 |
 |
Home Donate Archives About Us Contests Links
Resources Subscriptions News, Sports, Weather and Lotteries Webfeeds
|
 |
|
|
||||
|
Contests
We had nine lucky prize winners in our first-anniversary giveaway who won nine different prizes. Check out the contests page for all the juicy details on what you missed. Next issue
We're running a slightly different format these days. Rather than publish a longer newsletter on a set weekly schedule, we're sending shorter newsletters on an irregular basis these days. Hope you enjoy! Subscriptions
You too can receive these newsletters in your e-mail. All you need to do is enter your e-mail address in the form in the top, right-hand corner of any page on the site and click the "GO!" button. So sign up now, eh! Suggestions
If you have a suggestion for an article, factoid, joke, statistic or anything else for the newsletter, please send it to our researcher. Any comments about this Web site can be directed to the webmaster. |
Sunday Newsletter 2001-30Su. July 29, 2001. [John] Kananaskis, Alberta? I had never heard of this community until a few minutes ago. Now it's going to be the venue for next year's G-8 summit. Some residents are anything but excited by the prospect of playing host, while others like area hotel manager Dale Dyck says; "It would be a great opportunity to get people to know where Kananaskis is. We know it's a beautiful place up here but very many people do not. And certainly on the world stage it's not known at all." Therefore, next June, one of the smallest summits ever put together was announced by Prime Minister Jean Chretien. In case you were not aware, this year's summit in Genoa, Italy, brought together the eight nations of Canada, the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Russia. It also brought out an awful lot of tension, resulting in one man's death, over 100 people injured and some $40 million in damage. Chretien says he hopes holding the summit in a smaller community, such as Kananaskis, located 60 kilometres west of Calgary, will keep "everything" much smaller. I have read that there are only about 400 hotel rooms in the area, which will force the summit delegations to be pared back to a bare minimum. For example, this year's contingency from Japan alone had 450 delegates. Chretien is quoted as saying; "I have said to all the leaders there will be no more than 30 to 35 delegates accepted on the site." I certainly hope he is right. I think, for the most part, it will be a success. Canadians can think of this as an honour as well as an opportunity to show off our beautiful country, while also trying to make the event work by managing the size and using a more secluded venue. Let's keep our fingers crossed. FactsCanada.ca Map of Kananaskis, Alberta _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ \\ TABLE OF CONTENTS // \ Question of the week \ Biography -- Marcel Elphege Dionne \ Notes from the notable -- Geddy Lee \ Geographical tidbits and place names \ Also born this week \ It happened this week in history \ Answer to this week's question \ Preview \ Links and resources \ Legal and subscription information _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ \\ QUESTION OF THE WEEK // Formerly known as the G-7 (Group of Seven) group of major industrialized nations, another member joined in the late 1990s. Which nation is the newest member? Check out my introduction for a list of all eight countries, and the end of the newsletter for the answer. _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ \\ BIOGRAPHY // Marcel Elphege Dionne Another Canadian sports legend turns 50 this week, with the celebration of Hockey Hall of Fame member Marcel Dionne's birthday. Born August 3, 1951, in Drummondville, Quebec, this right-handed centre was the Detroit Red Wings' first-draft pick and the NHL's second (after Guy Lafleur) in 1971. Nicknamed "The Little Beaver" by hockey immortal Gordie Howe while still playing junior hockey in St. Catharines, Dionne almost went on to break Howe's scoring records but settled for second place to Howe on the all-time list of scorers. Dionne now holds down the fourth all-time spot with Howe and Dionne both being surpassed by Wayne Gretzky, and Dionne being passed by Mark Messier during the 2000-2001 season. (I have listed the current top ten point scorers of all time at the end of this article for your perusal.) Although Dionne played for 18 seasons in the NHL, the ultimate triumph of a Stanley Cup victory eluded him. After four seasons with the Red Wings, Dionne was acquired as a free agent by the Los Angeles Kings after the 1974-1975 campaign. It was during his final season with Detroit that Dionne finished third in points in the NHL with 121. After his trade to Los Angeles he was teamed up with Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor, who together formed the most impressive trio of their day and came to be known as the "Triple Crown Line", obviously after the facts they played for the Kings. Tenacity, ability and consistency led