Today in Local History – April

Above: The Capilano Stadium was renamed Nat Bailey Stadium in 1978 [Image: Vancouver Heritage Foundation]

On April 1, 1960 the Black Top cab company, with 62 cars, merged with 48-car Blue Cab to become the largest taxi operation in Western Canada.

Vancouver population today, April 1, 2008: (est.) 603,571
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,211,912 (est.)

On April 2, 1978 the Vancouver Parks Board voted to rename Capilano Stadium after Nat Bailey.

Vancouver population April 2, 2008: 603,583 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,211,983 (est.)

On April 3, 1993 Vancouver hosted a summit meeting between U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russia’s President Boris Yeltsin.

Vancouver population April 3, 2008: 603,596 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,054 (est.)

On April 4, 1917 women (unless they were native Indian or Oriental) got the vote in BC elections.

Vancouver population April 4, 2008: 603,609 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,125 (est.)

On April 5, 1958 Ripple Rock, a threat to navigation in the Seymour Narrows, was blown up in the largest non-nuclear explosion in history.

Vancouver population April 5, 2008: 603,622 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,196 (est.)

On April 6, 1886 the City of Vancouver was incorporated.

Vancouver population April 6, 2008: 603,635 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,261 (est.)

On April 7, 1914 last spike ceremonies marked the completion of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, creating a continuous line between Portland, Maine and Prince Rupert, BC.

Vancouver population April 7, 2008: 603,648 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,338 (est.)

On April 8, 1912 comic Charlie Chaplin, not yet famous, was in Vancouver with the Fred Karno troupe in A Night in an English Music Hall.

Vancouver population April 8, 2008: 603,661 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,409 (est.)

On April 9, 1937 Senator J. W. deB. Farris, K.C., told a luncheon meeting of The Vancouver Board of Trade that public supervision of all Canadian transport by air, land and water, such as was proposed by the Canadian Transport Bill, is “a piece of legislation that must come sooner or later.”

Vancouver population April 9, 2008: 603,674 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,480 (est.)

On April 10, 1836 a little Hudson’s Bay boat called the Beaver arrived in Vancouver. Its busy career ended when it was wrecked off Prospect Point in 1888. (Part of the wreck is visible at very low tide.)

Vancouver population April 10, 2008: 603,687 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,551 (est.)

On April 11, 1940 Greater Vancouver shipyards began to build corvettes and minesweepers for action in the Atlantic. Some passenger ships were converted.

Vancouver population April 11, 2008: 603,700 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,622 (est.)

On April 12, 1980 one-legged runner Terry Fox of Port Coquitlam began his cross-country “Marathon of Hope” to raise money for cancer research. And did he ever!

Vancouver population April 12, 2008: 603,713 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,693 (est.)

On April 13, 1932 famed pianist Ignace Paderewski performed at the Vancouver Arena. Eight years later he was at the head of the Polish government in exile during the Second World War!

Vancouver population April 13, 2008: 603,726 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,764 (est.)

On April 14, 1918 Daylight Saving Time was introduced to British Columbia.

Vancouver population April 14, 2008: 603,739 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,835 (est.)

On April 15, 1957 a 14-square-kilometre chunk of South Surrey that had seceded was incorporated as White Rock. It was named for a large white granite rock on the beach, a relic of the Ice Age.

Vancouver population April 15, 2008: 603,752 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,906 (est.)

On April 16, 1937 The Vancouver Sun reported on a talk given by Mayor George Miller to the Vancouver Board of Trade on local tourism problems. “If Capilano Canyon and this park were 50 miles away Vancouver people would be breaking their legs to get to them, and they would be sending all tourists to see them. The trouble is they are too close.”

Vancouver population April 16, 2008: 603,765 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,212,977 (est.)

On April 17, 1913 baseball’s Athletic Park was dedicated. Bob “Mr. Baseball” Brown built a fine wooden ballpark at the southeast corner of Fifth and Hemlock. 6,000 fans filled every seat to watch the Vancouver Beavers beat the Tacoma Tigers 8-4. The first admission prices were 25 and 50 cents.

