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May 1-3 in 'toba History: Manitoba is born and born again; floods and aqueducts; a strike begins...
4/30/2007 at 10:47 PM
I do this little ditty for a site in Winnipeg and thought I would cross post. THre are a couple of Brnadon bits in there as well...
May 1-3 in saw many HUGE firsts in the history of Manitoba. First off, the biggest of them all:
May 2, 1670 - King Charles II granted the Hudson's Bay Company a charter that gave the "Governor and Company of Adventurers of England" sole rights to trade and commerce as "Lordes and Proprietors" of "all the Landes Countreyes and Territoryes upon the Coastes and Confynes of the Seas" lying within the Hudson Strait. In honour of the birthday I see the Bay has 25% off all Bay Blankets so if you're hunkering for one get downtown !
May 3, 1811- Lord Selkirk purchases 300,000 sq km of Manitoba land from the HBC to create a new settlement in Red River called Assiniboia.
May 2, 1870 - George-Étienne Cartier introduces the 'Manitoba Act' into Parliament. It asks for the creation of the Province of Manitoba with a full legislature, lieutenant-governor and administrative officials to look after the affairs of the province. It would be passed ten days later. A link of interest: www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/15/manitobaname1.shtml
Well, with that out of the way here are some of the other biggies:
May 3, 1871- Collège St-Boniface receive provincial charter.
May 3, 1873 - A bill was introduced to Parliament by Sir John A. MacDonald intended to bring Canadian authority to the North West Territories and created the North West Mounted Police. The bill passed 17 days later.
May 2, 1881- Canadian Pacific Railway lays its first section of track on the prairies in Portage la Prairie.
May 3 1882 A. (Alexander) Aiken hired as Winnipeg's first deputy fire chief
May 1, 1892 Winnipeg's Princess Opera House burns to the ground. Illustration: www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/40/earlywinnipegmusic6.jpg c 1886
May 1 1906 - the Kildonan street car line was extended to Foxgrove Ave. (north of the Knowles Centre)
May 2, 1910 - The first test of the St. Andrews Locks and Dam (at present day Lockport) by allowing the government steamer Victoria to pass through
May 1, 1913 - Winnipeggers vote on spending funds on the Winnipeg Aqueduct. Final vote yeas 2226, nays 369.
May 1, 1918 - The first gas powered bus hits the streets in Winnipeg (on the Westminster route).
May 1, 1919 - The building and metal workers unions launch strike in Winnipeg seeking an 8 hour work day.
May 2, 1939 The National Film Board begins operations.
May 1, 1962 - The Manitoba Tartan is adopted.
May 1 1973 - Bachman-Turner Overdrive release their first album (first single: Let it Ride).
May 1, 1975 - (10 pm) The final screening of the Phantom of the Paradise at the Garrick Cinema. The Movie started showing at noon on Boxing Day .
May 2, 1996 - The Wheat Kings win the 1996 WHL title.
May 1 1997 - The Red River crests in downtown Winnipeg at 7.49 m (only 0 .6 m below dike levels). On the path to Winnipeg the flood displaced 27,000 residents had been displaced. 7,000 troops were deployed and more than five million sandbags were laid by thousands of volunteers.
May 1, 2004 - Lloyd Axworthy became The U of W's sixth President and Vice-Chancellor
May 1, 2005 - NORTHERN STATES POWER COMPANY (NSP) of Minneapolis announced the purchase from Manitoba Hydro of 500 MW from Manitoba Hydro for a duration of 10 years.