On December 16, 1921, Toronto’s Globe newspaper carried a small article entitled “New Library Opened at Main and Gerrard”: “East Toronto’s new Public Library, at Main and Gerrard streets, was opened last night for the adult population, but the children will have their initial function on Saturday. The building is of brick and raftered stucco, […]
The City of Toronto’s history of traffic management has had some interesting milestones, beginning with the institution of Toronto’s first automated traffic lights at Bloor Street and Yonge Street, the heart of the downtown city core, on August 8, 1925. Page one of the August 8, 1925 issue of the Toronto Daily Star offered readers […]
On April 18 and beyond, those interested in Toronto history are invited to take a moment to remember journalist and philanthropist John Ross Robertson (Born: December 28, 1841 in Toronto; Died: May 31, 1918 in Toronto) who founded the Toronto Telegram newspaper on April 18, 1876. The Telegram ceased publication on October 30, 1971 but […]
The Ontario Legislative Building that adorns Queen’s Park in downtown Toronto at the present time was officially opened on April 4, 1893 (after six years of construction from 1886 to 1892) in an incomplete state by the then-Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, George Airey Kirkpatrick. The building was designed by British-American architect Richard A. Waite in […]
Toronto’s first subway underneath Yonge Street officially opened on March 30, 1954. How did the print media capture the moment of that auspicious beginning? Wilfred List, writer of “$50,000,000 Bundle of Joy: TTC Nervous as Expectant Father” in the March 30, 1954 issue of the Globe and Mail on pages 1-2, offered the reader a […]
On March 6 and beyond, take a look back to the celebrations surrounding the centenary of the pre-amalgamated City of Toronto on March 6, 1934. How did the newspapers of the day report upon the City’s centenary during the Great Depression? Let us examine some article excerpts from both the Globe and the Toronto Daily […]
The emotions of Canadians and Torontonians who follow the game of basketball are often intertwined with the fortunes with the only Canadian-based team in the National Basketball Association (NBA), namely the Toronto Raptors. However, Canadian ties to this popular game go right back to the game’s infancy and its invention by Canadian-born James A. Naismith […]
Some Canadians and Torontonians are familiar with the Battle of Ortona that took place in southern Italy in late 1943. Brendan Kennedy, writing in the Toronto Star on December 17, 2018, provided a crucial link between Toronto and that battle by interviewing three Canadian veterans (who had a connection to Ortona) on December 16, 2018 […]
The fighting in the First World War came to an end on November 11, 1918. So what would Torontonians have read in the newspapers on November 11, 1918? Why not take a look at some of the content in the Toronto Daily Star and of the Globe (one of the predecessor newspapers to the current […]
On November 8 and beyond, take a moment to remember one of Canada’s preeminent economic historians, Harold Adams Innis (Born: November 21, 1894 at Otterville, Ontario [according to his military attestation papers]; Died: November 8, 1952 at Toronto, Ontario). In the November 8, 1952 issue of the Toronto Daily Star newspaper, an article entitled “DR. […]