This Was Manitoba

February 3: Dauphin officer killed; Brandon gets talkies; Ste. Rose hospital; Parliament burns.

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February 3, 1913 - Constable Charles Rooke of the Dauphin detachment of the Manitoba Provincial Police is shot to death trying to apprehend a suspect near Riding Mountain. For more on Rooke's life and death.

February 3, 1947 - The coldest temperature ever recorded in Canada WASN'T at Portage and Main ! Snag, Yukon reached an estimated -81 F (-63 C). It was a guesstimate as even the scientific thermometers only went as low as -80 F.

February 3, 2000 - Winkler-born bassist Phillip Ens, who started with the Manitoba Opera, makes his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

February 3, 1916 - A small fire begins in a reading room in the Centre Block of the House of Commons in Ottawa while the House is in session. Within a few hours the Parliament buildings are razed and seven people are dead. The only part of the structure to survive is the Parliamentary Library, thanks to quick thinking staff.

For the next four years Parliament sat at the newly built Victoria Memorial Museum. The Senate occupied what was once an exhibit space called the "Hall of Invertebrate Fossils !"

February 3, 1932 - Andrew Bodz, a 56 year-old Austrian immigrant who farmed near Pine River, is hanged for beating his wife Mary to death in July 1931. Though he was tried in Dauphin the hanging took place in Headingly.

February 3, 1939 – The first patient is admitted to the Ste. Rose General Hospital, three days before it was scheduled to open.

February 3, 1930 - The Strand Theatre on 10th Street in Brandon re-opens after a two month renovation to convert it into Brandon’s first 'talking picture' house.

February 2: Alloway dies; Empire opens; Dingwall fire; Northwest Airlines returns.

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February 2, 1905 - The Empire Hotel opens on Main Street. It was constructed in 1883 as the Cauchon Block, an office building. A couple of years later it was renovated into Winnipeg's first apartment block. In 1904 the McLaren Brothers purchased it and converted it into a high-end hotel. The Empire was demolished in 1982.

For more about the building.

Ad from Sept 1940 Winnipeg Tribune

February 2, 1931 - Northwest Airways resumes international passenger and mail flights from Winnipeg to Pembina, North Dakota. They provided brief service in 1928 but stopped at the request of the Federal government.

February 2, 1929 - Donald Rope is born in Winnipeg. Playing hockey for the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen Rope won two medals for Canada at the Winter Olympics: a bronze at Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956 and a Silver in Squaw Valley in 1960.

February 2, 1932 - Joseph Verhoski, a 34 year old Polish labourer, is hanged in Headingley for the robbery and murder of Peter Demchyshyn.

In mid-October 1930 Demchyshen's car was found abandoned on a road near Winnipegosis. A week later his body was found nearby in a shallow grave.

A year later Verhoski, who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested for weapons-related offenses and was sentenced to a stint in the Portage Jail. Shell casings from the sawed-off shot gun he was arrested with matched to the casings found on the road near Demchyshen's body. New charges were laid and he was sent to Dauphin for trial.

He confessed to an officer that he had blocked the road with poles which caused Demchyshyn to get out of his car. The two men struggled and the ' shotgun went off' killing the man. The coroner, however, said that the shots were fired from a distance and could not have taken place in a struggle.

After an hour the jury returned with a a guilty verdict and a death sentence.

Verhoski was uncooperative at his trial, even refusing counsel at times, and was emotionless during the sentencing. His final words on the gallows: "Goodbye everyone. Goodbye Captain Stewart," (his Salvation Army escort.)

February 2, 1921 - The Dingwall building at 62 Albert Street goes up in flames. For a history of the building.

February 2, 1930 - William Forbes Alloway dies. He was a partner in the Alloway and Champion bank. When it was sold to the Bank of Commerce he donated $100,000, (about $1.25m in 2010 dollars), in seed money to help establish the Winnipeg Foundation.

For more on Alloway and the Winnipeg Foundation.

February 1: Farewell WRENS; Fort Garry Court burns; CN boots the caboose.

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February 1, 1904 - The Winnipeg Commodity Exchange begins trading in futures contracts.

February 1, 1990 - The CNR discontinues the use of cabooses on their trains. The CPR did away with them in 1989.

February 1, 1902 - Robert Briggs Hetherington is appointed the provincial jailer. Born in Smith’s Falls ON, Hetherington came to Manitoba in 1879 as a 21 year old carpenter working in Portage la Prairie and settling in Douglas MB.

February 1, 1968 - The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act brings women from all Canadian forces under the title of “service women”.

Image: Wrens Marching down Portage Ave in 1952 from Manitoba Naval Museum

Officially this would be the end of the Navy WRENS (Women's Royal Navy Service) - though the name would be used unofficially for another decade. The Wrens began in May 1942 in Canada.

Image: Winnipeg Fire Museum (for more scroll down to Feb 1)

February 1, 1976 - The Fort Garry Court apartments on Broadway across from the Via Rail station, are destroyed by fire. Five elderly men are killed and 175 left homeless. It was fond to be arson by persons unknown.

Deficiencies with the building, which actually passed a fire inspection a few months before, led to improvements of the fire code for all city apartment blocks.

February 1, 1932 - James McGrath, a 24 year-old British labourer, is hanged in Headingly for murdering his wife Freda (19) near Souris with a butcher knife.

January 31: Fire kills 8; fireman killed; aviation pioneer Baker.

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February 1, 1977, Winnipeg Free Press

January 31, 1977 - The Town & Country Lodge apartments at 877 Preston Avenue burns to the ground killing 8 and injuring 17.

The 31 suite terraced housing block, built around 1906, was deemed insanitary a couple of years before but re-opened after basic renovations were done. It was claimed by some to be a 'flop house' with five or six people, some transient, living in some suites. This made identifying two of the dead impossible.

Many who escaped had to do so through upper storey windows as fire escapes were either blocked or iced up. The cause of the blaze was accidental: careless smoking or an electrical short in a main floor suite.

MB Free Press, Feb 1, 1913

January 31, 1913 - Winnipeg Firefighter Capt. George W. Starmer, 53, dies as a result of injuries sustained in an accident in November 1911.

Responding to what would be a false alarm on Market Street, Starmer's fire wagon was struck by a streetcar. The accident left him shaken and with bouts of paralysis. He returned to work but finally had to retire in 1912 when the paralysis became constant.

In his final days of failing health, brigade members kept a round-the-clock vigil at his bedside in his home on Smith Street.

A 28 year veteran of the force, Starmer left a wife and two children.

January 31, 1910 - Russell Baker is born in Winnipeg. Baker had a long career as a bush pilot in northern Manitoba and served on the executive of CP Air. He is a member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame and died in November 1958.

January 31, 1989 – Sir William Stephenson dies. During World War II Churchill appointed the Point Douglas native and one-time U of M professor Director of British Security Coordination. His code name was Intrepid.

January 30: Sir Sam Steele; Elinor Black; HBC leaves the fur trade.

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Image: U of M Library, Tribune Photo Collection

January 30, 1991 - After more than 300 years, the Hudson's Bay Company announces that it is getting out of the fur trade.

January 30, 1919 - Sir Samuel Steele dies in London of influenza.

The military man and North West Mounted Police officer became a legend during his own lifetime with his involvement in the Boer War, Red River Rebellion, Northwest Rebellion and Klondike Gold Rush. His Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry refers to him as “...the quintessential Canadian man of action in the Victorian era”.

Steele is buried in St. John’s cemetery in Winnipeg. His fonds are at the University of Alberta.

January 30, 1982 - Pioneering doctor Elinor Black dies at her home, 30 Spence Street, Winnipeg.

Black came to Winnipeg with her family from B.C. when she was 12. She graduated from the U of M's faculty of medicine and went to the U.K. to continue her studies, finishing her post-grad work in 1930.

In 1951 Black was appointed Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the U of M in 1951, the first woman in Canada to head a medical department. In 1960 she became the first woman president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.

January 29: Evanson dies; St. Michael's a heritage site..

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January 29, 1986 - St. Michael's Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church, R.M. of Stuartburn, near Gardenton, is designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

Winnipeg Tribune, January 30, 1941

January 29, 1941 - William Evanson dies. he came to Manitoba as an auditor with the CPR. From 1915 – 1929 he was the Comptroller of the City of Winnipeg.

January 28: Nellie's Mock Parliament; Monarchs are champs.

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January 28, 1914 - The Political Equality League stages a mock parliament at the Walker Theatre. Women played the roles of politicians, with Nellie McClung as premier, debating whether or not men should get the vote. (Also, CBC Archives, How Canadian Newspaperwomen won the vote.)

Jan. 28, 1914, Manitoba Free Press

In one scene, a delegation of men present their right to vote to the 'Premier' to which she replied:

"We like delegations. We have seen a great many, and we pride ourselves on treating these delegations with the greatest courtesy and candor. We assure you that we are just as pleased to see you today as we shall be to see you at any future day. We wish to compliment this delegation on their splendid gentlemanly appearance. If without exercising the vote, such splendid specimens of manhood can be produced, such a system of affairs should not be interfered with."

Manitoba Free Press, January 29, 1914 (headline and quote)

The night, which also included musical entertainment and comedy skits, was well received and brought with it national media coverage. (To read a review.)

Two years later, on January 27, 1914, the Manitoba Legislature unanimously passed a bill to allow women* the right to vote and hold office in the province - a first in Canada. (*Aboriginals and some immigrant women need not apply. It wasn’t until May 1918 that national suffrage was achieved.)

January 28, 1935 - The 1935 Winnipeg Monarchs win the world amateur hockey championship in Switzerland. The team is in the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

January 27: Remembering Henderson; Manitoba women get the vote; HBC's collection to MB Archives.

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January 27, 1928 - S.R. Henderson (64) dies of natural causes at at his North Kildonan
home.

Henderson was a descendant of one of the original East Kildonan homesteading families and worked for many decades for area community organizations ranging from horticultural societies to John Black Church and on municipal council.

He was the first president of the Manitoba Good Roads Association. For 18 years he worked to promote road improvements and road maintenance throughout the province. Both Henderson Highway and Essar Avenue (his initials spelled out) are named for him.

The Free Press reported the following day “He was always on the side of progress, looking ahead and anticipating good results and general benefits from some project that to others might have seemed without merit".

Also see.

January 27, 1993 - The Manitoba Archives becomes the permanent home to the Hudson's Bay Company Archives.

January 27, 1898 - L' echo du Manitoba begins publishing.

January 27, 1916 - The Manitoba Legislature unanimously passes a bill to give Manitoba women the right to vote. A first in Canada.

January 26: Pogue's carburetor; Red Ensign unfurled; Central Fire Station.

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January 26, 1883 - The Winnipeg Fire Department moves into a new Central Station on William Ave. at Charlotte Street (renamed Hargrave.)

January 26, 1936 - Two Winnipeg businessmen, Tom Breen (of Breen Motors) and Mr. Kickley (of Dominion Motors) announce to the world that they are in the final stages of testing a carburetor that gets 200 miles per gallon.

The inventor, Winnipegger Charles Pogue, had been working on the project since the 1920’s and obtained 4 patents on it.

There are numerous explanations as to why it never went into production, ranging from it being a hoax to being too complicated for a motorist to use. The Canadian military tested it in the 1940s but called them off when they found that the device needed to be 'constantly adjusted'.

Pogue would go on to get 300 more patents in his lifetime.

Some further about his carburetor posts here and here.

January 26, 1924 - The Canadian Red Ensign is officially recognized as Canada’s flag. It would remain so until 1965.

January 26, 1980 – Joe Clark announces that Canada will boycott the 1980 Olympic games.

January 25: 'Peg hits -52? ; Fireman down; Bonnin hanged; Brandon's McKenzie building.

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January 25, 1956 - Winnipeg Firefighter Elford A. Knox, 54, falls ill at a fire and dies in hospital.

