History Wire

What's past is prologue.

History Buzz

Events

  • 100th Anniversary of the Pacific National Exhibition



    August 21, 2010

    Over the past decade, the PNE has evolved from its role as an industry showcase into a centre for entertainment and family fun. This year's PNE opens with a concert featuring The Beach Boys and Bryan Adams.

    Link to site >

  • Canadian National Exhibition Opens



    August 20, 2010

    The CNE, the largest and one of the longest running annual events in Canada, features stunts, exhibits, garden and horseshows, parades, fairgrounds, and much, much more.

    Link to site >

  • Gordon Lightfoot to Tour Canada Next Year



    May 19, 2011

    Iconic folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has announced two weeks of shows in Ontario next year with stops in Windsor, Cornwall, Brockville, Napanee in May, and four nights at Toronto's Massey Hall. A more extensive national tour is in the works.

    Link to site >

  • Arcade Fire's Last Canadian Stop



    August 14, 2010

    In support of their new album, The Suburbs, Montreal's finest set sail on a string of concerts, hitting Toronto at Olympic Island before jetting off to the UK.

    Link to site >

  • Summer Music Festivals



    July 16, 2010

    Nothing says summer quite like sunshine and music. Click here for a listing of music festivals across Canada.

    Link to site >

  • Parks Day



    July 17, 2010

    First celebrated in 1990, Canada’s Parks Day is an opportunity for Canadians to participate in one of hundreds of unique and fun events taking place in our national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas from coast to coast to coast. And better yet – it’s free!

    Link to site >

  • March to Commemorate the Oka Crisis

    July 11, 2010

    Mohawks from the town of Kanehsatake will take part in a peaceful march this Sunday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Oka Crisis.

    Link to site >

  • Calgary Stampede Parade History

    July 9, 2010

    By 1912, Calgary had a track record of producing inspiring parades for its Exhibitions. Calgary’s population may have been only about 60,000 at the time, but more than 75,000 enthusiastic spectators lined the streets on a warm and sunny September 2 to watch the “Grandest Pageant of All History” – the parade that kicked off Guy Weadick’s first Stampede.

    Link to site >

  • Calgary Stampede



    July 9, 2010

    The world's largest annual rodeo hits Calgary for ten days, from July 9 - July 18.

    Link to site >

  • The Queen's Royal Visit



    June 28, 2010

    View the schedule for The Queen’s 22nd tour of Canada.

    Link to site >

  • Canada Day Parade



    July 1, 2010

    How are you celebrating Canada Day? Join the virtual parade and find out about events happening from coast to coast.

    Link to site >

  • Celebrate Canada Day in The Nation's Capital



    June 30, 2010

    Details of Canada Day Celebrations in Ottawa-Gatineau.

    Link to site >

  • Lilith Fair



    June 27, 2010

    The traveling, female-led musical festival kicks off in Calgary, hits Vancouver for Canada Day, and Montreal and Toronto on July 23 & 24, respectively.

    Link to site >

  • Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day



    June 24, 2010

    More than 6500 activities across Quebec in celebration of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day.

    Link to site >

  • National Aboriginal Day



    June 23, 2010

    Events across Canada celebrating Aboriginal Day 2010.

    Link to site >

  • The Canadian Navy Centennial



    May 2, 2010

    A comprehensive list of upcoming events across Canada in celebration of the Canadian Naval Centennial anniversary.

    Link to site >

  • Juno Week Events

    April 11, 2010

    A list of events for the 2010 Juno Awards.

    The 2010 celebrations in St. John’s will mark the 39th anniversary of the JUNO Awards and the 9th telecast with our broadcast partner CTV. The JUNO Awards has evolved from an industry awards event to a week long festival which travels city to city across the country. It encompasses both public-facing fan events and industry/networking opportunities featuring a diverse array of Canadian artists and emerging talent.

    Link to site >

  • La fin d'une époque



    April 9, 2010

    Une liste des activités organisées au Canada à l'occasion de la fin d'une époque.

    Link to site >

  • End of An Era, Remembering Canada's WWI Veterans



    April 9, 2010

    A list of activities and events taking place across Canada to mark the End of an Era.

