December 6 - Wpg's first female city councillor; Janet Cochrane's Friendship Centre.

December 6, 1994 - Janet Cochrane dies. In 1958 she co-created the Winnipeg Friendship Centre, a place where urban Aboriginal peoples could gather. The concept soon rolled out across the country. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 1989.

December 6, 1920 - Jessie Kirk, (also see), is the first woman elected to Winnipeg city council.

Born in Chesterfield, England, Kirk was a school principal before moving to Winnipeg and marrying William Kirk.

She ran as an Independent Labour candidate and served four separate one-year terms on council in the 1920s and 30s. She was also the chair of the Civic Charities bureau and a board member of the General Hospital.

Kirk died in 1965.

December 6, 1864 - Thorsteinn Oddson is born in Iceland. In 1888 he emigrated to Manitoba and entered the building trade. In the early 1900s he developed many apartment buildings in the West End, especially along Burnell Street.

December 6, 1917 - At 9:04 a.m. the Mont Blanc, a loaded munitions ship, explodes in Halifax Harbour. The blast killed 1,600, injured 9,000 and destroyed 12,000 buildings in a 325 acre zone. For more: CBC Archives and the Halifax Explosion website.