31 December 2012

Happy New Year

I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year.
Edward
Editor, The Ottawa Genealogist

30 December 2012

Timeline December 30 & 31

December 30
39      Titus, Roman Emperor was born.
1691  Robert Boyle, English scientist, died. (b. 1627)
1813  British soldiers burned Buffalo, NY, during the War of 1812.
1850  John Milne, English seismologist and geologist, inventor of the seismograph, was born.
1851  Asa Griggs Candler, American developer of Coca-Cola, was born.
1865  Rudyard Kipling, English writer, was born in Bombay, India.
1869  Stephen Leacock, English-born Canadian writer and economist, was born.
1922  Vladimir Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
1967  Vincent Massey, Governor General of Canada, died. (b. 1887)

December 31
1491  Jacques Cartier, French explorer, was born.
1695  A window tax is imposed in England, causing many householders to brick up windows to avoid the tax.
1719  John Flamsteed, English astronomer, died. (b. 1646)
1738  Charles Cornwallis, English soldier and statesman, was born.
1775  The British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec. Montgomery was killed.
1857  Britain's Queen Victoria decided to make Ottawa the capital of Canada.
1879  Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrated his electric incandescent light in Menlo Park, N.J.
1907  The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York.
1983  The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.

27 December 2012

War of 1812

War of 1812

Display at the War Museum re war of 1812 will end 6 January 1813

104th Regiment of Foot.
 A re-enactment will be carried out by members of the Canadian Army duplicating the original march
[They left Fredericton for Quebec City on 16 Feb 1813. 6 Companies left a day apart reaching Quebec. They were eventually sent to Kingston and then to Niagara]

Other info

1921 Census   Will be released to the public during 2013. Should I not hold my breath??

2 Feb 2013  A Day at the Archives will be held at Ottawa City Archives many subjects will be  dealt  with. Look for a flier.

New project re the Irish      REF; Ottawa Citizen. Wed. 26 Dec 2012, pg D3
A group is reaching out to those of Irish descent using 'reverse genealogy'
  www.irelandxo.com/ 

Your Money
Anyone drawing CPP or a gov't pension will have their 29 Jan 2013 payment increased by 1.9%
OAS will increase by $1.09 also on 29 Jan.  Enjoy

Timeline December 27 to 29

December 27
1571  Johannes Kepler, German astronomer, was born.
1657  The Flushing Remonstrance was signed. [Several of my ancestors were involved in this.]
1822  Louis Pasteur, French biologist and chemist, who invented pasteurization process, was born in Dole, France.
1823  Mackenzie Bowell, fifth Prime Minister of Canada, was born. (d. 1917)
1831  British naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin's discoveries during the nearly five-year journey helped form the basis of his theories on evolution.
1923  Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect, died. (b. 1832)
1945  The World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 29 nations.
1947  The children's TV program "Howdy Doody" debuted on NBC.

December 28
1065  Westminster Abbey was consecrated.
1612  Galileo Galilei became the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune.
1763  John Molson, English-born Canadian brewer, was born. (d. 1836)
1842  Calixa Lavallée, French-Canadian composer (O Canada), was born. (d. 1891)
1895  Wilhelm Röntgen (nobel laureate), published a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later would be known as x-rays.

December 29
1170  Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in England.
1800  Charles Goodyear, American inventor, who pioneered commercial use of rubber, was born.
1851  The first American Young Men's Christian Association was organized, in Boston.
1936  Mary Tyler Moore, American actress, was born.

25 December 2012

Timeline December 25 & 26

December 25
800   Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
1066  William the Conqueror was crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
1635  Samuel de Champlain, French explorer, died. (b. 1567)
1642  Isaac Newton, English scientist and mathematician, was born. (d. 1727)
1766  Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, N.J.
1904  Gerhard Herzberg, physicist, physical chemist and Nobel laureate, was born. (d. 1999)
1990  The first successful trial run of the system which would become the World Wide Web.
1878  Louis Chevrolet, French born American automobile designer, was born.
1899  Humphrey Bogart, American actor, was born.
1995  Singer Dean Martin died at age 78.

December 26
1791  Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor, was born.
1909  Frederic Remington, American artist, died. (b. 1861)
1931  Melville Louis Kossuth (Melvil) Dewey, inventor of the Dewey decimal classification, died. (b. 1851)
1941  Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.
1974  Comedian Jack Benny died at age 80.

24 December 2012

23 December 2012

Timeline December 23 & 24

December 23
1648  Robert Barclay, English born American Quaker leader, was born.
1732  Richard Arkwright, English industrialist and inventor, was born.
1771  Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian saint died. (b. 1701)
1795  Sir Henry Clinton, British general died. (b. 1730)
1805  Joseph Smith, American founder of the Mormon Church, was born.
1823  The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore was first published, in the Troy (NY) Sentinel.
1938  The coelacanth was discovered in South Africa.

December 24
1166  King John of England was born. (d. 1216)
1524  Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama, who had found the sea route around Africa to India, died in India.
1809  Kit Carson, American frontiersman and folk hero, was born.
1814  The War of 1812 officially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.
1818  "Silent Night" was performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
1871  Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt, to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal.
1900  Joey Smallwood, Canadian politician, Premier of Newfoundland, was born. (d. 1991)
1906  Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, Mass.

