October 18: Arena opens; Women are persons; CFRY on the air; Chief Buchanan; Safeway arrives.

October 18, 1955 - The Winnipeg Arena opens with a game between the Winnipeg Warriors and Calgary Stampeders. The crowd of 9,671 breaks the attendance record for a WHL game. On March 26, 2006 it was imploded and the site is now home to an office mall.

October 18, 1989 – The official opening of the Keewatin Underpass takes place.

October 18, 1929 – Women are legally recognized as persons under the British North America Act. The five women who launched the “Persons Case”, also known as The Famous Five, are: Justice Emily Murphy; Henrietta Muir Edwards; Louise McKinney; Hon. Irene Parlby and Manitoba’s own Nellie McClung.

McClung was a teacher from Manitou, Manitoba who began to write and lecture and was soon a leader of Manitoba's suffragette movement. McLung's autobiographical The Stream Runs Fast can be read here.  Also see the Historica Heritage Minute.

October 18, 1956 – CFRY radio in Portage La Prairie begins broadcasting.

October 18, 1895 - John E. Buchanan is appointed chief of the Winnipeg Fire Department. He would serve in that position until 1928.

October 18, 1892 - The Trappist Monastery at St. Norbert formally opens. The site was added to over the years. In 1975 the Trappist left the site due to encroaching urbanization for one near Holland, Manitoba.

October 18, 1929 - Canada's first Safeway stores open in Winnipeg. For more on Safeway in Winnipeg.