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Vancouver Feature: Canada’s First Gas Station Opens for Business
Editorial

Vancouver Feature: Canada’s First Gas Station Opens for Business

The following article is a feature from our Vancouver Feature series. Past features are not updated.


The first gasoline-powered automobile had arrived in Vancouver in 1904, and there were not many more by 1907. But that year someone in the local Imperial Oil office determined that filling cars with a bucket and funnel was not very safe. So the first Canadian filling station — a hot-water tank and a garden hose — was set up at the company’s storage yard at Cambie and Smithe.

Editorial: The Charlottetown Conference of 1864 and the Persuasive Power of Champagne
Editorial

Editorial: The Charlottetown Conference of 1864 and the Persuasive Power of Champagne

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

On Monday, 29 August 1864, eight of 12 cabinet members from the government of the Province of Canada boarded the steamer Queen Victoria in Quebec City. They had heard that representatives of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI were meeting in Charlottetown to discuss a union of the Maritime colonies. (See Charlottetown Conference.) The Canadian officials hoped to crash the party. Their government was gripped in deadlock. Even old enemies such as John A. Macdonald and George Brown agreed that a new political arrangement was needed. As the Queen Victoria made its way slowly down the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Canadians frantically worked on their pitch.

Juno Beach: Day of Courage
Editorial

Juno Beach: Day of Courage

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

The Canadian landings on the Juno Beach Sector of the Normandy coast were one of the most successful operations carried out on D-Day, 6 June 1944.

Editorial: The Statute of Westminster, Canada's Declaration of Independence
Editorial

Editorial: The Statute of Westminster, Canada's Declaration of Independence

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

In the fall of 1929, Canada’s Minister of Justice, Ernest Lapointe, travelled to England. He took with him Dr. Oscar Skelton — the “elder statesman” of the Canadian civil service, as William Lyon Mackenzie King once described him. When Lapointe and Skelton were done their negotiations, they had confirmed that Canada would have its independence from the British Empire.

Eugenics: Pseudo-Science Based on Crude Misconceptions of Heredity
Editorial

Eugenics: Pseudo-Science Based on Crude Misconceptions of Heredity

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

"Great men are almost always bad men," Lord Acton famously said. If that is so, we are going to have to tolerate flaws if we want to celebrate "great" Canadians. The eugenics movement of the early 20th century particularly tries our tolerance of several of our textbook heroes.

Editorial: John Humphrey, Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Editorial

Editorial: John Humphrey, Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

In 1946, John Humphrey became director of the United Nations Division on Human Rights, and Eleanor Roosevelt was named the United States representative to the UN’s Commission on Human Rights. Humphrey was an obscure Canadian law professor. Roosevelt was the world’s most celebrated woman. For two years, they collaborated on the creation of one of the modern world’s great documents: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was adopted on 10 December 1948.

Trade Goods of the Fur Trade
Article

Trade Goods of the Fur Trade

During the fur trade in Canada, items of European manufacture (historically referred to in the literature as Indian trade goods) were traded with Indigenous peoples for furs. These items include, for example, metal objects, weapons and glass beads. (See also Trade Silver.) In various ways, however, cultural exchanges went both ways. Some Europeans, namely the voyageurs, adopted various Indigenous technologies and clothing during the fur trade, including the use of moccasins, buckskin pants and hats, and snowshoes.

Canada During COVID-19
collection

Canada During COVID-19

Countries, communities, and individuals around the world are grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. How will historians remember this time in history? Canada During COVID-19: A Living Archive is meant to capture the experiences of everyday Canadians as they live through this challenging time.

Pro Pelle Cutem
Article

Pro Pelle Cutem

Pro pelle cutem (a Latin phrase meaning “a pelt for a skin”) is the traditional motto of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). It was adopted soon after the company received its charter in 1670 and has remained on the HBC coat of arms, apart from a brief period of rebranding between 2002 and 2013.