Heritage Minute
Encyclopedia
Heritage Minutes, also known officially as Historica Minutes: History by the Minute, are sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history
. They appear frequently on Canadian television and in cinemas before movies. The minutes were first introduced on March 31, 1991 as part of a one-off heavily-promoted history quiz show hosted by Rex Murphy
. The thirteen original short films were broken up and run between shows on CBC Television
and CTV
. The continued broadcast of the Minutes and the production of new ones was pioneered by Charles Bronfman
's CRB Foundation (subsequently the The Historica Dominion Institute), Canada Post
(with Bell Canada
being a later sponsor) Power Broadcasting
(now Power Corporation of Canada), and the National Film Board. They were devised, developed and largely narrated (as well as scripted) by noted Canadian broadcaster Patrick Watson, while the producer of the series was Robert Guy Scully
. In 2009 Historica merged with The Dominion Institute to become The Historica-Dominion Institute.
While the foundations have not paid networks to air the minutes, they have made them freely available, and in the early years paid to have them run in cinemas across the country. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ruled that Heritage Minutes are an "on-going dramatic series" thus each minute counts as ninety-seconds of a station's Canadian content
requirements.
The Heritage Minutes themselves have become part of Canadian culture.
Not all of the episodes have actually aired. 74 of them are available for viewing online; the minute about the 1972 Summit Series is not available online.
, The Rick Mercer Report, Royal Canadian Air Farce
, and Rock et Belles Oreilles
, have all parodied the Heritage Minute format in sketches, or used the format for satire. The Comedy Network
has aired short parodies titled "Sacrilege Moments".
Canadian rapper Classified
parodied the Heritage Minute in his music video for the song "O Canada..." Canadian cartoonist Kate Beaton
adapted the Heritage Minute format in a comic about Margaret Trudeau
, wife of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
.
History of Canada
The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. Canada has been inhabited for millennia by distinctive groups of Aboriginal peoples, among whom evolved trade networks, spiritual beliefs, and social hierarchies...
. They appear frequently on Canadian television and in cinemas before movies. The minutes were first introduced on March 31, 1991 as part of a one-off heavily-promoted history quiz show hosted by Rex Murphy
Rex Murphy
Rex Murphy is a Canadian commentator and author, primarily on Canadian political and social matters.Murphy was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland, 105 kilometres west of St. John's and is the second of five children of Harry and Marie Murphy...
. The thirteen original short films were broken up and run between shows on CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
and CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
. The continued broadcast of the Minutes and the production of new ones was pioneered by Charles Bronfman
Charles Bronfman
Charles Rosner Bronfman, is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. With an estimated net worth of $US 2.0 billion , Bronfman was ranked by Forbes as the 15th wealthiest Canadian and 595th in the world....
's CRB Foundation (subsequently the The Historica Dominion Institute), Canada Post
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
(with Bell Canada
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
being a later sponsor) Power Broadcasting
Power Corporation of Canada
Power Corporation of Canada is a Canadian company with assets in North America and Europe in a number of industries. These industries include media, pulp and paper, and financial services....
(now Power Corporation of Canada), and the National Film Board. They were devised, developed and largely narrated (as well as scripted) by noted Canadian broadcaster Patrick Watson, while the producer of the series was Robert Guy Scully
Robert Guy Scully
Robert Guy Scully is a Canadian television producer, interviewer and host, and a former journalist. He started as a TV broadcaster with the French "la Société Radio-Canada" in Québec, and subsequently also joined the Canadian English language network, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation...
. In 2009 Historica merged with The Dominion Institute to become The Historica-Dominion Institute.
While the foundations have not paid networks to air the minutes, they have made them freely available, and in the early years paid to have them run in cinemas across the country. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ruled that Heritage Minutes are an "on-going dramatic series" thus each minute counts as ninety-seconds of a station's Canadian content
Canadian content
Canadian content refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from...
requirements.
The Heritage Minutes themselves have become part of Canadian culture.
Not all of the episodes have actually aired. 74 of them are available for viewing online; the minute about the 1972 Summit Series is not available online.