20 December 2012

Timeline December 20 to 22

December 20
1192  Richard the Lion-Heart is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third crusade.
1522  Siege of Rhodes: Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.
1695  John Bowne, English-born American pioneer of religious liberty, died. (b. 1627) [My 8th Great Grandfather]
1803  The Louisiana Purchase was completed as the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans.
1868  Harvey Firestone, American industrialist, was born.
1879  Thomas Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, N.J.
1901  Robert Van de Graaff, American physicist and inventor, was born.
1946  The Frank Capra film "It's A Wonderful Life" had a preview showing for charity at New York City's Globe Theatre, a day before its official premiere.

December 21
1603  Roger Williams, English theologian and founder of the American colony Providence Plantations (d. 1684) [My 10th Great Grandfather]
1620  Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.
1898  Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium.
1913  The first crossword puzzle was published, in the New York World.
1968  Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.

December 22
1858  Opera composer Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy.
1989  Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.

18 December 2012

Timeline December 18 & 19

December 18
1642  Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand.
1707  Charles Wesley, English Methodist hymnist was born.
1856  Sir J. J. Thomson, English physicist and Nobel laureate, was born.
1863  Francis Ferdinand, Austrian archduke, was born. Died June 28, 1914.
1865  Slavery ended in the United States as the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was declared in effect.
1888  Robert Moses, the American public servant who supervised the construction of many New York landmarks, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Shea Stadium , was born.
1958  The world's first communications satellite was launched by the United States aboard an Atlas rocket.
1969  Britain's Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.

December 19
1732  Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac."
1776  Thomas Paine published his first "American Crisis" essay, writing: "These are the times that try men's souls."
1777  Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.
1843  Charles Dickens' Yuletide tale, "A Christmas Carol," was first published in England.
1852  Albert Abraham Michelson, Prussian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate, was born.
1944  Richard E Leakey, palaeontologist, was born.
1972  Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

16 December 2012

Timeline December 16 & 17

December 16
1497  Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
1653  Oliver Cromwell became lord protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1770  Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer and pianist, was born.
1773  Boston Tea Party – Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
1775  Jane Austen, English novelist, was born. [We visited Winchester Cathedral and her memorial on our first trip to England in 2008.]
1916  Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen.
1907  The Great White Fleet began its circumnavigation of the world
1917  Science fiction writer Sir Arthur C. Clarke was born in Minehead, England.
1947  William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain built the first practical point-contact transistor.

December 17
1538  Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.
1577  Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I.
1600  Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de Medici.
1797  Joseph Henry, American scientist, was born. [There is a historic marker and a statue located in Academy Park, Albany, New York.]
1874  Mackenzie King, Canadian Prime Minister 1921-26, 1926-30, 1935-48, was born.
1894  Arthur Fiedler, the American conductor who conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra, was born.
1903  Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful man-powered airplane flight, near Kitty Hawk, N.C.
1938  Otto Hahn discovered the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy - thus opening the "Atomic Age" in the history of mankind.
1957  The United States successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.

14 December 2012

Timeline December 13 to 15

December 13
1577  Sir Francis Drake of England set out with five ships on a nearly three-year journey that would take him around the world.
1642  Dutch navigator Abel Janszoon Tasman reached New Zealand.
1721  Alexander Selkirk, Scottish sailor and castaway, died. (b. 1676)
1804  Joseph Howe, Canadian statesman and publisher, was born.
1871  Emily Carr, Canadian painter and writer, was born.
1925  Dick Van Dyke, American actor and comedian, was born.
1929  Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor, was born.
2000  Al Gore concedes the U.S. presidential election to George W. Bush.

December 14
1287  St. Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.
1503  Nostradamus, French astrologer and physician, was born.
1542  Princess Mary Stuart becomes Mary, Queen of Scots.
1546  Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and alchemist, was born.
1782  The Montgolfier brothers' first balloon lifts off on its first test flight.
1799  George Washington, the first president of the United States, died at his Mount Vernon, Va., home at age 67.
1812  The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.
1861  Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, consort of Queen Victoria, died.
1903  The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1911  Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole.

December 15
1832  Gustave Eiffel, French civil engineer and designer of the Eiffel Tower, was born.
1852  Henri Becquerel, French physicist, Nobel laureate, was born.
1899  Harold Abrahams, English athlete and Olympic gold medalist, was born.
1944  Bandleader Glenn Miller was killed when his U.S. Army plane disappeared over the English Channel.
2001  The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 to fortify it, without fixing its famous lean.

13 December 2012

OGS Ottawa Branch December Meeting - Dec. 15th

Date       Saturday,  Dec. 15, 2012; 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Location  City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Room 115
Speaker   Kurt Johnson   
Topic        Perils and Petticoats: Exceptional Women of the War of 1812

Few women’s stories appear in Canadian history books as their contributions to the War of 1812 are overlooked. Canada’s bicentennial commemoration is the perfect time to tell about six real women whose husbands marched off to war to defend the British colonies. These women’s stories are about bravery, devotion and perseverance. This talk will be presented by historical researcher, and Board Member of the Goulbourn Museum, Kurt Johnson.

Everyone is welcome.
Please arrive by 1:00 p.m. for free refreshments and a chat time (networking).

