volume 4 All Original Facts Guaranteed to Satisfy Even the Biggest of Curiosities Made in Winnipeg * * * e m o c l e W 1 What do Bugs Bunny, Brad Pitt and famous spymaster Sir William Stephenson all have in common? Winnipeg – of course! Inside you’ll find out how these famous names and so many other interesting people, places and things have put Winnipeg on the map. Winnipeg is a city with a rich celebrated past filled with stories of the first settlements, the development of the historic corner of Portage and Main, and fur traders gathering at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. Today it’s a city renowned as a thriving arts, culture, business and commercial centre. Enjoy this yummy collection of more than 130 years worth of tasty tidbits. And, more importantly, get out there and discover your own fresh facts. Here are a few to get you started. 2 * * * The Royal Canadian Mint not only produces currency for Canada, but has minted more than 52 billion coins for 62 countries around the globe at a capacity of 750 coins per second and four billion coins annually. The Mint produced the world’s first coloured circulation coin – the 2004 Remembrance Day 25-cent piece featuring a red poppy on the reverse. h s e r F y t n i M The biggest gold heist in Canadian history was carried out at the Winnipeg International Airport in 1966 by the Flying Bandit, Ken Leishman – a bank robber, prison escape artist and folk hero. 3 4 Great-West Life, Canada’s largest assurance company, began in Winnipeg in 1891 and continues to be headquartered here. In 1668, the British ship “Nonsuch” was sent to Hudson Bay, establishing the fur trade, and ultimately, the Hudson’s Bay Company in Manitoba. A full-size replica of this ship can be viewed today in Winnipeg at The Manitoba Museum. Recently, teen pop sensations Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber rented the Nonsuch for a private, romantic dinner while in town. 6 5 Established in Winnipeg in 1907, Pollard Banknote has become a world leader in lottery ticket design and printing and now services more than 45 lotteries worldwide, with production exceeding 13 billion tickets and four billion pull tabs annually The Arlington Street Bridge in the heart of Winnipeg was originally built to span the Nile River in Egypt. When that project was cancelled, the local engineering firm who built the bridge used it to cross the Canadian Pacific Railway yards along Arlington Street instead. Both residents and tourists find the bridge’s steep incline, great height and the traffic light at its apex intriguing. The Second World War’s most famous spymaster, Sir William Stephenson – whose incredible story was immortalized in the best-selling book, A Man Called Intrepid – was born and raised in Winnipeg. This legend and his escapades became the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s suave spy, 007 James Bond. A statue of the super-spy – sculpted by Winnipegger Leo Mol – is on display at the headquarters of the world’s most famous spy agency – the CIA in Langley, VA. Canada’s first Coca-Cola bottling plant opened in 1905 at Dagmar Street and Bannatyne Avenue. Winnipeg was the company’s Canadian head office between 1915 and 1923 due to its central location. Winnipeg company, Asham Curling Supplies is the only company in Canada that manufactures curling shoes, which they distribute worldwide. Raber Glove Manufacturing, a Winnipeg institution since 1941, has made gloves for not only the RCMP, the Department of National Defense and the German, British and Norwegian military, but also for Jim Carrey in the movie Me, Myself and Irene. 8 7 Ken Follett, acclaimed mystery novelist, selected Winnipeg’s equally acclaimed Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health to do research for his book Whiteout – a story about the theft of a deadly virus from a high-security lab. The most Slurpee® beverages in the world are purchased in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – according to the 7-Eleven website. This distinction has been held for more than 10 years in a row. 9 Winnipeg animators Richard Condie (The Big Snit and La Salla) and Cordell Barker (The Cat Came Back) have both been nominated for Academy Awards®. 10 The Hudson’s Bay Company, the world’s oldest corporation, donated a collection of more than 10,000 precious ethnological artifacts to the Manitoba Museum. You can also find its Company Archives, stretching over 330 years, at the Archives of Manitoba. The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, the largest-ever community strike in Canada, forever placed Winnipeg at the centre of the labour movement. It forced then Mayor Charles F. Gray to enact the Riot Act. Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), headquartered in Winnipeg, is the first national aboriginal network in the world. 11 In 1950, the familiar disposable green plastic bag was invented by Harry Wasylyk, from Winnipeg, and Larry Hansen. Harry Wasylyk Garbage Bags were first intended for commercial use rather than home use. The new garbage bags were first sold to the Winnipeg General Hospital. 