Back on June 28, 2004 I began a series of mini-articles for The Vancouver Sun. Every other Monday, on Page B3, alternating with Red Robinson, I write 200 words on an event in the region's past that occurred on the same day as the article appears. For example, on March 14 of this year I did an item about the opening of Vancouver's main post office on March 14, 1958.

What appears below is that collection of articles. At about 200 words each they're not going to give you the whole story, but you may find them interesting.

June 28, 1971
34 Years Ago Today

The old Georgia Viaduct, which had been dropping chunks of concrete onto the roadway below for much of its 56 years, was finally demolished to be replaced by the present viaduct. The one you drive over today opened June 28, 1971—33 years ago today—in a ceremony presided over by Vancouver mayor Tom Campbell. Its Dunsmuir twin opened the following November. Cost for the two: $11 million.

Curiously, the old viaduct—opened July 1, 1915 to extend Georgia Street over the CPR's Beatty Street yards—was named the Hart McHarg Bridge for a First World War hero, but the name never caught on. During the Depression, the viaduct provided some shelter from the elements for large “hobo jungles” beneath.

July 5, 1981
23 Years Ago Today

The Devonshire Hotel opened at the northeast corner of Georgia and Hornby Streets in 1925. It took two years to put the building up. It took 6.5 seconds to bring it down.

On Sunday morning, July 5, 1981—23 years ago today—hundreds of people crowded (prudently distant) onto adjacent streets and waited for Arrow Demolition's big bang. The windows of nearby buildings, including the Vancouver and Georgia Hotels, were jammed with onlookers. At 7:05 a.m. Chris Charles, the wife of Arrow's Brian Charles, pushed a delicate finger down on a button and, with a muffled crack from a hundred kilos of dynamite, the hotel's central elevator shaft began to collapse. The rest of the seven-storey building fell inward, the moment captured by Sun photographer (Ken Oakes).A vast cloud of white dust rose up as the crowd cheered.

Not long after the dust settled, work began on building the HSBC Bank Canada building.

July 12, 1979
25 Years Ago Today

The headline on Nicole Parton's July 11, 1979 column in the Sun: The odds against Granville Island's market are large.

But, to give Nicole her due, she wanted the market to succeed. It has. Some 10.5 million people visit every year now, and a big chunk of them go to the market. They're having an anniversary celebration this morning, starting at 10:30. (Music, balloons, speeches.) The market opened July 12, 1979—25 years ago today—and caught on fast. Denny Boyd raved about it in his column the day after the opening. AI want to be able to poke a red snapper in the gills. I want to hear a good trumpet player blow a couple of choruses of Yellow Dog Blues while I'm looking at the scallions. Dammit, I want to buy a warm cookie.”

When you visit the market today you're in a building erected by the Island's very first tenant (1916), B.C. Equipment Ltd.

July 19, 1937
67 Years Ago Today

Canadians tend to take longer to warm to new-fangled stuff, so it's no surprise that sliced bread, which had been available in some US cities for a few years, didn't get to us until July 19, 1937. We know who developed it: he was an Ohio jeweler named Otto Rohwedder, and he worked for 13 years on perfecting his machine. Bakers told him to forget it, because sliced bread would get stale faster. So Rohwedder went back to his drawing board and developed a machine that first sliced bread, then wrapped it.

Sliced bread gave a big boost to the sale of the electric toaster, too.

1937 also brought us the shopping cart and Kraft Dinner. All in all, a momentous year.

Hmm. The Pattullo Bridge opened in November, 1937. One wonders if they announced it as "The greatest thing since . . .”

July 26, 1923
81 Years Ago Today

Why is there such a grand monument in Stanley Park to U.S. President Warren G. Harding, often cited by American historians as the country's worst-ever president? Two reasons. The first is that he was the first incumbent American president to visit Canada, and he chose Vancouver. More than 50,000 of us crowded into the park to hear him speak, thrilled that such an important figure was visiting. It was July 26, 1923, exactly 81 years ago today.

The second reason is that Harding died in San Francisco just seven days after visiting us, and a shocked Vancouver public wished to commemorate his visit. Harding belonged to the Kiwanis Club, and so did Vancouver sculptor Charles Marega, which didn't hurt. Marega's handsome sculpture stands on the spot where Harding spoke.

Because his administration was noted for its corruption, lots of theories about Harding's sudden death popped up: he committed suicide, he was poisoned by his wife for his philandering, he was poisoned by fellow Republicans to rid them of an embarrassment, etc., etc.

