31 July 2012

Timeline July 31

1498  On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.

30 July 2012

Legacy Family Tree Webinars

To register for these webinars, which are free, go to:
http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Webinars.asp

Wednesday August 1 at 6 p.m.
Neglected History. Presenter is Megan Smolenyak.

Timeline July 29 to 30

July 29
1588  The English defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines.
1793  John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there.
1948  The Games of the XIV Olympiad – after a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, open in London, England.
1981  Britain's Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

July 30
1792  The French national anthem, "La Marseillaise" by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, was first sung in Paris.
1818  Emily Bronte, English novelist and poet, was born.
1863  Henry Ford, American automaker, was born in Dearborn Township, Mich.
1941  Paul Anka, Canadian singer and composer, was born.

26 July 2012

Legacy Family Tree webinar this week.

The webinars are free and are presented by the folks at the Millennia Corporation, makers of Legacy Family Tree.

On Friday, July 27 popular speaker Thomas MacEntee is back with The Genealogy Cloud: Which Online Storage Program Is Right For You?

Start time is 2 p.m. EDT. You need to register in order to take part. Registration is very easy and it is free.  http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Webinars.asp

Timeline July 25 to 28

July 25
315   The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum at Rome to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge.
1593  France's King Henry IV converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.
1755  British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians. Thousands of Acadians are sent to the British Colonies in America, France and England. Some later move to Louisiana, while others resettle in New Brunswick.
1814  At Lundy's Lane, near Niagara Falls, the bloodiest battle of the War of 1812 was fought. During a six-hour afternoon encounter, Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond with 2,800 men engaged an invading American army which had recently been victorious at Chippawa. Both sides claimed victory. The Americans withdrew the following day, ending their offensive in Upper Canada.
1978  The 1st baby conceived by in-vitro fertilization was born in Oldham, England.

July 26
1758  French and Indian War: the Siege of Louisbourg ends with British forces defeating the French and taking control of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
1945  Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labour Party. Clement Attlee became the new Prime Minister.
1953  Fidel Castro began a revolt against Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba.
1956  Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.

July 27
1794  French revolutionary leader Maximilien Robspierre was overthrown and placed under arrest. He was executed the following day.
1866  After two failures, Cyrus W. Field succeeded in laying the first underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.
1940  Bugs Bunny made his debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon "A Wild Hare."
2003  Bob Hope, comedian, died at age 100.

July 28
1540  King Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, was executed. The same day, the English monarch married Catherine Howard, the fifth of his six wives.
1750  Johann Sebastian Bach, composer, died in Leipzig, Germany, at age 65.
1866  Beatrix Potter, English author of children's books, was born.
1914  Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. WW I began.
1945  A US Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the New York City's Empire State building, killing 14 people.

23 July 2012

Timeline July 22 to 24

July 22
1099  First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1587  A second group of English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island off North Carolina to re-establish the deserted colony.
1793  Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada.
1822  Gregor Mendel, Austrian botanist, was born.
1915  Sir Sandford Fleming, Canadian engineer and inventor, died. (b. 1827)
1950  William Lyon Mackenzie King, 10th Prime Minister of Canada, died. (b. 1874)
2012  Bradley Wiggins, of Great Britain, won his first Tour de France.

July 23
1829  In the United States, William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.
1840  The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.
1914  Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia following the killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serb Assassin; the dispute led to WW I.
1930  Glenn Curtiss, American aviation pioneer, died. (b. 1878)

July 24
1534  French explorer Jacques Cartier plants a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula and takes possession of the territory in the name of Francis I of France.
1847  Mormon leader Brigham Young and his followers arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in present day Utah.
1927  The Menin Gate war memorial is unveiled at Ypres.
2005  Lance Armstrong won a seventh consecutive Tour de France.

18 July 2012

Timeline July 19 to 21

July 19
1814  Samuel Colt, American firearms manufacturer, was born.
1941  British Prime Minister Winston Churchill launched his "V for Victory" campaign in Europe.
1963  Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 metres (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention.
1969  Apollo 11 and its astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins, went into orbit around the moon.

July 20
356 BC  Alexander the Great, Greek king of Macedonia and conqueror of Persia (d. 323 BC)
1738  Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.
1804  Richard Owen, English biologist (d. 1892). He coined the word Dinosauria (meaning "Terrible Reptile").
1871  British Columbia joined the confederation as a Canadian province.
1917  The WW I draft lottery began in the US.
1969  Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.

July 21
1865  In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first western showdown.
1899  Ernest Hemingway, author, was born in Oak Park, IL.
1911  Marshall McLuhan, Canadian communications theorist and educator was born.
1925  Sir Malcolm Campbell becomes the first man to break the 150 mph (241 km/h) land barrier at Pendine Sands in Wales.
1961  Capt. Virgil "Gus" Grissom became the second American to sub orbit the Eath.