January 25, 1988 - The A.E. McKenzie Company Building on 9th Street in Brandon is designated a Provincial Heritage Site. It is now being converted into condominiums.

January 25, 1988 - The Trappist Monastery Ruins, rue du Monastére, St. Norbert, is designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

January 25, 1927 - 24 year-old Wilfred Bonnin is hanged in Winnipeg for the murder of Maurice Garvie during a bank robbery on May 28, 1926. (For more on the robbery.)

January 25, 1904 - Winnipeg hits minus 52 ! Though the Free Press only reported - 38.

The cold lasted until January 29th or so. During that time there were numerous fires, at least one death and workers such as the gas light men were reported to have a hard time of it. On the 24th trains stopped running in Southern Manitoba as it was too cold to "steam them back up" after stopping in places like Douglas, MB.

Despite the cold weather numerous outdoor hockey games carried on.

January 24: Child murdered; Remembering Jack Matheson.

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Winnipeg Evening Tribune January 25, 1939

January 24, 1939 - Winnipeg is shocked by the murder of a child. Excerpts:

All the resources of the police were mustered today in an effort to track down the unidentified slayer of of 6 year old Rose Mary Eiler, choked to death with her own underwear which the marauder stuffed in her mouth to stop her cries as he ransacked her father's suite Tuesday night and carried off some mysterious papers.

February 4, 1939, Winnipeg Free Press

It didn't take long for police to zero in on the father as the culprit. Going through a messy divorce he cooked up a fake robbery to remove valuables from his suite so that it wouldn't be part of the settlement. Things went wrong when the child suffocated.

Mr. Eiler was found guilty and received a nine month sentence. The housekeeper

January 24, 2011 - Jack Matheson dies. The long-time sports reporter began his career with the Winnipeg Tribune in 1947 and remained there until its demise in 1980. (Also see.)

January 23: Winnipeg wins the Stanley Cup; Officer down; Riley 'coach of the year.'.

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January 23, 1991 - Bombers’ Mike Riley is named CFL coach of the year.

January 23, 1922 - The Woolworth Store on the south side Portage Avenue, west of Garry.

January 23, 1978 - RCMP Constable Dennis Anthony Onofrey, 27, is shot to death responding to a stolen truck report in Virden, Manitoba.

January 23 1902 - The Winnipeg Victorias win the second game in a best of three series against the Toronto Wellingtons to win the Stanley Cup ! The games were played at the Winnipeg Auditorium.

The final score: Game 1 (January 21, 1902) 5-3 for Winnipeg; Game 2 (January 23, 1902) 5-3 for Winnipeg.

To read the local news story. A write up of the series can be found here. Also see Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Winnipeg Vics.

January 23, 1901 - The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen. See coverage in the Morning Telegram .

January 22: CFL's first Commish; Minto Armouries burn; St. James Civic Centre opens.

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January 22, 1986- St. Elijah Romanian Greek Orthodox Church, R.M. of Shellmouth, near Inglis is designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

January 22, 1956 - The deal to establish a single Canadian Football League is finalized at a meeting at the Royal Alexandra Hotel on Main Street. Winnipegger G. Sydney Halter is chosen to be the league's first commissioner.

January 22, 1966 - The arena portion of the St. James Civic Centre opens. The rest of the facility opened in stages through the year. (Image: WFP Oct 13, 1964.).

January 22, 1956 - At 5 a.m. a fire starts in the Minto Armouries on St. Matthews Ave. The $600,000 blaze injured two fireman and killed Battalion Chief Andrew Hebenton.

January 21: Yvon Dumont born; Remembering Herb Grey.

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January 21, 1951 - Yvon Dumont is born in St. Laurent. In 1993 he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, the first Metis to hold that post.

January 21, 2004 - CKY Radio 580 becomes 102 Clear FM.

January 21, 1995 - Nikolai Khabibulin debuts in net for the Winnipeg Jets. He played 19 minutes in a 4 - 3 loss to Anaheim.

January 21, 2011 - Bomber great Herb Gray dies. The Texas-born All-American was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1955 but received a better offer from the Blue Bombers. In nine seasons he won four Grey Cups. More on the Winnipeg story and the Texas story.

January 20: The King is dead; Albert Cohen remembered; The Pas Courthouse.

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source

January 20, 1914 - Albert Cohen is born in the North End. In 1947 he and brother Sam opened the Surplus Army And Navy store on Main Street. By 1961 the parent company GENDIS was a coast-to-coast retailer with SAAN, Metropolitan and Greenberg stores. Cohen died in 2011. For more on the life and times of Albert Cohen.

January 20, 1982 - The Court House and Community Building, 306 Fischer Avenue, The Pas, is designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

Jan. 21, 1936, Winnipeg Free Press

January 20, 1936 - Manitoba flags fly at half mast at the news of the death of King George V from pneumonia. The Prince of Wales became King Edward VIII.

Edward had a number of Canadian ties. As Prince of Wales he fought in Flanders with the Canadian Expeditionary Corps, he laid the cornerstone for the current parliament buildings and was a frequent visitor to the ranch he owned in Pekisko, Alberta. As King he unveiled the Vimy Memorial in France.

January 19: CFL is formed; Jets fly away; 'Peg Council's first meeting; Brandon Sun is born; Greenway is premier.

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January 19, 1958 - At a meeting in Winnipeg's Royal Alex Hotel, the Canadian Football Council withdraws from Canadian Rugby Union and becomes the Canadian Football League. (For more see my post on Syd Halter, the first CFL commissioner).

We're outa here !

January 19, 1996 - The board of the National Hockey League approves the move of the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix. (See Winnipeg Jets Memorial Site).

January 19, 1882 - The Brandon Sun Weekly begins publication, even before the incorporation of the City of Brandon !

January 19, 1888 - The Hon. Thomas Greenway (Lib) becomes Premier of Manitoba and would serve until Jan 6, 1900. A prize-winning rancher from the WestMan area, he is also in the MB Ag Hall of Fame.

City Council, 1874

January 19, 1874 - At 12 noon the first meeting of Winnipeg City Council takes place on the second floor of ‘Bentley's’ a newly constructed building on the northwest corner of Portage and Main. For more.

January 18: Transcona shops open; Haselmere fire kills nine; Girl Guides register..

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January 18, 1913 - The CN Transcona Shops officially open to serve as the western repair headquarters for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. This is a picture of them being built (source) and her is a more modern photo.

Winnipeg Tribune photo (from microfiche)

January 18, 1974 - The Haselmere Apartment fire on Ellice Avenue kills nine people. Go here for my full write up.

January 18, 1916 - The first Girl Guide Company is registered in Winnipeg. For more on early Manitoba Girl Guides.

January 17: Winnipeg International Airport opens; Walter Stoney hanged; Richardson's Observation Gallery.

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Opening Ceremony, January 1964 (source)

January 17, 1964 - The official opening of the Winnipeg International Airport takes place in front of an audience of 1,200 people. Aside from the usual speeches, a bust of the late Captain Frederick Stevenson was unveiled by his three sisters.

For more on the old airport.

January 17, 1970 The Richardson Building's Observation Gallery begins charging a 50 cent admission fee. Located on the 31st floor, the gallery operated evenings and Saturdays from 1969 to 1989.

January 17, 1951 - Walter Stoney (38) is hanged at Headingley for killing his girlfriend Mrs. Martha Perreault (31) with a pick axe.

On March 12, 1950 Perreault, a widow with three children, visited Stoney in his room at the National (now ManWin) Hotel on Main Street. The two played cards, drank and eventually began to fight.

The following day Stoney was hospitalized after being hit bey a train on the nearby CPR tracks. Investigators visited his hotel room and found the body under the bed. It had been stabbed more than 25 times.

When confronted in hospital he admitted to killing her and trying to kill himelf by stepping on front of a train. For is trial he changed his story and pleaded insanity and that he could not remember what happened that day due to the alcohol and some pills that Perrault had given him.

January 16: Fireman down; first female undertaker; Roblin burns.

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January 16, 1908 – Winnipeg Firefighter John Hector Stewart dies at his home on Jarvis Avenue. Stewart sustained severe frostbite at the Bright and Johnston Block fire on Bannatyne in December 1907 and never recovered. He was a five-year veteran of the force and just 29 years old.

January 16, 1922 - Violet Guymer (1885-1955) of The Pas becomes the first female licensed funeral director and embalmer in Canada.

When her husband, a funeral director, died of influenza in 1918 she put herself through training at Winnipeg's Bardal Funeral Home while raising their six children so that she could take over the family business, Draymen and Contractors, Undertakers.

Her daughter and granddaughter wrote a biography called the Quite an Undertaking: The story of Violet Guymer, Canada's First Female Licensed Funeral Director. (Available at the library.)

January 16, 1951 - Seymour James Farmer (1878-1951) dies. He was the 34th Mayor of Winnipeg (1923 & 1924) and went on to become the leader of the Manitoba's Provincial Social Credit Party. He served briefly as a minister in Premier John Bracken's coalition of the early 1940s.

January 16, 1943 - A fire in downtown Roblin destroys the Roblin Theatre, Manitoba Co-operative Egg Pool and the county clerk's office. The fire began at 10:30 am and thought to be doused but it flared up again at 9 pm. There were 50 people in the theatre at the time but all escaped safely.

January 15: VIA cuts; Leo Mol is born; Macri hangs.

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January 15, 1990 - VIA Rail cuts about half of its passenger service network. Just one transcontinental train will run between Toronto and Vancouver via Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton.

January 15, 1907 - Salvatore Macri is hanged in Winnipeg for murder.

Macri and a few other Italian immigrants were walking home from 566 Young Street after an evening of drinking and playing cards.One of the group, JohnRoelli was stabbed to death near Young and Portage.

Macri was blamed but no motive was provided by the Crown making it “unique in the annals of crime in Western Canada” according to The Morning Telegram of Jan 16, 1907. Could some prejudice against immigrants have been at play ? Interestingly, Sheriff Inkster received 13 requests from people looking to be the executioner. The Telegram reported, perhaps tongiue in cheek, that “The amazing part …. Is that a majority of them were Anglo-Saxon”

January 15, 1915 - Artist and sculptor Leonid Molodozhanyn, Leo Mol, is born in Ukraine. After studying in Europe he came to Canada in 1949 and settled in Winnipeg in 1954.

January 15, 1975 - Rush play with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. It was one of a series of concerts to celebrate the opening of the Winnipeg Convention Centre. The headline group, Motown's Rare Earth, backed out at the last minute due to illness.

January 15, 1908 - Manitoba Government Telephones (forerunner to MTS) takes over the Manitoba assets of Bell Telephone Company. For more on the early telephone system in Manitoba and in Brandon.

January 14: Kilgour Block burns; Eatons Catalogue disappears; Seven Oaks' first patient.

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Source: Winnipeg Fire Museum

January 14, 1911 - The Kelly Block at 181 Bannatyne, between Main and Rorie Streets, burns. Temperatures in the -40s hampered firefighters and the building was completely gutted.

Source: Virtual Heritage Winnipeg

Built in 1904 for Thomas Kelly and Joseph Maw, it was renovated back to health in 1911 and is now called the Kilgour Block. Today itis the Lofts on Bannatyne condos.

January 14, 1976 - The T. Eaton Company announces that the iconic Eaton’s Catalogue will be discontinued. The first edition was printed in 1884, the final one in 1976.

January 14, 1981 – The first patient is admitted to the Seven Oaks Hospital.

March 27 1973, Winnipeg Free Press

January 14, 1981 – The first patient is admitted to the Seven Oaks Hospital. First proposed in 1969 the facility got bogged down in a debate over whether it should be a hospital of a health clinic. In 1977 construction finally began on the $32 million, 336 bed facility.

September 18, 1980, Winnipeg Free Press

It was officially opened in September 1980 with over 300 staff but a series of delays in equipment installation and receiving basic supplies such as scalpels pushed back the admission of patients.