List of Heritage Minutes
- Agnes MacphailAgnes MacphailAgnes Campbell Macphail was the first woman to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons, and one of the first two women elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario...
demanding penal reform - Andrew Mynarski's attempt to free his friend from a bomber turret
- The development of the Avro Arrow (this Heritage Minute was made using footage from the 1996 mini-series The ArrowThe ArrowThe Arrow is a four-hour miniseries produced for CBC Television in 1996, starring Dan Aykroyd as Crawford Gordon, experienced wartime production leader during World War II and president of A. V. Roe Canada during its attempt to produce the Avro Arrow supersonic jet interceptor. The film also stars...
) - Louis-Hippolyte LafontaineLouis-Hippolyte LafontaineSir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine , 1st Baronet, KCMG was the first Canadian to become Prime Minister of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible government in Canada. He was born in Boucherville, Lower Canada in 1807...
and Robert BaldwinRobert BaldwinRobert Baldwin was born at York . He, along with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, led the first responsible ministry in Canada, regarded by some as the first truly Canadian government....
build interlingual cooperation - James NaismithJames NaismithThe first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball, the players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops,...
's invention of BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... - The BluenoseBluenoseBluenose was a Canadian fishing and racing schooner from Nova Scotia built in 1921. She was later commemorated by a replica Bluenose II built in 1963. A celebrated racing ship and hard-working fishing vessel, Bluenose became a provincial icon for Nova Scotia as well as important Canadian symbol in...
wins its last race - The art of Paul-Émile BorduasPaul-Émile BorduasPaul-Émile Borduas was a Canadian painter known for his abstract paintings. He was also an activist for the separation of church and state, especially for art, in Quebec.- Biography :...
and the Quiet RevolutionQuiet RevolutionThe Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions... - Joseph CasavantJoseph CasavantJoseph Casavant was a French Canadian manufacturer of pipe organs.Originally a blacksmith, Casavant gave up his trade at age 27 to pursue classical studies. He happened upon a 1766 treatise by Dom Bédos de Celles on organ building, called L'Art du Facteur d'Orgues, which he subsequently used to...
, world renowned organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
maker - The art of Emily CarrEmily CarrEmily Carr was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the first painters in Canada to adopt a post-impressionist painting style, Carr did not receive widespread recognition for her work until later in her life...
- Emily MurphyEmily MurphyEmily Murphy was a Canadian women's rights activist, jurist, and author. In 1916, she became the first woman magistrate in Canada, and in the British Empire...
's quest for equal rights for women - Étienne ParentÉtienne ParentÉtienne Parent was a Canadian journalist and government official.He was editor of the newspaper Le Canadien and, as such, supported French Canadian journalism and writing...
demands equality for French and English - The planning for Expo 67Expo 67The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
- MP John MathesonJohn MathesonJohn Ross Matheson, OC, CD, QC is a Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician who helped develop both the maple leaf flag and the Order of Canada.- Early life :...
looks at candidatesGreat Flag DebateThe Great Canadian Flag Debate took place in 1964 when a new design for the national flag of Canada was chosen. The flag debate began on June 15, 1964, when Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson proposed his plans for a new flag in the House of Commons. It lasted more than six months, bitterly...
for Canada's new flagFlag of CanadaThe national flag of Canada, also known as the Maple Leaf, and , is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted in Canada to replace the Union Flag... - John McCraeJohn McCraeLieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres...
pens In Flanders FieldsIn Flanders Fields"In Flanders Fields" is one of the most notable poems written during World War I, created in the form of a French rondeau. It has been called "the most popular poem" produced during that period...
(starring Colm FeoreColm FeoreColm Feore is an American-born Canadian stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Feore was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Irish parents who lived in Ireland for several years during Feore's early life. The family subsequently moved to Windsor, Ontario, where Feore grew up.After graduating...
as McCrae) - New FranceNew FranceNew France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, under the leadership of governor Louis de Buade de FrontenacLouis de Buade de FrontenacLouis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698...