This meeting may be simulcast for members who can’t join us in person. We will be using Live Meeting 2007 which is compatible with Windows PCs. Connect to the meeting room itself at: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/genealogicalstudies/join?id=OttawaOGSMeeting&role=attend&pw=MembersDec2011

11 December 2012

Timeline December 11 & 12

December 11
1803  Hector Berlioz, French composer and conductor, was born.
1882  Max Born, German physicist and Nobel laureate, was born.
1931  The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster 1931, establishing legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Dominion of Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.
1936  Britain's King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson.
1946  UNICEF (the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) was established.
1972  Man landed on the moon for the last time during the Apollo 17 mission.
2008  Bernard Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

December 12
1731  Erasmus Darwin, English physician, slave trade abolitionist, inventor and poet, was born.
1812  John Sandfield Macdonald, first premier of Ontario, was born.
1866  Alfred Werner, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate, was born.
1901  Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
1914  The New York Stock Exchange re-opened for the first time since July 30. The market had shut down when World War I broke out.
1915  Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor, was born in Hoboken, N.J.
1985  Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, including 236 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.

10 December 2012

Timeline December 9 & 10

December 9
1608  John Milton, English poet and scholar,  was born in London.
1748  Comte Claude-Louis Berthollet, French chemist, was born,
1854  The poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was published in England.
1886  Clarence Birdseye, American businessman and pioneer of frozen foods, was born.
1906  Kirk Douglas, actor, was born.
1934  Judi Dench, actress, was born.
2004  Canada's Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was constitutional.

December 10
1851  Melvil Dewey, the American librarian who created the Dewey Decimal Classification system, was born.
1906  President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
1948  The U.N. General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
1964  The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize during ceremonies in Oslo, Norway.
1984  South African Bishop Desmond Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize.
2002  Former President Jimmy Carter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomacy in the Middle East in the 1970s.
2007  Former Vice President Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize with a call for humanity to rise up against a looming climate crisis and stop waging war on the environment.

06 December 2012

New Genealogy Records for BC Now Online

The Royal BC Museum/Archives has uploaded historical records of births, marriages and deaths in British Columbia. 

In B.C, vital records can be released 20 years after a death, 75 years after a marriage and 120 years after a birth.

On the birth records you can find name, date, place of birth, parents’ names as well as mother’s maiden name. 

On marriage records you can find name, age, place of birth and marital status of each partner as well as date and location of the ceremony, names of the parents, names of witnesses and the person who performed the wedding ceremony.

Death records list name and date of birth of the deceased as well as the date, place and the cause of death.

Access is free.
Here's the link: http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy/BasicSearch

OGS Ottawa Branch December Meeting - Dec. 15th

Date       Saturday,  Dec. 15, 2012; 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Location  City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Room 115
Speaker   Kurt Johnson   
Topic        Perils and Petticoats: Exceptional Women of the War of 1812
Contact   program@ogsottawa.on.ca

Few women’s stories appear in Canadian history books as their contributions to the War of 1812 are overlooked. Canada’s bicentennial commemoration is the perfect time to tell about six real women whose husbands marched off to war to defend the British colonies. These women’s stories are about bravery, devotion and perseverance. This talk will be presented by historical researcher, and Board Member of the Goulbourn Museum, Kurt Johnson.

Everyone is welcome.
Please arrive by 1:00 p.m. for free refreshments and a chat time (networking).

This meeting may be simulcast for members who can’t join us in person. We will be using Live Meeting 2007 which is compatible with Windows PCs. Connect to the meeting room itself at: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/genealogicalstudies/join?id=OttawaOGSMeeting&role=attend&pw=MembersDec2011

Timeline December 6 to 8

December 6
343   Saint Nicholas died. (b. 270)
1876  Fred Duesenberg, German-born American automobile maker, was born.
1877  Thomas Edison, using his new phonograph, makes one of the earliest recordings of a human voice, reciting "Mary Had a Little Lamb".
1896  Ira Gershwin, American lyricist of Broadway musicals and films, was born.
1917  Halifax Explosion: In Canada, a munitions explosion kills more than 1,900 people and destroys part of the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1957  America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
2001  The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador.

December 7
1598  Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian sculptor, was born.
1836  Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.
1863  Richard W. Sears, American merchant and founder of Sears, Roebuck retail company, was born.
1941  Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, drawing the United States into World War II.

December 8
65 BC Horace, Roman poet was born. (d. 8 BC)
1542  Mary Queen of Scots, was born.
1765  Eli Whitney, American inventor of the cotton gin, was born.
1925  Sammy Davis Jr., the American performer (song, dance and comedy), was born.
1941  The United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

04 December 2012

Timeline December 4 & 5

December 4
1585  John Cotton, American Puritan leader, was born.
1619  38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembarked in Virginia and gave thanks to God.
1674  Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan.
1783  Gen. George Washington said farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York.
1909  The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
1945  The US Senate approved U.S. participation in the United Nations.

December 5
771   Charlemagne becomes the sole King of the Franks,
1492  Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola, now Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
1775  At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1782  Martin Van Buren, the eighth U.S. president 1837-41 and the first to be born after the country was formed, was born in Kinderhook, N.Y. [My 3rd cousin 6 times removed]
1791  Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna at age 35.
1839  George Armstrong Custer, American cavalry officer was born.
1901  Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, philosopher and nobel laureate, was born.
1901  US national Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment.

