31 January 2013

January 31 to February 2

January 31
1606  Guy Fawkes, convicted for his part in the Gunpowder Plot against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed.
1872  Zane Grey, American Western writer, was born.
1907  Timothy Eaton, Canadian department store founder, died.
1990  McDonald's Corp. opened its first fast-food restaurant in Moscow.

February 1
1709  Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
1796  The capital of Upper Canada was moved from Newark to York.
1882  Louis Stephen St. Laurent, 12th Prime Minister of Canada, was born
1893  Inventor Thomas A. Edison completed work on the world's first motion picture studio in West Orange, N.J.
1920  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was established.
1968  Canada's three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, were unified into the Canadian Forces.
2003  Space Shuttle Columbia, disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

February 2
1653  New Amsterdam, now New York City, was incorporated.
1882  James Joyce, Irish novelist, was born near Dublin.
2007  The world's leading climate scientists said global warming, is "very likely" caused by humans and will be unstoppable for centuries.

29 January 2013

Timeline January 29 & 30


January 29
1737  Thomas Paine, English/American political pamphleteer, was born.
1820  King George III of the United Kingdom died at Windsor Castle.
1845  Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror.
1856  Queen Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross.
1963  Robert Frost, American poet, died in Boston at age 88.

January 30
1649  England's King Charles I was beheaded.
1882  Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y. [My 7th cousin twice removed.]
1933  Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.
1948  Orville Wright, American inventor & aviation pioneer, died.

27 January 2013

A Day at the City of Ottawa Archives: Saturday, February 2nd

Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is hosting this event on Saturday, February 2 1:30-3:30 at the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa.

There will be specialists on hand from the Ottawa Branch, the Sir Guy Carleton Branch UELAC, the British Isles Family History Society and the corporate Archives of the City of Ottawa to:

* To explain generally how archives work
* To show you all the genealogical materials available in the libraries housed at the Archives
* To give you tips on researching military ancestors
* To outline the best strategies for using Ancestry.com
* To provide general information on records in the United Kingdom and Ireland
* To help you search for your Loyalist ancestors
* To illustrate how the Guild of One Name Studies can help you
* To inform you about local resources, particularly in former Goulbourn Township
* To guide you in choosing genealogy software
* To assist you with your genealogical adventure!

This is your chance to have some one-on-one time with a specialist (limited to one question based on availability), or just listen to specialists speak about their area of expertise in response to others’ questions.

Although it is only really an afternoon session you can make a day of it by attending the DNA interest group which will convene at 9:30 a.m. in the building.

Timeline January 27 & 28

January 27
1595  Sir Francis Drake, English explorer, died.
1756  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer, was born in Salzburg, Austria.
1776  American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery" arrives in Cambridge,  Massachusetts.
1832  Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, English logician, mathematician, photographer and novelist, who
wrote under the pen name Lewis Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), was born in Cheshire,  England.
1880  Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
1888  The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C..
1945  Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.
1901  Giuseppe Verdi, Italian opera composer, died.
1910  Thomas Crapper, English inventor, died.
1973  The Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.

January 28
1225  Saint Thomas Aquinas, was born.
1457  King Henry VII of England, was born.
1547  England's King Henry VIII died.
1613  Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and founder of the Bodleian library, died
1822  Alexander Mackenzie, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada, was born.
1918  John McCrae, Canadian poet, died.
1965  The current design of the Flag of Canada was chosen by an act of Parliament.
1986  Space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members.

24 January 2013

Timeline Janaury 24 to 26

January 24
    76  Hadrian, Roman Emperor, was born.
1848  James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California, sparking the gold rush of '49.
1908  The first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
1965  Sir Winston Churchill, soldier, politician, historian, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Nobel laureate died.
1984  The first Apple Macintosh went on sale.

January 25
1627  Robert Boyle, Anglo-Irish chemist, was born.
1759  Robert Burns, Scottish national poet, was born in Alloway.
1791  The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old Province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada.
1858  The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn became a popular wedding recessional after it was played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.
1915  The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service.
1919  The League of Nations was founded.
1947  Al Capone, American crime figure, died at age 48.

January 26
1788  The first European settlers in Australia landed in present-day Sydney.
1911  Glenn H. Curtiss, aviation pioneer, flew the first successful seaplane.
1924  Saint Petersburg, Russia, was renamed Leningrad.

22 January 2013

Timeline January 22 & 23

January 22
1561  Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher, was born.
1901  Queen Victoria died at age 81 after 63 years on the British throne.
1901  Edward VII was proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.

