Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Facts Make the City

As you probably know, our city was named for Captain George Vancouver who chartered this area. Vancouver's family derived their name from the Dutch city Coevorden. On April 6, 1945, Coevorden was liberated from the Nazi and April 6 happens to be the city of Vancouver BC's birthday.

Ivan Knopski made the July 14, 1945 edition of the Province because he built his house at the corner of Main and East 29th Avenue. The reason that was newsworthy is that Knopski was blind. (The house is no longer there)

It was on November 6, 1945 that the city council made another step towards racial equality. That was the day that it was decided that the Crystal Pool would no longer have segregated days. Now whites and non-whites would swim together.

I told you about Mayor L.D. Taylor last year when we had our mayoral elections. He died in 1946 and did I remember to mention that he was briefly married to two women at the same time?

Parking meters came into our city in 1946 and it cost five cents to park for an hour.

Field Marshal Viscount Alexander of Tunis was Canada's new Governor-General on July 13, 1946. That was also the day that the Governor General became the first white man in the history of the Pacific to become a native chief with full tribal rights. While here the Field Marshal received a Kwakiutl thunderbird headdress and ceremonial blanket, and became Chief Nakupunkim.

On February 1, 1947, a radio show called Hot Air began on CBC Radio. Its host was none other than a man by the name of Bob Smith and all the jazz recordings he played came from his own collection. Smith hosted that show for 35 years and when he left the show continued and today it is Canada's longest running jazz program. Margaret Gallagher presently hosts the program.
Here's the power of children. On May 10, 1947 a petition was circulated by children in the Vancouver school system calling for an end to the war time tax on candy. In response, the price of a candy bar went from eight cents down to seven cents.

William Munavish was a Vancouver safecracker who had the distinction of being declared our country's first habitual criminal on November 14, 1947.

Thanks goes to The History of Metropolitan Vancouver Website and CBC.ca/hotair for the above information. As usual, I hope you find the beauty around you.

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