02 December 2012

Timeline December 2 & 3

December 2
1594  Gerardus Mercator, Flemish cartographer, died.
1804  Napoleon was crowned emperor of France.
1863  Charles Ringling, American circus owner, was born.
1906  Peter Carl Goldmark, Hungarian-American engineer, who worked on long play phonographic discs and color television technology, was born.
1923  Maria Callas, the legendary American soprano opera singer, was born.
1942  A self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated for the first time at the University of Chicago.

December 3
1842  Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American flour miller and food products manufacturer, was born.
1910  Modern neon lighting was first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.
1967  Surgeons in Cape Town, South Africa, led by Dr. Christiaan Barnard, performed the first human heart transplant. Louis Washkansky lived 18 days with the new heart.

29 November 2012

Timeline November 29 to December 1

November 29
1803  Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist and discoverer of the Doppler effect, was born.
1818  George Brown, Scottish-born Canadian journalist and politician, one of the Fathers of Confederation, was born. (d. 1880)
1849  Sir John Ambrose Fleming, British physicist, was born. (d. 1945)
1898  C. S. Lewis, Irish writer, was born. (d. 1963)
1929  US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd radioed that he'd made the first airplane flight over the South Pole.

November 30
1667  Jonathan Swift, Anglo-Irish author and satirist, was born.
1782  The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.
1803  In New Orleans, Louisiana, Spanish representatives officially transfer the Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transfers the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase.
1810  Olive Winchester, American gun and ammunition manufacturer; developed the Winchester rifle, was born.
1824  First ground is broken at Allenburg for the building of the original Welland Canal.
1835  Author Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, MO.
1874  Sir Winston Churchill, the British statesman, orator and author who served as prime minister during World War II, was born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
1929  Dick Clark, TV personality, American Bandstand, was born.
1933  Sir Arthur Currie, Canadian general, died. (b. 1875)

December 1
1743  Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist and discoverer of uranium, was born.
1955  Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, defied the law by refusing to give up her seat to a white man aboard a Montgomery, Ala., city bus. Parks was arrested, sparking a year-long boycott of the buses by blacks.
1963  The Beatles' first single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," was released in the United States.

27 November 2012

Timeline November 27 & 28

November 27
1095  Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.
1701  Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer and inventor of the Celsius thermometer scale, was born.
1910  New York's Pennsylvania Station opened.

November 28
1520  Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name.
1582  In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway paid a £40 bond for their marriage license.
1660  At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decided to found what would later be known as the Royal Society.
1757  William Blake, English poet and painter, was born.
1794  Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian army officer, died. (b. 1730)
1949  Paul Shaffer, Bandleader, Late Show with David Letterman, was born.
1968  Enid Blyton, British children's author, died. (b. 1897)

25 November 2012

Timeline November 25 & 26

November 25
1120  The White Ship sank in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son of Henry I of England.
1487  Elizabeth of York was crowned Queen of England.
1748  Isaac Watts, British hymn writer, died.
1783  The British evacuated New York, their last military position in the United States, during the Revolutionary War.
1835  Andrew Carnegie, Scottish born steel Industrialist and philanthropist, was born in Dunfermline, Scotland.

November 26
1604  Johannes Bach, German composer and musician was born (d. 1673)
1863  US President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November (since 1941, on the fourth Thursday).
1922  Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon became the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh  Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
1922  Charles Schulz, American cartoonist and creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, was born.

24 November 2012

Timeline November 24

November 24
1572  John Knox, Scottish reformer, died. (b. 1510)
1807  Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea, Mohawk military and political leader during the American Revolution, died (b. 1742)
1859  British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution.
1969  Apollo 12 returned to Earth after the second manned mission to the moon.
2012 Annual Santa`s Parade of Lights in Orleans, Ontario. Attracts 50,000 to 100,000 people. Great show but the wind was cold!

21 November 2012

Timeline November 22 & 23

November 22
1643  Rene-Robert La Salle, French explorer of North America, was born.
1718  English pirate Edward Teach - better known as "Blackbeard" - was killed during a battle off the Virginia coast.
1890  Charles de Gaulle, the leader of free France during WW II, was born in Lille, France.
1906  The SOS distress signal was adopted at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin, Germany.
1963  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Suspected gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States.
1977  Regular passenger service between New York and Europe on the supersonic Concorde began on a trial basis.

November 23
1859  Billy the Kid, American gunfighter of the Wild West, was born.
1887  Boris Karloff, English actor, was born.
1889  The jukebox made its debut, at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
1903  Singer Enrico Caruso made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, appearing in "Rigoletto."
1936  Life magazine is reborn as a photo magazine and enjoys instant success.
1963  The BBC broadcast the first ever episode of Doctor Who (starring William Hartnell) which is the world's longest running science fiction drama.
1971  The People's Republic of China was seated in the U.N. Security Council.

