Tag: Canadian history (eh!)
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Champlain’s Dream by David Hackett Fisher
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Champlain’s Dream: Apparently, you didn’t need to be a genocidal madman to start a new colony. Quick synopsis: The founding of New France by Samuel de Champlain. Fact for Non-History People: Saint John, New Brunswick was established before Jamestown and Plymouth. Fact for History Nerds: Samuel de Champlain’s burial site is…
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The Dangerous Harbour by Bob Chaulk
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Dangerous Harbour: When you have explosives, be careful. Quick synopsis: A look at the wrecks of Halifax because of the Great Halifax Explosion. Fact for Non-History People: 8 million horses and mules died during World War I. Fact for History Nerds: During World War I, 43% of the world’s merchant…
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Life Sentence by Amy Bell
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Life Sentence: No good deed goes unpunished. Quick synopsis: The story of how defending two killers ruined a man’s life. Fun Fact for Non-History People: Before the murder of the police officers in this story in 1974, no policeman had been killed on Moncton, Canada since 1892. Fun Fact for History…
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Hanged in Medicine Hat by Nathan Greenfield
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Hanged in Medicine Hat: Life is so much more civilized without Nazis. Quick synopsis: The story of executions at a German POW camp in Canada. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Yes, there is a town in Canada called Medicine Hat. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Yes, there were German POW…
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Deadly Triangle by Susan Goldberg
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Deadly Triangle: Canadian murder, eh! Quick synopsis: The 1935 murder of famous Canadian architect Francis Mawson Rattenbury. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Francis Rattenbury had a major windfall in creating a government building by negotiating his profits to be tied to the final cost. He then went over budget by…
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The Ghosts That Haunt Me by Steve Ryan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Ghosts That Haunt Me: And now they’ll haunt you, too! Quick synopsis: Retired Toronto detective Steve Ryan chronicles the cases which still haunt him today. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Steve Ryan is now a crime analyst for a Canadian TV station. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Toronto is…
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The Castleton Massacre by Sharon Anne Cook/Margaret Carson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Castleton Massacre: This is why people need to go to therapy. Quick synopsis: The story of a family murder in Canada in 1963. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The term “teenager” wasn’t coined until the mid-1950s. Fun Fact for History Nerds: In the late 1950s, 20% of the Canadian…
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The Halifax Explosion by Ken Cuthbertson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Halifax Explosion: When Canada decides to go big, they go really big. Quick synopsis: The story of the Halifax Explosion of 1917, one of the worst man-made disasters in history. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: This is still the largest non-nuclear man-made explosion in human history. Fun Fact for…
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Timely History: The Halifax Explosion
On August 4th of this year, a gigantic explosion ripped through Beirut in Lebanon. Final numbers on the destruction are not fully understood, but it looks like at least 220 people were killed and 7,000 injured. The blast was approximately 2.75 kilotons of ammonium nitrate. Nerd that I am, I immediately thought of the Halifax…