From the luster of Yaletown's glass towers to the blink and buzz of neon on Granville on Hastings, Vancouver's story is fairly new however there's still quite a bit of history to be told about this 124-year old city.
For my first contribution to Vancouver was Awesome I knew I had to come up with something remarkable about the city -- not just my usual 'where street names come from' type of post. After a bit of research and with the help of my favourite local history site, VancouverHistory.ca, I found a few ground-breaking "firsts" that all happened right here in town.
- 1907 - The first gas station in Canada opened up in Vancouver at Cambie and Smithe
- 1908 - Canada's first motion picture theatre opened in Vancouver, on Cordova Street
- 1911 - The world’s largest artificial ice rink (Denman Arena) opened in Vancouver
- 1912 - Vancouver was the first city in Canada to hire female police officers
(thanks to the Police Museum for the tip)
- 1912 - Denman Arena is then home of the first professional hockey game every played in Vancouver
- 1928 - Vancouver's first traffic light was installed at Main and Hastings
- 1956 - Canada's first baby penguin was born at the Stanley Park Zoo
- 1959 – Dr Harold Rice at St Paul’s Hospital built Canada’s first heart-lung machine
- 1963 - Canada's first Creative Writing department was founded at UBC
- 1965 - Canada's new flag was hoisted at Vancouver City Hall for its first appearance anywhere in the country
- 1974 - The Dover Arms opened up and was Vancouver's first neighbourhood pub
With a landmark event in 2010 and the celebration of its 125th birthday in 2011, Vancouver's awesome history continues to be written.
Rebecca Bollwitt is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Miss604.com
