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Vancouver Feature: BC Electric Building Opens

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


When BC Electric chairman Dal Grauer decided to move to new headquarters south of Georgia Street, he wanted a building that would symbolize optimism and progress. What he got was a gleaming 21-storey modernist structure that glowed with electric light 24 hours a day.

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.

Article

Fossmobile

The Fossmobile was invented by George Foote Foss in 1897. It is the first successful Canadian example of an automobile built with an internal combustion engine. While the Fossmobile was never mass-produced for the Canadian automotive market (see automotive industry), it is an example of ingenuity and innovation. Through Fossmobile Enterprises, the descendants of George Foote Foss have researched and built a tribute/replica of the Fossmobile prototype. The tribute/replica vehicle was donated and inducted into the Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa, Ontario in 2022.

Article

Hector

Hector, the ship which carried 178 Scottish immigrants to the Pictou area of northern Nova Scotia in 1773. Pictou was located on the "Philadelphia Plantation," an 81 000 ha tract granted to 14 Scots proprietors and settled desultorily since 1767.

Article

Umiak

Until recent times, the umiak which means “open skin boat” in Inuktitut was the primary method of summer transport for coastal Inuit, used for moving family and possessions to seasonal hunting areas and for whaling expeditions.

Article

Tantalum

Tantalum (Ta) is a grey, heavy, very hard metal with a high melting point. Tantalum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ta and atomic number 73. The name of this metal is derived from King Tantalus, a figure in Greek mythology. Due to its properties tantalum is used in the electronics industry.

Article

Agriculture and Food

Canada's agriculture and food industries have changed greatly in the years since the Second World War. Growth in Canada’s economy, and associated social changes, have altered the way food is produced, processed, handled, sold and consumed.

Article

Aviation

   Aviation, the art and science of flying, has been a practical reality since the early 20th century. Canadians have participated in its development almost from its inception.

Article

Misinformation in Canada

The advance of computers into all aspects of our lives and the rising role of the Internet have led many people to call this the Information Age. But with news travelling fast, and often with few checks and balances to ensure accuracy, it can also be seen as the Misinformation Age. Learning how to separate facts from misinformation or so-called fake news has become a critical modern skill as people learn to evaluate information being shared with them, as well as to scrutinize information they may share themselves.

Article

Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame

The Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame was a permanent exhibition at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Founded in 1991, the Hall of Fame honoured individuals whose scientific or technological achievements have had long-term implications for Canadians. Canadian scientists and innovators inducted in the Hall of Fame, include Maude Abbott, Wilder Penfield, Sir Sandford Fleming, Hugh Le Caine and Elsie MacGill. The Hall of Fame was retired in 2017.

Article

Polar Vortex

The polar vortex is a wind pattern surrounding the Earth’s poles. Both the North and South pole have polar vortices spinning around them. In both cases, the rotation is generally cyclonic — counter-clockwise around the North Pole and clockwise around the South Pole. While polar vortices exist year-round, they are strongest during each pole’s winter. Canadians tend to experience the effects of the North Pole’s polar vortex toward the end of winter. At this time, the vortex begins to weaken, and cold, polar air travels further south. Polar vortices are atmospheric phenomena which occur on other planets too, such as Mars, Venus and Saturn.

Article

Royal Victoria Hospital

Royal Victoria Hospital, Montréal, is a teaching hospital affiliated with McGill University. Its original building on the southern slopes of Mount Royal is the premier Canadian illustration of pavilion-plan hospital architecture.

Article

Sweat Lodge

Sweat lodges are heated, dome-shaped structures used by Indigenous peoples during certain purification rites and as a way to promote healthy living.

Article

Indigenous Peoples' Medicine in Canada

Since time immemorial Indigenous peoples in Canada have been using plants and other natural materials as medicine. Plant medicines are used more frequently than those derived from animals. In all, Indigenous peoples have identified over 400 different species of plants (as well as lichens, fungi and algae) with medicinal applications. Medicine traditions — the plants used, the ailments treated, protocols for harvesting and application, and modes of preparation — are similar for Indigenous peoples across the country. In many Indigenous communities, there are recognized specialists trained in traditional medicine, and their practice often reflects spiritual aspects of healing as well as physical outcomes. In many cases, the therapeutic properties of Indigenous medicines are attributable to particular compounds and their effects on the body, but in other instances, their application is little understood by western medical practitioners. Within Indigenous communities, specific methods of harvesting and preparation of medicines are considered intellectual property of particular individuals or families.

Article

Franklin Search

The disappearance in 1845 of Sir John Franklin and his crew in the Canadian Arctic set off the greatest rescue operation in the history of exploration. More than 30 expeditions over two decades would search by land and sea for clues as to his fate, in the process charting vast areas of the Canadian Arctic and mapping the complete route of the Northwest Passage. The search for clues continued into the 20th and 21st centuries. On 9 September 2014, it was announced that one of the expedition ships, later identified as the HMS Erebus, had been found off King William Island. On 12 September 2016, a team from the Arctic Research Foundation announced that they had located the Terror in Nunavut's Terror Bay, north of where the Erebus was found.