, repels the British invasion of 1696 (narration was later added to this Minute in order to clarify the story) - Frontier CollegeFrontier CollegeFrontier College is a Canadian literacy organization established in 1899 by Alfred Fitzpatrick. Founded as the Reading Camp Association, Frontier College aims to combat illiteracy in Canada by providing non-formal education to those that seek assistance with their learning and have been overlooked...
educates those away from the urban centres - Englishman Archie Belaney (played by Pierce BrosnanPierce BrosnanPierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
) becomes Grey OwlGrey OwlGrey Owl was the name Archibald Belaney adopted when he took on a First Nations identity as an adult...
(Brosnan also portrayed Belaney in a film of the same nameGrey Owl (film)Grey Owl is a 1998 biopic directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Pierce Brosnan in the role of real life British schoolboy turned Indian trapper "Grey Owl," Archibald Belaney , and Annie Galipeau as his wife Anahareo. With brief appearances by Graham Greene and others. The screenplay was...
) - Vince ColemanVince Coleman (train dispatcher)P. Vincent Coleman was a train dispatcher for the Canadian Government Railways who was killed in the Halifax Explosion...
sacrifices his own life to save a train from the Halifax ExplosionHalifax ExplosionThe Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows"... - The efforts of Louis-Joseph PapineauLouis-Joseph PapineauLouis-Joseph Papineau , born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the seigneurie de la Petite-Nation. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838. His father was Joseph Papineau, also a famous politician in Quebec...
give full equality of religion to Jews in Canada - An Inuksuk is built
- Jackie RobinsonJackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
joins the Montreal RoyalsMontreal RoyalsThe Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec, that existed from 1897–1917 and from 1928–60 as a member of the International League and its progenitor, the original Eastern League... - Jacques PlanteJacques PlanteJoseph Jacques Omer Plante was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During a career lasting from 1947–1975, he was considered to be one of the most important innovators in hockey...
becomes the first NHLNational Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
goaltenderGoaltenderIn ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...
to wear a mask in regular play - Jennie Trout becomes Canada's first woman doctor
- John CabotJohn CabotJohn Cabot was an Italian navigator and explorer whose 1497 discovery of parts of North America is commonly held to have been the first European encounter with the continent of North America since the Norse Vikings in the eleventh century...
discovers the Grand BanksGrand BanksThe Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from in depth. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream here.The mixing of these waters... - John HumphreyJohn Peters HumphreyJohn Peters Humphrey, OC was a Canadian legal scholar, jurist, and human rights advocate. He is most famous as the author of the first draft of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights....
drafts the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Universal Declaration of Human RightsUniversal Declaration of Human RightsThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled... - Inventor Joseph-Armand BombardierJoseph-Armand BombardierJoseph-Armand Bombardier was a Canadian inventor and businessman, and was the founder of Bombardier...
and beginnings of his passion for engineeringEngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of... - Mary TraversLa BolducMary Rose-Anna Travers, was a French Canadian singer and musician. She was known as Madame Bolduc or La Bolduc. During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s, she was known as the Queen of Canadian Folksingers. Bolduc is often considered to be Quebec's first singer/songwriter...
becomes a famed popular singer in Quebec - Laura SecordLaura SecordLaura Ingersoll Secord was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is known for warning British forces of an impending American attack that led to the British victory at the Battle of Beaver Dams.-Early life:...
aids the British in the War of 1812War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
with an overland trek to warn of an American military advance - Thomas Wardrope EadieThomas Wardrope EadieThomas Wardrope Eadie Born in Ottawa and died at Pierrefonds Manor QC. Son of Robert and Flora President of Bell Canada from July 1, 1953 to July 31, 1963 - Thomas Eadie graduated from McGill University in 1923 and immediately signed on with The Bell Telephone Company of Canada and over the...
develops the Trans Canada MicrowaveTrans Canada MicrowaveTrans Canada Microwave or Trans-Canada Skyway was a microwave system built in the 1950s to carry telephone and TV from Canada's east coast to its west coast. Because microwaves travel in a straight line and do not follow the curvature of the Earth, towers were built every 48 kilometres. The...
network - The rehearsal for the first performance of O CanadaO CanadaIt has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
- The achievements and execution of Louis RielLouis RielLouis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....
