Posts Tagged ‘canadian-history’

Billy Bishop was the top Canadian flying ace in the First World War, credited officially with a record-breaking 75 victories. He was a highly skilled pilot and an accurate shot. Bishop went from being the most decorated war hero in Canadian history to a crusader for peace, writing the book Winged Peace, which supported international…

Tom Thomson is Canada’s most famous artist and as everyone knows, his short and glorious career was abruptly and brutally ended on July 8, 1917 under mysterious circumstances. Since the recovery of Thomson’s body, theories as to the cause of his death — accident? murder? — have preoccupied sleuths for close to 100 years. This…

Ontario is rich in ghost towns, communities that were once thriving but which have been reduced to mere shadows of their former selves. Nine villages — including silver camps, fishing ports, crossroads hamlets, and farming settlements — come alive on the pages of this book. The term ‘ghost town’ invariably conjures up images of fog-shrouded…

For centuries, Europeans sought the elusive Northwest Passage that would link Europe to the Far East and China. Early visitors to Canada’s northern coasts included Viking sailors and Basque whalers. Then came the prominent explorers — John Cabot, Vasco da Gama, Martin Frobisher and Sir John Franklin. Now that global warming threatens to melt much…

We all know that ships have been lost on the oceans but how many of us are aware that over 6,000 ships have gone to a watery grave on Canada’s Great Lakes? Cheryl MacDonald’s new book recounts the the most unforgettable disasters on the Great Lakese from the sinking of LaSalle’s Frontenac in 1678 to…

Slavery existed throughout the western Hemisphere, but after its abolition in the British empire it persisted for decades in much of the U.S. Even in states where slavery was illegal, slaves were subject to capture and return to their owners. The only sure escape was to cross the border into Canada. The Underground Railway was…

Crimes of passion, brutal slayings, infanticide, and revenge: here are eight gruesome and often tragic stories of women accused of murder. Many are little known or long forgotten, such as Mary Osborn, the first woman to be hanged in Upper Canada, executed for poisoning her disappointing husband. Read about the crimes and subsequent trials of…

Murder, mutiny, and mayhem were the order of the day in the seas off the East Coast during the golden age of sailing. Pillagers and opportunists plied the seas in search of riches in the holds of American ships. And they invariably found what they were looking for…

The unpredictable forces of nature have long been the cause of terrible disasters on sea and land, and in the air. Other disasters have been the result of human error. But all disasters have one thing in common – the tragic loss of life, bravery in the face of danger, and heroic rescue attempts. This…

As Roy MacGregor’s richly detailed Northern Light reveals, not much is as it seems when it comes to Tom Thomson, the most iconic of Canadian painters. Philandering deadbeat or visionary artist and gentleman, victim of accidental drowning or deliberate murder, the man’s myth has grown to obscure the real view – and the answers to…