Walking-Goulbourn-Rideau Canal blog

Have a look at the Walking-Goulbourn-Rideau Canal blog by Jim

http://walkingwithjim.blogspot.ca/

for more info on the War of 1812.

15 July 2012

Timeline July 15 to 18

July 15
1573  Inigo Jones, English architect, painter and designer was born.
1606  The painter Rembrandt Van Rijn was born in Leiden, Netherlands.
1779  Clement Moore, American scholar; wrote The Night Before Christmas, was born.
1799  The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign.
1870  Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory are transferred to Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company.

July 16
1377  Coronation of Richard II of England.
1723  Sir Joshua Reynolds, English portrait painter, was born.
1872  Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer, the first to reach the South Pole, was born.
1945  The US exploded its first experimental atomic bomb in the desert near Alamogordo, NM.
1969  Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on the first manned mission to the moon.

July 17
1717  King George I of Great Britain sails down the River Thames with a barge of 50 musicians, where George Frideric Handel's Water Music is premiered.
1763  John Jacob Astor, German born American founder of the Astor dynasty, was born.
1821  Spain ceded Florida to the US.
1917  With the country at war with Germany the British Royal family changed its name from the German Saxe-Coburg Gotha to Windsor.
1918  Russia's Czar Nicholas II, his wife and five children were executed by the Bolsheviks.
1947  Camilla, Dutchess of Cornwall, wife of Britain's Prince Charles, was born.

July 18
1334  The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.
1872  Britain introduced the concept of voting by secret ballot
1957  Sir Nick Faldo, English golfer, as born.

12 July 2012

Timeline July 12 to 14

July 12
100 BC  Julius Caesar, Roman imperial general and statesman,  was born in Rome. Died March 15, 44 BC.
1730  Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, was born.
1812  First American invasion in the War of 1812. US Brigadier General William Hull crossed the Detroit River with 2,500 troops and occupied the town of Sandwich.
1854  George Eastman, inventor of the Kodak camera & founder of Eastman Kodak Co., was born in Waterville, NY.
1849  Sir William Osler, Canadian physician and author, was born at Bond Head, Canada West.
1895  Oscar Hammerstein II, Broadway lyricist & produce of musical theatre , was born in NYC.

July 13
1864  John Jacob Astor IV, American entrepreneur, was born. Died April 15, 1912 in the sinking of the Titanic.
1940  Patrick Stewart, actor, was born.
1942  Harrison Ford, actor, was born.

July 14
1789  During the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside.
1853  Opening of the first major US world's fair, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York City.

10 July 2012

Timeline July 10 & 11

July 10
138   Emperor Hadrian died at Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian.
1509  John Calvin, French theologian, was born.
1851  Louis-Jacques Daguerre, French inventor and photographer, died (b. 1787)
1856  Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American inventor and researcher was born.
1985  Coca-Cola Co., bowing to pressure from irate customers after the introduction of New Coke, said it would resume selling its old formula.

July 11
1274  Robert I, The Bruce, Scottish King 1306-29, was born. Died June 7, 1329.
1774  Sir William Johnson, Baronet, Irish-born New York pioneer, died (b. 1715).
1776  Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.

09 July 2012

Timeline July 8 & 9

July 8
1497  Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India.
1663  Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island.
1892  St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.

July 9
1793  The Act Against Slavery is passed in Upper Canada and the importation of slaves into Lower Canada is prohibited.
1811  Explorer David Thompson posts a sign at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers (in modern Washington state, US), claiming the land for the United Kingdom.
1819  Elias Howe, American inventor of the sewing machine, was born.
1900  Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gives royal assent to an Act creating the Commonwealth of Australia thus uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government.
1956  Tom Hanks, actor, was born.

08 July 2012

Off Line Records



I read recently that 10 billion records have been added to Ancestry in the past 15 years.. That’s great! But how much does it actually represent? What percentage of genealogical records are on line? There has been a big push lately, so we might have about 10% of the records on line. That’s just my guess and I could be on the high side.
Where are the rest of the records? They are on shelves in places like Library and Archives Canada (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html), the Ottawa Public Library (http://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/main/interest/learn/genealogy) and the City of Ottawa Archives (http://ottawa.ca/en/rec_culture/museum_heritage/archives/). How many records are held on these shelves? I cannot begin to guess.

But I can estimate what is held by Ottawa Branch in the City of Ottawa Archives. We have been indexing the names in our holdings for the OGS project called The Ontario Name Index. So far we have added about 60,000 names to that index (http://www.ogs.on.ca/integrated/toni_database1.php). That consists of 6 scrapbooks and 15 family histories. So far, they have averaged about 1500 names per book. Since the library holds 30 scrapbooks and over 700 family histories, that comes out to about 1.1 million names when we are done. And that does not include the other collections of history and reference books. The City Archives also holds the city directories from the late 1800s and the entire run of the Ottawa Journal. How many names will be there.

