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Timeline of Calgary history facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This is a timeline of the history of Calgary.

18th century

19th century

  • 1873 – John Glenn was the first documented European settler in the Calgary area.
  • 1875 – Originally named Fort Brisebois, after NWMP officer Éphrem-A. Brisebois, it was renamed Fort Calgary by Colonel James Macleod.
  • 1882 - First sawmill on the Bow River
  • 1883 – The Canadian Pacific Railway reached the area and a rail station was constructed.
  • 1884 – Calgary was officially incorporated as a town and elected its first mayor, George Murdoch.
  • 1885 – Calgary Police Service established.
  • 1886 – The Calgary Fire of 1886.
  • 1888 – Anglican Diocese of Calgary established.
  • 1891 – Calgary and Edmonton Railway opened.
  • 1894 – It was incorporated as "The City of Calgary" in what was then the North-West Territories.
  • 1900 – Downtown East Village, Calgary established.

20th century

  • 1910 – Parkdale is annexed to the City of Calgary.
  • 1912 – The Calgary Stampede is held for the first time.
  • 1915–18 – The Mewata Armouries are constructed.
  • 1919 - The Victory Stampede was Calgary's second rodeo, honoring the end of the Great War.
  • 1923 – The Calgary Stampede held for the third time and annually since then.
  • 1932–33 – The Glenmore Dam is constructed.
  • 1945 - The current Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League begin play.
  • 1947 – Stampede Wrestling established.
  • 1967 – Construction of the Husky Tower started. Opened to the public on June 30, 1968.
  • 1970 – First +15 enclosed pedestrian walkway constructed downtown.
  • 1980 - The NHL's Calgary Flames begin play after relocating from Atlanta
  • 1984 – Suncor Energy Centre completed construction and becomes the new tallest building in Calgary.
  • 1988 – Calgary hosts the 1988 Winter Olympics.
  • 1989 – Bankers Hall-East completed construction.
  • 1989 – The Flames win the Stanley Cup, the only time a visiting team has won the Stanley Cup in Montreal.
  • 1992 – Stephen Avenue is designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.
  • 1996 – Canadian Pacific Railway moves its head office from Montreal to Calgary.
  • 1997 – Calgary Declaration
  • 1999 – Hub Oil explosion
  • 2000 – Bankers Hall-West is completed 11 years after its twin.

21st century

  • 2002 – J26 G8 Protests
  • 2007 – 1,020,000 residents
  • 2010 – After 26 years the Suncor Energy Centre is surpassed by The Bow as tallest building in Calgary.
  • 2011 – Eighth Avenue Place I completed construction.
  • 2013 – Widespread flooding across southern Alberta forces the evacuation of 75,000 Calgary residents
  • 2018 – Brookfield Place East is completed and becomes the new tallest building in Calgary.

List of riots and civil unrest in Calgary

The following is a timeline of riots and civil unrest in Calgary, Alberta. Since its incorporation as a town in 1884, like other cities, Calgary has had to deal with a variety of violence. Calgary has been credited with maintaining relative civility during duress. The Great Depression in Canada has received particular attention from sociologists and historians, including Thomas Thorner and Neil Watson who wrote, "There is little question that Calgary experienced its share of civil strife during the Depression. Battles between police and the single unemployed men, full scale riots and threats to blow up public buildings appear to have been almost annual events." According to Stephen Graham, a Professor of Human Geography at Durham University, recent events have seen the City of Calgary change their tactics towards civil unrest activities such as protests.