- Surgeon Lucille Teasdale devotes her life to helping the poor in AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
- Guglielmo MarconiGuglielmo MarconiGuglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system. Marconi is often credited as the inventor of radio, and indeed he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand...
receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signals in Newfoundland - Female World War II pilot Marion OrrMarion OrrMarion Alice Orr, CM was a pioneering Canadian aviator who was the first woman to run a flying school. She served with the Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II and was awarded the Order of Canada in 1986....
- Marshall McLuhanMarshall McLuhanHerbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
coins the phrase "the medium is the messageThe medium is the message"The medium is the message" is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived.- Publications :...
" - Maurice RuddickMaurice RuddickMaurice A Ruddick was an Afro-Canadian miner and a survivor of the 1958 Springhill Mining Disaster, an underground earthquake, or "bump" as the miners call it, in the Springhill mine in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. He was chosen as Canada's "Citizen of the Year". Ruddick and six others were...
recounts the 1958 Springhill mine disasterSpringhill mining disasterThe term Springhill mining disaster can refer to any of three separate Canadian mining disasters which occurred in 1891, 1956, and 1958 in different mines within the Springhill coalfield, near the town of Springhill in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.... - The importance of midwives in early Canada
- The town of Myrnam, AlbertaMyrnam, AlbertaMyrnam is a village in east central Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately east of the capital city, Edmonton, and about east-south-east of the town of Two Hills. Its economic base is mixed farming, cattle farming, and grain farming.-History:...
forms a non-denominational hospital. - Jacques CartierJacques CartierJacques Cartier was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big...
misunderstands some Natives resulting in the name Canada - Nat TaylorNat TaylorNathan A. Taylor was a Canadian inventor. As head of Twentieth Century Theatres, an Ontario branch of Famous Players Canadian Corporation, he built one of the world's first cineplex movie theatres in Ottawa, Ontario at the Elgin Theatre. The Elgin's second screen opened in December 1947 on a patch...
invents the multiplex - Nellie McClungNellie McClungNellie McClung, born Nellie Letitia Mooney , was a Canadian feminist, politician, and social activist. She was a part of the social and moral reform movements prevalent in Western Canada in the early 1900s...
demands the right to vote in ManitobaManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other... - Jean Nicollet becomes the first European to reach Lake MichiganLake MichiganLake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
, but thinks it's the PacificPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World... - A young Chinese-Canadian risks his life helping to build the Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
- French Canadian families adopt Irish orphans in the 1850s while allowing them to keep their original names
- The surprise victory of the Paris CrewParis CrewThe Paris Crew is the name given to a quartet of Canadian sport rowers from Saint John, New Brunswick.Robert Fulton, George Price, Samuel Hutton, and Elijah Ross, along with reserve oarsman James Price, became Canada's first-ever international sporting champions when they defeated the London Rowing...
, a group of unheralded Canadian rowers, at the 1867 World Championships - GeorgesGeorges VanierMajor-General Georges-Philéas Vanier was a Canadian soldier and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 19th since Canadian Confederation....
and Pauline VanierPauline VanierThe Honourable Pauline Vanier, PC, CC, DStJ , born Pauline Archer in Montreal, married Georges Vanier on September 29, 1921. Georges would become one of Canada's first professional diplomats, Canada's first ambassador to France and Canada's first Canadian-born French-speaking Governor General of...
and their lifetimes of achievement - The formation of the Iroquois Confederacy
- Dr. Wilder PenfieldWilder PenfieldWilder Graves Penfield, OM, CC, CMG, FRS was an American born Canadian neurosurgeon. During his life he was called "the greatest living Canadian"...
makes important discoveries in neuroscienceNeuroscienceNeuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
when a patient smells burnt toast as the initial signal for an epileptic seizure, during the Montreal procedureMontreal procedureThe Montreal procedure is a surgical procedure pioneered by Dr. Wilder Penfield of Montreal, Canada, in the 1930s. It is effective in the treatment of epilepsy.... - Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United KingdomVictoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
decides to grant Canada responsible government after the crushing of the Rebellions of 1837Rebellions of 1837The Rebellions of 1837 were a pair of Canadian armed uprisings that occurred in 1837 and 1838 in response to frustrations in political reform. A key shared goal was the allowance of responsible government, which was eventually achieved in the incident's aftermath.-Rebellions:The rebellions started... - Maurice RichardMaurice RichardJoseph Henri Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, Sr., was a French-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from 1942 to 1960. The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50...