13 In 1912, Charles Hays, the president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad, had started construction on his grand hotel in Winnipeg – the Fort Garry Hotel. However, he never saw the completion of his hotel as he lost his life in the Titanic disaster. 14 The first retail store at the corner of Portage and Main was built by Henry McKenney in 1862. At the time, people laughed at him for opening a store so far from the river. Polo Park Shopping Centre, Winnipeg’s first – was built on the site of an old race track in 1959. Winnipeg’s Exchange District is designated as a National Historic Site by the Canadian government due to its rich collection of turn-of-the-lastcentury terracotta and stone cut buildings, unrivalled in the world. 12 Officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company brought the game of golf to Winnipeg in the early 1800s. It seems to have caught on, with more than 40 courses in the city or within an hour’s drive. A famous celebrity, who also caught the bug right here in Winnipeg, was Bob Hope. It is said that the Fort Garry Hotel is haunted by a ghostly woman in a ball-gown, a phantom diner and a mysterious ghost light that traverses the hallways of this grand hotel. 15 Carol Shields, highly-regarded author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the Stone Diaries, spent most of her productive writing years living and teaching in Winnipeg. 16 At the turn of the last century, Winnipeg had the nickname “Chicago of the North” because of the then-modern skyscrapers created in the Chicago School style of architecture. Super Sweet The Exchange District is favoured by Hollywood as a location setting for period movies, including The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, starring Brad Pitt. Other parts of the city have been locations for major motion pictures like Capote, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Shall We Dance with Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon and Richard Gere. Built in 1904, the Union Bank Tower – an 11-storey Chicago School-style building at the corner of Winnipeg’s Main Street and William Avenue – was Western Canada’s first skyscraper. 18 19 Canola is a crop prized for the edible oil it produces. It was developed by Professor Baldur Stefansson at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. 17 The inventor of the cellular telephone, Marty Cooper,comes from Winnipeg’s North End. More than half the population of the province of Manitoba lives in Winnipeg. At the time of construction in 1968, the Winnipeg Floodway was the second-largest earth-moving project in the world after the Panama Canal. It has saved the city from flooding many times since it was constructed by then Premier Duff Roblin. It is affectionately referred to as “Duff’s Ditch.” Winnipegger Charles Thorson worked as part of the design team that created Snow White – who incidentally bore a striking resemblance to his Winnipeg girlfriend – during his time at Walt Disney Studio in the 1930s. While at the Warner Brothers Animation “factory,” he created the name and prototype of the infamous cartoon character, Bugs Bunny. 20 The Countess of Dufferin was the first railway engine to operate in Manitoba. It was brought to Winnipeg aboard a steamer down the Red River in 1877. It can currently be seen at the Winnipeg Railway Museum at Union Station. The first CPR transcontinental train arrived in Winnipeg on July 1, 1886. Manitoba Tyndall stone has a distinctive mottled pattern in the stone that is unique to Manitoba. This beautiful building stone has been used on the exteriors of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, The Manitoba Museum, the Centennial Concert Hall, the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, ON. In 2011, The Forks was selected Best Public Space in the Great Places in Canada contest organized by the Canadian Institute of Planners. The Forks was selected from a pool of more than 6,000 nominations. y t s a t mmm * * * 21 In 1931, Ralph Erwin opened the first restaurant to sell burgers in Manitoba. Not liking the name “hamburger”, he named his a “Nip.” More than 75 years later, Salisbury House (“Sals” as it is known locally) is again Winnipeg owned by a group of business partners that includes rock legend Burton Cummings. Heavy! 22 Opened in 1928, Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, then called Stephenson Field, was the first international airport in Canada. The 17,000 cu/m of concrete used in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights would have an approximate mass of 35,000 tonnes, equivalent to around 3,000 full-grown male elephants. This also amounts to the approximate volume of 2,125 loads from a standard 10-yard cement truck. The largest collection of Ukrainian-language books outside the Ukraine is housed in the Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre in Winnipeg. 