    Link to site >

  • Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies



    February 12, 2010

    At 6:00 pm (Pacific)! Who will perform?

    Link to site >

  • Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards



    November 27, 2009

    The music awards gala features performances by some of the best aboriginal musicians from across Canada.

    Link to site >

  • Take Two Minutes to Remember



    November 8, 2009

    At eleven o'clock on November 11, we will take two minutes to remember. We will stand up and be silent. When we do, we will join our fellow Canadians, wherever they may be, whatever language they speak, in honouring those who have served and are serving Canada, and those who have died for our country. When we take two minutes to remember, we pay tribute to their courage and sacrifice

    Link to site >

  • Egg On Mao Launch with Denise Chong



    November 4, 2009

    Egg On Mao Book Launch

    October 27 at 7:30pm with Collected Books At Library and Archives Canada 395 Wellington Street Ottawa ON

    Toronto event: November 4 at 7pm Toronto Public Library North York Central branch 5120 Yonge Street

    Link to site >

  • Toronto 175



    September 8, 2009

    Toronto 175 Event Listings Throughout 2009

    Link to site >

  • Canada Day Events



    June 30, 2009

    A listing of events for Canada Day and the month of July across the country.

    Link to site >

  • Celebrate 100 Years of the Burgess Shale Summer 2009 Events



    May 28, 2009

    The famous Burgess Shale is located in the magnificent Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia.

    Charles D. Walcott, (then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution), discovered the first Burgess Shale fossils on Fossil Ridge in 1909. Between 1910 and 1924, he returned to collect more than 65,000 specimens from the quarry named after him.

    Link to site >

  • Earth Day Canada Event Listings



    April 22, 2009

    A comprehensive list of National Earth Day festivities with an interactive map.

    Link to site >

  • Black History Month Events in Canada

    February 28, 2009

    A detailed list of events happening this month from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to commemorate the contributions that Black Canadians have made to Canada’s culture and seek creative ways to preserve and actively promote the Black Canadian heritage

    Link to site >

  • BC150 Hockey Game Canucks Vs. Calgary Flames



    November 25, 2008

    If you love hockey, you know the names of Stan Smyl, Pavel Bure and Trevor Linden. These Vancouver Canucks, along with their past and present team mates, have been inspiring British Columbians for over three decades.

    The Vancouver Canucks will host a special BC150 home game against the Calgary Flames to honour the rich history of hockey in British Columbia throughout the years.

    Link to site >

  • 1914-1918 Vigil

    At sunset November 4th through to sunrise November 11th, this site will present a vigil commemorating the 68,000 Canadians who lost their lives in WWI. The names of the 68,000 war dead will be projected over a week of nights onto the National War Memorial in Ottawa, buildings in other regions of Canada and onto the side of Canada House in Trafalgar Square in London, England.

    Link to site >

In the Media

Keeping you informed on the what’s hot in Canadian History right now. Books, events, entertainment and in the media, it’s history in the now!

  • Entertainment

    Arcade Fire's "The Wilderness Downtown"



    Montreal's Arcade Fire and "Jesus Walks" video auteur Chris Milk have seen the future of online video, and it requires your home address. Fire up Google Chrome and watch their newest collaboration, a music video for "The Wilderness Downtown," which includes artful use of pop-up browsers, shooting trees, and a large dose of nostalgia.

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    Relive history with CNE online archives



    Housed in the archives of the Canadian National Exhibition are countless reels of 16mm film and a treasure trove of colour images (made when black and white was the norm). Thanks to Youtube and digitization, much of the footage and photos are seeing the light of day. Take a look!

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    Memories of the Ex



    The Central Canadian Exhibition ("the Ex") has been with us for 122 years. View archival photos of its beginnings, from auto races to Andy Griffith to the thrill of the weightless Pirate Ship!

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    Few of Us Learn From History



    Governor General's Award winner Nick Brune says Canadians, especially, ignore their past. “The real challenge goes to how we teach. It’s understanding and getting all the pieces of the puzzle … the kids can really learn the material.” His coffee table book, Canada: The Epic story of the True North Strong, is an attempt to help make sense of the puzzle.