Source: U of M Archives, Tribune Collection

January 14, 1975 – The official opening of the Winnipeg Convention Centre.

January 14, 1965 - The first Guess Who released "Shakin' All Over."

January 14, 1943 – Hon. Stuart Garson (Liberal-Progressive) becomes Premier of Manitoba. He served until November 1948.

January 13: Canadian Northern formed; Dark Strangler hangs; St. B.'s first Anglo mayor.

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January 13, 1899 -The Canadian Northern Railway is formed by the amalgamation of the Winnipeg Great Northern Railway and the Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company. Within two decades it would be a transcontinental rail system.

January 13, 1928 - Earle Leonard Nelson, considered North America’s first serial rapist / murderer, is hanged at the Vaughan Street Gaol.

Nelson, a.ka. the 'Gorilla Man Killer' or the 'Dark Strangler', was California-based but crossed into Manitoba in June 1927. Here, he raped and killed two women, one just 14 years old. A manhunt caused him to flee to Regina then make a run for the U.S. border. He was arrested in Wakopa MB, near Crystal City.

The trial was covered across North America. In attendance were detectives from police services in the U.S. and Nelson's wife and aunt. Though found guilty and hung for the two murders here, Nelson was responsible for 22 murders and suspected in at least 3 more south of the border. He was 29 years old when he hanged.

There are a number of accounts of the life and death of Nelson. You can find one of them here at the Police Museum website.

December 20, 1912, Winnipeg Free Press

January 13, 1933 - Thomas Berry, the first anglophone mayor of St. Boniface, dies.

January 12: Neepawa's opera house burns; Shoal Lake incorporates.

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January 12, 1993 - Majorie Morley dies. She was the province's first female provincial librarian.

January 14, 1905, Morning Telegram (for full article)

January 12 -13, 1905 - A fire in downtown Neepawa destroys the Jubilee Block which contained 8 businesses, the Bell telephone exchange and the opera house.

Morning Telegram, Oct. 20, 1905 (Manitoba Free Press)

By summer 1905 construction was underway on a new, stand-alone opera house at the same location. Due to faulty architecture the walls of the structure collapsed before the building opened. The Free Press (Oct 20, 1905) reported that it "... now presents a scene more depressing than was left by the fire, which destroyed the structure on the same site last January".

The walls were removed an the project started again.

The Neepawa Opera House was rechristened the Roxy Theatre around 1932. In 1936 interior and exterior renovations were done to give it a period art-deco feel. The Roxy is a provincial heritage site.

For More: Historic Neepawa buildings (pdf); Roxy Theatre home page.

January 12, 1909 - The Village of Shoal Lake is incorporated. It is now a town of 801. For more Shoal Lake history.

January 11: The Beaver bids farewell; Swan Valley's Star.

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January 11, 1877 - The short-lived Manitoba Herald newspaper begins publication.

January 11, 1900 – The Swan River Star newspaper is started by W. H. Glendinning. In 1920 The Times appeared and the papers amalgamated later that year into the Swan Valley Star & Times which is still published today.

January 11, 2010 - The Winnipeg-based publication The Beaver changes its name to Canada's History Magazine. It originated in 1920 as an HBC employee journal celebrating the company's 250th anniversary.

January 11, 1918 - The Enderton Building on Portage at Hargrave burns. (Also see here.) The site is now home to Dayton Building. A new Enderton Building was constructed near Portage and Main.

January 10: Hugh John as Premier; GWG gone; Fatal robbery.

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January 10, 1969 - Juanita Clayton, catcher for the 1996 Canadian Olympic Softball team, is born in Manitou.

January 10, 1900 - Hon. Hugh John MacDonald (Cons) becomes Premier of Manitoba. He served only nine months, resigning in October 1900 to run and lose in a federal election.

January 10, 1984 - The Great Western Garment Company factory on Bannatyne Avenue closes. GWG, in Winnipeg since 1960, produced Ziggy and Chic jeans from that location.

January 10, 1896 - A failed robbery at the Electric Street Railway offices leads to the death of the robber's accomplice.

January 9: Let there be parks; German society formed.

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Central Park ca. 1900:

January 9, 1893 - The City of Winnipeg adopts the Manitoba Public Parks Act giving it authority over public parks. The first land purchased by the board was for Assiniboine Park (on River Ave, re-named Ft. Rouge Park in 1905), Central Park on Cumberland and St. John’s Park on Main Street.

January 9, 1892 - The German Society of Winnipeg is founded by nine German immigrants.

Their first clubhouse was opened in 1904 on Heaton Avenue. In 1952 they purchased and converted the former Hebrew Free School on Charles Street into their current club house. (Photo: German Society website.)

January 8: Mayoral recount; Aussie P.M. visits; Garson as Premier.

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Jan 8, 1917, Winnipeg Free Press

January 8, 1917 - Frederick Davidson becomes mayor of Winnipeg after winning a recount of the 1916 civic election results. Voting irregularities by supporters of both men were found at an inquiry.

January 8, 1951 - Hamilton Dawson Jukes dies in San Diego. Born in Winnipeg on May 28, 1895, he won a bronze medal in ice hockey for Britain in the 1924 Olympics.

January 8, 1927 - Australian P.M. Rt. Hon. Stanley J Bruce visits Winnipeg. In a speech to the Canadian Women's Club he lamented the fact that most of the world's history is written by, and about, men. He said: "We have heard of the Pilgrim Fathers, but not of the Pilgrim Mothers."

January 8, 1943 - Stuart Garson replaces John Bracken as Premier.

January 7: Remembering Charles Wheeler.

2012-01-07T06:18:00.001-06:00

January 7, 1917 – Architect Charles H. Wheeler dies. He designed dozens of memorable Manitoba buildings from Winnipeg’s Dalnavert and Holy Trinity Church to Brandon’s Merchant Bank building and the original Portage Gaol.

When he retired he became the music critic for the Winnipeg Tribune. (Also see) (Also see)

January 6: Wesley College opens; CKDM is on the air; Commissionaires formed.

2012-01-06T05:48:00.001-06:00

January 6, 1938 - The Manitoba division of the Corps of Commissionaires was formed after a meeting at the Hotel Fort Garry. The purpose of the organization is to provide employment for returned soldiers.

CKDM's Schedule for Friday July 25, 1952:

January 6,1951 - Dauphin's CKDM Radio signs on the air, the "DM" is for Dauphin, Manitoba. They're still going strong !

January 6, 1896 - Wesley College's new building on Portage Avenue opens to students. (For a building history.)

January 5: Remembering Captain Stevenson, Margaret Laurence; 'Peg's first Mayor.

2012-01-05T06:32:00.003-06:00

January 5, 1920 - The R.M. of Lakeview is incorporated. The village of Langruth, however, was settled back in 1909. The village name is a combination of the names of its two founders: Mr. George W. Langdon and Mr. W. Judson Ruth. Langruth celebrated it's centenary in summer 2009.

January 5, 1874 - The City of Winnipeg holds its first civic election. Francis E. Cornish, previously a Mayor of London, Ontario, is elected mayor along with 12 aldermen.

January 5, 1917 – Winnipeg Mayor-Elect David J. Dyson is unseated on a recount. Three days later Frederick Harvey Davidson would be sworn in as 28th Mayor of Winnipeg.

January 5, 1987 - Frank Stack dies in Winnipeg. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Stack was a speed skating phenom. He won the Canadian championship six times and represented Canada the same number of times at Olympic Games. He won a bronze medal in 1932.

After his skating he coached future generations of speed skaters and is a member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

January 5, 1987 – Neepawa-born author Jean Margaret Wemyss, (Margaret Laurence), commits suicide at age 60. Laurence had suffered from depression most of her life but the fact that she killed herself was not revealed until her biography was released ten years later.

For CBC interviews from over the years.

January 5, 1928 - Aviation pioneer Captain Frederick J Stevenson dies in a plane crash near The Pas. Later that year the airport in Winnipeg was renamed Stevenson Aerodrome. (For more on Winnipeg's airports).

January 5, 1975 - The Winnipeg Convention Centre opens.

January 4: Hanging for St. Lazare murder; second woman police officer.

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January 4, 1947 – The Town of St. Pierre Jolys is incorporated. Founded in 1877 as Rat River, its name was soon changed to Saint-Pierre. ‘ Jolys’ was later added to commemorate Father Jolys, a man instrumental in the settlement’s development.

January 4, 1910 – The Village of Winnipeg Beach holds its first council meeting at 12 noon.

January 4,1923 – The Great Falls Generating Station, located on the Winnipeg River 130 km northeast of Winnipeg, is officially opened.

January 4th, 1917 - Jane Isabel Andrews (44) joins the Winnipeg Police. She is only the second woman to do so. Andrews served until 1938. In photo Andrews is on the left. Photo source: Women in Policing).

January 4, 1899 - The Rock Lake Review begins publication in Cartwright, MB. In 1903 it changed its name to the Southern Manitoba Review.

January 4 - 1972 - The inaugural council meeting of the "Unicity" of Winnipeg is held.

January 4, 1876 - Angus McIvor is hanged in Winnipeg for the September 1875 murder of George Atkinson.

Mr. Baptiste Charette hired McIvor as part of a team to deliver freight to the West. Around Shoal Lake the men came across Atkinson who had an overloaded cart and Charette agreed to share part of the load.

The next night, while stopping near Fort Ellice (at St. Lazare), McIvor shot and killed Atkinson and wounded Charette. It was believed that he intended to steal that cargo.

After the hanging, which the Free Press noted that he faced 'like a man', McIvor was buried in an unmarked grave in St. Boniface Basilica.

January 3: The dean of printing and father of canola.

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January 3, 1878 - Winnipeg's new main fire hall on Market Square opens. It would serve until 1965 !

January 3, 1945 - Oliver Pollard dies. A pioneer of the printing industry in Manitoba, the company he founded was a predecessor to today’s Pollard Banknote.

January 3, 2002 – Scientist Dr. Baldur Rosmund Stefansson dies. Born at Vestfold and educated at the U of M, his crop research led to the creation of an edible version of canola.

January 2: Manitoba's first New Year’s Levée

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January 2, 1871 - Manitoba Lieutenant Governor Adams Archibald hosts the province’s first New Year’s Levée at Upper Fort Garry. For a history of Manitoba's levée.

January 1: Unicity turns 40; Horrorscope debuts; Winnipeg Transit is born.

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January 1, 1972 - The Unified City of Winnipeg, or "Unicity", officially comes into effect.

It merged thirteen municipalities: the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg; R.M. of Charleswood; City of East Kildonan; R.M. of Fort Garry; R.M. of North Kildonan; R.M. of Old Kildonan; City of St. Boniface; City of St. James; City of St. Vital; City of Transcona; Town of Tuxedo; City of West Kildonan, into one municipality.

January 1, 1991 – The GST comes into effect.

January 1, 1990 – The comic strip “Horrorscope” debuts in The Toronto Star. It’s the work of Susan Kelso and Winnipeg’s Eric Olson.

January 1, 1972 - The City of Winnipeg Transit System is born. It was formerly the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg Transit (“Metro Transit”).

January 1, 2003 - The Town of Gimli amalgamates with the R.M. of Gimli.

January 1, 1902 - Charles "Charley" Bélanger is born in Winnipeg. He competed for Canada in Light-Heavyweight Boxing at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.

January 1, 1997 – Control of the Winnipeg International Airport (now Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport) transfers from Transport Canada to the Winnipeg Airports Authority.

December 31: Golden Boy's torch; a Burton is born; a twisted Riel; the Manitoba Hotel opens.

2011-12-31T12:28:00.005-06:00

December 31, 1971 - Marcien Lemay and Etienne Gaboury’s monument of Louis Riel is unveiled on the Legislature grounds. The concrete shell around the bronze contains the quote “I hope that after my death my spirit will bring practical results.”