January 23
1579  The Union of Utrecht formed a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.
1737  John Hancock, American Revolutionary statesman, was born.
1920  Walter Frederick Morrison, American, inventor of the Frisbee , was born.

20 January 2013

Timeline January 20 & 21

January 20
1775  André-Marie Ampère, French physicist, was born.
1841  Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain.
1885  L.A. Thompson patented the roller coaster.
1896  Comedian George Burns was born Nathan Birnbaum in New York City.
1936  Britain's King George V died.
2009  Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first black President of the United States.

January 21
1610  Elizabeth Fones, English-born colonial American pioneer, was born. (d. 1673) [My 9th Great-Grandmother. Read about her on Wikipedia.]
1721  James Murray, British military officer, governor of Quebec, was born.
1738  Ethan Allen, American soldier/frontiersman, was born.
1793  France's King Louis XVI, was executed on the guillotine.
1891  Calixa Lavallée, Canadian composer, died.
1924  Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died at age 54.
1940  Jack Nicklaus, American golf legend, was born.
1941  Placido Domingo, Opera singer, was born.
1948  The Flag of Quebec was adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec.
1950  Author George Orwell died in London.

18 January 2013

Ottawa Branch Meeting - Saturday January 19th

Where: City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Room 115
Time:  1:00-3:00 Free refreshments (cookies, tea, coffee) and networking.

Speaker: Kurt Johnson, historical researcher, and Board Member of the Goulbourn Museum.
Topic: Shipwrecks and sorrows: Maiden voyage of the 100th Regiment

Description
The 100th Regiment Shipped out to Canada in 1805. The new 100th Regiment of 900 Irish soldiers aboard five troopships met with maritime disasters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Only seven survived one shipwreck off Newfoundland while 340 men, women and children on that tall ship died. Two other troopships were wrecked off Nova Scotia.

This meeting will be simulcast for members who can't join us in person. We will be using Live Meeting 2007 which is compatible with Windows PCs. Use this link (http://ogsottawa.on.ca/live-meeting-information/) for information on how to connect.
Then connect to the meeting room itself at: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/genealogicalstudies/join?id=OttawaOGSMeeting&role=attend&pw=MembersDec2011.
Please connect by 1:20 at the latest so that we can ensure your connection works (sound etc.).

17 January 2013

Timeline January 17 to 19

January 17
1562  French Protestants were recognized under the Edict of St. Germain.
1706  Statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston.
1899  Nevil Shute, English/Australian writer, was born.

January 18
1778  English navigator Captain James Cook became the first European to reach the Hawaiian Islands, which he dubbed the Sandwich Islands.
1788  The first English settlers arrived in Australia's Botany Bay to establish a penal colony.
1854  Thomas Watson, American telephone pioneer and shipbuilder, Was born.
1904  Cary Grant, English/American actor, was born Archibald Leach in Bristol, England.
1912  English explorer Robert F. Scott and his expedition reached the South Pole, only to discover that Roald Amundsen had gotten there first.

January 19
1736  James Watt, inventor of the steam engine, was born in Scotland.
1807  Robert E. Lee, the commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies, was born in Stratford, Va.
1809  Edgar Allan Poe, American writer/poet, was born in Boston.

15 January 2013

Gene-O-Rama 2013 Cancelled


Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society began Gene-O-Rama in 1981 to share knowledge and experience on a range of genealogical topics. Every year since then has seen either Gene-O-Rama or the provincial Conference. The 29th Gene-O-Rama was scheduled for April 2013 at Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Due to unexpected restrictions on the use of the building and the escalating costs imposed by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), who have assumed responsibility for the public facilities at LAC, Gene-O-Rama 2013 has been cancelled.

When originally booked in March of 2012, the prices quoted to us would have meant additional costs of about $500. Registration fees were adjusted to take this into account. The imposition in November of a service charge and fees for the use of the building’s lobby raised these costs to $1000. The registration brochure was amended, printed and distribution began. In January, we were advised that we could not use our own audio-visual equipment that had been purchased to be compatible with the installed equipment at 395 Wellington and used without incident for many years. Instead we would have to pay for the use of PWGSC equipment. As well, the wireless would no longer be free but a charge would be imposed, but they were not sure when. The cost had now risen to an estimated $2300 or nearly five times what we had been told when we first booked the facility.