Harding's doctor was quite clear: the president had long suffered from high blood pressure and a heart attack was the cause of death.

August 2, 1985
19 Years Ago Today

During World War One, 196 Japanese-Canadians volunteered to fight for Canada. At Vimy Ridge, fought over four days in April, 1917, one of them, Sergeant Masumi Mitsui of Port Coquitlam, led his troop into battle with such distinction that he was awarded the Military Medal for Bravery. Of those 196 volunteers, 145 were killed or wounded. That remarkable Japanese-Canadian contribution was honored by the construction in 1920 in Stanley Park of a striking monument, surrounded by cherry trees, with an electric flame that was to burn forever.

But the flame was switched off shortly after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. It would stay off for more than 40 years. Like so many others, Masumi Mitsui and his family had been forced from their home during the Second World War and scattered in internment camps across the country. Their farm, their house and all its contents were confiscated. He was so enraged he threw his medals down, onto the desk of the confiscating officer.

But time healed this wound: on August 2, 1985—19 years ago today—Sgt. Mitsui, now 98, one of two surviving Japanese-Canadian soldiers who had served Canada so bravely, was brought in to turn the light on again.

Mr. Mitsui died in 1987, five months short of his 100th birthday.

August 9, 1942
62 Years Ago Today

Even for Shaughnessy, Hycroft was something special. The papers reported that A.D. McRae, president of the Fraser River Lumber Co., was spending $100,000 to build the mansion. In 1909 that was a huge amount. For $1,000 you could buy a modest new home, and $3,500 got you very fancy digs.

What the McRaes got was a 30-room home (11 of them bedrooms), a coach house, stables, a swimming pool, an Italian garden and more, all on 5.2 acres. By 1911 Hycroft was the social centre of the city, often hosting visiting royalty.

But after more than 30 years in the house, with rising costs and the Second World War making hiring of staff difficult, on August 9, 1942—62 years ago today—the McRaes sold Hycroft to a grateful federal government for $1. Shaughnessy Military Hospital was full to bursting with convalescent soldiers and Hycroft was put to immediate use to handle the overflow.

It served as an auxiliary to the hospital for 18 years. Then a new wing was added to Shaughnessy and Hycroft was emptied.

It sat empty for two years, then the University Women's Club bought it, and they've occupied it ever since. Incidentally, women were not allowed to hold mortgages in their own right at the time and so the club was required to pay in full. It took them a year to raise the money.

August 16, 1910
94 years ago today

Vancouver had—literally—never seen anything like it. The first Vancouver Exhibition drew big crowds, partly because the official opening August 16, 1910—exactly 94 years ago today—was presided over by Canada's prime minister Wilfrid Laurier. (The Asoft” opening had been the day before.) Laurier had come all the way from Ottawa to open the fair, and 5,000 of us showed up to see him from a population about one-twelfth of what it is today.

That 50-cent admission was fairly hefty at a time when the average weekly wage for a Canadian production worker was about $9.50.

But you got to see a lot of neat stuff. Like the Stove Hall, featuring “a good collection of stoves and ranges, together with various novelties and appliances which will appeal to the housewife.” The Machinery Hall was an attraction, so were the Industrial Hall, the Poultry House, King Dog (where dogs of all kinds were on display) along with "Numerous barns and stables,” food booths and Skid Road.

That last isn't described, but a reporter there wrote this: “Upon the Skid Road it is noticeable that the objectionable features frequently to be met with at similar fairs are entirely absent, and there appears to be nothing to which the most fastidious taste could take exception.”

August 23, 1972
32 Years Ago Today

At 9:58 in pitch-black darkness on Tuesday night, August 22, 1972 a nurse named Fran Cannon, 30, stepped into the waters of Georgia Strait at Neck Point, just north of Nanaimo. Waiting for her just offshore was the Charlotte Strait, a tug owned by Rivtow Straits, and a smaller boat aboard which was Fran's husband, Dennis.

The Charlotte Strait, with its two skippers, Joe Gosse and John Cosulich, and its smaller companion fell into place beside Fran as she began to swim strongly to the northeast. Her destination was Davis Bay at Sechelt, more than 25 kilometres distant. It was so dark the little crew had to shine flashlights on Fran to locate her in the waters of the Strait, which now began to chop slightly in 15-knot winds from the southeast. “We'd hoped for winds from the west,” Fran says, “to help push me along, but I was never in trouble. No cramps or anything. I stopped in the water and rested every hour or so, and they fed me Sustagen [a fortified milk product] from a cup held out at the end of a broom handle.”