The twisted figure portrayed proved controversial and eventually it was moved to the grounds of St. Boniface College. A new, more traditional likeness now stands in its place.

December 31, 1966 - A newly installed bulb in the Golden Boy’s (Eternal Youth's) torch is lit to mark Canada's centennial year.

The holes drilled for the light allowed water to leak into the figure and the need for workers to shimmy up the statue to replace the bulb led to damage to the exterior. When he was refurbished in 2000 - 2002 the light was removed.

December 31, 1949 - The ‘new’ CKY radio begins broadcasting in Winnipeg. The call letters were once used by what is now CBC-AM. This incarnation of CKY was owned by Lloyd E. Moffat. Studios and offices were in the Loredore Building, 432 Main Street N.

December 31, 1947 - Burton Cummings is born in Winnipeg. A St. John’s High School alum, he was invested in the Order of Manitoba in 2001 and inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.

December 31, 1992 - Winnipeg Transit's service to Headingley ends.

December 31, 1891 - The Manitoba Hotel on Main Street at William Stephenson Way opens with a grand ball. It burned to the ground in 1899.

The Federal Building, built on the same spot in the 1930s on that spot shares the same triangular footprint as the hotel.

December 31, 1890 - The number of schoolhouses in Manitoba: 554. Number built of logs: 77 . Number of pupils: 23,256.

December 31, 1911 - Winnipeg's bank clearings pass the billion dollar mark ($1,172,762,142) for the first time. (Source: Henderson Directory)

December 30: Losing the Stanley Cup; Manitoba's rowing phenom.

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December 30, 1991 - The Keewatin Arena is renamed the Billy Mosienko Arena.

December 30, 1967 - Athlete Colleen Miller is born in Winnipeg. Partnered with Wendy Wiebe, she won three world championship rowing titles (1993 - 1995).

December 30, 1943 - The NFB short flim "The People's Bank" premieres in Starbuck, MB. Why there ? The film is about the creation of the Starbuck Credit Union and the town plays the lead character ! News story.

December 30, 1896 - The defending Stanley Cup champions the Winnipeg Victorias loose a one-game challenge and the trophy to the Montreal Victorias in Winnipeg.

December 29: Crystal Casino.

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December 29, 1989 - The Crystal Casino opens on the 7th floor of the Hotel Fort Garry. It was Canada’s first year-round government operated casino. It closed in 1997.

December 28: Red River's first newspaper; Brandon's first hanging; Terry Sawchuk.

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December 28, 1956 - The fluoridation of Winnipeg’s water supply is completed.

December 28, 1859 – The first edition of The Nor'Wester, Red River's first newspaper, is published.

Founders William Buckingham and William Coldwell were Toronto Globe reporters who had presses hauled by ox-cart from St. Paul, Minnesota. Their offices were a small building at Main and Water. A commemorative plaque hangs inside the Federal Building to mark the site.

The Nor'Wester ceased publication in 1869 when it was seized by Louis Riel’s men.

December 28, 1888 - The first hanging at Brandon Gaol takes place.

W.P. Webb, owner of Pacific Laundry at First and Rosser, shot his wife Mary Jane dead while she was doing the laundry and "going on" at him. Alcohol was a factor.

It was not Webb’s first time to abuse his wife. In 1888 he attempted to strangle her but she escaped to a neighbor's house. He was taken to jail to cool off but she did not press charges and he was released.

To read Webb's confession and the verdict see this Brandon Sun Weekly story.

December 28, 1929 - Terry Gordon Sawchuk is born in Winnipeg. Considered by many to be the greatest NHL goalie, Sawchuk won the Vezina three times and still holds the record for the most career shutouts (103) in his 20 NHL seasons.

December 28, 2010 - Otto Koch dies.

Born in Germany, he settled in Winnipeg in 1959 and a decade later purchased a Chicken Delight franchise. Eventually, he owned the company.

December 28, 1921 - Ballerina Rosemary Deveson is born in Bowsman River, Manitoba. Deveson had some schooling with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet then at the age of 13 her family moved to Vancouver where she continued her study.

Deveson toured the world and in 1941 returned to Vancouver to start her own ballet school and taught, among others, Berta Lynn Seymour and Lois Smith. (See CTV News World-famous Ballerina remembered.)

December 27: Hilda Blake hangs; Manitoba's first general election.

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December 27, 1899 – Hilda Blake, a 21 year old housekeeper, is hanged in Brandon for the shooting death of the woman she worked for. She was the last woman to hang in Manitoba.

Morning Telegram, December 14, 1899

There was some sympathy for Blake. For such a young woman to commit a crime, it was assumed that she must have been attacked, suffered from a mental disease or had the assistance of an accomplice. If that were the case, she maintained her silence. Many media outlets were certain that she wouldn't actually hang.

For Morning Telegraph coverage of the hanging. To read an excerpt from Walk Towards the Gallows: The Tragedy of Hilda Blake.

December 27, 1870 – Manitoba’s first general election is held. (For the results.)

The first chief minister of the cabinet, (it was not technically a premier, yet), was the Lower Canada / Quebec born Marc-Amable Girard. He would later be appointed Senator for St. Boniface and serve for over 20 years.

December 26: Remembering 'Dynamite' James; Nicholas Bawlf and John Kane.

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December 26, 1887 - The Hon. D.H. Harrison (Cons.) is sworn in as premier of Manitoba after the resignation of John Norquay.

December 26, 1914 - Winnipeg grain merchant Nicholas Bawlf dies in Winnipeg.

In the 1880s he founded the N. Bawlf Grain Company with a single granary. By the mid 1930s the company had grown to 150 grain elevators throughout the prairies. He was one of the founders of the Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange and his Bawlf Building acted as the first Grain Exchange Building.

December 26, 1958 - Eddie ‘Dynamite’ James dies. He played football for the Winnipegs, Regina Pats, Winnipeg St. Johns and Regina Roughriders in the 1920s and 30s. He is a member of the CFL, Manitoba and Canadian Sports halls of fame.

December 26, 1951 - John H. Kane dies. Kane was an American businessman who came to Manitoba in 1906 and founded the farming community of Kane, Manitoba.

December 25: Fire hall burns; Reader's Digest founder born.

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Source

December 25, 1875 - In what likely led to some ribbing around the Christmas dinner table, the the Winnipeg Fire Brigade's main hall on Lombard Ave. burns to the ground.

December 25, 1889 - Lila Bell Acheson Wallace is born in Virden, Manitoba. In 1922 she and husband DeWitt Wallace founded Reader's Digest in their New York apartment.

Fortune Magazine considers Wallac, who died in May 1985, among the 50 most powerful women between 1930-40. Reader's Digest has remained Canada's most read magazine for three decades.

December 24: The birth of Pooh; "Honourbale John" resigns.

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December 24, 1925 – The London Evening News publishes a short story by writer A.A. Milne. Among the characters introduced is a bear named Winnie-the-Pooh. (See CBC Archives story. )

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.

December 24, 1887 - Premier John Norquay resigns from office due to ill health.

Norquay broke the mold for what a politician was expected to be. He was an athlete and educator, not a lawyer. He was the first Manitoba-born person to hold the seat, (it would take almost 50 years for the next one). He was said to be Métis, though it was never officially confirmed.

A burly man of 300 lbs, he also did not fit what a premier should look like, either !

“Honourable John” died the following year at the age of 48. His gravestone at St. John’s Cemetery reads:

"To the Memory of The Hon. John Norquay
Who was for many years Premier of Manitoba.
By his sudden and all too early death
His native land lost an eloquent speaker
An honest Statesman and a true friend.
Born May 8, 1841, Died July 5, 1889
This monument is a public expression of his sterling worth."

December 23: Remembering Barbara Stoppel; Firemen down; Gar Gillies.

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December 23, 1981 - Barbara Gayle Stoppel, 16, is found strangled in the bathroom of the doughnut shop where she worked. She died the following week.

Police arrest Thomas Sophonow for the crime. He was tried three times and finally acquitted in 1985. In 2000 he was exonerated by the Winnipeg Police. The remaining prime suspect, Terry Arnold, was found dead in 2005 after maintaining his innocence. The case remains unsolved.

From the government inquiry into the wrongful arrest:

Barbara Stoppel was a beautiful, vivacious and friendly 16-year-old. She was well liked by school friends and beloved by her family. In a season of joy and hope she was brutally killed....A life so full of promise was extinguished. Barbara Stoppel was the ultimate victim. Her family suffered a grievous loss and have continued to relive the tragedy through three trials and two appeals and this Inquiry.

Source

December 23, 1926 - Fire destroys the Winnipeg Theatre on Notre Dame Avenue.

Four firemen from Number 2 Fire Hall are killed when a wall collapses on them: Donald Melville (41) of 693 Langside; Robert Stewart (37) of 403 Seymore; Robert Shearer (33) of 384 Ashland; Arthur Smith (38) of Strathcona Street was found alive but with severe burns to most of his body and died the next day in hospital). All had wives and children.

The entrance to the theatre was on Notre Dame but it was the Adelaide wall that collapsed. (I assume it's either where the Towne is now or on the block nearer Calvary Temple).

Built as Victoria Hall in 1883, it was later renamed The Bijou. In 1897 C. P. Walker and wife Harriet purchased the building and renovated it into the Winnipeg Theatre, the finest in his Fargo-based theatre chain. The Walkers sold the old theatre in 1907 when their Walker Theatre opened just up the street.

December 23, 2006 - Thomas Garnet "Gar" Gillies dies in Winnipeg.

The technician and musician created the Garnet Amplifier Company in the mid-1960's to serve the local music scene. A decade later, Gar's were a common piece of equipment on the Canadian music scene. In 1989 the company closed and Garnet spent his later years working on custom projects.

December 22: William Whyte school; Women on the police force.

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A William Whyte class c 1921

(Archives of Manitoba, Foote Collection).

December 22, 1915 - William Whyte School on Powers Street officially opens as the the first public girls' school in Canada. it went co-ed in 1955. It is named and named for former CPR executive and education advocate Sir William Whyte.

December 22, 1916 - Mayor R.D. Waugh presents a motion at the Winnipeg Police Commission meeting to have two women appointed as police constables. It passes.

December 21: PSB contract awarded.

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Chief Taft at the grand opening (source):

December 21, 1964 - City Council awards the $4.8 m contract for the construction of the Public Safety Building and Civic Parkade. The PSB was completed in 1966 and with the help of metal slats and rolls of steel mesh remains standing today !

December 20: Smail's record goal; Headingley's streetcars.

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Source: Heritage Winnipeg

December 20, 1905 – Streetcar tracks are extended from St. Charles to Headingley.

December 20, 1981 - Winnipeg Jets left winger Doug Smail sets the NHL record for the fastest goal scored off the opening face-off. It happened five seconds into a game against St. Louis Blues goalie Paul Skidmore.

December 19: McMicken as mayor; Hydro chooses HQ site.

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December 19, 1894 – Alexander McMicken defeats Thomas Gilroy to become Mayor of Winnipeg. The New York Times wrote the following day “McMicken was the workingmen’s candidate, while Gilroy was that of the capitalists.”

December 19, 2003 - Manitoba Hydro announces the winning site for their new headquarters: on Portage Avenue between Carlton and Edmonton Streets. The 700,000 sq ft building opened in September 2009. (For an architectural review of the building.)

December 18th: Dr. Duckworth; CKX FM on the air; Smoke free.

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December 18, 1963 - CKX-FM Brandon goes on the air broadcasting from noon to midnight.

December 18, 1989 - Smoking on commercial flights within Canada is prohibited. CBC Archives story.

December 18, 1957 - The Brandon Generating Station, the first coal-burning generating station built by the Manitoba Hydro Energy Board, goes into initial service with one 33-MW unit.

December 18, 1893 - Bishop Robert Machray is elected the first Anglican Primate of all of Canada.