Dionne to his current lofty position with the all-time greats. It was in Los Angeles that Dionne ranked among the top ten scorers in the League seven more times. The only time that Dionne finished the season as the top point scorer was during Gretzky's rookie season of 1979-1980 -- they both finished with 137 points but Dionne was given the scoring championship due to the league's tie-breaking rules, which awarded the championship to the player with more goals (Dionne had 53 goals to the rookie's 51). Gretzky, of course, went on to dominate the remainder of the decade. On March 10, 1987, Dionne was traded to the New York Rangers, where he finished out his career. He was elected to the NHL Hall of Fame in 1992 and remains the King's all-time leader in goals (550), assists (757), and points (1307). Many are not aware, possibly because they played in different eras, that Dionne also has a brother who played in the NHL. Gilbert Dionne was born 19 years after his famous brother on September 19, 1970. Gilbert played for the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers and Florida Panthers in a brief, six-year NHL career, scoring 61 goals and 140 points in 223 games played. Here are the current top ten point scorers of all time in the NHL:
PLAYER GAMES GOALS ASSISTS POINTS PIM
1. Wayne Gretzky 1487 894 1963 2857 577
2. Gordie Howe 1767 801 1049 1850 1685
3. Mark Messier 1561 651 1130 1781 1806
4. Marcel Dionne 1348 731 1040 1771 600
5. Steve Yzerman 1310 645 969 1614 834
6. Ron Francis 1489 487 1137 1621 917
7. Phil Esposito 1282 717 873 1590 910
8. Ray Bourque 1612 410 1169 1579 1141
9. Mario Lemieux 788 648 922 1570 755
10. Paul Coffey 1409 396 1135 1531 1802
"PIM" stands for "penalties in minutes".Sports Illustrated's "10 Questions" With Marcel Dionne HockeySandwich.com's Dionne Biography and Statistics _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ \\ NOTES FROM THE NOTABLE // Current name: Geddy Lee. Birth name: Gary Lee Weinrib. Birth place: Toronto, Ontario. Birth date: July 29, 1953. Claim to Fame: Lead vocalist of the Canadian rock-music trio known as Rush. Lee also plays bass guitar, guitar and keyboards. Rush was originally formed in 1968 by Lee, Alex Lifeson (born Alex Zivojinovich in Fernie, British Columbia), and John Rutsey (who was replaced by Neil Peart of Hamilton, Ontario -- a possible answer to an excellent music trivia question). Special citations: Although the group has received five Juno Awards and membership in the Juno Hall of Fame in 1994, perhaps their most cherished award was the group's acceptance as Officers of the Order of Canada. This joint appointment was based on a combination of their artistic contributions and the raising of millions of dollars for various food banks and the United Way. Geddy Lee and Rush also are enshrined in Canada's Walk of Fame. Odd spot: Rush recorded their rendition of "O Canada" for the soundtrack of "South Park, The Movie. Bigger, Longer and Uncut". Cool Site: Be sure to visit Geddy Lee's Web site entitled "my favorite headache" (note the American spelling of "favourite"). It's really top notch. "my favorite headache" _______---------=========^^^^Ô^^^^=========---------_________ \\ GEOGRAPHICAL TIDBITS AND PLACE NAMES // First off, let me explain the term "toponymy". Most of us have heard the term "topography" -- a detailed and precise description of a place or region, or a graphic representation of the surface of a place or region on a map, usually indicating relative positions and elevations. Toponymy differs in that it is the study of the names of places, which is what I bring into the newsletter most weeks. In fact, it is more than merely the study of the names of regions or places, but also the love or study of this science. With that said, where do I go? Well, I introduce a little variety into this week's combined "Geographical Tidbits" and "Place Names" articles. Leg-In-Boot Square: The name of a street in the False Creek area of Vancouver, British Columbia, close to our famous Granville Island markets. The street name was officially designated in 1976 by the City of Vancouver as the False Creek area continued its urban development. The story of the origin of the name goes back another 89 years to when someone found a portion of a leg inside a boot in a forest at False Creek in 1887. As the story goes, the boot was hung up at police headquarters for a time but, of course, went unclaimed. There was also no body, so this tale remains a mystery to this day. The facts of the discovery in 1887 are recounted in the book from the same year entitled "The Queen's Highway" by author Stuart Cumberland. I was able to track down two of these books which are, surprisingly, still in existence and commanding a price of between $225 and $250. As one retailer put it, the book "is the most complete and interesting account of the first west to east trip on the Canadian Pacific Railway." Place names with "Saint", "Ste.", or "St." in their names: Tracking down these names proved to be a more daunting task