At 1:05 on Wednesday afternoon, August 23—exactly 32 years ago today—Fran stepped ashore at Davis Bay, almost exactly 15 hours after she'd started.

Why'd she do it? “Dennis and I had a friend, Mike Powley, who was the first man to swim the Strait. That was in August of 1967. I just wanted to be the first woman to do it.”

Fran and Dennis Cannon live on Bowen Island today.

August 30, 1953
51 Years Ago Today

Vancouver's Doug Hepburn was relatively small in the world of heavyweight weight-lifters—only 5'9" (1.75 m) and weighing just 280 pounds (127 kg). Hossein Rezazadeh, for example, who just won gold at the Olympics, weighs 323+ pounds (147 kg).

But on August 30, 1953—exactly 51 years ago today—Hepburn, 26, won the world heavyweight weight-lifting championship in Stockholm. He was the only Canadian entry, and he did us proud, breaking the world record for the press. (A “press” is a lift in which the bar is brought to the shoulders, then after a pause is lifted overhead using only the arms.)

Hepburn's three lifts (the press, the snatch and the jerk) totalled 1,030.25 pounds (467 kilos), and brought him the title of World's Strongest Man, a triumph for a guy who had to wear corrective footwear for a deformed foot, and who was teased cruelly as a kid because of his limping gait and his crossed eyes.

Surgery fixed the eye problem, his prodigious discipline in training and his immense strength stopped the taunting.

Hepburn died November 22, 2000.

September 6, 1921
83 Years Ago Today

We can thank a former Victoria mayor and an American railroad man for the International Peace Arch that straddles the Canada-US border at the Douglas crossing. Alfred Todd had been mayor of Victoria from 1917 to 1920, and in that latter year he and his wife Ada went on a motoring trip down to Mexico. Roads were terrible, and Todd determined to work for better ones. Enter Sam Hill, a Seattle philanthropist who had also decided that what America needed was paved roads. He joined forces with Todd, who was now president of the Pacific Highway Association, to promote construction of a paved highway from Vancouver to Tijuana, Mexico. It was Todd who suggested that at the point where that highway crossed the Canada/US border a monument to peace should be erected, a celebration of the century of peace between the two countries.

Enthusiasm for the Arch was immediate. One example: More than 3,000 sacks of concrete used in its construction were donated by R.P. Butchart of Victoria's Butchart's Gardens.

The Arch was dedicated before a vast crowd September 6, 1921—exactly 83 years ago today. BC's premier John Oliver attended, coming from Victoria in a boat and anchoring at Blaine with nearly 400 other people. Victoria's 72nd Seaforth Highlanders band played the US national anthem and the Bellingham Elks band played God Save the King.

One inscription on the Arch reads “May These Gates Never Be Closed.” It hasn't happened yet.

September 13, 1947
57 Years Ago Today

On Saturday, September 13, 1947—57 years ago today—the Sun reported that the City of Vancouver had conducted a survey and discovered that more than 18,500 automobiles were driven in downtown Vancouver every day, “And there would be more than that if there was sufficient parking space.”

The survey determined that 6,000 of those drivers used their cars for transportation to work in the downtown. “Another 12,500 persons drive down for shopping, business calls and sales calls.”

Today? Jason Lam of the City's Traffic Engineering Department has figures that show—for 2003, latest available—that an average of 273,410 vehicles enter downtown every day, nearly 15 times the 1947 total.

But that 1947 survey covered more than traffic. It also revealed that the average shopper would be willing to pay 10 cents an hour for parking, 15 cents for two hours “And 35 cents for all-day accommodation.”

We had parking meters back then, and the rate was five cents for an hour. (And the average wage was about $175 a month.)

September 20, 1954
50 Years Ago Today

A lot of well-known local newspaper people worked for the News-Herald in its 24 years of life: Pierre Berton (its first city editor, at age 21), Barry Broadfoot, Himie Koshevoy and Clancy Loranger, to name a few.

Most of the early staff were people who'd worked for the Star and lost their jobs when its publisher killed that paper in early 1932 after the printers refused to take a pay cut. (The Great Depression was in full flower at the time.) There were no jobs at the Sun or the Province, so they decided to start their own paper.

Editor Pat Kelly: “Everybody kept telling us what we were already pretty sure of—that it would require about half-a-million dollars to carry out our plan. In the winter of 1932 they might just as well have made it a billion.” But some of the editorial staff canvassed local business people and astonished themselves by securing signed pledges totalling $5,000. That was $495,000 short of the ideal, but they started anyway.