All these sources are not yet indexed, so it’s not as easy as logging on to Ancestry. But it also does not cost a cent. The City Archives is open to the public 9am to 4pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays between Labour Day and Victoria Day. And there are volunteers on hand to help you. Fellow genealogists who share your love for the hobby and many have some personal knowledge of the area and other researching their families.

And I have not mentioned the other resources in the City Archives. In addition to the City’s collection, the facility houses the libraries of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO), the Sir Guy Carleton Branch of the United Empire Loyalists, the local United Church Archives and the C. Robert Craig Memorial (“Railway”) Library.

If you are researching a family from the Ottawa area, drop by the City of Ottawa Archives at 100 Tallwood Drive. Everything is NOT on-line.

And if you would like to help, drop me a line at pastchair@ogsottawa.on.ca

07 July 2012

War of 1812

From Burtons 'The Invasion of Canada, 1812-1813' Vol. 1 pg 101
...unless Detriot and Michilimackinac be both in our possession at the commencement of hostilities,
not only Amherstburg but most probably the whole country, must be evacuated as far as Kingston.
Isaac Brock, February, 1812

As per my personal SWAG, the above laid the foundation for where we sit today.
Jim Stanzell, July 2012

12 July to 8 Aug 1812
General's Army invades Upper Canada at Sandwich [Windsor]

16 - 25 July 1812
Skirmishes at the Canard River. British troops from Ft. Amherstburg and native allies repell American soldiers in a series of skirmishes.

17 July 2012
British capture Fort Mackinac led by Captain Charles Roberts from Ft. St Joseph. Not a shot was fired. For more detail refer to Burton's book, mentioned above pgs 13-15. Viewable thru Google Books? This is the first major event of the War of 1812

19 July 1812
A five ship Provincial Marine Squadron from Kingston attacks the flagship Oneida at Sackets Harbour but is driven off

July 2012
Toonie carries an image of HMS Shannon

05 July 2012

Timeline July 5 to 7

July 5
1687  Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
1810  Phineas T. Barnum, American showman, was born in Bethel, Conn.
1853  Cecil Rhodes, English financier and empire builder of South Africa, was born.
1865  William Booth founded the Salvation Army in London, England.
1946  The bikini, designed by Louis Reard, made its debut at Molitor Pool in Paris.
2009  The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England.

July 6
1189  Richard I "the Lionheart" is crowned King of England.
1483  Richard III, King of England, was crowned.
1535  Sir Thomas More was executed for treason in England.
1785  Sir William Hooker, English botanist, was born.
1885  Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
1923  The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed.
1925  Bill Haley, American singer and songwriter, was born.
1998  Roy Rogers, the singing cowboy, died at age 86.

July 7
1752  Joseph-Marie Jacquard, French inventor of the Jacquard loom, was born.
1907  Robert Heinlein, American science fiction writer, was born.
1928  Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.
1954  Elvis Presley made his radio debut when Memphis, Tenn. station WHBQ played his first recording for Sun Records, "That's All Right."

04 July 2012

Ottawa Summer Genealogy Meet-up

From Anglo-Celtic Connections John Reid has announced:

Ottawa Summer Genealogy Meet-up
Join me and some friends for the first Ottawa Summer Genealogy Meet-up. It's taking place on the patio at the cafe at Westboro beach this Thursday, 5 July, from 10:30am. It's informal chat, no need to prepare unless you want to swim afterwards.

The forecast is sunny. Low 21. High 28. It will be cooler by the water. Bring protection from the sun.

Checkout the map at http://goo.gl/maps/01DE

03 July 2012

Timeline July 3 & 4

July 3
1608  The city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain.
1775  Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass.
1844  The last pair of Great Auks was killed.
1996  The Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.

July 4
1753  Jean-Pierre Blanchard, the French balloonist who made first English Channel aerial crossing, was born.
1776  The US Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
1817  At Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal began.

02 July 2012

Timeline July 1 to 2

July 1
1837  A system of the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths is established in England and Wales.
1873  Prince Edward Island joins the Canadian Confederation.
1908  SOS is adopted as the international distress signal.
1946  The US exploded a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
1958  Flooding of Canada's St. Lawrence Seaway began.
1969  Britain's Prince Charles was invested as the Prince of Wales.
1980  "O Canada" was proclaimed the national anthem of Canada.
1997  Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule after 156 years as a British Colony.

July 2
1489  Thomas Cranmer, English religious leader and first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury, was born. One of the Oxford Martyrs, he was burned at the stake March 21, 1556.
1679  Europeans first visit Minnesota and see headwaters of Mississippi in an expedition led by Daniel Greysolon de Du Luth.
1937  Aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight at the equator.
1947  An object that the Army Air Force later said was a weather balloon crashed near Roswell, NM.
1997  James Stewart, actor, died at age 89