December 18, 2008 – Dr. Harry Duckworth dies.

Born in Brandon in 1915 he attended Wesley College and received his PhD in physics from the University of Chicago. After a successful research career in nuclear physics, much of it spent at McMaster University, he returned to Manitoba to serve as vice president of the U of M (2965 - 70), president of the U of W (1971 - 18) and chancellor of the U of M (1986 - 92).

December 17: Walker Theatre opens; Commodity Exchange falls silent.

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December 17, 2004 - The last day of 'open outcry' trading at the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange.

December 17, 1906 - The Walker Theatre opens. For more on the history of The Walker, including a cool photo of wht it was SUPPOSED to look like, see my Downtown Places post.

December 16: Air Training Plan signed; Leishman declared dead.

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December 16, 1939 - at 1:00 a.m. the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan agreement was signed by Prime Minister Mackenzie King.

Though an international agreement (Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand), Canada was the centre for most of the activity with 107 schools nationally, including Brandon.
By the time the program ended on March 31, 1945 a total of 131,553 students, (50,000 of them pilots), would be trained.

Brandon restored its CATPM hangar and it is now a National Historic Site packed with WWII and aviation artifacts including a Tiger Moth. The Russell Crowe movie For the Moment, in which he plays a CATP airman training in Manitoba, was filmed there.

A very good history can be found at the RCAF website. For more on what it was like in the Brandon area at the time see this Trib story.

December 16, 1870 - The first band performance takes place in Winnipeg courtesy of the Ontario Rifle, Musical, and Dramatic Association.

December 16, 1990 - St. John Berchmans Parish in Holland Manitoba is blessed and officially opened by Archbishop Antoine Hacault.

December 16, 1980 - Ken Leishman, the Flying Bandit, is declared legally dead at the age of 48. He left behind his wife of 30 years, seven children and quite a legend.

December 15: Red River College named; Doug Barry coaches.

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December 15, 2005 - Doug Berry replaces Jim Daley to become the 26th head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Between 2006 and 2008 he led the team to a 27 - 26 - 1 record.

December 15, 1969 - The Manitoba Institute of Technology, which first opened on Henry Street in 1938, is rechristened Red River Community College.

December 14: Remembering Daniel McIntyre; Milestone for Winnipeg Beach.

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December 14, 1909 - The first council meeting of the Village of Winnipeg Beach is held at A. C. Duke’s store on Front (Main) St.. William J. Wood was the first mayor.

The site was developed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1901. It grew in popularity and the CPR expanded their line in 1909 to Gimli. (For more.)

December 14, 1965 - The St. Vital Bridge officially opens.

December 14, 1946 - Daniel McIntytre dies in Winnipeg. From 1885-1929 he was Superintendent of Winnipeg's schools. Daniel McIntyre Collegiate is named for him.

For more on "Daniel Mac" see today's West End Dumplings (post will go up at noon !)

December 13: Gowland hangs; Moffats donate big.

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June 15, 1907 Morning Telegram

December 13, 1907 – Lawrence Gowland (23) is hanged in Morden for the murder of Georgina Brown.

Young Georgina was hired help on a farm east of Killarney MB.. Gowland attacked her, presumably for sex, and when she resisted he mutilated her with a straight razor and tried to slit his own throat. Gowland survived and eventually confessed before being hanged by his still-recovering neck.

Georgina was buried in May 1907. It was reported to the Free Press to be "The largest concourse of people ever gathered together" in the town for the funeral and march to Killarney Cemetery.

December 13, 2001 – The Moffat family (of CKY/Moffat Communications fame) donate $100 million to the Winnipeg Foundation. It is the largest gift ever given to a Canadian charity.

Since that time the Moffat Family Foundation has generated $35 million in grants to community charities.

December 12: Laura Secord; Riel buried; water for Brandon.

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December 12, 1913 - Winnipeg's largest elementary school Laura Secord School officially opens, though only 10 of 23 classrooms are ready for use. A portrait of Laura Ingersoll Secord is unveiled by Mrs. Isaac Cockburn, a grand-daughter of Secord.

December 12, 1885 - Louis Riel’s funeral takes place. A procession of over six hundred led by Riel's brothers brought the casket from his home in St. Vital to St. Boniface Cathedral for the ceremony. (For a media account.)

December 12, 1930 - Brandon's 625,000 gallon water tower, (a Horton Elevated Tank), is filled for the first time. The following week it was put into service and was in operation until 2005. (For more on the tower and the recent fight to save it.)

December 11: Bracken as leader; T. Eaton statue; Curling begins !

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December 11, 1919 - Winnipeg’s Timothy Eaton statue is unveiled. The Ivor Lewis creation weighs in at over 1000 kg and has a twin in Toronto. In 2002 it was declared a provincial heritage object to prevent it from being sold out of the province. It now rests in the MTS Centre. (For more on Winnipeg's Timothy Eaton statue.)

December 11, 1920 - R.B. Russell, a labour leader during the 1919 General Strike, is released from prison on parole.

December 11, 1942 - At their convention in Winnipeg, the Conservatives elect John Bracken as leader and change their name to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

Bracken served in the Manitoba Legislature for over 20 and as premier from 1922 - 1943 before jumping to federal politics.

December 11, 1876 - The first recorded curling match is played in Manitoba. The early custom was that the losers had to donate a barrel of oatmeal to the hospital.

December 10: Lyon resigns; Airport renamed; McCaskill starts; Edward abdicates.

2011-12-10T06:16:00.003-06:00

December 10, 2006 - The Winnipeg International Airport is officially renamed the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. (For more on Winnipeg's airports)

December 10, 2007 - Keith McCaskill is sworn in as Winnipeg’s 16th Chief of Police, replacing Jack Ewatski. He began his career with the Winnipeg Police Service in 1976.

December 10, 2002 - Assiniboine Campus Community Radio Society Inc. was given approval to operate a community-based campus FM station in Brandon.

December 10,1962 - Radio Fine Music launches CFMW-FM south of Winnipeg. After three years of losing money it was sold to the CBC.

December 10, 1938 - The Argos defeat the Bombers 30-7 for the Grey Cup. This was the second year in a row the Bombers lose it to the Argos. For a CBC radio clip from the game.

December 10, 1983 - Sterling Lyon resigns as leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative party. First elected to the Legislature in 1958, he served as premier from 1977-1981. Gary Filmon replaced him.

December 10, 1972 - The original Kensington Building on Portage at Smith burns. A new Kensington stands in its place.

December 10, 1936 - Edward VIII abdicates the throne after less than a year. The following day he announces it to the Empire:

At long last I am able to say a few words of my own. I have never wanted to withhold anything, but until now it has not been constitutionally possible for me to speak.

A few hours ago I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor, and now that I have been succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him. This I do with all my heart.

You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne. But I want you to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or the empire, which, as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty-five years tried to serve.

But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.

And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone. This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course.

I have made this, the most serious decision of my life, only upon the single thought of what would, in the end, be best for all.

This decision has been made less difficult to me by the sure knowledge that my brother, with his long training in the public affairs of this country and with his fine qualities, will be able to take my place forthwith without interruption or injury to the life and progress of the empire. And he has one matchless blessing, enjoyed by so many of you, and not bestowed on me -- a happy home with his wife and children.

During these hard days I have been comforted by her majesty my mother and by my family. The ministers of the crown, and in particular, Mr. Baldwin, the Prime Minister, have always treated me with full consideration. There has never been any constitutional difference between me and them, and between me and Parliament. Bred in the constitutional tradition by my father, I should never have allowed any such issue to arise.

Ever since I was Prince of Wales, and later on when I occupied the throne, I have been treated with the greatest kindness by all classes of the people wherever I have lived or journeyed throughout the empire. For that I am very grateful.

I now quit altogether public affairs and I lay down my burden. It may be some time before I return to my native land, but I shall always follow the fortunes of the British race and empire with profound interest, and if at any time in the future I can be found of service to his majesty in a private station, I shall not fail.

And now, we all have a new King. I wish him and you, his people, happiness and prosperity with all my heart. God bless you all! God save the King!

Edward VIII

December 9: First St. Paul train; Bombers win the Cup; Winnie goes to London Zoo.

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December 9, 1878 – The first train from St. Paul, Minnesota arrives in Winnipeg. Travel time: almost 30 hours !

This Library and Archives photo may be of that voyage. It it was taken by Sanford Fleming (date unknown) and entitled "This is the first train seen on the Canadian Prairies at the opening of the Pembina Branch to Winnipeg". The Pembina line runs from Emerson to Winnipeg.

December 9, 1939 - The Bombers beat the Ottawa Roughriders at Lansdowne Park for the 27th Grey Cup. The team is in the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. CBC Archives has a radio clip of the game and post-game interviews.

December 9, 1914 - Lt. Harry Colebourn donates Winnie the bear to the London Zoo for safekeeping while he is in to France. His intention was to bring her back to Winnipeg with him when the fighting was over.

The local history buff's gift guide (Christmas 2011 edition)

2011-12-08T09:09:00.006-06:00

It's that time of year again !

This is my Christmas 2011 update of the Manitoba local history buff's Christmas gift guide ! There are some 'new and notables' from the bookshelf as well as other gift ideas for the discerning heritage nut !

THE BOOKSTORE (and more)

I have created a "Manitoba History Bookstore" at Amazon.ca. It includes everything from new releases to out of print titles (click the out of print tab) in case you want to search other sites like McNally's or used bookstores. Sometimes these out of prints come back for a limited time.

There's also a section for kids and audio/video. Check it out !

NEW AND NOTABLE

2011 Margaret McWilliam Awards for Manitoba History went to the following books:

The Mosaic Village: An Illustrated History of Winnipeg’s North End by Russ Gourluck. His previous subjects have included the Winnipeg Tribune, Eaton's and Portage Avenue.

Winnipeg’s Great War: A City Comes of Age by Jim Blanchard. His previous works include Winnipeg 1912.

Winnipeg Love Hate by Bryan Scott is a new look at some of Winnipeg's old buildings and neighbourhoods. After Christmas, according to Scott, he book will no longer be available.

It's been a good year for Ukrainian-Canadian history. Earlier this year the Ukrainian Labour Temple became a National Historic Site. Also, two new books hit the shelves: Re-Imagining Ukrainian-Canadians: History, Politics, and Identity by U of T Press and Community and Frontier:A Ukrainian Settlement in the Canadian Parkland by U of M Press.

It's not a new book but the issue of Winnipeg's old airport has generated a lot more interest and discussion about Winnipeg's mid-century architecture. Winnipeg Modern showcases many of these gems. (At Amazon)

Next year is the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Selkirk Settlers so you'll be hearing a lot about it. Check out the recently published Lord Selkirk A Life. (On Amazon)

You're not going to go wrong with Jets stuff. How about Back in the Bigs: How Winnipeg Won, Lost & Regained Its Place in the NHL or go further back with Forgotten Heroes: Winnipeg's Hockey Heroes.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Manitoba History magazine provides the latest research, publication and heritage related news from across the province. (It's also comes free with a Manitoba Historical Society Membership)

No more snickering because The Beaver is now called Canada's History Magazine. The society also produces a magazine aimed at kids, Kayak : Canadian History for Kids. (Both national in scope but produced right here in Winnipeg !)

AUDIO / VIDEO

- Winnipeg Film Group's DVD site has everything from full-length features like last year's Black Field or East of Euclid set in the 1970's North End and Paula Kelly's Souvenirs, a collection of historic shorts.

- Strike ! The Musical companion book and CD. Filming of the movie begins this summer !

- My Winnipeg book and DVD set. It's half fiction and half history but a neat look at our Winnipeg !

- Both the HMCS Chippawa Naval Reserve Band and the Winnipeg Police Pipe and Drum Band have CD's of period tunes.othe the

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT !

If the above didn't turn your crank, what about these one-of-a-kind gifts:

Winnipeg Streetcar 356 t-shirts from Heritage Winnipeg.

Last year I stopped by artist Rosemary Miguez's studio. Aside from some great art, she also sells art cards featuring heritage buildings ! When I bought them they were 3 for $10.

A huge 1884 map of Winnipeg from Heritage Winnipeg.

The Pierre Burton Limited Edition bow-tie from Canada's History Store.

It's Winnipeg in winter. It's gonna be cold. Who wouldn't want an HBC blanket ?! (You can put your dog in a matching sweater.)

Many museums have their own shops where you're sure to find something unique. Here are links to just a few shops: St. Boniface Museum - Manitoba Museum - Dalnavert - Royal Canadian Mounted Police History Shop

MEMBERSHIPS

I fall else fails, most heritage groups run on a shoestring budgets and are always seeking new members. Why not buy someone a membership or make a donation on their behalf ? Some deserving groups:

Heritage Winnipeg - Manitoba Historical Society - Daly House Museum (Brandon) - St. Vital Historical Society - Western Canada Aviation Museum (which comes with a subscription to Altitude magazine) - The Manitoba Museum - Winnipeg Railway Museum

Or ... check out a museum near you !

December 8: Riel rises; In Flanders' Fields published.

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Original Punch printing plate for I
n Flanders' Fields at Shilo, MB

December 8, 1915 - John McCrae's “In Flanders’ Fields” is first published in the Britain's Punch Magazine. There are 3 connections between Manitoba and Lt. Col. McCrae:

1. James F. Kilgour, a young Guelph ON lawyer, moved to Brandon in 1901 to be part of Clifford Sifton’s law firm. In 1905 he returned home briefly to marry Mary Christie Geills McCrae, the sister of John McCrae. She moved to Brandon and raised four children. In 1927 Kilgour was appointed to the bench and the family moved to Winnipeg for the remainder of their years. McCrae did visit his sister while she lived in Manitoba.

2. In 1910, G.G. Lord Grey made a canoe trip from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson's Bay and John McCrae was the expedition doctor.

3. The original Punch printing plate for In Flanders Fields is located in the Royal Canadian Artillery Museum in Shilo, Manitoba.

December 8, 1884 - Winnipeg’s first 'ballot system' municipal election is held.

Riel and his provisional cabinet

December 8, 1869 - The Red River Rebellion begins as Riel issues his Declaration of the People of Rupert's Land and the North-West. It states that the HBC, by transferring it’s lands to the Dominion of Canada without the consent of the people living here, was improper and that a provisional government must be set up to govern the lands.

December 7: Our first Grey Cup; Hotel Fort Garry burns; Hearne searches for the Passage.

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December 7, 1935 - The 'Winnipegs' defeat the Hamilton Tigers 18-12 to become the first Western Canadian team to win the championship! It was Grey Cup number 23.

The late, great Fritz Hanson scored a 78 yard touchdown seal the game. He led the Blue to two more Cups.

December 7, 1878 - The first train from St. Paul, Minnesota arrives in Winnipeg.

Source: Winnipeg Tribune Archives

December 7, 1971 – Fire breaks out on the 7th floor of the Hotel Fort Garry. All 95 guests get out safely. Fire and water damage to the top three floors was heavy but the first three floors of the hotel remained open while renovations took place.

December 7, 1954 - The St. Ambroise Dakota Entrenchment, R.M. of Portage la Prairie near St. Ambroise, is designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

December 7, 1770 - Arctic explorer and Hudson Bay factor Samuel Hearne leaves Prince of Wales Fort in Churchill to start his third and most famous attempt to find a western passage across the tundra. He would reach the Arctic Ocean in July of the following year.

December 6: "WW I Soldier" unveiled at Portage and Main; Halifax Explosion..

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December 6, 1917 - At 9:04 a.m. a loaded French munitions ship, the Mont Blanc, explodes in Halifax Harbour. It kills 1,600, injures 9,000 and destroys 12,000 buildings in a 325 acre zone.

For more: CBC Archives and a Halifax Explosion website.

December 6, 1923 - At 4 p.m. the Bank of Montreal unveil their World War I soldier at Portage and Main is unveiled. The unnamed memorial by American artist James Earl Fraser was commissioned by the bank to commemorate those employees who died in WWI. For more about the sculpture.

NEW: Library and Archives Canada Blog !

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Last week the Library and Archives Canada Blog went online !

From the blog:

"The Library and Archives Canada Blog provides useful tips and recommends tools to help you discover your documentary heritage and navigate the LAC website.

This four-month pilot project is just one of a number of modernization initiatives that focuses on providing you with quick and easy access to the LAC collection. The blog also connects you with LAC and other people who share an interest in Canadian history."

December 5: Botched diamond theft; Winnipeg's first Grey Cup appearance.

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December 6, 1925, MB Free Press:

December 5, 1925 - In Winnipeg's first appearance at the big game, the Ottawa Senators beat the Tammany Tigers 24 – 1 on home turf to win the 13th Grey Cup.

Winnipeg's Tammany Tigers Athletic Association, (which also fielded baseball and hockey teams), were western rugby champions but no match for their eastern counterparts. This was nothing new. The cumulative score of the 1922 - 1925 Grey Cup games was east 114, west 2.

December 5, 1995 - The Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg begins striking the 'Toonie'.

ca. 1912 (source)

December 5, 1908 - A botched robbery at Porte & Merkle Jewelers on Portage Avenue leads to the capture of a " ..the most notorious and dangerous diamond robbers on the continent." For a longer account of the Porte & Merkle robbery.

December 5, 1927 - The first Neepawa Company of Girl Guides is registered.

December 4: Deanna Durbin and Donnelly Rhodes

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December 4, 1947 - The village of Crystal City is incorporated.

December 4, 1937 - Actor Donnelly Rhodes is born in Winnipeg. He is most recognized for his roles as 'Dutch' in the 70’s U.S. comedy Soap (1978-81), the CBC / Disney Channel family drama Danger Bay (1984-89) and CBC’s DaVinci’s Inquest (1998-2005).

December 4, 1952 - The Canadian Lutheran Council is organized in Winnipeg.

December 4, 1921 - “Winnipeg’s Sweetheart”Actress Edna Mae 'Deanna' Durbin, is born in Winnipeg. The Durbin family moved to Los Angeles when Durban was an infant but thanks to extended family they returned often for visits. Winnipeg followed her every move as if she never left.

At 13 years of age Deanna was signed by Universal Studios and her string of hit movies made her the highest paid star in Hollywood. In 1948, 27 year old Durbin was at the height of her career with 21 pictures and dozens of recordings to her credit when she suddenly “quit” Hollywood, opting to raise her family in rural France.

For more on Deanna Durbin see today's West End Dumplings !

December 3: "Bloody Jack's" last robbery; Tec-Voc opens.

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December 3, 1920 - The first Winnipeg Civic Election using proportional representation is held.

December 3, 1913 - John Larry “Bloody Jack” Krafchenko entered the Bank of Montreal in Plum Coulee, MB over the noon hour. He robs the bank at gunpoint of $4,200 cash and while fleeing shoots bank manager Henry Medly Arnold dead.

Krafchenko, wanted in a number of countries for various crimes, set off the “...most dramatic episode in the history of crime in Manitoba”. He was caught in Winnipeg in January 1914 but escaped custody thanks to the help of a crooked cop. He was caught a few days later, tried and sentenced to hang.

For a great account of one of Manitoba’s most infamous criminals.

December 3, 1951 - Lieutenant-Governor R.F. McWilliams cuts the ribbon in front of 2,000 onlookers at the official opening of Tech-Voc High School. At $2.3m it is the most expensive school built in Manitoba.

December 2: Fog Bowl ends; Actor Donald Woods.

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December 2, 1977 - Edward Bruce Pitblado dies.

Born February 23, 1896 in Winnipeg, Pitblado was a Rohodes Scholar who attended law school at both the U of M and Oxford. While in England he played for the 1924 Winter Olympics British ice hockey team, winning a bronze medal.

December 2, 1962 - Day two of 50th Grey Cup. In the remaining 9:31 no additional points were scored and the Bombers win the “Fog Bowl” 28 to 27.

December 2, 1961 - The 49th Grey Cup game is the first, and only, to require overtime. The Bombers' Ken Ploen scored a touchdown in the 73rd minute to defeat Hamilton 21-14.

December 2, 1904 - Actor Donald Woods is born in Brandon as Ralph Zink. While still a child his family moved to California.

After graduating from UCLA in 1945 he changed his name and went into acting. Between the 30s to 70s he is credited with 75 film roles including The Frisco Kid, The Return of Tin Tin Tin, and True Grit as well as a long string of B movies. He also appeared in 150 TV shows and in 98 stage productions.

Woods died 5 March 1998 in Palm Springs, California.

December 2, 1903 - The Suburban Rapid Transit Co. officially opens its Portage Avenue line from St. James St. to St. Charles. (For more on Winnipeg's regional transit history.)

December 1: CKX is on the air; 'Fog Bowl' begins; Farewell A-Channel.

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December 1, 1928 – Brandon’s CKX AM goes on the air. It was owned and operated by the Manitoba Telephone System, a sister station to CKY AM in Winnipeg.

December 1, 2004 - Craig Media sells its A-Channel stations to CHUM.

December 01, 1988 - The first World AIDS Day is held to raise awareness of the epidemic.

December 1 - 2 , 1962 - The 50th Grey Cup was a two-day affair thanks to a zero visibility fog that enveloped Toronto's Exhibition Stadium.

The Bombers were leading Hamilton 28 to 27, thanks to Leo Lewis who ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third, when the game was suspended due to fog with 9:31 left in the fourth quarter. The game, the first to be live-broadcast to a U.S. audience, resumed the next day but no points were scored.

Winnipeg won the Grey Cup.

November 30: Happy Birthday Free Press !

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November 30, 1872 – Volume 1 Number 1, of the Manitoba Free Press rolls off the presses from a small building near present day James and Main Streets. The annual subscription rate was $2.50. The nmae was changed to the Winnipeg Free Press in 1931.

November 30, 1952 – The Winnipeg Electric Company Co. divvies up its natural gas and transit operations into new companies: Greater Winnipeg Gas and Greater Winnipeg Transit Company.

November 30, 1960 - Francis Roy Brown dies.

Brown, a champion cyclist from Stockton MB, enlisted in the WWI cycling corps of the army at the age of 17. He would soon transfer to the Air Force and begin a life-long distinguished career as a bush pilot and test pilot.

In 37 years Brown amassed 15,000 flying hours and in a four year period around WWII he tested 2,575 planes before use by pilots-in-training around the province. He is a member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.

November 29: Wally Monson; Bombers win Grey Cup.

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November 29, 1908 - Walter George "Wally" Monson is born in Winnipeg. He was a member of ‘The Winnipegs’ gold medal hockey team at the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. Monson died in January 1988.

November 29, 1989 - Officer Keith M. Bartley, a 12 year veteran with the Manitoba Department of Natural Resources is killed in a car collision while on a night-time hunting patrol.

Coach Threllfall

November 29, 1941 - Reg Threlfall's Blue Bombers beat the Ottawa Rough Riders to win the 29th Grey Cup. At the final whistle 700 Manitoba troops in the stands stormed Varsity Stadium's field and stole both goal posts. They surfaced the following day outside the Bombers' hotel.

The team is in the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

November 28: Mayor Cornish; Firefigher down.

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November 28, 1955 - Winnipeg Fire Department battalion chief Robert Beatson collapses at the scene of a fire at the Union Building on Main Street at James Avenue. He died on arrival at hospital, the cause was determined to be a heart attack.

The Scottish-born Beatson, 63, joined the force on April 1, 1914. He left behind a wife and three children and was buried in St. James cemetery.

Winnipeg Daily Sun, 1884

November 28, 1878 - Winnipeg's first mayor, Francis Evans Cornish, dies.

