is the story of the Trans Canada Trail!
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The idea for the trail came about in 1992 as part of Canada's 125th anniversary celebrations.
The original goal was to have the entire trail made up of off-road gateways that followed existing trails, new trails and old railway lines.
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To build the trail, it took funding from all levels of government, as well as thousands of organizations and companies.
The network that makes up the Trans Canada Trail consists of more than 400 community trails.
🎶 You don't know what you got 'til it's gone 🎶
There was a time when walking into certain department stores included the beautiful aromas of wonderful food.
Such was the case with the Zellers Restaurant.
This is its story!
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Zellers was established on Aug. 4, 1928 (some sources say 1931) in London, Ontario when Walter P. Zeller founded the first store. This first store was 7,000 square-feet and 60 women were hired on the opening day to work in 21 departments.
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As for The Skillet, the in-store restaurant brand, that debuted in 1960. In Quebec, it was known as Café Fleur de Lys.
The restaurants proved to be so popular that they began to pop up in many of the 300 Zellers locations across the country.
Anna Swan was much more than someone who grew to be 7'11".
She acted in Shakespeare, excelled in music and loved to play the piano.
She lived the life she wanted, and found her soulmate in the process.
This is the story of a fascinating woman.
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The third of 13 children, Anna was 16 pounds at birth. By the age of four, she was 4 feet 6 inches. At six, she was 5 feet 2 inches.
She continued to grow and at 12 she was 6 feet 1 inches. At 18, she reached her full height of 7 feet 11 inches.
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Highly intelligent, she excelled in literature and music. She loved acting and singing, as well as playing the piano. At one point, she even played Lady Macbeth.
At 17, she started working for P.T. Barnum to bring in money for her family.
When you wear denim jeans with a denim jacket, you create a very unique look. Sometimes you can even include a denim shirt.
This look is known as The Canadian Tuxedo....but why?
It all began in the 1950s in Vancouver. This is the story.
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It all began when Bing Crosby was checking into an upscale Vancouver hotel in 1951 after a hunting trip. Walking in, he was wearing a denim jacket and jeans.
The hotel clerk, Art Cameron, stated he thought the person coming in was an unhoused person.
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This is because denim was something worn by miners, rail workers and cowboys at the time. When a bellhop explained that it was Bing Crosby, Cameron apologized and booked Crosby a room.
Alexander Graham Bell changed history with his creation of the first practical telephone.
He spent a lot of his life in Canada in Brantford and Nova Scotia, and had a large impact on our history.
This is the story of Bell and Canada.
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Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he was 23, his brother Melville died of tuberculosis. Bell's parents decided to move out of fear their other children would die. In August 1870, they moved to Canada and settled in Brantford.
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One year later, Bell took a teaching job at a school for the deaf in Boston. This began a pattern of working in the United States and spending summers with his family in Brantford. It was at the family home his telephone idea began to take shape.
On July 31, 1987, an F4 (possibly an F5) tornado hit the eastern parts of Edmonton and Strathcona County.
It left 27 dead, injured 300 and caused $332 million in damages.
This is the story of Black Friday.
📸 Steve Simon
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For a week prior to July 31, a low pressure system in southwestern BC was feeding warm and humid air into central Alberta. Hot weather in Alberta was triggering thunderstorms all week.
Then, on July 31, a cold front developed in Western Alberta.
📸 Peter Cutler
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This cold front collided with the warm moist air, creating a recipe for severe thunderstorms.
One storm developed that began to move northeast towards Leduc, south of Edmonton.
At 2:59, the first tornado was spotted.