On February 19 and beyond, take a moment to remember British-born Celia Franca (1921-2007) (aka Celia Franks), who almost single-handedly launched the National Ballet of Canada in 1951 by sheer determination and served as its artistic director for 24 years. Previously, Celia Franca studied dance at the Guildhall School of […]
On February 16 and beyond, take a moment to remember the beginnings of what would become Yonge Street on February 16, 1796, when Upper Canada’s Deputy Surveyor General Augustus Jones and his work party of Queen’s Rangers, under the direction of John Graves Simcoe, completed the cutting out of a trail from present-day Eglinton Avenue […]
(Credit: Bob Marley live in concert in Dalymount Park on July 6th, 1980; Photographer: Eddie Mallin) On February 6 and beyond, take a moment to remember the life and music of singer-songwriter Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley (or Nesta Robert Marley – apparen’tly, Marley later inverted his first and middle names) (Born: February 6, 1945 […]
On November 17, many people celebrated International Students Day. Students from all over the world stand united in arguing for freedom of movement, freedom to study, and freedom to live in dignity. The Global Call to Action in 2015 urges governments all around the world to “guarantee the right to study to everyone regardless of their […]
Mikhail Tal in play against Bobby Fischer at the 1960 Chess Olympics in Leipzig, East Germany. (Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mikhail_Tal_Leipzig_1960.jpg ) Even if you have never played a game of chess, you might have heard of Robert James “Bobby” Fischer and Boris Spassky, especially when they faced off for the 1972 World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, […]
On October 20 and beyond, take a moment to remember the contribution to Canadian women’s suffrage of feminist and social activist Nellie Letitia (Mooney) McClung (Born: October 20, 1873 in Chatsworth, Ontario; Died: September 1, 1951 in Victoria, British Columbia). While living in Winnipeg, Manitoba with pharmacist husband Wesley and their family, Nellie McClung […]
On October 15 and beyond, take a moment to remember the contributions of former Canadian ambassador to Iran Kenneth Douglas “Ken” Taylor (Born: May 10, 1934 in Calgary, Alberta; Died: October 15, 2015 in New York City, New York) who died of Stage 4 colorectal cancer. Ken Taylor is best remembered amongst Canadians […]
On October 15 and beyond, take a moment to remember the contributions of Canadian-American economist John Kenneth Galbraith (Born: October 15, 1908 at Iona Station, Ontario, Canada; Died: April 29, 2006 at Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States). Galbraith was a long-time professor of economics at Harvard University and wrote popular and readable books such as […]
On October 14 and beyond, take a moment to remember Winnie-the-Pooh (or Pooh Bear). Many of us remember growing up with the books written by A.A. Milne and illustrated by E.H. Shepard. The journey of Winnie-the-Pooh’s adventures (with his animal friends Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga and her son Roo and with the boy Christopher […]
Readers of Nordic noir (or Scandinavian noir) crime fiction should remember the contributions of Swedish author Henning Mankell (Born: February 3, 1948 at Stockholm, Sweden). Known as the creator of detective Kurt Wallander, Mankell died from cancer on October 5, 2015 at Göteborg, Sweden. Mankell wrote 40 novels, 11 of which featured the character detective […]