We cannot know if PWGSC will impose more restrictions on the use of the building or add additional fees as we get closer to the date. At this late stage, finding another suitable location is not feasible. With regret, we therefore cancel Gene-O-Rama 2013.

We may be able to put together a smaller event in another venue that is more conducive to heritage activities. Please watch our website, blog or Facebook page for details.

Timeline January 15 & 16

January 15
1559  England's Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
1870  Pierre Samuel du Pont, American businessman, was born.
1908  Nuclear physicist Edward Teller was born in Budapest.
1919  Boston Molasses Disaster: A large molasses tank in Boston, Massachusetts, bursts and a wave of molasses rushes through the streets, killing 21 people and injuring 150 others.
2009  US Airways Capt Chelsey Sullenberger guided a jetliner disabled by a bird strike just after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport to a safe landing in the Hudson River.

January 16
1547  Ivan the Terrible was crowned Czar of Russia.
1707  The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
1874  Robert Service, Canadian verse writer, was born.
1920  Prohibition began as the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took effect.
2003  The space shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven blasted off from Cape Canaveral. (The shuttle broke up during its return descent on Feb. 1, killing everyone on board.)

14 January 2013

Timeline January 13 & 14

January 13
858   Ethelwulf, king of Wessex, died. (b. 795)
1691  George Fox, English founder of Quakerism, died.(b. 1624)
1885  Alfred Fuller, Canadian businessman, The "Fuller Brush Man", was born.
1910  The first public radio broadcast took place; a live performance of the opera Cavalleria rusticana was sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, New York.
1964  Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was appointed archbishop of Kraków, Poland.
1968  Johnny Cash performed live at Folsom State Prison
2012  The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Italy.

January 14
1741  Benedict Arnold, American patriot/traitor, was born.
1742  Edmond Halley, English scientist, died. (b. 1656)
1784  The United States ratified a peace treaty with England ending the Revolutionary War.
1875  Albert Schweitzer, the Alsatian-German doctor who received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize , was born.
1999  Toronto, Ontario, Canada Mayor Mel Lastman becomes the first mayor in Canada to call in the Army to help with emergency medical evacuations and snow removal after more than one meter of snow paralyzes the city. [We were on a VIA train that passed very slowly through Toronto and Eastern Ontario that day.]

10 January 2013

A Day at the City of Ottawa Archives: Saturday, February 2

Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is hosting this event on Saturday, February 2 from 1:30-3:30 at the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa.

There will be specialists on hand from the Ottawa Branch, the Sir Guy Carleton Branch UELAC, the British Isles Family History Society and the corporate Archives of the City of Ottawa to:

* To explain generally how archives work
* To show you all the genealogical materials available in the libraries housed at the Archives
* To give you tips on researching military ancestors
* To outline the best strategies for using Ancestry.com
* To provide general information on records in the United Kingdom and Ireland
* To help you search for your Loyalist ancestors
* To illustrate how the Guild of One Name Studies can help you
* To inform you about local resources, particularly in former Goulbourn Township
* To guide you in choosing genealogy software
* To assist you with your genealogical adventure!

This is your chance to have some one-on-one time with a specialist (limited to one question based on availability), or just listen to specialists speak about their area of expertise in response to others’ questions.

Although it is only really an afternoon session you can make a day of it by attending the DNA interest group which will convene at 9:30 a.m. in the building.

Also, starting at 2 p.m., the Master Genealogist (genealogy software) user group will be meeting in the building.

Timeline January 10 to 12

January 10
1645  Archbishop William Laud was beheaded at the Tower of London.
1738  Ethan Allen, American military leader was born.
1776  Thomas Paine published the pamphlet "Common Sense."
1935  Ronnie Hawkins, Rock singer and musician, was born.
1946  The first General Assembly of the United Nations convened in London, England.

January 11
1787  William Herschel discovered Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
1935  Aviator Amelia Earhart began a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean.

January 12
1588  John Winthrop, Massachusetts Bay Colony founder, was born. [My 11th Great-Granduncle]
1866  The Royal Aeronautical Society was formed in London, England, United Kingdom.
1930  Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player was born. (d. 1974)

09 January 2013

Ontario Genealogical Society Conference 2013

Registration for the Ontario Genealogical Society Conference 2013 is Now Open

The Theme of this year's conference is "Pulling Up Stakes – Putting Down Roots". The conference is being hosted by the Durham Region Branch of OGS from May 31 to June 2. The location is at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario.