Vancouver population April 17, 2008: 603,778 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,048 (est.)

On April 18, 1938 St. James Anglican Church at Gore and Cordova was consecrated. It was the Sunday after Easter. Architect Arthur Erickson, among others, has said “this is the best building in Vancouver.”

Vancouver population April 18, 2008: 603,791 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,119 (est.)

There was drama at the BC Penitentiary April 19, 1963 when rioting inmates, holding a hostage, insisted on speaking in person to CKNW radio open-liner Jack Webster. The gutsy Webster met with them under extremely tense conditions and aired their grievances.

Vancouver population April 19, 2008: 603,804 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,190 (est.)

On April 20, 1922 radio station CFQC started broadcasting. It’s known as CFUN today.

Vancouver population April 20, 2008: 603,817 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,261 (est.)

On April 21, 1927 a new cop joined the Vancouver Police Department. Liverpool-born Walter Mulligan, 23, will become chief in 1947, be forced out in 1956 by scandal. See the 1956 chronology on this site.

Vancouver population April 21, 2008: 603,830 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,332 (est.)

On April 22, 1961 North Vancouver’s Lions Gate Hospital, the fifth largest in the Greater Vancouver Regional Hospital District, opened at its current site with 285 beds.

Vancouver population April 22, 2008: 603,843 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,403 (est.)

On April 23, 1976 the 93-metre high, 24-storey Four Seasons Hotel at 791 W. Georgia officially opened with a benefit to raise funds for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Vancouver population April 23, 2008: 603,857 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,474 (est.)

On April 24, 1912 Billy Stark was the pilot for the first passenger flight in B.C. Passenger James Hewitt, a Vancouver Province sports reporter, was flown for six miles and eight minutes, soaring up to 600 feet. The plane travelled at 40 mph, and Hewitt rode on a board strapped to the lower wing.

Vancouver population April 24, 2008: 603,870 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,541 (est.)

On April 25, 1936 retailer Charles Woodward made a speech in which he said “My prediction is that within 40, at the outside 50, years Vancouver will be the largest city in Canada.”

Vancouver population April 205, 2008: 603,883 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,612 (est.)

On April 26, 1968 Premier W.A.C. Bennett and Vancouver City Archivist Major J.S. Matthews dedicated New Brighton Park. One eye-witness reported that Major Matthews, who was a very forceful fellow with a stentorian voice, frightened some of the smaller children in the audience to tears.

Vancouver population April 26, 2008: 603,896 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,683 (est.)

On April 27, 1924 the Cenotaph at Vancouver’s Victory Square was unveiled in a ceremony presided over by Mayor William Reid Owen. Originally a memorial to Vancouver’s soldiers who had died in France, its inscription reads: “Their name liveth for ever more / Is it nothing to you—All ye that pass by.”

Vancouver population April 27, 2008: 603,909 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,754 (est.)

On April 28, 1911 William Templeton, who would later become the first manager of the Vancouver Airport, built and flew a home-made biplane at Minoru Park race-track. This was the first plane built and flown in Greater Vancouver.

Vancouver population April 28, 2008: 603,922 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,823 (est.)

On April 29, 1989 a naming ceremony gave the name Pacific Spirit Park to 763 hectares of forested land on the University Endowment Lands. A competition to name the park had been won by young Sherry Sakamoto, who was present at the ceremony. She chose the name, she explained, to signify “Gateway to the Pacific and spiritual ground to becoming one with nature.”

Vancouver population April 29, 2008: 603,935 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,894 (est.)

On April 30, 1996 Vancouver Variations, a beautiful concerto for oboe and orchestra by Michael Conway Baker, premiered at the Orpheum Theatre. The CBC Orchestra, featuring soloist Roger Cole, was conducted by Bruce Rodney Dunn. You can hear it at www.michaelconwaybaker.com. The tune is now heard daily as the opening theme on CBC Radio Two’s Here’s To You with Catherine Belyea (9:00 a.m. to noon) at 105.7 FM.

Vancouver population April 30, 2008: 603,948 (est.)
Metropolitan Vancouver population: 2,213,965 (est.)