Black History Month February is Black History month when numerous events are held across Canada to honour and celebrate the contributions made by black people to this country. This year the theme is “Thirty Years of Black History: Honouring Black Brilliance Across Generations – From Nation Builders to Tomorrow’s Visionaries.” In 1926, historian Carter G. […]
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The Charismatic Hannah Maynard One of the most fascinating women in the history of British Columbia’s capital city was the matriarch of the Maynard family, Hannah Maynard. The Maynard family purchased a Cadboro Bay beach cabin from the Todd family in the 1880’s, where they were well known. Hannah, the matriarch of the family, an
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The Historical Importance of January! Even though January is usually a somewhat gloomy month, history shows us that it has been packed with some pivotal moments throughout time. Here are just a few. Queen Elizabeth 1 of England was crowned in January of 1859 and the first African American man, Barack Obama, became President of
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Christmas Day! I have frequently written about the significance of a special date in history and readers seem to enjoy hearing about the events that took place on a specific date. As we approach the Holiest of days, I thought it would be interesting to report some of the facts I have uncovered concerning Christmas
A Little History About November 14th Welcome to November, the month of dreary rain, gunpowder plots, beheadings, doom, and gloom! Or so it would seem, according to history. However, I also recently discovered that one date in November—the 14th—also has an accumulation of interesting births, deaths and events connected to it and many of these
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The Tragic Story of a Girl Called Blanche Her name is largely unknown today, but during her short sixteen years on earth, she experienced more trauma and sadness than is impossible to imagine. Eliza Blanche Baker (always known as Blanche) was born in 1860 in Surrey, England, but eventually came to Canada with her father,
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The Strange Thing That Happened One September While investigating the things that have happened throughout time in September, I discovered an alarming thing! In 1752, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the American colonies all officially implemented the Gregorian Calendar which had first been developed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. It would replace and correct
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The Fourth of July When we think of July 4th, we usually connect it with one thing— the Declaration of Independence in 1776 when the United States gained independence from Britain. With a little bit of digging and research, I managed to unearth a considerable number of other auspicious events that also took place on
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The Story of Four Sisters of St. Ann’s On Saturday, June 5th, 1858, the SS Seabird arrived in Victoria harbor with a very special cargo aboard. Among the passengers were four Sisters of St. Ann who had travelled to Fort Victoria from Montreal at the request of Bishop Modeste Demers. The bishop, the first Catholic
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William Shakespeare – A Man of Many Talents On this day (April 23rd) in 1564, William Shakespeare was born. Fifty-two years later in 1616 he apparently died on the same date. The Bard He was the most renowned playwright of all time who incredibly is still studied in schools and universities over 460 years later.
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