Visit the web site for more information about speakers, workshops and registration.
http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2013/home/

Release of a new version of the Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906 database

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the release of a new version of the Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906  (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1906/Pages/1906.aspxdatabase). In 1906, the Canadian government called for a special census of the Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, and the two newly created provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta) to track the high rates of population growth in Western Canada.

Previously, users could search only by geographical information such as province, district and sub-district. It is now possible to also search by nominal information such as name, given name (s) and age for an individual.

08 January 2013

Timeline January 8 & 9

January 8
1642  Astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei died in Arcetri, Italy.
1815  U.S. forces led by Gen. Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans.
1935  Rock 'n' roll singer Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Miss.
1982  AT&T settled the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against it by agreeing to divest itself of the 22 Bell System companies.

January 9
1806  Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson received a state funeral and was interred in St Paul's Cathedral, London, England.
1839  The French Academy of Sciences announced the Daguerreotype photography process.
2001  Apple Computer Inc. introduced its iTunes music management software at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco.
2007  Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone.

06 January 2013

Timeline January 6 & 7

January 6
1066  Harold Godwinson was crowned King of England.
1492  According to tradition, Joan of Arc was born in Domremy, France. (d. 1431)
[Note: If you are visiting Milwaukee, WI, stop by and view the St. Joan of Arc Chapel at Marquette University. It is worth seeing!]
1838  Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrated his telegraph, in Morristown, N.J.
1912  German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presented his theory of continental drift.

January 7
1610  Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the moons of Jupiter.
1827  Sir Sandford Fleming, Canadian engineer, who introduced Universal Standard Time, was born.
1927  Commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.

05 January 2013

Ottawa Branch Meeting - Saturday January 19, 2013

When: Saturday January 19, 2013
Where: City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Room 115
Time:  1:00-3:00 Free refreshments (cookies, tea, coffee) and networking.

Speaker: Kurt Johnson, historical researcher, and Board Member of the Goulbourn Museum.
Topic: Shipwrecks and sorrows: Maiden voyage of the 100th Regiment

Description
The 100th Regiment Shipped out to Canada in 1805. The new 100th Regiment of 900 Irish soldiers aboard five troopships met with maritime disasters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Only seven survived one shipwreck off Newfoundland while 340 men, women and children on that tall ship died. Two other troopships were wrecked off Nova Scotia.

This meeting will be simulcast for members who can't join us in person. We will be using Live Meeting 2007 which is compatible with Windows PCs. Use this link (http://ogsottawa.on.ca/live-meeting-information/) for information on how to connect.
Then connect to the meeting room itself at: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/genealogicalstudies/join?id=OttawaOGSMeeting&role=attend&pw=MembersDec2011.
Please connect by 1:20 at the latest so that we can ensure your connection works (sound etc.).

03 January 2013

Timeline January 3 to 5

January 3
1521  Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
1777  Gen. George Washington's army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, N.J.
1833  Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
1892  J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
1959  US President Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49th state.
1977  Apple Computer was incorporated.

January 4
1797  Wilhelm Beer, German astronomer, who made first map of the moon, was born.
1809  Louis Braille, French educator and inventor of Braille, was born.
1813  Sir Isaac Pitman, English educator and inventor of shorthand, was born.
1903  Topsy the elephant died by electrocution.
1998  A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.

January 5
1066  Edward the Confessor, King of England, died. (b. 1004)
1779  Zebulon Montgomery Pike, American army officer and explorer, was born. Died April 27, 1813 at York, Upper Canada [War of 1812].
1855  King Camp Gillette, American inventor and manufacturer, was born.
1896  The Austrian newspaper Wiener Presse reported the discovery by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen of a type of radiation that came to be known as an X-ray.
1922  Sir Ernest Shackleton, Irish explorer, died. (b. 1874)
1943  Educator and scientist George Washington Carver died in Tuskegee, Ala., at age 81.

02 January 2013

Timeline January 1 & 2

January 1
45 BC The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time.
1773  The hymn that became known as "Amazing Grace", was first used to accompany a sermon led by John Newton in the town of Olney, England.
1801  The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1863  President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that slaves in rebel states were free.
1885  Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming's proposal for standard time and time zones.
1892  The Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York opened.
1898  New York City was consolidated into five boroughs.
1901  The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed.
1994  The North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect.

January 2
1727  James Wolfe, English general who captured Quebec, was born. Died Sept. 13, 1759.
1920  Isaac Asimov, the popular science fiction writer and biochemist, was born.