23 Winnipeg was the first city in Canada to establish a United Way charity. Pine Street – in Winnipeg’s West End – was home to three WWI soldiers who received the Victoria Cross for their bravery in battle. The street was renamed Valour Road in honour of these three courageous citizens. Canada’s first monument dedicated to women who served in World War II, the Women’s Tri-Service Monument, is located in Winnipeg’s Memorial Park. Westview Park, affectionately known as “Garbage Hill,” in Winnipeg’s West End, was originally nicknamed “Lil’s Hill” after Lillian Hallonquist, an alderperson and the chair of the committee charged with finding a solution to the half a century of accumulated trash that made up “Garbage Hill” by 1948. Winnipeg lawyer and politician, Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, was a chess prodigy at age 11 and eight-time Canadian champion. He became Canada’s first chess grandmaster in 1964. The Assiniboine Forest, 287 hectares of aspen parkland, is one of the largest urban forest parks in Canada. Winnipeg is situated on the fertile deposits of a prehistoric lake, Lake Agassiz. The motion picture theatre business began in Winnipeg in 1899 when John A. Schuberg, whose stage name was Johnny Nash, showed a short film on the Spanish-American War in a canvas tent on a vacant lot on Main Street. 24 Guy Madden, a Winnipeg avant-garde filmmaker produced, among many others, The Saddest Music in the World with Isabella Rossellini, and the awardwinning My Winnipeg – a docu-fantasy detailing Madden’s hometown. Winnipeg-born Deanna Durbin was the most highly paid Hollywood star of the early 1940s. Winston Churchill and Ann Frank were dedicated fans of the very popular singer/actor. 25 26 The Smothers Brothers Show, the most successful comedy show of the 1960s, and the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, the 1970s popular TV program, were both produced by Winnipeg-born Allan Blye. The Winnipeg Foundation was established in 1921 with a donation from William Forbes Alloway, making it the first community foundation in the country. Today, it is the second largest community foundation in Canada and has distributed more than $175 million to charitable organizations in Winnipeg. William Alloway, the founder of the Winnipeg Foundation, had a younger brother, Charles, who is credited with saving the bison from extinction with his 13 “pet” purebreds. Tommy Douglas – born in Scotland but raised in Winnipeg – is regarded by the CBC-supporting public as the “Greatest Canadian of All Time” and is generally recognized as the “Father of Medicare” in this country. 27 28 A meticulously detailed world-class sculpture plaza and an expansive modern 8,500 sq. ft. bowl complex make up The Plaza at The Forks, Canada’s best and largest skate park integrated into the context of urban downtown Winnipeg. 29 Winnipeg was the first city in the world to develop the 911 emergency phone number. Winnipeg-born Clara Hughes, a cycling and speed skating Olympic competitor, made history by becoming the only athlete in history to earn multiple medals in both the summer and winter Olympics. 30 Winnipeg’s contribution to popular music is legendary and includes star musicians Neil Young, The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Weakerthans, Fresh I.E., Eagle & Hawk, the Crash Test Dummies, The Watchmen, Chantal Kreviazuk, McMaster and James, Remy Shand, Bif Naked and Nathan. 31 Winnipeg-born magician Dean Gunnarson holds two Guinness world records for escaping from handcuffs, chains and a straitjacket. 32 The University of Winnipeg’s women’s basketball team has the distinction of tying the North American record for most wins. Winnipeg hockey teams have won two Olympic gold medals, three Avco Cups (WHA) and three Stanley Cups (pre-NHL). The Winnipeg Falcons were the first Olympic hockey gold medalists in 1920. Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada’s oldest dance company and among the oldest in North America. It was granted the “Royal” title in 1953 by the Queen of England – the first such distinction awarded in the world. 33 Winnipeg’s motto since 1972 has been “Unum Cum Virtute Multorum” meaning “One with the strength of many.” Two thoughts lie behind this motto: firstly, Winnipeg is one city made up of people from many races; secondly, it is one city formed from many cities. The Golden Boy, a magnificently gilded four-metre (13.5-foot) figure, is probably Manitoba’s best-known symbol. Embodying the spirit of enterprise, the bronze statue is poised atop the dome of the Legislative Building facing north, towards Manitoba’s rich mineral resources, fish, forest, furs, water power and seaport. 34 The Golden Boy’s official name is Eternal Youth. Winnipeggers nicknamed him the Golden Boy because of the sunlight that reflects off of this gold-covered bronze statue. Lionel Lemoine FitzGerald was a Winnipeg painter who became the only western member of Canada’s famous Group of Seven. These artists heavily influenced Canadian art and Canadians’ impression of their country. The Golden Boy spent the First World War in the hold of a troop ship acting as ballast. The Golden Boy criss-crossed the Atlantic Ocean after the French foundry that cast it was bombed. The University of Winnipeg women’s volleyball team broke the world record for number of consecutive wins with 123. This shattered the record previously held by a men’s team at UCLA. 35 The first million-dollar hockey player was the “Golden Jet,” Bobby Hull. He played for the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association and received his cheque in 1972 at a public celebration at Portage and Main. In 1991, Folklorama achieved the Guinness record for the longest conga line in Canada with 1,003 dancers. Scouts from Walt Disney World come to Folklorama regularly to book entertainment for Epcot Centre performances. 