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    We Need to Peel Back the Curtain on Our History



    During the past couple of decades, much has been written about the woeful state of Canadians’ knowledge of their own country. J.D.M. Stewart has a solution: "It's time to show this country to ourselves and discover Canada."

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    Arcade Fire Has Made One Heckuva Rock Album



    While it was hardly a sophomore slump, Arcade Fire's dark turn on its 2007 album Neon Bible defied the anthemic grandeur of the Montreal band's 2004 debut Funeral. And it set the stage for what might be the group's true breakthrough in 2010's The Suburbs.

    Link to site >

  • Entertainment

    Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage



    Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen’s Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage is more than just a loving documentary tribute to the Toronto prog-rock gods — it's an underdog-success story even non-fans could relate to.

    Link to site >

  • Entertainment

    Broken Social Scene



    Watch Toronto supergroup Broken Social Scene perform live from six different angles for Pitchfork`s Point of View Concert Series.

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    Pack up her bow? Fiddlesticks!



    With three children under 5 and another on the way, fiddler, step dancer, and composer Natalie MacMaster is busier than ever recording, performing and teaching her craft. ‘Life is a ball that just rolls and you just get on it,’ she says. ‘And sometimes you’re going to get squished, and sometimes you’re going to be at the top.’

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    Why I Love the Folk Fest



    "My first time inspired me to move to Vancouver, and I haven't missed one since," writes Hilary Mandel, who left California after experiencing the Vancouver Folk Festival.

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    The Ultimate Canadian Record Collector



    Robert Williston shares his vast collection of Canadian recordings with the rest of the country. How many does he have, exactly? No less than 50,000!

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    A Retrospective Look at Toronto’s Most Striking Homes



    From the grandiose "Porker's Palace" to Venetian palazzo–inspired apartments to vintage kitsch, take a century-spanning tour of Toronto's most striking homes.

    For more information on Canadian architectural history, click here.

    Link to site >

  • Entertainment

    The Creation of Nunavut



    On April 1, 1999, the new territory of Nunavut was born, finally making the controversial dream of the Northwest Territories' Inuit a reality. Eleven years later, Nunavummiut join together to celebrate Nunavut Day. CBC Digital Archives remembers the journey.

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    "Bring Back the Act" Campaign



    Canada's best-known historian Jack Granatstein and its former national archivist are leading a bid to reclaim the country's founding document -- the British North America Act -- from a British parliamentary archive in London in time for Canada's 150th birthday in 2017.

    Link to site >

  • In the Media

    Polaris Music Prize Short List



    Established in 2006, the Polaris Music Prize is an annual award given to the best full-length Canadian album. On July 6, 40 artists were whittled down to ten, and on September 20, the winner will be presented with the award, which includes a $20,000 cash prize!

    Link to site >

  • Entertainment

    Cultural Olympiad



    From January 22 until March 21, the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad will celebrate our creative spirit through an unparalleled variety of music, dance, theatre, visual arts, film, outdoor spectaculars and digital media experiences.

    Link to site >

  • Entertainment

    The End of the Line



    The world’s first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing to premiere at Sundance Film Festival

    Imagine an ocean without fish. Imagine your meals without seafood. Imagine the global consequences. This is the future if we do not stop, think and act.

    Link to site >

  • Book

    Egg on Mao



    Published by: Random House Canada on September 29, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-307-35579-9, Format: Hardcover, 256 pages

    The Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship

    The eagerly-awaited new book by Denise Chong, author of the award-winning, national bestseller, The Concubine’s Children.

    Link to site >

History Buzz Archive

Books

  • No Culture, No Future



    Cormorant Books Inc (May 21, 2010)

    With the publication of his book No Culture, No Future Simon Brault makes a public plea for art’s return to the streets, believing that a thriving arts and culture sector is critical to the health of national and municipal identities.

    Click here to read a Q&A with Simon Brault at The Walrus.

    Link to site >

  • Dance Me to the End of Love



    Welcome Books (August 15, 2006)

    Dance Me to the End of Love, the namesake of a deliriously romantic song by Leonard Cohen is visualized through the warm, spirited paintings and collages of Henri Matisse. It is a lyrical tribute to the miracle of love, the grace it bestows on us, and its healing power.