than I ever imagined it would be. Simply put, there is little consistency in the use of the abbreviations for "saint" (English and French male, abbreviated to "st.") or "sainte" (French female and abbreviated to "ste.") versus the full spelling. Therefore there may be some overlap in the results of my search that I have summarized below. The following list does not include places like the city of Fort St. John in British Columbia, which does not begin with the saintly reference. Altogether I found 4022 place names in Canada beginning with some variation of the word "saint", in French or English, male or female, and singular or plural, with more than 76 percent of them located in Quebec. Here's the list: Province or Territory Total Saint(s) St. Sainte Ste. Alberta 34 1 32 0 1 British Columbia 75 5 67 0 3 Manitoba 108 1 91 16 0 New Brunswick 159 112 34 13 0 Newfoundland 192 9 180 0 3 Northwest Territories 8 0 6 0 2 Nova Scotia 78 3 74 0 1 Nunavut 16 0 16 0 0 Ontario 185 4 171 2 8 Prince Edward Island 43 1 42 0 0 Quebec 3073 2917 20 135 1 Saskatchewan 43 6 36 0 1 Yukon Territory 8 0 8 0 0There you have it -- statistics galore. If you have previously enjoyed our articles entitled "Place Names" and are also intrigued by today's offering, I would then conclude you are truly interested in toponymy. There is so much history that can be revealed even from a street name. If this interests you then you are a toponymist. Downtown Historic Railway, which terminates at Leg-In-Boot Square _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ \\ ALSO BORN THIS WEEK // Robert Blake Theodore "Ted" Lindsay, NHL Hall of Fame member, born in Renfrew, Ontario, July 29, 1925. Among various other accomplishments, Lindsay finished his career at number one in penalty minutes with 1808. The record stood for many years. Patricia Louise Lowther (née Tinmuth), poet and namesake of the Pat Lowther Award from the League of Canadian Poets, born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 29, 1935, died September 24, 1975, at the hands of her second husband, Roy. She is survived by four children. Andrew Suknaski, poet, born in Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan, July 30, 1942. Paul Albert Anka, singer and songwriter, born in Ottawa, Ontario, July 30, 1941. (You can read Paul Anka's biography in FactsCanada.ca issue 2000-03Su.) William Greenville Davis, lawyer and premier of Ontario (1971-1985), born in Brampton, Ontario, on July 30, 1929. Davis is a Companion of the Order of Canada (1985). Simon Hugh Holmes, lawyer, publisher and premier of Nova Scotia (1878-1882), born in East River, Nova Scotia, July 30, 1831. John Gordon "Jack" McClelland, publisher and Officer of the Order of Canada (1976), born in Toronto, Ontario, July 30, 1922. Gilles Carle, screenwriter and film director of many French-Canadian films, born in Maniwaki, Quebec, July 31, 1929. Carle is the most awarded Canadian filmmaker in history. Charles Avery Dunning, premier of Saskatchewan (1922-1926), born in Croft, England, July 31, 1885. John Oliver, premier of British Columbia (1918-1927), born in Hartington, England, July 31, 1856. George Mercer Dawson, geologist and son of Sir John William Dawson (also a geologist), born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, August 1, 1849. (You can read Sir John William Dawson's biography in FactsCanada.ca issue 2000-15Su.) John James Fraser, lawyer, premier (1878-1882) and lieutenant-governor (1893-1896) of New Brunswick, born in Miramichi, New Brunswick, August 1, 1829. Andre Gagnon, pianist, conductor, composer and arranger, Juno-Award winner and Officer of the Order of Canada (1978), born in St-Pacome-de-Kamouraska, Quebec, August 2, 1939. Robert Keith Rae, lawyer and premier of Ontario (1990-1995), born in Ottawa, Ontario, August 2, 1948. John Campbell Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, governor general of Canada (1893-1898), born in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 3, 1847. Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, lawyer, cabinet minister, and son of Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper, born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, August 3, 1855. Victor Stefan "Vic" Vogel, jazz musician, born in Montreal, Quebec, August 3, 1935. Terri Clark (née Terri Lynn Sauson), singer, songwriter and Juno-Award winner, born in Montreal, Quebec, August 4, 1968. (You can read Terri Clark's biography in FactsCanada.ca issue 2000-05Su.) George Luther Hatheway, farmer, lumberman, and premier of New Brunswick (1871-1872), born in Musquash, New Brunswick, August 4, 1813. Joseph-Henri-Maurice "Rocket" Richard, NHL Hockey Hall of Fame member, and Officer of the Order of Canada (1967), promoted to Companion (1998), born August 4, 1921, died May 27, 2000. Thomas John Thomson, painter, born in Claremont, Ontario, August 4, 1877. (I erroneously reported in FactsCanada.ca issue 2001-25Su that Mr. Thomson was a founding member of the Group of Seven painters. He was not and I offer you