37 Billy Mosienko was born in Winnipeg and played for the Chicago Blackhawks. He scored three goals within 21 seconds against the New York Rangers on March 23, 1952 – an unbeaten record. 36 Held in Winnipeg each August since 1969, Folklorama is North America’s largest and longest-running multicultural festival, featuring pavilions celebrating 40-plus ethnic cultures. The World Tourism Organization voted Folklorama the festival that best depicts Canadian culture. Winnipeg’s Union Station was designed by the same architects responsible for Grand Central Station in New York City. 38 The Pan American Games, which are second in scale only to the summer Olympics, have been held twice in Canada – both times (1967 and 1999) in Winnipeg. 39 The Winnipeg Folk Festival was established in 1974. Originally planned to be a one-time event to celebrate Winnipeg’s centennial, this annual event is one of the oldest and largest folk festivals in the world. In 1970, American Woman topped international music charts and was the number one selling single in the world. Winnipeg rock ’n’ rollers The Guess Who, who penned the tune, went on to become one of Canada’s largest cultural exports. That year, they sold more albums than any other band in the world including The Beatles and The Doors. 41 40 Winnipeg’s river boats were the first in Canada to hire female captains. The Leo Mol Sculpture Garden is one of the few sculpture gardens in the world featuring the work of a single artist. Ukrainian sculptor Leo Mol – who resided in Winnipeg – is acclaimed worldwide, and his works grace sites around the world, including the Vatican. 43 44 The word Winnipeg means “muddy water” in Cree and the city was established at the junction of the Red and the Assiniboine rivers – The Forks – a meeting place for more than 6,000 years. 42 More than 30 major bridges provide access over the 100 kilometres of navigable waterways and railway tracks in the city. Some of Winnipeg’s film talent includes: Nia Vardalos, whose movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding was one of the highest-grossing independent movies of all time and Academy Award®-winning actor Anna Paquin, seen in The Piano, X-Men and Almost Famous. 46 Located in the natural setting of Kildonan Park, Rainbow Stage is Canada’s oldest outdoor musical theatre, providing more than 50 years of beloved musicals. In 2001, at five years of age, Winnipegger Hannah Taylor became concerned when she saw a man eat food from a garbage can. What happened next was a conversation with her mother, the rest of her family, school and community that eventually turned into the Ladybug Foundation – a charitable organization that has raised more than $2 million dollars for Canada’s homeless. In 1914, a First World War Winnipeg Captain, Harry Colebourn, took a black bear cub to England as his regiment’s mascot. When Colebourn shipped out for France he donated the bear, named Winnie after his hometown, to the London Zoo. Author A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin loved “Winnie the Pooh” and Milne crafted the muchadored stories about his boy and the bear that we still enjoy today. 45 The University of Manitoba was incorporated in 1877 as the first university in the west. In 1880, the first graduating class had one person in it. Doug Henning – born and raised in Winnipeg – was an entertainment icon with long hair and rock music accompaniment in the 1970s and ’80s. He revolutionized magic and illusion on TV specials, influencing upcoming magicians like Brian Glow and Dean Gunnarson. His hands were insured for $3 million by Lloyds of London. ! y t s e z y “Riel ”l The St. Boniface Museum – originally built for the Grey Nuns – is the oldest building in Winnipeg and the largest oak log structure in North America. 48 Métis leader Louis Riel was hanged in 1885 for treason after leading the North-West Rebellion. Today, that opinion has changed and many consider this man to be the “Father of Manitoba.” 47 In 1862, the bells of the old St. Boniface Cathedral were shipped across the ocean to England for reconditioning. Coming home, a storm blew the ship off course and the bells ended up in St. Paul, Minnesota. It would have been too expensive to bring the bells back to Winnipeg via Red River Cart, so they were transported by ship back to England and returned to Winnipeg through Hudson Bay. That’s cool! The earliest known inhabitants of the Winnipeg area were nomadic Aboriginal peoples from three tribes: the Cree, the Assiniboine and the Ojibwa. Festival du Voyageur is the largest winter festival in western Canada. Giant snow sculptures, ice climbing, French cuisine, music, dance and revelry take place at Voyageur Park surrounding Fort Gibraltar every February. 