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Prohibition
In Canada, prohibition is the ban on alcohol or strict restrictions on alcohol. Prohibition was seen as a way to support those fighting WW1 at the time. The State's had an even harsher ban on alcohol, which led to rum running. Rum running was the smuggling of alcohol across the Canadian border to the State's. They were able to do this due to a loophole in Canada's prohibition laws. One of my favourite ways they smuggled alcohol was by using speedboats. -
The Spanish Flu
The Spanish flu is a type of influenza. The symptoms often included sudden shivering, severe headaches, back pain and later collapsing. Worldwide, the Spanish flu killed over 50 million. In Canada, it killed about 50,000. Most of these deaths were women aged 20-40. Most people survived the Spanish flu after a few days, but quickly developed pneumonia and cyanosis, killing them. -
Residential Schools
These schools were a government funded program that would force indigenous kids away from their homes to go to these schools. In residential schools, kids were abused emotionally, sexually and physically to be more "white". The whole goal of these schools were to assimilate indigenous children into a white society by stripping them of their culture, which often led to them being killed. -
Winnipeg General Strike
The Winnipeg general strike was due to not being able to get jobs after the war and poor wages. It had been one of the biggest labour actions in Canada, and people from all different types of jobs participated. This all came to an end on a day called bloody Saturday. -
Bloody Saturday
Bloody Saturday was the end of the Winnipeg general strike. Police officers rode on horseback into a crowed of workers during the strike and started shooting. This ended up killing 2 and injuring many others. Leading to the end of the strike as they decided it was too dangerous to continue. -
Group of Seven
The group of seven was a group of landscape painters who painted Canadian landscapes. The group is best known for its Canadian inspired landscape paintings. By the 1930s, they were the only Canadian artists to receive global recognition and were favoured by the National Gallery of Canada. -
Flapper
Flapper is a term used to describe young women who were "daring" for their decade. They would smoke and drink out in public, dance at jazz clubs and went for a "revealing look". Often dressed boyish with boxy dresses that had shorter hemlines. They were seen as scandalous. -
The Jazz Age
The jazz age was a time in which jazz music and dance gained immense popularity during the 1920s. One of my favourite things from this era was the Charleston, a jazz dance that got incredibly popular in the 1920s. -
Insulin
In 1921 Frederick Banting and Charles Best figured out how to extract insulin from a dog's pancreas. They then used this on a dog with diabetes and kept him alive for 70 days until they were out of insulin. This was then used to create a more pure form of insulin from cattle. In January 1922 a boy received the first ever insulin injection. His high blood glucose levels dropped to normal levels in under 24 hours. This led to life for diabetics all over the world. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese exclusion act prevented any Chinese immigrant from getting into Canada. It also forced any Chinese people currently living there even if they were born in Canada to register with the government, or they would risk fines, detainment or deportation. This separated families, development of communities, social problems and economic issues. -
Foster Hewitt
Hewitt is known for being a famous broadcaster of the radio. Broadcasting from Toronto, he would narrate hockey games every hockey night for 40 years. His famous catchphrase was "he shoots, he scores". -
The Great Depression
The great depression was a time of economic despair from 1929-1939. During this time, many were out of their jobs or living paycheck to paycheck. People couldn't afford to provide for themselves or their family. Many companies shut down or went bankrupt as a result of the great depression. -
Black Tuesday
Black Tuesday was the day the stock market crashed. This was a result of a weak economy and marked the beginning of the great depression. People were sent into a panic and got rid of their stocks as soon as possible. Many people spent their life savings on stocks, which caused a period of poverty all around the world. -
Bennett Buggies
The term Bennett buggies was used as a way to describe horse-drawn cars that were often falling apart. This was because no one had the money to run these cars. The term itself is named after R.B Bennett, who is seen as the cause for the great depression. It was a way to make fun of him. -
Five Cent Speech
When MacKenzie King was demanded to give financial aid to the provincial governments, he declared he would not give five cent piece for the unemployed. This was due to the provincial governments previously being his competitors in becoming prime minister, and he didn't want to support his rivals.