From its first four-page issue April 24, 1933 the paper struggled. Reporters sat on orange crates and two or three would share one typewriter. The second-hand press quit, and the first issue had to be cranked out manually. The staff used their pocket combs to fold the sheets. They rented a tiny building at 426 Homer Street, and knocked a hole in its wall to get to the typographical shop next door.

The News-Herald had two big competitors, both evening papers: The Province, with a circulation at the time of more than 90,000 and the Sun, circulation somewhere around 65,000. The newcomer started with a circulation of 10,000 and took 14 years to get up to 40,000+.

On September 20, 1954—50 years ago today—the paper shortened its name to the Herald and moved into a new, larger building on Georgia Street. Then newspaper magnate Roy Thomson bought the paper and, in less than three years, citing expenses, shut her down.

Last issue: June 15, 1957.

September 27, 1979
25 Years Ago Today

It's possible that Foncie photographed more people than anybody else in the world. In 1934 20-year-old Foncie Pulice (he pronounced it “police”) set up a camera on the sidewalk on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver and began taking pictures of passersby. He wasn't the only one doing this at the time. Sidewalk photographers were taking candid shots of individuals, couples and family and other groups walking by in most major Canadian cities. They'd hand them a numbered ticket with an invitation to drop by their shop later to buy a copy of the picture. What made Pulice unique in the trade is the length of time he kept at it: 45 years. For the last 33 years of his career he used the same camera: His Electric-Photo camera—now preserved at the Vancouver Museum—was as familiar a local landmark as the Marine Building. And he took a lot of photos. “At one time,” he once said, AI was taking 4,000 to 5,000 pictures every day.”

All across Canada and in other countries there are thousands and thousands of Foncie's Fotos, showing thousands and thousands of people striding along the street, captured in motion in unposed moments that may be closer to the spirit of the people shown than any carefully composed studio portrait.

The late Foncie Pulice was the last of the street photographers. He took his first street photo in 1934. He took his last on September 27, 1979, exactly 25 years ago today.

October 4, 1983
21 Years Ago Today

In 1969 Fred Hill, a linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles, and his wife Fran were told their three-year-old daughter Kimberly had leukemia. Hill and his wife Fran took Kim to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. For the next few months they slept in chairs in Kim's room, ate out of vending machines and tried not to show sadness in front of her. Hill talked to his teammates and asked for help in raising funds, not just for Kim but for all kids whose parents needed help.

Out of that painful experience came the idea for Ronald McDonald House. (The McDonald's Restaurants franchise owners in Philadelphia got behind the idea in a big way.)

There are more than 250 of these houses now. They're described as homes-away-from-home for families with children undergoing life-saving treatments at nearby hospitals. Locally owned and controlled, and supported by donations, they offer the children and their families a place to stay at a nominal overnight fee.

Vancouver's opened at 4116 Angus Drive in Shaughnessy on October 4, 1983, exactly 21 years ago today. The three-storey renovated house has 15 bedrooms, a playroom and more. The house is on a beautiful piece of land about 15 minutes from the Children's Hospital. Find out more at www.ronaldmcdonaldhousebc.com.

October 11, 1899
105 Years Ago Today

On October 11, 1899—105 years ago today—the British and the Dutch (called Boers) in South Africa began a war for control over the gold-rich territories in southern Africa. The British Empire got involved with a fervor hard to understand today. About 60 men from all around B.C. joined up to go over, Abut,” said one Vancouver volunteer, Awe were so crazy to join up it should have been 6,000.” Maybe it was because this was Canada's first war.

Small contingents from Victoria and New Westminster assembled with the 17 Vancouver volunteers at the Drill Hall on Pender Street. (The Shelly Building at 119 W. Pender at Beatty, across the street from the Old Sun Tower, stands on that site today and has a commemorative plaque in the lobby.) Mayor James Garden gave each Vancouver man $25 on behalf of the citizens, and off they marched to the CPR station to join up with the Canadian contingent at Quebec City.

The Brits thought the war would be a short one, but the Boers (“Farmers”) proved to be a tough bunch. It took three years to beat them. A victory at Ladysmith was so enthusiastically received here that mining magnate James Dunsmuir, who learned of it while standing above Oyster Bay on Vancouver Island contemplating plans to create a new town, named it Ladysmith.

Of the 60 men who went from BC to the war, one did not return: Trooper Timlick, of New Westminster.