Events

Riots and civil unrest in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in chronological order
Date Issue Event
August 2, 1892 Racial tension After the Chinese community was blamed for a smallpox outbreak, a race riot ensued. The event started when city authorities burned a laundry where a Chinese worker contracted the disease, and its occupants were quarantined. Nine Chinese contracted the disease, and three died. Alleging the spread was caused by unhygienic living conditions, a mob of over 300 men smashed doors and windows of all the Chinese laundries, destroyed and looted property, and assaulted Chinese residents. As the riot ended, police arrived. Many in the Chinese community sought refuge at the North-West Mounted Police barracks or in the homes of clergymen. The NWMP patrolled Calgary continuously for the next 3 weeks to protect Chinese Calgarians.
July 16, 1902 Labour unrest The Calgary Trades and Labour Council hosts a demonstration with several thousand participants in support of local labour.
February 10, 1916 Ethnic and labour tension An anti-German riot destroys the Riverside Hotel located at 4 Street S.E. and Boulevard Avenue. It reportedly started because the owner was German. During the same month 500 servicemen and civilians destroy Nagel's White Lunch Cafe after the owner reportedly hired an Austrian immigrant instead of a returning soldier.
October 11, 1916 Military unrest Soldiers from the 218th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, or CEF, overcame the local police. "The city virtually is in the hands of the soldier mob" Morris "Two Gun" Cohen was implicated as a leader of the events during a series of trials held in the city; however, he was acquitted after successfully defending himself in court.
January 1918 Labour unrest Calgary freight handlers go on strike in defiance of a federal ban on strikes. Civic workers, street railway workers and teamsters walked out in sympathy. Five strike leaders were arrested, paving the way towards the creation of the One Big Union.
February 8, 1917 Military unrest Soldiers from the former 218th Battalion of the CEF having been relocated from Calgary to Edmonton, rioted on 101 Street after being ordered to depart immediately for Europe. They attacked 14 stores, restaurants and cafes throughout the city.
May 1919 Labour unrest After the formation of the One Big Union in Calgary in March 1919, the Calgary General Strike was held in solidarity with the Winnipeg General Strike. There was almost a full stoppage of local government, industrial and commercial activities in the city after thousands of workers stopped work for more than a month.
January 1926 Unemployment More than 40 protesters with the Central Council of the Unemployed were arrested by police after ordering meals and refusing to pay in protest of the city's refusal to provide relief for the homeless and jobless.
December 1926 Unemployment 300 protesters with the Central Council of the Unemployed marched on City Hall for "relief" in the form of places to sleep, food to eat and transportation to work sites.
June 30, 1931 Unemployment After several days of "ominous silence" among Calgary's unemployed, a meeting was held between the National Unemployed Workers Association and members of the Calgary City Council. When the crowd gathered outside, it was told to disperse by the Calgary Police. They re-assembled in a nearby vacant lot called "Red Square." After a series of speeches, the crowd was told to disperse, and when they did not, police took away a popular speaker from the platform. A riot ensued, which a local newspaper referred to saying, "It appears to have come to a showdown; the authority of the city is challenged which must be met decisively."
June 10, 1935 Unemployment Hundreds of protesters participating in the On-to-Ottawa Trek took hostages at the Calgary Relief Office for several hours before continuing out of the city. Hundreds of more protesters joined the movement as it left the city, effectively laying the foundation for the violent confrontation in Regina several weeks later. Prime Minister R.B. Bennett had decided against taking action against the trekkers in Calgary.
1940 Racial tension A group of 300 white soldiers rioted in Calgary's "Harlemtown" near the railway tracks east of downtown. After they invaded the home of a black band leader, military police intervened and were credited with ending the incident.
November 28, 1974 Racial tension The Calgary Urban Treaty Indian Alliance held a demonstration over social service funding in which dozens of men, women and children occupied the Indian Affairs office in the city. Government officials labeled the participants "terrorists". The local papers charged the protesters with "public mischief" and civil infractions. While charges were not lodged against demonstrators, several reported increased government discrimination against them afterward.
December 2, 1983 Sporting disruption A riot broke out during a Stampede Wrestling match at the Ogden Auditorium. Speaking of the events, announcer Ed Whalen remarked, "We're starting to scare the patrons with this violence outside the ring, and I will not be associated with it anymore." The event led to Stampede Wrestling being banned from Calgary for six months by the city's wrestling and boxing commission, and within a year the operation was sold to the World Wrestling Federation.
October 20, 1993 Education 2,000 students walkout of Calgary's schools to protest cuts to education, causing public disruption and raising awareness about the situation in education funding.
June 11–15, 2000 Anti-globalization 2,000 protesters participated in a "carnivalesque" atmosphere at the World Petroleum Congress while 1,500 police from a number of jurisdictions were involved in counter-protest operations. Other measures included, "police 'spotters' positioned on top of downtown office towers while helicopters busily circled overhead."
June 25–27, 2002 Anti-globalization About 4000-5000 demonstrators participate in a variety of events throughout Calgary in protest of the Group of Eight, or G8, meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta.
March 21, 2008 Racial tension The Aryan Guard staged a demonstration in downtown Calgary on Good Friday and United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racism. More than 40 supporters of the Aryan Guard faced a crowd of more than 200 anti-racist protesters, including anarchists, communists and union leaders, who prevented the Guard from reaching their planned meeting place at the Mewata Armouries. Police then formed a human barrier between the two groups and blocked the movement of the counter-protesters while escorting the Aryan Guard down Stephen Avenue and up the steps of City Hall, where they waved flags proclaiming "White Pride Worldwide". Members of the Aryan Guard also taunted local anti-racism activists whose home was fire bombed on February 12, 2008, while they and their four children were inside.

List of localities annexed

Through its various annexations, the following localities are now located in Calgary.

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