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Create AccountJohn Geddie, Presbyterian missionary (b at Banff, Scot 19 Apr 1815; d at Geelong, Australia 14 Dec 1872). Geddie came with his family to Pictou, NS, in 1816 and after studying theology with Thomas MCCULLOCH became a minister in PEI.
Arthur Goss documented the poor living conditions of immigrant families and the impact of poverty on the health and welfare of children in impoverished areas of Toronto like St. John’s Ward for the Department of Public Health.
Olivar Asselin, journalist, soldier, philanthropist (born 8 Nov 1874 in Saint-Hilarion de Charlevoix, Québec; died 18 April 1937 in Montréal, Québec). Olivar Asselin was a writer, journalist, philanthropist and public intellectual in Québec at the turn of the 20th century. He was widely regarded as a giant in the world of Québec journalism and had a remarkable talent for recruiting and mentoring young writers during his extended career. As a fervent French Canadian nationalist and fierce polemist, he was deeply engaged in virtually every public issue of his day.
Joseph Aaron “Joe” Friedman was a Romanian-Jewish Canadian tail gunner in the Royal Canadian Air Force who enlisted when he was 17 years old. Friedman took part in carpet bombing operations before he was shot down and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Germany. Listen to Friedman describe his experiences in the Air Force and comment on the controversy of carpet bombing.
Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
Larry Tremblay, playwright, poet, novelist, essayist, stage director, actor, teacher (b at Chicoutimi, Qué 17 April 1954). Larry Tremblay received a masters degree in drama in 1983 from the Université du Québec à Montréal, where he later began to teach acting.
Minna Keene, née Bergman, photographer (b at Arolsen, Germany 5 Apr 1861; d at Oakville, Ont Nov 1943). A self-taught photographer, she was a member of the London Salon, a society devoted to the promotion of pictorial photography.
Up the Pan-American Highway from Santiago, on the route that leads north to mining country, a small Alberta company has set up shop to repair hydraulic motors and pumps.
Penelope “Penny” Oleksiak, swimmer (born 13 June 2000 in Scarborough, ON). Swimmer Penny Oleksiak is Canada’s most decorated Olympian, with seven medals overall. She also holds the record as the youngest Canadian to win Olympic gold (16 years and 59 days). In 2016, she became the first Canadian athlete to win four medals at a single Olympic Summer Games: gold in the 100 m freestyle; silver in the 100 m butterfly; bronze in the women’s 4x100 m freestyle relay; and bronze in the women’s 4x200 m freestyle relay. Oleksiak won three medals at the Tokyo Games in 2021: silver in the women’s 4x100 m freestyle relay; bronze in the women’s 200 m freestyle; and bronze in the women’s 4x100 m medley relay. She received the Lou Marsh Trophy and the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award in 2016.
Lionel-Adolphe Groulx, historian, priest and nationalist spokesman for the French-Canadian population (born 13 January 1878 in Vaudreuil, Quebec; died 23 May in Vaudreuil). Lionel Groulx was an important intellectual figure for the Quebec nationalist movement and generated some controversy for his antisemitic tendencies (see also Delisle-Richler Controversy).
Adam Pettle, playwright (born at Toronto 1973). Adam Pettle is one of the most high-profile graduates (1999) of the National Theatre School of Canada's (NTS) playwriting program. He received a BA in theatre from Dalhousie University in 1994.
In Canada, the word anglophone
refers to someone whose first language is English:
it is the one they use most often to speak, read, write and think, and the one
they use most often at home. Being anglophone can also simply
mean being able to speak the language fluently.
According to the 2016 census,
almost 20.19 million Canadians, representing 58.1 per cent of the total
population, reported English as their mother tongue. Approximately 29.97 million
Canadians, or 86.2 per cent of the population, declared being able to speak English.
Moses Hart, businessman, landowner (b at Trois-Rivières 26 Nov 1768; d there 15 Oct 1852), brother of Benjamin HART. An eccentric but adept businessman, Hart began his career in Sorel by running a general store and then extended into the import-export business.
The 107th (Timber Wolf) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, known officially as the 107th (Winnipeg) Battalion, was an infantry battalion established during the First World War. After it arrived in Britain, the unit was converted to a pioneer battalion and served on the Western Front in France and Belgium. It was later absorbed into an engineer brigade. About half the unit’s soldiers were Indigenous Canadians.
Alexander Matheson Lang, expatriate actor-manager, dramatist (b at Montréal 15 May 1879; d at Barbados 11 Apr 1948). A tall, good-looking, classical actor he was renowned for his tours of Commonwealth countries.
John Graves Simcoe, army officer, lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada (born 25 February 1752 in Cotterstock, Britain; died 26 October 1806 in Exeter, Britain). Simcoe served as an officer with the British army in the American Revolutionary War, but is best known to Canadians as the first lieutenant-governor of the new British colony of Upper Canada, which later became Ontario.
When Capt. Jack Deighton and his family pulled their canoe onto the south shore of the Burrrard Inlet in 1867, Jack was on one more search for riches. He had been a sailor on British and American ships, rushed for gold in California and the Cariboo, piloted boats on the Fraser River and ran a tavern in New Westminster. He was broke again, but he wasted no time in starting a new business and building the settlement that would become Vancouver.
This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on March 25, 2002. Partner content is not updated.
In the days before business plans and vision statements, Vancouver shopkeeper Hok Yat Louie wrote, in his native Chinese, a series of letters to his sons. It was 1934 and, in failing health, he'd returned for the first time in 38 years to his birthplace in south China's Pearl River Delta.Newfoundland settings and characters are important in Gordon Pinsent's writings. Responsible for many of his own best roles, Pinsent wrote the screenplay and the musical version of The Rowdyman (film released in 1972), playing the charming and irresponsible character in both.
The great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen clung grimly to the tiller of his little ship Gjøa. Adrift in the remote waters of Simpson Strait, the Gjøa had just spent two agonizing weeks in August 1905 avoiding the death grip of the polar ice. Over and over the exhausted crew begged Amundsen to turn back. Haggard and ill, he had not eaten for days and he dared not sleep. He knew that his dream of sailing across the top of the world was within his grasp.
Reynold Kenneth Young, astronomer, professor (b at Binbrook, Ont 4 Oct 1886; d at Peterborough, Ont 24 Dec 1977).