By all accounts Cornish was quite a character with a reputation as a scrapper and a rowdy man. Prior to moving to Winnipeg he was mayor of London, ON where he was accused of election fraud, assault and public drunkenness during his tenure there.

Cornish is buried in Brookside Cemetery. Here is a great MHS article, and his Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry.

November 27: Hecla quarantined; Sifton's immigration campaign.

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November 27, 1876 - the entire Icelandic community of Hecla Island is quarantined after an outbreak of smallpox kills 30 of 145 members. The quarantine lasted nine months.

November 27, 1896 - The largest immigration campaign in Canada's history is launched by Brandon M.P. and Federal Minister of the Interior Clifford Sifton. By the time he left his post in 1905, 140,000 newcomers arrived in the West.

November 26: Brandon's Dr. Fleming.

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November 26, 1984 - Speed skater Shannon Rempel is born in Winnipeg. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

November 26, 1897 - Dr. Alexander Fleming, Brandon’s first doctor, first chairman of the school board and former Mayor, dies at age 56.

November 26, 1907 - Brandon gets door to door mail delivery.

November 25: St. B College fire kills ten; Bombers in the Mud Bowl.

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November 27, 1922, Manitoba Free Press

November 25, 1922 – A fire at St. Boniface College destroys the dormitory and library. Ten people are killed and eighteen injured. For the full story.

November 25, 1950 - The Argos record the sixth and last shutout in Grey Cup final history. Unfortunately, it was a 13-0 defeat of the Bombers in the so-called "mud bowl."

November 24: Neepawa Court House; a chilly Grey Cup; Grain Exchange is born.

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November 24, 1983 - The circa 1884 Beautiful Plains Court House in Neepawa, is designated a Provincial Heritage Site. It is also a National Historic Site. The building is still used as a courthouse and houses municipality offices.

November 24, 1991 - Winnipeg hosts the 79th Grey Cup. The Argonauts beat the Stampeders 36-21 in front of 51,985 chilly fans at CanadInns Stadium. The temperature at half time was -18 with a wind chill of -35.

November 24, 1887 - The first Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange is established in a room at city hall. The Exchange soon relocated to buildings on Princess Street and in 1908 it moved to their signature building on Lombard Street.

November 23: Neepawa; Guttormsson.

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November 23, 1883 - The town of Neepawa is incorporated. It began as a settlement on the Saskatchewan Trail linking te Red River Colony with what is now Saskatchewan and Alberta.

November 23, 1966 - Riverton's Guttormur Jónsson Guttormsson dies. Despite just an elementary school education he became a celebrated poet and playwright in the Icelandic language. His work is notable for their satire and wit.

November 22: Remembering Higgins, Steinkopf.

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November 22, 1894 - The Killarney Guide (weekly newspaper) begins publication.

November 22, 1884 – John Higgins dies. Arriving in the 1850s he was an early merchant of Red River and a member of the first Winnipeg City Council. Higgins Avenue is named for him.

November 22, 1953 - The Winnipeg Chapter of the British North America Philatelic Society is formed. If you like postal history, check out Brandon University's Jory Collection of Manitoba Postal History.

November 22, 1970 - Maitland B. Steinkopf dies in Winnipeg. A lawyer and politician, (including the first Jewish person to hold a provincial cabinet post), he is best remembered as the president of the Manitoba Centennial Corporation.

He was instrumental in the construction of the Concert Hall, Manitoba Museum, Planetarium, Manitoba Theatre Centre,and Brandon's Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium.

November 21: Eternal Youth; Howard Pawley; Faculty of Medicine.

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(source)

November 21, 1919 - Georges Gardet’s 5.25 metre tall, 1,650 kg Eternal Youth is placed atop the Legislative Building. The work is known to Manitobans as the Golden Boy.

November 21, 1990 – The Selkirk Post Office and Customs Building, Main Street, Selkirk is designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

November 21, 1982 – The centenary of the Brandon Police Force is celebrated, though it came into being on July 12. A parade and medal presentation is made at First Baptist Church on Lorne Avenue.

November 21, 1883 - Dr. R. J. Blanchard delivers the first lecture to the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Medicine.

November 21, 1934 - Howard Pawley, former Premier of Manitoba, is born in Brampton, Ont.

November 20: Hanging Bryson; remembering McPhillips.

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November 20, 1936 - Ian Murray Bryson is hanged at Headingley Jail for killing Winnipeg Police Constable Charles Gillis.

In January 1936 Bryson held up a gas station at Donald and St. Mary's demanding the proceeds from a thirty-cent sale. Gillis and his partner were nearby and responded to the robbery in progress. As Bryson fled he turned and shot Gillis.

The two still managed to arrest Bryson but Gillis died three weeks later in hospital. (also see Gillis)

Source of Gillis photo: Winnipeg Police Museum. Source of Bryson photo: Winnipeg Free Press, June 10, 1936.

November 20, 1969 - The Fort Rouge Transit Yard on Osborne Sreet opens.

November 20, 1913 – U of M’s first president Dr. James Alexander Maclean is installed at a Special Convocation ceremony.

November 20, 1913 - George McPhillips dies at his Kennedy Street home. A land surveyor, he was tasked with creating the first official map of the City of Winnipeg. McPhillips Street is named after him.

November 19: HBC sells up; 94th Grey Cup.

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November 19, 1869 – It's the end of an era as the Hudson's Bay Company signs a Deed of Surrender for their remaining stake in Rupert’s Land to the Dominion of Canada in exchange for £300,000. See HBC history timeline.

November 19, 2006 - Winnipeg hosts the 94th Grey Cup. The B.C. Lions beat the Montreal Alouettes 25 - 14 in front of 44,786 fans at a chilly CanadInns Stadium.

November 18: Bombers win the cup; the Bay Downtown opens.

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November 18, 1984 - The Bombers defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 47-17 to in the Grey Cup. The game was played in Commonwealth Field in Edmonton. Hamilton set a Grey Cup record for the fewest rushing yards in a final game: 24.

November 18, 1926 - The Bay's Portage and Memorial store opens for business at 9:00 am. The ceremony includes George Galt, HBC Board Member, using a golden key to unlock the Portage Avenue doors.

Featuring a dozen elevators, air conditioning and an internal power plant 50 feet below ground, the Bay's flagship store was a marvel of the times.

For more on The Bay Downtown.

November 17: Pooh comes home; Remembering Debby the polar bear.

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November 17, 2000 - A group of Winnipegers bid £124,250 (UK) at a Sotheby’s for the only known oil painting of Winnie the Pooh by E.H. Shepard. It’s currently on display in the Pavilion Gallery, Assiniboine Park.

November 17, 1840 - James Evans, a British teacher and missionary, invents a 9 character alphabet for Cree and Inuit languages while at Norway House. The alphabet is still used today.

November 17, 2008 - Debby the polar bear dies. A fixture at the Assiniboine Park Zoo since 1967 Debby was in the Guinness World Book of Records as the oldest living polar bear.

November 16: Riel hangs; Constable Uttley dies.

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November 16, 1920 - Constable James Uttley of the Manitoba Provincial Police dies of wounds suffered in a November 11 temperance raid on a hotel in Winnipeg. Another constable, Alexander McCurdy, died from his injuries days later.

November 16, 1885 - Louis Riel is hanged for treason at a North West Mounted Police compound in Regina. His body was sent to St. Boniface for burial. (Also see).

November 15: Farewell Commissionaires; Nelson McIntyre reopens.

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November 15, 1978 - The Fort Garry Bridge officially opens.

November 15, 2008 - The Canadian Corps of Commissionaires' contract with the city of Winnipeg to enforce and ticket parking infractions ends. They had been doing the job since 1955.

November 15, 1987 - A 'new' Nelson McIntyre Collegiate opens. The original building was hit by a $5m fire destroyed in a fire in 1986.

November 14: The Marlborough, Richardson Building open; CFAR is on the air !

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November 14, 1937 - CFAR radio, Flin Flon, signs on the air.

November 14, 1914 - The luxurious Olympia Hotel opens on Smith Street. The war and a recession saw the hotel soon go under. It reopened in 1923 as The Marlborough.

November 14, 1903 - John Andrew Davidson dies in Neepawa. He was a pioneer settler, businessman and politician first settling in Palestine (now Gladstone) Manitoba. (Also see).

November 14, 1969 - Muriel Sprague Richardson declares the Richardson Building officially open.

November 13: Helen Betty Osborne; Pat Riordan; Douglas Campbell.

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November 13, 1961 - Tracy Dahl, coloratura soprano, is born in Winnipeg.

November 13, 1965 - The Grand Rapids Generating Station on the Saskatchewan River officially opens.

November 13, 1971 - Helen Betty Osborne is abducted, raped and left to die outside The Pas. The nineteen year old student left her native Norway House two years earlier to attend college for her teaching certificate.

Four white men were implicated but it took 16 years to get a conviction against just one of them. A 'conspiracy of silence' within the white community was blamed for the failure in justice.

Her case, along with the shooting of J.J. Harper, led to the The Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in 1988.

In 2000 the RCMP officially closed the file. That same year the Helen Betty Osborne Memorial Foundation was established to support Aboriginal post-secondary students.

November 13, 2008 – Local entertainer and comedian Pat Riordan dies of cancer at the age of 69.

November 13, 1948 - Douglas Lloyd Campbell (1895-1995) is sworn in as Manitoba Premier. He is just the second Manitoba-born person to hold the post.

Nov 12, 1941 (Winnipeg Evening Tribune)

November 13, 1941 - The Shanghai Chop Suey House, operating since 1935, opens at their new location on King Street. The business and the building closed in January 2011.

November 12: CJAY signs on; St. Andrews burns; Airport opens.

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November 12, 1960 - At 5:30 p.m. CJAY-TV signs on as Winnipeg's first private television station. It is owned by Lloyd Moffat and Ralph Misener and a group of eight businessmen.

For CTV footage from the CJAY to CKY changeover. For the 50th anniversary page.

November 12, 1960 - KCND, the forerunner to Winnipeg’s CKND/Global, goes on the air in North Dakota. For more on KCND.

November 12, 1968 - St. Andrew's United Church on Elgin Ave. is destroyed by fire.

November 12, 1895 - The Assiniboine Steam Plant opens in what is now Bonnycastle Park at Fort and Assiniboine.

November 12, 1963 - The Winnipeg International Airport opens. The first plane to touch down was a TransCanada Airlines flight from Montreal at 9:45 a.m..

November 11: War ends; Remembrance Day; Harry Lehotsky.

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November 11, 1918 - The formal surrender ending WWI signed in Compiegne, France. People danced at Portage and Main. (See Winnipeg's WWI War Dead, Manitobia's WWI: The War at Home).

November 11, 1931 - This day is renamed Remembrance Day and declared a holiday in memory of Canadian veterans in all wars. For a CBC news coverage of Remembrance Day ceremonies in 1944.

November 11, 1972 – Actor Adam Beach is born in Winnipeg.

November 11, 2006 – Rev. Harry Lehotsky, community activist, dies in Winnipeg. (Also see The Urban Saint). Lehotsky was named a Member of the Order of Canada on February 20, 2007. His membership citation reads:

“Harry Lehotsky, C.M. (deceased) Winnipeg, Manitoba

More than 20 years ago, Harry Lehotsky moved his family to Winnipeg's West End and embarked on a journey to help revitalize this marginalized community. As founder and senior pastor of New Life Ministries, he put his faith into action. He founded Lazarus Housing, which renovates abandoned houses for resale to middle- and low-income families.

He also established the Ellice Street Café and Theatre to provide employment for local residents as well as to build civic pride and spirit. Renowned for his conviction, determination and courage, he remains an inspiration and a model for other activists who champion community development and healthy neighbourhoods.”

November 10: Bombers spanked; Time site filled; Bruce Chown.