20 November 2012

Timeline November 20 & 21

November 20
1620  Peregrine White was born aboard the Mayflower in Massachusetts Bay - the first child born of English parents in present-day New England.
1841  Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada, was born. (d. 1919)
1889  Astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble was born in Marshfield, 24 Nazi leaders went on trial before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany.
1947  Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in Westminster Abbey in London, England.
1985  The first version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, Windows 1.0, was released.

November 21
1694  Francois Voltaire, French philosopher and writer, was born.
1787  Sir Samuel Cunard, Canadian-born shipping magnate, was born.
1877  Inventor Thomas A. Edison unveiled the phonograph.
1964  New York's Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened.

18 November 2012

Timeline November 18 & 19

November 18
1493  Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico.
1787  Louis-Jacques Daguerre, French inventor of the daguerreotype, was born.
1883  The United States and Canada adopted a system of standard time zones.
1901  George Gallup, American statistician and pioneering opinion researcher, was born.
1923  Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space, was born in East Derry, N.H. Died July 21, 1998.
1978  More than 900 people died in Jonestown, Guyana, after Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones urged them to kill themselves by drinking cyanide-laced grape punch.

November 19
1600  Charles I, English King 1625-49, was born.
1794  The United States and Britain signed the Jay Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.
1863  President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.
1919  The US Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles.
1969  Apollo 12 astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad and Alan Bean made man's second landing on the moon.
2007  Amazon.com Inc. introduced the Kindle, an electronic book-reading device.

15 November 2012

Timeline November 16 & 17

November 16
1959  The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" opened on Broadway.
1964  Diana Krall, Canadian Jazz singer, was born.
1992  The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk, England.

November 17
1558  Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.
1685  Pierre Gaultier La Verendrye, French-Canadian soldier, fur trader and explorer, was born.
1869  The Suez Canal opened in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas.
1938  Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian singer, was born.
2003  Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor of California.

14 November 2012

Timeline November 14 & 15

November 14
1765  Robert Fulton, American inventor, was born.
1891  Frederick Banting, Canadian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was born.
1922  The BBC begins radio service in the United Kingdom.
1940  German planes destroyed most of the English town of Coventry during World War II.
1948  Prince Charles of England was born.
1995  The U.S. government instituted a partial shutdown, closing national parks and museums while government offices operated with skeleton crews.

November 15
1630  Johannes Kepler, German astronomer and mathematician, died. (b. 1571)
1738  William Herschell, German born English astronomer, was born.
1777  The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation, a precursor to the Constitution of the United States.
1806  Explorer Zebulon Pike spotted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak.
1969  A quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington, D.C., against the Vietnam War.

12 November 2012

Ottawa Branch Meeting: Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture

Sunday, November 18, 1pm – 4pm

Library and Archives Canada Auditorium - 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa

This years annual Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture will be given by Kyle J. Betit on the subject of: Irish Sources you may never have considered.

In Ireland, many records were destroyed or were never very well kept, so we need to access as many types of records as possible for successful Irish research. There are numerous record types to try beyond the most commonly known ones. This presentation will discuss such important sources as occupational records; court records; freeholders, freemen and voting records; militia and yeomanry records; prison records, school and educational sources; convert rolls and Catholic Qualification Rolls, the 1841 Morpeth Roll, Registry of Deeds, Land Registry, and more!

Kyle J. Betit BS (Biology) is a professional genealogist, lecturer and author residing in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a co-editor of the popular journal The Irish At Home and Abroad, and is co-author of A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors. He is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the National Genealogical Society (NGS), the National Writer’s Union, and the Genealogical Speakers Guild.

We are not able to webcast this meeting.

Timeline Noveber 12 & 13

November 12
1815  Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American suffragist, was born in Johnstown, N.Y.
1927  Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.
1945  Neil Young, Canadian singer and guitarist, was born.
1954  Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892.
1990  Tim Berners-Lee published a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.
1999  President Bill Clinton signed a sweeping measure knocking down Depression-era barriers and allowing banks, investment firms and insurance companies to sell each other's products.

November 13
1002  English king Æthelred II ordered the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre.
1312  Edward III, English King 1327-77, was born.
1775  American forces occupied Montreal during the Revolution.
1789  Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
1927  The Holland Tunnel linking New York City and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River opened to the public.

11 November 2012

Timeline November 11

November 11
1620  Forty-one Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a "body politick." The Mayflower Compact.
1778  Cherry Valley Massacre: Loyalists and Seneca Indian forces attack a fort and village in eastern New York during the American Revolutionary War, killing more than forty civilians and soldiers.
1813  War of 1812: Battle of Crysler's Farm – British and Canadian forces defeat a larger American force, causing the Americans to abandon their Saint Lawrence campaign.
1869  Victor Emmanuel III, Italian king (1900-47), was born.
1918  Fighting in World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany.
1930  Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator.
1992  The General Synod of the Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.

08 November 2012

Timeline November 8 to 10

November 8
1602  The Bodleian Library at Oxford University opened to the public.
1656  Edmond Halley, English astronomer and mathematician, was born.
1895  While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered the X-ray.
2011  The potentially hazardous asteroid 2005 YU55 passed 0.85 lunar distances from Earth (about 324,600 kilometres or 201,700 miles), the closest known approach by an asteroid of its brightness since 2010 XC15 in 1976.