    Link to site >

  • Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste (33 1/3)



    Continuum Pub Group (December 15, 2007)

    Non-fans regard Celine Dion as ersatz and plastic, yet to those who love her, no one could be more real, with her impoverished childhood, her (creepy) manager-husband's struggle with cancer, her knack for howling out raw emotion. There's nothing cool about Celine Dion, and nothing clever. That's part of her appeal as an object of love or hatred with most critics and committed music fans taking pleasure (or at least geeky solace) in their lofty contempt. This book documents Carl Wilson's brave and unprecedented year-long quest to find his inner Celine Dion fan, and explores how we define ourselves in the light of what we call good and bad, what we love and what we hate.

    Link to site >

  • This Is An Honour Song: Twenty Years Since the Blockades



    Publisher: Arbeiter Ring, 2010

    "Filled with soul grabbing poetry, academic and personal essays, beautiful artwork, a short story and a play, Simpson, Ladner, and their 33 co-writers -- including well-known contributors such as Ellen Gabriel (who stood in the front lines at Oka), and respected writer and professor Patricia Montour -- provide educational pieces about the events of the standoff. They also take a stance on paper by sharing new issues that have come since Oka, and how it influenced a new generation of activists who seek justice in similar battles in their own territories."
    -Jorge Antonio Vallejos (Rabble.ca)

    Link to site >

  • Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada's Past



    Publisher: Anchor Canada (Sep 20 2005)

    A collection of original stories written by some of the country’s most celebrated Aboriginal writers, and inspired by pivotal events in the country’s history.

    Link to site >

  • Le concept de liberté au Canada à l’époque des Révolutions atlantiques, 1776-1838



    McGill-Queen's University Press

    A study of the development of Canada during the time between the American Revolution and the Rebellions of 1837.

    Link to site >

  • Growing with Canada: The Emigre Tradition in Canadian Music



    Published November 1, 2009 by McGill-Queen's University Press

    Based on years of detailed and extensive interviews with some seventy people, and supplemented by a wide range of archival material, Growing with Canada reveals how these men and women came to Canada and the roles they played in developing musical culture here, weaving the larger story of post-war Canadian music performance, production, and education around their testimony.

    Link to site >

  • End of an Era Books of Reflection

    Books of Reflection Locations across Canada, take the time to share your personal thoughts on remembrance. Together, we will remember the sacrifice of Canada's Veterans and their fallen comrades.

    Link to site >

  • Canada's Olympic Diary



    Key Porter Books

    Canada’s Olympic Diary will be a complete record of Canada’s participation at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Canadian Press reporters and photographers will chronicle the performances of Canadian athletes competing in the biggest event of their lives, as well as provide a chronicle of the lead-up to the games and each day’s events.

    Link to site >

  • Complete Book of the Winter Olympics, Vancouver 2010 edition



    Greystone Books, D&M Publishers Inc.

    Authors Jaime Loucky and David Wallechinsky present everything anyone could wish to know about the Winter Olympics. Now in its eighth edition and published in anticipation of the 2010 Vancouver Games, The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics has been expanded to include the rules and scoring for all the upcoming events, and looks at the history of each Olympic event from inception to the present.

    Link to site >

  • Christmas in Canada: A Celebration of Stories from Past to Present



    Publisher: Red Deer Press; 1 edition (Oct 15 2003)

    "Three cheers and a glass of wassail." - Quill and Quire

    Link to site >

  • Just Poems, Reflections on the Armenian Genocide



    Hybrid Publishing Co-op Ltd. 2009

    This collection of personal and political poems expresses the enduring, painful legacy of the Armenian Genocide. It represents the trauma of the survivors and the isolation and fragmentation of life in the Diaspora. It is a narrative about heroic witnesses, the painful challenges of remembering, the obstacles to genocide education, the need to overcome state-sponsored genocide denial and the long quest for recognition and justice. The poems explore the difficult path towards apology, reconciliation and forgiveness and reflect on a world without genocide.

    Link to site >

  • Egg on Mao



    Published by: Random House Canada on September 29, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-307-35579-9, Format: Hardcover, 256 pages

    The Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship

    The eagerly-awaited new book by Denise Chong, author of the award-winning, national bestseller, The Concubine’s Children.