49 The Winnipeg Art Gallery has the world’s largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art, including over 10,800 works of sculpture, prints, drawings and textiles. 50 Prairie Theatre Exchange is the only live theatre in the world that is located in a shopping centre. 51 The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the first national museum outside of the capital region and the first new national museum in over 40 years, is being built at The Forks in downtown Winnipeg. Winnipeg’s french theatre company, Le Cercle Molière, is Canada’s oldest continuously operating French theatre. Winnipeg-born author Gabrielle Roy was arguably the best French writer in Canada. She is most famous for writing The Tin Flute, which won the Prix Fèmina in France and the Literary Guild award for North America. 52 The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre is Canada’s first English language regional theatre and the country’s best attended. It operates a Mainstage series, the MTC Warehouse, the 20th Century Master Playwright Festival, and the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival. The latter is North America’s second-largest. Pantages Theatre, built in 1913-14, hosted vaudeville performances by Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers. Tickets cost 10¢, 15¢ or 25¢ for an exclusive box seat. It was the first air-conditioned building in Winnipeg. Huge pieces of ice were placed in the basement and large fans were used to blow air over the ice and cool the patrons. In 2000, the only known painting of “Winnie the Pooh” by the original illustrator E.H. Shepard was purchased for $285,000 CDN from Sotheby’s auction house in London, England. It is on public display at the Pavilion Gallery Museum in Assiniboine Park. Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers are one of Canada’s oldest professional modern repertoire dance companies. Photo Credits 20. The Forks harbour, Marion Ridsdale 1. 21. Salisbury House, Salisbury House Restaurants of Canada Limited Portage and Main, grajewski fotograph inc. 2.Esplanade Riel Pedestrian Bridge, Dan Harper 3. The Royal Canadian Mint, Kevin Wolk 4. Ken Leishman, www.history.ca 5. Arlington Bridge, Brent Bellamy 6. Replica of the Nonsuch, The Manitoba Museum 7.Sir William Stephenson, Syd Davy/Intrepid Society of Manitoba 8. Ken Follett, www.ken-follett.com 9.The Cat Came Back, directed by Cordell Barker, © 1988, National Film Board of Canada 10.The Big Snit, produced by Richard Condie, © 1985, National Film Board of Canada 11.1919 Winnipeg General Strike, Western Canada Pictorial Index Inc. 12.Hudson Bay Company gallery, The Manitoba Museum 13. Photo, courtesy of APTN 14. The Fort Garry Hotel, Guppy Graphic Design 15. The Titanic, www.students.umf.maine.edu 16. The Exchange District, Brent Bellamy 17.Ceremonial opening of the construction of the Winnipeg Floodway, 1962, Western Canada Pictorial Index Inc. 18. Winnipeg Art Gallery, Ernest P. Mayer 19. Canola Field, www.canola-council.org 22.Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, Keith Levit Photography 36.Bobby Hull and Winnipeg Jets owner Ben Hatskin, 1978, Western Canada Pictorial Index Inc. 37. Billy Mosienko mural, J.B. Junson 38. Folklorama Philippine pavilion, Folklorama Festival 23. United Way Logo, www. unitedwaywinnipeg.mb.ca 39. Union Station, 1913, Western Canada Pictorial Index Inc. 24. Guy Madden’s My Winnipeg, www.imdb.com 40. Winnipeg Folk Festival, Brian Goldschmeid 25.Deanna Durbin, 1938, Western Canada Pictorial Index Inc. 41. Patrolling The Forks, Anthony Fernando 26. Allan Blye, 1970, Western Canada Pictorial Index Inc. 27.William Alloway, 1920, Western Canada Pictorial Index Inc. 28. Tommy Douglas, Douglas Coldwell Foundation 42. The Forks, The Forks North Portage Development Corp. 43. Leo Mol Sculpture Garden, Marion Ridsdale Photography 44. Statue of Harry Colebourn and “Winnie” the black bear, Travel Manitoba 29.The Plaza at The Forks, The Forks North Portage Development Corp. 45. St. John’s College, University of Manitoba, © Winnipeg Free Press (2004), reprinted with permission 30. Olympian Clara Hughes, news.xinhuanet.com 46. The Wizard of Oz at Rainbow Stage, Robert Tinker 31.The Guess Who, 1968 in Assiniboine Park, Western Canada Pictorial Index Inc. 47. Sculpture of Louis Riel, Gord Peters 32. The Weakerthans, Shawn Scallen 49. St. Boniface Basilica, Marion Ridsdale Photography 33.RWB’s Production of Serenade, Company, David Cooper 34.L.L. FitzGerald, Potato Patch, Snowflake, 1925. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Gift of Dr. Bernhard Fast. G-98-279, Ernest P. Mayer 35.Golden Boy, © Winnipeg Free Press (2004), reprinted with permission 48. St. Boniface Museum, 1958, Western Canada Pictorial Index Inc. 50. Inuit installation, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Ernest P. Mayer 51. Canadian Museum for Human Rights Rendering Canadian Museum for Human Rights 52. Pantages Playhouse Theatre, Pantages Playhouse Theatre It’s a fact. 300-259 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3B 2A9 Canada 204.954.1997 [email protected] www.economicdevelopmentwinnipeg.com
© Copyright 2026 Paperzz