November 9
1620  Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sighted land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
1917  Joseph Stalin entered the provisional government of Bolshevik Russia.
1934  Carl Sagan, American astronomer, was born.
1938  Nazis looted and burned synagogues and Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria on Kristallnacht, the "night of broken glass."
1965  The great Northeast blackout occurred as several states and parts of Canada were hit by a series of power failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours.
1970  Former French president Charles De Gaulle died at age 79.
1989  Communist East Germany threw open its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the West. Joyous Germans danced atop the Berlin Wall.

November 10
1483  Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, was born in Eisleben, Germany.
1871  Journalist-explorer Henry Morton Stanley found missing Scottish missionary Dr. David Livingstone in central Africa and delivered his famous greeting: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
1925  Richard Burton, Welsh stage and film actor, was born.
1969  "Sesame Street" debuted on PBS.
1975  The ore-hauling ship Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm in Lake Superior. All 29 crew members died.

06 November 2012

Sir Guy Carleton Branch UELAC - Christmas Social - November 24th

November 24, 2012

Location: Macies Best Western Hotel, Carling Avenue (opposite Westgate Mall)
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Speaker: Victor Suthren
Topic: An Identity Peril: The War of 1812

Cost: $30.00 per person
Please send your cheque made out to Sir Guy Carleton Branch UELAC to Bob Adair at 34 Briardale Cresc., Nepean, ON K2C 1C2 by November 20th indicating choice of main course.

Menu
Choice of
A) Beef au Jus
B) Chicken with sauce
C) Salmon
Meal includes salad and desert
Tea and coffee

Timeline November 6 & 7

November 6
1814  Adolph Sax, Belgian-born French maker of musical instruments; inventor of the saxophone, was born.
1832  Joseph Smith III, American religious leader, president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints 1860-1914, was born. He was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.
1854  John Philip Sousa, the king of American march music, was born in Washington, D.C.

November 7
1665  The London Gazette, the oldest surviving journal, was first published.
1728  Captain James Cook, British naval officer, explorer, and cartographer was born. (d. 1779)
1811  The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought near present-day Battle Ground, Indiana, United States.
1867  Marie Sklodowska-Curie, the Polish-born French physicist twice awarded the Nobel Prize for her work on radioactivity, was born.
1885  In Craigellachie, British Columbia, construction ended on the Canadian Pacific Railway extending across Canada.
1888  Sir Chandrasekhara Raman, Indian physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, was born.
1918  Billy Graham, evangelist, was born.
1929  The Museum of Modern Art in New York City opened.

05 November 2012

Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture - Sunday November 18th

Ottawa Branch Meeting

Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture

Sunday, November 18, 1pm – 4pm

Library and Archives Canada Auditorium - 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa

Speaker:
Kyle J. Betit BS (Biology) is a professional genealogist, lecturer and author residing in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a co-editor of the popular journal The Irish At Home and Abroad, and is co-author of A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors. He is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the National Genealogical Society (NGS), the National Writer’s Union, and the Genealogical Speakers Guild.

Timeline November 4 & 5

November 4
1847  Sir James Young Simpson, a British physician, discovered the anesthetic properties of chloroform.
1880  The first cash register was patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.
1916  Walter Cronkite, American news broadcaster was born. (d. 2009)
1922  In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men found the entrance to Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
1956  Soviet troops moved in to crush a revolt in Hungary.

November 5
1605  The Gunpowder Plot failed when Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament.
1743  Coordinated scientific observations of the transit of Mercury are organized by Joseph-Nicolas Delisle.
1768  Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the purpose of which was to adjust the boundary line between Indian lands and white settlements set forth in the Proclamation of 1763 in the Thirteen Colonies.
1879  James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist died. (b. 1831).
1895  George B. Selden of Rochester, N.Y., received the first U.S. patent for an automobile.
1956  Britain and France landed troops in Egypt during fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces around the Suez Canal.

04 November 2012

BRANCH STRAYS COORDINATOR

Strays! An Index to the OGS Strays Project (CD-ROM)
Ottawa Branch OGS is looking for a new Strays Project Coordinator

A Stray is a recorded event in which a person is described in the record as being from, or connected with, a place outside the area in which the event took place. Strays are collected to provide a useful index which may help family historians find missing family members, i.e. when people leave their usual place of abode, they lose contact with their family and therefore are "lost" or "missing." Strays are found in such records as marriage registers, civil registration records, newspapers, census returns, grave markers, land records, biographies and burial registers, and local history books. The Strays Project is a special project of the Society and the Society is publishing the results of this project in a series of booklets. The duties include:

  1. Explains and facilitates the project within their area.
  2. Coordinates the volunteers collecting and transcribing strays in the Branch area.
  3. Prepares, collates and submits to the OGS Strays Project Coordinator the strays collected on a regular basis, clearly marked "Strays".
  4. Reports twice a year (June and December) to the Project Coordinator on the status of the project.
  5. Submits an annual budget to the Treasurer for initial review and inclusion in the Branch budget which is approved by the Branch Board of Directors.
  6. Obtains prior Board approval for any expenses outside of the budget.
  7. Submits claims for reimbursements with receipts to the Branch Treasurer as soon as possible. 
  8. Whenever possible, attends meetings of the Branch and the Board of Directors.
  9. Prepares an annual report for the Branch AGM and other reports when requested by the Board or the Provincial Office.
  10. Must be a member of the Ontario Genealogical Society and Ottawa Branch.
  11. Upon termination of office, surrenders all documents, records and property of the Branch to his/her successor or to the Board.
Term of office: one year; may be re-elected nine times, for a maximum service of ten consecutive years.