scores five goals and three assists for eight points in a single game. His explosive 18-year career made him the most exciting player of his generation and a hero to Quebeckers - Teacher Kate Henderson
Kate HendersonKate Henderson was a Canadian pioneer in education.Henderson was a teacher in a one-room school in Long Creek, Prince Edward Island in the 1880s. Around August 1885, she was contacted by PEI painter Robert Harris. Henderson told Harris of a confrontation she had had with local school trustees...
sways school trustees to embrace new methods, and the event is represented in a famous painting by Robert HarrisRobert Harris (painter)Robert Harris was a Welsh-born Canadian painter most noted for his portrait of the Fathers of Confederation.... - The 1870 fire in the SaguenaySaguenay-Lac-Saint-JeanSaguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean is a region in Quebec, Canada. It contains the Saguenay Fjord, the estuary of the Saguenay River, stretching through much of the region...
- Sir Sandford FlemingSandford FlemingSir Sandford Fleming, was a Scottish-born Canadian engineer and inventor, proposed worldwide standard time zones, designed Canada's first postage stamp, a huge body of surveying and map making, engineering much of the Intercolonial Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was a founding...
develops the system of international standard timeStandard timeStandard time is the result of synchronizing clocks in different geographical locations within a time zone to the same time rather than using the local meridian as in local mean time or solar time. Historically, this helped in the process of weather forecasting and train travel. The concept... - Sitting BullSitting BullSitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
seeks refuge in Canada (starring Graham GreeneGraham Greene (actor)Graham Greene is a Canadian actor who has worked on stage, and in film and TV productions in Canada, England and the United States.-Early life:...
as Sitting Bull) - Prairie settlers build a house of sodSod houseThe sod house or "soddy" was a corollary to the log cabin during frontier settlement of Canada and the United States. The prairie lacked standard building materials such as wood or stone; however, sod from thickly-rooted prairie grass was abundant...
- Sam SteeleSam SteeleMajor General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, CB, KCMG, MVO was a distinguished Canadian soldier and police official...
(portrayed by Alan ScarfeAlan ScarfeAlan John Scarfe is a British-born Genie Award winning Canadian actor. He is a former Associate Director of the Stratford Festival and the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool...
) of the Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceRoyal Canadian Mounted PoliceThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
bars an unruly American (portrayed by Don S. DavisDon S. DavisDon Sinclair Davis PhD was an American character actor, theatre professor, painter and captain in the United States Army.-Career:He was perhaps best known for playing General George S...
) from entering the YukonYukonYukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
with pistols, despite being threatened at gunpoint - The beginning of the Stratford Festival of CanadaStratford Festival of CanadaThe Stratford Shakespeare Festival is an internationally recognized annual celebration of theatre running from April to November in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario...
- Joe ShusterJoe ShusterJoseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
, en route to visit his cousin, Frank Shuster, creates SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective... - A First Nations family teaches early settlers how to make maple syrupMaple syrupMaple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...
- J.S. Woodsworth convinces Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie KingWilliam Lyon Mackenzie KingWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
to introduce old age pensionPensionIn general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s - Joseph Burr Tyrrell discovers a plethora of dinosaurDinosaurDinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
bones in Alberta - An African-American escapes to Canada along the Underground RailroadUnderground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
- Three men from Pine Street in WinnipegWinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
win the Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and the street's name is changed to Valour RoadValour RoadValour Road is a street in the West End of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was originally called Pine Street. In 1925, it was renamed as Valour Road in recognition of the courage of three young men who all lived on the 700 block of the street and all served in the First World War...
in their honour - L'Anse aux MeadowsL'Anse aux MeadowsL'Anse aux Meadows is an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Discovered in 1960, it is the only known site of a Norse or Viking village in Canada, and in North America outside of Greenland...