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November 10, 1996 - The Edmonton Eskimos set a CFL record for the most points in a playoff game: 68. Unfortunately, it was against the Bombers in the West Semi-Final. Edmonton won 68 - 7.

November 10, 1887 - The Deloraine Times & Star begins publishing under the name Deloraine Weekly Times & Turtle Mountain and Souris River Gazette. (That must have made for quite the masthead !)

WFP Nov 8, 1958

ca. 2009

November 10, 1958 - The Bank of Commerce branch at Portage and Hargrave opens. It filled the void where the Time Building once stood.

November 10, 1893 - Bruce Chown is born in Winnipeg.

Chown received his M.D. from the U of M in 1922 and went on to dedicate his life to the health of children. He was long-time chair of the department of pediatrics at the University of Manitoba and the clinical head of the Children’s Hospital.

November 9: Free Press sneak peek; BTO tops charts; Cockburn dies.

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November 9, 1933 - Canadian National opens its rail line to Lynn Lake, Manitoba.

November 9, 1974 - Bachman Turner Overdrive’s "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" tops Billboard's singles charts.

November 9, 1924 - John Wesley Cockburn dies. An engineer from Ontario, he came to Winnipeg after working on the Welland Canal project. Eventually, he opened a general store and was elected to city council three times. Cockburn Street is named after him.

November 9, 1872 - The Manitoba Free Press releases a free preview edition of their paper. Volume 1 Number 1 would hit the streets on November 20th.

November 8: Winnipeg's Birthday; Cummings goes solo.

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November 8, 1873 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY WINNIPEG ! The City of Winnipeg, encompassing an area of three square miles and 1869 people, is incorporated.This was the second attempt at incorporation, the first attempt was so heated that Dr. Bird, the speaker of the Manitoba Legislature, was seized and tarred in protest.

November 8 1976 - Burton Cummings plays his first show as a solo artist at the Centennial Concert Hall in support of his self titled album.

November 8, 1990 - The official opening of the Pembina overpass at Bishop Grandin and the extension of Bishop Grandin to Waverley takes place.

November 8, 1906 - The Toronto Globe expresses concerns over Winnipeg's stench from "...poisonous vapours that pour from thousands of manholes and defile the otherwise exhilarating air of the western capital."

November 8, 2005 - Winnipeg's Centennial Library reopens as the Millennium Library after a two-year, $18m renovation. For the grand opening ceremony.

November 7: Barely winning in Selkirk; Winnipeg Cenotaph unveiled.

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November 7 /8, 1986 – Winnipeg suffers through an 11 hour blizzard. The temperatures were mild but 35.2 cm of snow fell with winds gusting between 70 and 90 kph.

November 7, 1935 - The Bombers defeat the Hamilton Tigers 18-12 for the 23rd Grey Cup.

November 7, 1969 - Olympic cyclist Tanya Dubnicoff is born in Winnipeg.

November 7, 1998 - The 1969 and 1970 U of M Bison Football teams are inducted onto the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame for their back-to-back Vanier Cup wins.

November 7, 1928 – Winnipeg's cenotaph is unveiled. The design selection process was heated as the winning entry of both the first and second contests were disqualified. The runner-up of the second contest was chosen as the winner.

November 7, 1900 - William F. McCreary, a former alderman and Mayor of Winnipeg, wins the federal riding of Selkirk by just one vote. This is the sixth time in history that a riding was decided by this small a margin but, remarkably, it is the second election in a row that one vote decided the outcome of the Selkirk riding !

November 6: Ray Torgrud; Alan McLeod and Passchendaele.

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November 6, 1917 - Canadian troops capture Belgium’s Passchendaele Ridge after a three month battle. In all, 15,654 Canadians were killed or wounded. For a CBC radio doc.

November 6, 1918 - Stonewall's Alan Arnott McLeod dies of pneumonia.

McLeod joined the air force at the age of 18 and after less than a year in Europe his plane was attacked by German fighters. He was shot five times, his aviator unconscious and the plane was going down. Rather than bail out, he chose to crash land the plane from outside the cockpit.

The two men survived and McLeod earned the Victoria Cross. While recovering form his wounds back in Stonewall he contracted Spanish Influenza and died just 5 days before Armistice Day. He was 19 years old.

For more, see today's West End Dumplings.

November 6, 2010 - Manitoba television personality Ray Torgrud dies.

He was an original 1960 staff member of CJAY (CKY) television and best known as the host of Today's World. He retired in 1992.

November 5: Alexander Logan.

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November 5, 1841 - Alexander Logan, businessman and four time mayor of Winnipeg, is born at Fort Douglas.

When it was announced in 1879 that the CPR's trans-continental rail line would go through Selkirk, Manitoba rather than Winnipeg, he spearheaded the campaign to have the decision changed. The incentives included the construction of a rail bridge across the Red (the original Louise Bridge), $200k cash and an agreement to exclude the rail company from cvic taxes on its property in perpetuity.

November 4: Brandon's Asylum burns; Dr. McInnis; Dickens becomes a Mountie.

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November 4, 1874 - Francis Jeffrey Dickens, the son of novelist Charles Dickens, joins the North-West Mounted Police. He would serve until March 1, 1886.

November 4, 1995 - The Bombers’ Reggie Slack sets a CFL record with 51 pass attempts in a playoff game. The Blue Bombers lose 36-21 to the Baltimore Stallions.

November 4, 1910 - The Brandon Asylum for the Insane is gutted by fire.

The entire fire department as well as hospital staff, militia and neighbours assist in battling the flames and rescuing patients. Remarkably, over 700 patients and staff were saved. The one fatality was a patient who wandered away in the confusion and died of exposure.

November 4, 1907 - Brandon dentist Dr. Stanley McInnis dies in Brandon General Hospital.

McInnis settled in Brandon in 1889 and had an impressive resume of public service:

- President of both the Manitoba and Canadian Dental Associations.
- Elected as MLA for Brandon three times, serving as Manitoba's Minister of Education in 1907.

- Organized the Brandon Fire Insurance Company.
- President of the Brandon Horticulture Society, Brandon Athletic Club and Brandon Turf Club.

He was a philanthropist and friend of the arts, responsible for many fundraising events.

What is most remarkable is that he did all this after less than twenty years in Brandon. He died at the age of 42 after complications from appendix surgery.

Brandon's Stanley Park on Princess Avenue is named for him. More on McInnis.

November 3: Emerson is incorporated; Barker is born; new life for The Walker.

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November 3, 1879 – The Town of Emerson is incorporated.

November 3, 1983 - Manitoba Natural Resources Officer Robert C. Logan is killed in an on-duty automobile accident.

November 3, 1910 - The Rotary Club of Winnipeg is organized. It is the first chapter outside of the U.S.A..

November 3, 1894 - William George "Billy" Barker is born in Dauphin. He would soon become the country's most decorated WWI flying ace and earn the Victoria Cross. (Also read about the new memorial erected in Toronto).

November 3, 1945 - The Walker Theatre reopens as 'The Odeon' cinema with the James Cagney film Blood on the Sun.

November 2: MTC's new home; Dylan comes a callin'.

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November 2, 2008 – Bob Dylan, in Winnipeg to play a concert, visits the Grosvenor Avenue home where Neil Young spent his teen-aged years. Also see CBC story, Free Press.

November 2, 1921 - Hockey great Billy Mosienko is born in Winnipeg and grows up in the Lord Selkirk area.

November 2, 1970 - The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre building is officially opened. Their previous location, the Dominion Theatre at Portage and Main, was torn down to make way for the Richardson building. In 2009 the Market Avenue theatre was named a National Historic Site.

November 1: Reform's convention; Lathlin dies; CFRW is born !

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November 1, 1963 - Radio station CFRW goes on the air. It was originally called CJQM.

November 1, 1991 - The Chief Peguis Trail is officially named.

November 1, 1926 - The Bay's flagship store on Portage at Memorial opens to the public. The official opening would take place later that month.

November 1, 2008 – The MLA for The Pas and Minister of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Oscar Lathlin dies near The Pas.

November 1, 1987 - E. Preston Manning is elected the first leader of the Reform Party of Canada at their Winnipeg convention.

October 31: Farewell Wolseley Elm; R.B. Russell School opens.

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October 31, 1979 - The Winnipeg Jets win their first NHL road game against the Quebec Nordiques.

October 31, 1982 - An 18 year old Dean Gunnarson is straight-jacketed and suspended by his ankles 300 feet above the Free Press building parking lot to recreate an escaped that Harry Houdini performed at the same spot in 1923. Gunnarson beat Houdini’s time by twenty seconds.

October 31, 1829 - Andrew G. B. Bannatyne (1829-1889) is born in the Orkney Islands.

October 31, 1958 - At at around 4 a.m. Wolseley residents awake to the sound of explosions. Someone had blown up the Wolseley Elm.

Residents fought for decades to save the century-old tree located in the intersection of Wolseley Ave and Greenwood Place. The tree would not recover from the wounds and in 1960 was removed. The vandal was never caught.

Wolseley Elm Photo Gallery (Wpg Trib Archives)

Remembering the Wolseley Elm - West End Dumplings

October 31, 1967 - R.B. Russell Vocational School opens. It is named after a local labour leader who was jailed during the Winnipeg General Strike.

October 30: Stuart Craig; a failed escape; Winnipeg's last flogging.

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October 30,1999 -Manitoba media pioneer Stuart Craig dies. His first venture was the purchase of Brandon’s CKX radio in 1948 which he grew into the A-Channel television network of the early 2000s.

October 30, 1983 – Recreating an escape once performed by Harry Houdini, Winnipeg's Dean Gunnarson is bound in a coffin and lowered into the Red River.

An error with the crane movement filled the coffin with water and Gunnarson was pulled from the river four minutes later unconscious and still bound. He survived the escape attempt.

October 30, 1970 – The final trolley bus runs in Winnipeg. The Manitoba Transit Heritage Association has that last trolley, a 1950 Can-Car/Brill model T-48A (Metro Transit # 1752).

October 31, 1884, Winnipeg Daily Sun

October 30, 1884 - Two thousand people take to the streets of Winnipeg in a mass protests against the flogging of a prisoner.

A man named McCormick escaped from prison and was recaptured later that week. For his troubles, Manitoba Attorney General Miller sentenced him to 24 lashes, 12 at the beginning of his sentence and 12 at the end.

Many, including military, political and medical leaders reacted with disgust. The use of flogging as punishment was seen as outdated, barbaric and an embarrassment for the province's reputation. "The Winnipeg Flogging" even ended up in the New York Times.

The NWMP and troops from the 90th Battalion were called in for crowd control but, aside from the burning of a couple of effigies of the AG, there was no violence.

October 30, 1966 - Ken Leishman, the Flying Bandit, again escapes custody. This time from the Vaughan Street Jail.

October 29: The Bay's Paddlewheel; a Premier dies; our first pipe organ !

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October 29, 1954 - The Paddle Wheel Buffet (now Paddlewheel Restaurant) opens in the Bay Downtown. It was part of a two year pillar-to-post renovation of the store that included the construction of a parkade, which also opened that day. For a history of the restaurant and of the Bay Parkade.

October 29, 1990 - Knox United Church, 400 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg, is designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

October 29, 1990 - Frelsis (Liberty) Lutheran Church at Grund, R.M. of Argyle, near Baldur, is designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

October 29, 1990 - St. Andrew's-on-the-Red Anglican Church, 3 St. Andrews Road, R.M. of St. Andrews, near Lockport is designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

October 29, 1887 - The first pipe organ installed in Manitoba is unveiled at the Birtle Presbyterian Church.

October 29, 1900 - Sir Rodmond Roblin becomes Premier of Manitoba.

October 29, 1936 - Tobias Crawford Norris dies in Toronto. Norris sat in the Legislature from 1896 - 1932 and was premier from 1915 - 1922.