If you are an Ottawa Branch members and would likew to coordinate this important project of the Society, please contact  me at pastchair@ogsottawa.on.ca

01 November 2012

Timeline November 1 to 3

November 1
1512  The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, was exhibited to the public for the first time.
1765  The British Parliament enacted the Stamp Act on the 13 colonies in order to help pay for British military operations in North America.
1935  Gary Player, golfer, was born.
2007  Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Paul Tibbets, who piloted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, died at age 92.

November 2
1675  King Philip's War: A combined effort by the Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut colonies attacked the Great Swamp Fort, owned by the Narragansetts.
1755  Marie-Antoinette, French Queen consort of Lois XVI was born.
1961  k.d. lang, Canadian musician, was born.
2004  President George W. Bush was elected to a second term as Republicans strengthened their grip on Congress.

November 3
1493  Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea.
1793  Stephen F Austin, American founder of Republic of Texas, was born.
1957  The Soviet Union launched into orbit Sputnik 2, the second man-made satellite; a dog on board named Laika was sacrificed in the experiment.

30 October 2012

Gene-O-Rama 2013 and 2014

With the OGS Conference 2012 behind us, Ottawa Branch is gearing up for Gene-O-Rama 2013. It will be held on 5 and 6 April at Library & Archives Canada (395 Wellington St). We are still booking the speakers, so keep an eye on the website for more details (http://ogsottawa.on.ca). Marketplace will include all your favourite vendors and more.

The title of the post includes Gene-O-Rama 2014. Gene-O-Rama 2014 will be the last for a couple of our organizers, including myself. My workload at the Society level will continue to increase and I can no longer dedicate the time necessary to Gene-O-Rama. There is plenty of time to join us this year and "job shadow" for the 2013 version, before taking over for the next year. We will also be looking for a new Registrar for 2014, so several opportunities. Contact me if you are willing to lend a hand: conference@ogsottawa.on.ca

Timeline October 30 & 31

October 30
1735  John Adams, the second president of the United States 1797-1801, was born in Braintree, Mass.
1892  Charles Atlas, Italian born American bodybuilder, who co-created mail-order bodybuilding course, was born.
1938  Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing anxiety in some of the audience in the United States.
1953  George C. Marshall, who, as secretary of state following World War II, engineered a massive economic aid program for Europe, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

October 31
1517  Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
1632  Jan Vermeer, Dutch painter, was born.
1795  Poet John Keats was born in London, England.
1926  Magician Harry Houdini died.

28 October 2012

Legacy Family Tree Webinar October 31

Wednesday, October 31, 2012. 2:00 PM Eastern
Judith Eccles Wight

Breaking Down Your Irish Brick Wall.
Where do you turn when you can't find your Irish ancestors in civil registration, church records or what few censuses survive? Experienced researchers dive right in to the Irish estate records. There is a surprising array of material in estate records that can be used to document the tenants who lived on the estates that covered rural Ireland. In this webinar you will learn how to identify the estate where your ancestor lived, repositories where estate records might be found, and what types of records were kept.

These webinars are free. You must register in advance.
www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars.asp

Timeline October 28 & 29

October 28
1466  Desiderius Erasmus, theologian and Catholic priest, was born.
1628  The Siege of La Rochelle, which had lasted for 14 months, ends with the surrender of the Huguenots.
1793  Eliphalet Remington, American firearms inventor and manufacturer, was born.
1875  Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, American geographer and president of National Geographic Society, was born.
1886  The Statue of Liberty, a gift of the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbour by President Grover Cleveland.
1914  Dr. Jonas Salk, American medical researcher. Who developed the first polio vaccine, was born.
1955  Bill Gates was born.
1962  Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the US that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

October 29
1618  English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England.
1682  William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, landed at what is now Chester, PA
1929  Stock prices collapsed on the New York Stock Exchange amid panic selling. Thousands of investors were wiped out.
1956  Israel invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula during the Suez Canal crisis.
1969  The Internet had its beginnings when the first host-to-host connection was made on the Arpanet - an experimental military computer network - between UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, Calif.
1998  John Glenn, the first American to orbit the moon, returned to space 36 years later, at
age 77.
2004  European Union leaders signed the EU's first constitution.

25 October 2012

Timeline October 25 to 27

October 25
1400  Geoffrey Chaucer, author, died in London, England.
1415  The army of Henry V of England defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
1760  Britain's King George III succeeded his late grandfather, George II.
1802  Joseph Montferrand, Canadian logger and strong man, was born. (d. 1864)
1825  Johann Strauss Jr., Austrian composer, was born.
1854  The "Charge of the Light Brigade" took place during the Crimean War, in the Battle of Balaclava.
1971  The United Nations General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan.

