St. John's, Newfoundland And Labrador

History

• The Italian navigator John Cabot, who sailed under English flag, was the first European since the Vikings verifiably known to have reached America. The 500th anniversary of his landing in what he named New Founde Lande was celebrated in 1997. St. John's became the oldest British settlement in North America as, on August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert took possession of the region for England. The settlement changed hands several times between France and England, until becoming permanently British in 1762 and serving as a naval base during both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

• Many of the St. John's earliest settlers came from the Southeast of Ireland, primarily Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny. This would explain the similarity between accents from that part of Ireland and Newfoundland.

• The worst disaster to befall St. John's was on July 18, 1892 and is commonly called The Great Fire of 1892.

• It was at St. John's that Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless message, and it was from there that the first nonstop transatlantic flight was made in 1919 by Alcock and Brown.

• During the Second World War, the harbour was used by Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy ships used for protecting convoys. It was also the site of a large US Army base called "Fort Pepperrell". This base was established as part of the "Lend-lease" agreement between the UK and USA.

Geography

Facts

• The majority of the population descends from both Ireland and England.
• The accent heard in St. John's is very similar to that of Waterford, Ireland.
• Tradition declares that the city earned its name when explorer John Cabot became the first European to sail into its harbour, on June 24 1497 — the feast day of Saint John the Baptist.
• The city is the centre of business, education, and government for the province.
• St. John's is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. John's, and the Anglican Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador.
• St. John's is the site of the Newfoundland Museum, Memorial University, and the College of the North Atlantic.
• St. John's is currently the only Canadian city served by radio stations whose call letters do not begin with the letter C. Four stations in St. John's use the ITU prefix VO: VOCM (AM and FM), VOAR and VOWR. VO was assigned to the Dominion of Newfoundland before the province joined Canadian Confederation in 1949, and these stations kept their existing call letters. However, other commercial radio stations in St. John's which went to air after 1949 use the same range of prefixes (CF–CK) currently in use elsewhere in Canada. VO remains in use in amateur radio
• St. John's is the home of the St. John's Maple Leafs, an AHL farm team for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs' home stadium is Mile One Stadium and is in downtown St. John's. However, after the 2004-2005 season, the Maple Leafs will be leaving Newfoundland and a junior team from the QMJHL, called the St. John's Fog Devils are scheduled to become the new tenant at Mile One.
• St. John's is the terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway.

• According to the 2001 Statistics Canada Census:
• Dwellings: 42,443
• Area (km): 446.04
• Density (persons per km): 222.4

External links

• The City of St. John's Official Website

<< Previous Word Browser Next >>
carolina hurricanes ulster unionist party seatac, washington celtic christianity list of governors of texas hope, arkansas nosology w. edwards deming rowan williams john a. costello markan priority	breast cancer messianic judaism margaret tudor florida panthers ceviche olympia list of winners and shortlisted authors of the booker prize for fiction maximilian kolbe itaipu valparaso combined nuclear and steam propulsion	kirov class battlecruiser orthoptera levite benjamin banneker gulf of saint lawrence hemolysis ginger lynn may fourth movement suze randall robert cecil, 1st earl of salisbury princes in the tower	montreal alouettes jacques cartier hermeneutics helen stephens james hepburn, 4th earl of bothwell david rizzio list of alberta premiers le d'orlans fraga alexander von humboldt acritarch