is settled by Vikings - Canadian Mennonites devise sustainable agriculture practices that aid the Third World
- The bear of Canadian soldier Harry ColebournHarry ColebournHarry Colebourn was a Canadian veterinarian and soldier with the Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps best known for donating a bear cub named "Winnie" to the London Zoo. Winnie later inspired the creation of A.A...
becomes the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh - A Native Canadian grandfather explains the significance of the Great PeaceGreat Law of PeaceGayanashagowa or the Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Six Nations is the oral constitution whereby the Iroquois Confederacy was bound together. The law was written on wampum belts, conceived by Deganwidah, known as The Great Peacemaker, and his spokesman Hiawatha...
to his granddaughter - Johnny LombardiJohnny LombardiJohnny Barbalinardo Lombardi, CM, O.Ont was a pioneer of multicultural broadcasting in Canada. He has received many decorations and honours....
entertains his comrades in the field during a respite of the World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
D-DayD-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
taking of Juno BeachJuno BeachJuno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...
by Canadian forces. - Sgt. Major John Robert OsbornJohn Robert OsbornJohn Robert Osborn, VC was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
sacrifices his life to protect his men from the Japs in the Battle of Hong KongBattle of Hong KongThe Battle of Hong Kong took place during the Pacific campaign of World War II. It began on 8 December 1941 and ended on 25 December 1941 with Hong Kong, then a Crown colony, surrendering to the Empire of Japan.-Background:...
in World War II and is posthumously granted the Victoria Cross - Mona Parsons, a partisan World War II Allied agent in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
escapes execution and later imprisonment by the Nazis and meets her future husband who confirms her nationality to Canadian forces liberating the nation - Brigadier-General Jacques DextrazeJacques DextrazeGeneral Jacques Alfred Dextraze CC, CMM, CBE, DSO & Bar, KStJ, CD was a Canadian soldier and Chief of the Defence Staff from 1972–1977.-Early life:...
resolves a hostage situation in the CongoDemocratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
with his UN Peacekeeping forces contingent. - General Arthur CurrieArthur CurrieSir Arthur William Currie GCMG, KCB , was a Canadian general during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war militia gunner before rising through the ranks to become the first Canadian commander of the four divisions of the...
prepares his Canadian forces for the successful taking of Vimy Ridge in World War I. - Returning World War II veterans successfully agitate for increasing housing assistance
- A eulogy is given for Tommy PrinceTommy PrinceThomas George "Tommy" Prince, MM was one of Canada's most decorated First Nations soldiers, serving in World War II and the Korean War.-Early life:...
, Canada’s most-decorated Aboriginal war veteran
Parodies
The Canadian sketch comedy shows This Hour Has 22 MinutesThis Hour Has 22 Minutes
This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics, combining news parody, sketch comedy and satirical editorials...
, The Rick Mercer Report, Royal Canadian Air Farce
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Air Farce Live, also credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Air Farce—Final Flight! for the final season, was a Canadian comedy series starring the comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce that previously starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997...
, and Rock et Belles Oreilles
Rock et Belles Oreilles
Rock et Belles Oreilles, often referred to as R.B.O., was a Québécois radio and television comedy group that was very popular in the essentially French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec during the 1980s. Its name was a pun on the name of the famous Hanna-Barbera blue dog character Huckleberry...
, have all parodied the Heritage Minute format in sketches, or used the format for satire. The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media specializing in comedy programming.The channel operates two time shifted feeds, East and West ....
has aired short parodies titled "Sacrilege Moments".
Canadian rapper Classified
Classified (rapper)
Luke Boyd , professionally known as Classified, is a Canadian rapper and producer from Enfield, Nova Scotia.-Career:...
parodied the Heritage Minute in his music video for the song "O Canada..." Canadian cartoonist Kate Beaton
Kate Beaton
Kate Beaton is a Canadian webcomic artist. Originally from Mabou, Cape Breton, she has a degree in history and anthropology from Mount Allison University. She began drawing comics for the university newspaper, the Argosy, during her third and fourth years at school. Previously she worked in the...
adapted the Heritage Minute format in a comic about Margaret Trudeau
Margaret Trudeau
Margaret Joan Sinclair Trudeau Kemper is the former wife of the late Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.-Early years and marriage:...
, wife of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
.