    Link to site >

  • EXTRAORDINARY CANADIANS LESTER B PEARSON



    | 224 pages | ISBN 9780143172697 | 01 Dec 2008 | Penguin Canada | Adult

    In his 2 terms as prime minister, from 1963–1968, Lester B. Pearson oversaw the revamping of Canada through the introduction of Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, the Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, the Auto Pact, and the new Maple Leaf flag. Pearson came to power after an impressive career as a diplomat, where he played a vital role in the creation of NATO and the United Nations, later serving as president of its General Assembly. He put Canada on the world stage when he won the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for his handling of the Suez Crisis, during which he brokered the formation of a UN peacekeeping force. Author Andrew Cohen, whose books have focused on Canada’s place in the world, is the perfect author to assess Pearson’s legacy.

    Link to site >

  • EXTRAORDINARY CANADIANS NELLIE MCCLUNG



    Book: Hardback | 235 x 159mm | 204 pages | ISBN 9780670066742 | 18 Mar 2008 | Penguin Canada | Adult

    Feminist, politician, and social activist, Nellie McClung altered Canada's political landscape, leaving a legacy that has long survived her. She had a wicked wit, and her convictions and campaigns helped shape the Canada we live in today. Acclaimed writer Charlotte Gray, who has forged a distinguished career exploring the lives of such notable women as Susanna Moodie and Pauline Johnson, is the perfect writer to reinterpret McClung.

    Link to site >

  • Operation Orca, Springer, Luna and the Struggle to Save West Coast Killer Whales



    Harbour Publishing, October 2007

    Through the story of Springer and Luna the larger history of orcas is explored in the Pacific Northwest and the whale's transformation for killer to icon.

    Winner of Forword Magazine’s Best Nature Non-Fiction Award.

    Link to site >

  • In Search of Canadian Political Culture



    Release Date: 1/1/2008, UBC Press

    What do we really mean by phrases such as "western Canadian political culture," "the centrist political culture of Ontario," "Red Toryism in the Maritimes," or "Prairie socialism"? What historical, geographical, and sociological factors came into play as these cultures were forged? In this book, Nelson Wiseman addresses many such questions, offering new ways of conceiving Canadian political culture.

    The most thorough review of the national political ethos written in a generation, In Search of Canadian Political Culture offers a bottom-up, regional analysis that challenges how we think and write about Canada. It will interest specialists in Canadian political culture and generalists in Canadian politics.

    Link to site >

  • No Time For Goodbye



    Bantam (September 25, 2007)

    No Time for Goodbye, written by Canadian Linwood Barclay, was Britain's best-selling paperback novel in 2008.

    Link to site >

  • The Governor General and the Prime Ministers: The Making and Unmaking of Governments



    By: Edward McWhinney, Published November 1, 2005, Ronsdale Press

    An analysis of the evolving role of the governor general as head-of-state in Canada and other Commonwealth countries, showing how the position has changed and how it can be adapted to deal with crisis-ridden minority governments.

    Link to site >

  • Surrender



    Roy Miki: The passionate poet

    His book of poetry, Surrender, described as a “brilliant intermixture of the lyrical with the political” and a “tour de force of clarity and beauty,”

    This collection of poems challenges and disturbs, upsets and disorients official language and history relating to the internment of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s — a subject that holds personal meaning for Miki.

    Link to site >

  • 101 Things Canadians Should Know About Canada



    Author: Rudyard Griffiths

    Link to site >

  • Shock Troops



    Shock Troops follows the Canadian fighting forces during the titanic battles of Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Passchendaele, and the Hundred Days campaign. Through the eyes of the soldiers who fought and died in the trenches on the Western Front, and based on newly uncovered Canadian, British, and German archival sources, Cook builds on Volume I of his national bestseller, At the Sharp End. The Canadian fighting forces never lost a battle during the final 2 years of the war, and although they paid a terrible price in the killing fields of the Great War, they were indeed, as British Prime Minister David Lloyd George exclaimed, the shock troops of the Empire.

    About the Author

    Tim Cook is a curator at the Canadian War Museum, as well as an adjunct professor at Carleton University. He is the author of No Place to Run and Clio's Warriors. He lives in Ottawa with his family.

    Link to site >

Entertainment