October 26
899   Alfred the Great, king of Wessex died. (b. 849) An imposing statue can be found in Winchester, England.
1786  Henry Deringer, American gunsmith, was born.
1806  John Graves Simcoe, first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada died. (b. 1752)
1825  The Erie Canal opened, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River in upstate New York.
1854  Charles William Post, US manufacturer of breakfast cereal, was born.
1861  The Pony Express officially ceased operations.
1881  The gunfight at OK corral took place in Tombstone, AZ.

October 27
1553  Condemned as a heretic, Michael Servetus is burned at the stake just outside Geneva.
1728  James Cook, British naval captain, was born.
1811  Isaac Merrit Singer, American inventor, who developed Singer sewing machine, was born.
1858  Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the US, was born in New York City.
1967  Expo '67 closed in Montreal.

23 October 2012

Do you belong to a genealogical society?



At her presentation Saturday to Ottawa Branch OGS about the Canadian Genealogy Survey (http://genealogyincanada.blogspot.ca/), Dr Leighann Neilson said that they found that barely a third of genealogist joined a genealogical society. I know that it is much cheaper to rely on "free" forums and mailing lists for your information but do you know if the person replying to you actually knows what they are talking about? As genealogists, we seek support for any information that we find about our ancestors but many seem to accept as gospel the words of any unknown e-mailer.

On the other hand, you can find a great deal of expertise at the meetings of genealogical societies as well as guidance towards sources that may solve your problem. As one person said "Joining a local society means I have a whole group of "experts" to ask when I need help or information." I often tell people to come out to a meeting and learn from our mistakes.

On the blog, one comment is that "Few who join a society subsequently leave; they soon come to see the merits of meeting like-minded people and exposing themselves to new ways of thinking at meetings and conferences." Dr Neilson also mentioned a study that "suggested that one of the major reasons for belonging to a family history society was that it provided an opportunity to share." Presumably, most of us plan to do something with what we have learned. Most people plan to share with their family, some plan to share with a genealogical or historical society. At a society meeting, other genealogist can share their experiences in researching and "sharing" their family research, including the pitfalls on putting your information on the Internet. How do you put a price on experience?



22 October 2012

October 21 to 24

October 21
1520  Ferdinand Magellan discovered a strait now known as Strait of Magellan.
1805  A British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French and Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson was killed in battle.
1833  Alfred Bernhard Nobel, Swedish chemist, was born.
1879  Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ.
1917  American soldiers first saw action in WW I on the front lines in France.

October 22
741   Charles Martel, leader of the Franks, died.
1734  Daniel Boone, American pioneer and hunter, was born.
1797  French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of 3,200 feet.
1811  Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist and composer, was born.
1964  Canada: A Multi-Party Parliamentary Committee selected the design which became the new official Flag of Canada.

October 23
1707  The first Parliament of Great Britain met.
1885  Lawren Harris, Canadian painter, was born.
1939  Zane Grey, American author, died. (b. 1872)
1946  The United Nations General Assembly convenes for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing, Queens, New York City.
2001  Apple announced the iPod.

October 24
1260  The spectacular Cathedral of Chartres was dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France. The cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
1601  Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer died. (b. 1546)
1648  The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Year's War and effectively, the Holy Roman Empire.
1911  Orville Wright remains in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a Wright Glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
1929  "Black Thursday" stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange.
1945  The United Nations charter took effect.
2003  The era of supersonic jet travel came to an end as three British Airways Concordes landed at London's Heathrow Airport.

20 October 2012

Canadian Genealogy Survey blog

There are lots of blogs out there to help you learn how to do family history research. The Genealogy in Canada blog lets you hear about the Canadian Genealogy Survey. They also track developments in research on family history. The latest discussion revolves around "WHY BELONG TO A GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY?"

Check out  the Genealogy in Canada blog at http://genealogyincanada.blogspot.ca/

18 October 2012

Ottawa Branch OGS - October Meeting

Date           Saturday,  October 20, 2012; 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Location     City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Room 115
Speaker      Ron Doering
Topic          Defending our Home: Loyalist Families of Dundas County and
                   the Battle of Crysler´s Farm (A War of 1812 Novel)
Details:        ogsottawa.on.ca

We will also have an update from Leighann Neilson on the Genealogy Survey results.

Everyone is welcome.
Please arrive by 1:00 p.m. for free refreshments and a chat time (networking).

Timeline October 18 to 20

October 18
1595  Edward Winslow, English founder of the Plymouth Colony, was born.
1867  United States took possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million.
1892  The first long distance telephone line between Chicago and New York was opened.
1919  Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and 1980-4, was born.
1926  Chuck Berry, rock singer, was born.
1931  Thomas Edison, inventor, died at age 84 in West Orange, NJ.
1954  Texas Instruments announced the first Transistor radio.
1929  The Persons Case was decided. (Persons Day in Canada)

October 19
1216  King John of England died.
1781  British troops under Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, VA.
1812  French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte began a retreat from Moscow.

October 20
1632  Sir Christopher Wren, English architect, was born.
1803  The US Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
1818  The Convention of 1818 signed between the United States and the United Kingdom, among other things, settled the Canada – United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
1891  James Chadwick, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate, was born.
1904  Tommy Clement Douglas, Canadian politician, was born.
1992  In the first World Series game to be played outside the US, the host Toronto Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2.