October 18, 1934
70 Years Ago Today

If you were a rabid baseball fan waiting at the CPR station in Vancouver October 18, 1934C70 years ago today—you might have had trouble breathing. Stepping down from the train that day were Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Charlie Gehringer, Heinie Manush, Lefty O'Doul, manager Connie Mack and more than a dozen other superstars of the game. They'd come to play an exhibition game at Athletic Park, which stood at West 6th and Hemlock.

The Babe's team was called “Babe Ruth's All Americans,” and they would play the “American League All-Stars.” (Off-season barnstorming like this of squads made up of players from various teams was eventually stopped.)

Three thousand fans showed up the next day in pelting rain that lasted the whole game, with the field ankle-deep in mud, but the players—the Babe included—stayed, and so did the crowd. Said Lefty O'Doul in the dugout, “Say, this is some baseball town, isn't it? Back in Portland there weren't five hundred out and on a bright and sunny day.”

Ruth, who had hit 60 home runs for the Yankees a couple of years earlier, told the Sun's Hal Straight that nobody would ever hit 60 again.

October 25, 1954
50 Years Ago Today

A fire that heavily damaged UBC's Brock Hall October 25, 1954—50 years ago today—sparked agitation for a metropolitan fire department, one that would coordinate fire-fighting services for the whole lower mainland.

It took three hours for the university's fire brigade and five trucks from Vancouver to quell the blaze. Before the fire forced them out and the roof collapsed, students swarmed into the building to haul out whatever they could. Dick Underhill (now running a law office on Bowen Island) was president then of the Alma Mater Society, which had its offices in the building. “We were actually having a meeting at the time,” he recalls, “And everyone pitched in to save things. There were some valuable paintings by BC Binning that we rescued, and I recall dashing into the AMS office to save some of the Society's records. Then all we could do was stand outside and watch the fire burning merrily.”

Brock Memorial Hall, opened January 31, 1940, was named for Geological Engineering Dean R.W. Brock and his wife, both killed in a float plane crash at Alta Lake July 31, 1935. The Hall was home to dances, debates, concerts, banquets, meetings and plays. Students immediately started a drive to raise funds to fix the building. It was successful.

November 1, 1968
36 Years Ago Today

Chances are good that if you work in downtown Vancouver, or attend a performance at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, or take in a Lions game at BC Place, or settle down to read at the Vancouver Public Library, you're being warmed by the folks at Central Heat Distribution. They heat more than 180 buildings in the downtown through a network of subterranean pipes, bringing steam (converted from natural gas) from their building on Beatty Street to big clients like the new Shaw Tower all the way down to the tiny bursts of steam that sound the pipes on the Gastown Steam Clock.

John Barnes, Central's president, says the company started November 1, 1968—36 years ago today.

A group of engineers had been talking over coffee about the fuel oil and coal used to heat buildings at the time, not to mention the beehive burners used to burn woodwaste. One of them, Dave Leaney, suggested Vancouver could have a “district energy” system like some other cities. Two years later it had started.

The result: cheaper heating bills for buildings (no boilers to buy) and far less pollution.

(Incidentally, the cavernous building CHD occupies today was once home to the printing plant for Pacific Press.)

November 8, 1927
77 Years Ago Today

There are hundreds of stories about Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre—which had its first show (a mix of movies and vaudeville) 77 years ago today: November 8, 1927.

One of the best features Tony Heinsbergen, an American artist whose decorative skills got him the commission to work with the Orpheum's architect, Marcus Priteca. Heinsbergen spent much of 1927 giving the Orpheum its flamboyant art and color.

Now flash ahead 50 years. Architects Ron Nelson and Paul Merrick are reshaping the theatre to be home to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra when Merrick learns that Heinsbergen is in Los Angeles, still working. They invite him to come back to Vancouver and take part in the restoration. Heinsbergen (he turned 82 while here) created a big mural for the Orpheum's ceiling. It had 24 panels, each painted in L.A., shipped up here and attached to the ceiling.

The mural is peopled with mythical figures . . . and real ones. The bearded man serenading the muse is Paul Merrick, beardless today. The Merrick kids are up there, too: Natasha, Nika, Maya and Kim. Maya is the angel. “They're all in their thirties today,” Merrick says. The conductor is project architect Ron Nelson, not, as is sometimes heard, former conductor Kaziyoshi Akiyama. The tiger in the mural represents Heinsbergen's Nova Scotia-born wife, Nedith, whom he called his “little tiger.”

Next time you're in the Orpheum, look up.

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