my apologies. The version of that newsletter on the Web site corrects this oversight.) Biography of Pat Lowther The Internet Movie Database on Gilles Carle HockeySandwich.com's Maurice Richard Biography and Statistics _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ \\ IT HAPPENED THIS WEEK IN HISTORY // July 29, 1916 -- The Ontario towns of Matheson and Cochrane (as well as some other smaller communities) were struck by a firestorm started by lightning and locomotive sparks. The deaths of 228 people resulted. July 30, 1962 -- The 7821-kilometre Trans-Canada Highway was formally opened at Rogers Pass, British Columbia. July 31, 1950 -- During a low-level paradrop mission, parachute ropes entangled in the tail section of an RCAF Lancaster, causing it to crash in Alert, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut). The seven Canadian aircrew and two civilian passengers died. July 31, 1987 -- The storm that produced the Edmonton Tornado of 1987 was actually a hailstorm. It left behind over $250 million in losses and a hail-damaged area around the city for hundreds of square kilometres. Twenty-seven people lost their lives. July 31, 1980 -- The "Calgary Albertan" newspaper was acquired by media giant Sun Publishing for $1.3 million. The name was changed to "The Calgary Sun" and its first edition was published on August 3, 1980. August 2, 1875 -- Albert Edgar Hickman is born in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. He later became Newfoundland's 17 prime minister, but held that office for just 33 days from May 10 to June 11, 1924, the shortest administration in Newfoundland's history. These were the days prior to Newfoundland joining Canada in 1949. August 4, 1944 -- Calgary native and aviator Ian Willoughby Bazalgette died in France. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry in 1943. He was also awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for a courageous attack on a target at Trossy St-Maxim, France. He managed to land his crippled Lancaster bomber but perished in an explosion. In 1949 a mountain in Jasper National Park was named in his honour. August 4, 1914 -- Britain's ultimatum to Germany to withdraw from Belgium expired. The British Empire, including Canada, was at war, thus beginning World War One. FactsCanada.ca Map of Matheson, Ontario On Victoria Cross winner Ian Bazalgette _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ \\ ANSWER TO THIS WEEK'S QUESTION // Above I asked; "Formerly known as the G-7 (Group of Seven) group of major industrialized nations, another member joined in the late 1990s. Which nation is the newest member?" Answer: Russia. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia began to become more closely involved in the annual summits. Starting at the 1994 summit in Naples, Italy, Russia participated in the political meetings with the seven other nations but was not a member. This continued for a couple of years until the leaders gathered in Denver, Colorado, USA, in June 1997, when Russia became a formal participant in the process. Summits since have been called the G-8 (Group of Eight) summits. However, Russia does not participate in certain economic discussions. CBC Background on the G-8 _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ \\ PREVIEW // Would the real Carole Laure, Champagne or Lord please stand up? This actress went by all three names, and I will profile her next week. Also on the list is John By (which will be written by John), Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland, information about another distinctive Canadian award, and the Grosse Ile Quarantine Station. _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ [Craig] I'm feeling much better than I was last week, although my dentist did confirm that I have an abscess. I will be seeing a specialist on Tuesday. My self-diagnosed "appendicitis" turned out to be the stomach flu, although I felt miraculously better about 45 minutes before my appointment with my doctor. What a waste of a visit to the doctor, especially as I only go once every five or more years! Have a great week! I know I'm looking forward to having my gums drilled into! _______-------=======^^^Ô^^^=======-------_______ == LINKS AND RESOURCES == FactsCanada.ca -- http://www.factscanada.ca Today's resources NinerNet Communications |
Your Account
Free Email
Free email is no longer available. Search
Search currently unavailable. Sorry. Credits
Writer and Researcher: John MacDonald. Technical and Editor: Craig Hartnett. Web Site Hosting and Design: NinerNet Communications. 
|
||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
||||
| Home |
|
Top | ||||
|
Home Donate Archives About Us Contests Links
Resources Subscriptions News, Sports, Weather and Lotteries Webfeeds
|
||||||
|
This page (/sunday/sunday-2001-30-07-29.shtml) last updated 2005-02-21 01:13:13 UTC. Copyright © 2000-2017 FactsCanada.ca. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy Web site hosting and design by NinerNet Communications. | ||||||
