15 November 1965 At 10:00am on the morning of Monday, 15 November 1965, a workman at the Lemieux Island filtration plant released sodium fluoride into Ottawa’s water mains. A few hours later, the same thing occurred at the Britannia filtration plant. Fluoridation had finally arrived in the Capital after ten years of sometimes bitter fighting that pitted most of city council and the medical profession against an alliance of grassroots anti-fluoridation advocates. The waterworks commissioner said that it would take roughly a half a day for the newly-treated water, fluoridated to a level of 1 par ..read more

17 July 1916 Connaught Building, Sussex Drive, by Jcart1534, Wikipedia Sandwiched between Mackenzie and Sussex Avenues, extending the length of the block between George and York Streets, you will find the Connaught Building. This remarkable Tudor-Gothic castle, reminiscent of Hampton Court Palace in Britain, complete with towers and crenellations, was named in honour of H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the youngest son of Queen Victoria, who was governor general of Canada from 1911 to 1916. The structure was originally built to house the Customs Department and Ottawa’s Customs Exam ..read more

28 August 1919 It was August 1919. Less than nine months had passed since the guns fell silent in France and Belgium, and scarcely two months had elapsed from the signing of the Treaty of Versailles that officially ended the Great War. While everybody was elated that the fighting was finally over, and their boys back home, even the victors in this brutal conflict were traumatized. Although Canada had been largely spared the property destruction caused by the war, close to 500,000 men had served in the trenches, on the sea and in the air. More than 60,000 never came home. Tens of thousands more ..read more

1 January 2001 When the bell on the Peace Tower finished tolling midnight to usher in the twenty-first century, a new era began for the City of Ottawa. After months of political wrangling and name calling, ten urban municipalities and rural townships amalgamated with the old City of Ottawa to create a super City of Ottawa. Many likened the amalgamation to a shotgun wedding, forced upon unwilling communities by the Ontario provincial government. Gone were the cities of Nepean, Kanata and Gloucester, Cumberland, and Vanier, each with their distinct histories and characteristics. Gone was the aff ..read more

2 November 1892 One of Canada’s greatest poets of the nineteenth century was Tekahionwake, also known as E. Pauline Johnson, with the “E” standing for Emily. Born on 10 March 1861 at “Chiefswood” on the Six Nations Indian Reserve near Brantford, Upper Canada (Ontario), her father was Chief George H.M. Johnson also known as Onwanonsyshon, who was an interpreter for the Anglican Church as well as Crown interpreter for the Six Nations (the Seneca, the Cayuga, the Onondaga, the Oneida, the Mohawk, and the Tuscarora). Her grandfather was John “Smoke” Johnson (Sakayengwaraton) who fought for the Bri ..read more

26 January 1964 People have often remarked that there appears to be a disproportionate number of Canadian comedians who made it big in the United States. Think of Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster, Leslie Nielson, John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Catherine O’Hara, Norm Macdonald, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Mike Myers, Martin Short, and Jim Carey to mention just a few. One possible reason for this phenomenon is the relative size of the “creative economy” in Canada compared to that in the United States. A 2016 British study by Nesta (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) found that in ..read more

27 April 1909 On 27 April 1909, the Ottawa Journal published a small article announcing that Mr. C.C. Campbell of 193 Gloucester Street, was organizing an Ottawa company of boy scouts. Campbell had recently returned from Britain where he had been the scout master of the 1st Whitehead troop and the Secretary of the North Irish Division Council of boy scouts. Reportedly, he had been trained under the “eye” of General Baden-Powell. Boys aged between 12 and 18 interested in joining the scouts were urged to contact Mr. Campbell at his home address. Lord Baden-Powell, c. 1910-1920, Wikipedia. The bo ..read more

6 April 1884 The nineteenth century was a time of incredible change in Europe and North America. The industrial revolution was upending the existing economic and social order. A cultural renaissance, which drew inspiration from the past, was revolutionizing the arts. Meanwhile, evangelical preachers whose aim was to revive traditional Christian values were attracting thousands of converts, and in so doing threatening long-established churches. This religious revival was intertwined with other social crusades, including the temperance and abolitionist movements. Rev. William Booth, c. 1862, Wik ..read more

26 March 1975 Ottawa Mosque, 251 Northwestern Avenue, 2009, by Muhammad, Wikipedia According to a 1995 Citizen article, the first Muslim immigrants to Ottawa were Hassan Mahmood Wahad and his family, who came to the capital in 1903 from the small Lebanese-Syrian town of Kfarmishki, located about 90 kilometres southeast of Beirut. At the time, the community was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Wahad family found a home in the Byward Market alongside other recent immigrants. It must have been difficult. Initially knowing little English or French, Hassan Wahad and his family were cut off from thei ..read more

28 March 1950 President Truman appointed Lawrence Steinhardt to the post of U.S. Ambassador to Canada in October 1948. He was a career diplomat of considerable ability. After years of representing his country in some of the most difficult posts in the world, including the Soviet Union, Canada must have felt like a cake walk. Indeed, on his appointment, the ambassador told an Ottawa Journal reporter he looked forward to dropping a fishing line in the water and relaxing a bit. Duck hunting and skiing in the Gatineau hills also featured high on his “to-do” list in his new post. Steinhardt was no ..read more