This Month in History

February

     
Feb 10
1763 		France cedes Canada to England
The Treaty of Paris and the end of the Seven Years War (also known as the French and Indian War) in 1763 saw France cede Canada to England, and prompted the closure of French trading posts.
 
Feb 2
1840 		Émile Jean Baptiste Marie Grouard
Émile Jean Baptiste Marie Grouard was born in Brûlon, France, on the 2 February, 1840.
 
Feb 10
1848 		Alfred Campbell Garrioch
Alfred Campbell Garrioch was born on 10 February 1848, in the Red River settlement at Kildonan, Manitoba. Garrioch’s time in Alberta (1876-1891) was marked by his accomplishments as a linguist. Not only did he translate various religious texts into the Cree and Beaver languages, but he also developed a reference guide for English, Cree and Beaver vocabulary.
 
Feb 14
1905 		Car propelling mechanism
On 14 February 1905, Henry Gibeau patented a car propelling mechanism. This consisted of the combination of a track, a stationary cable and a car frame with a driving shaft, a fixed axle secured onto the frame parallel to the car axles, a wheel mounted rotatively on the axles, a series of clamps radially disposed on the wheel and pivoted to its face and a cam mounted non-rotatably on the axle between the wheel face and clamp ends, which provided a swell adapted to press the inner end of the lowermost clamp outwards so as to press the opposite end inwards towards the wheel when the cable is between the parts.
 
Feb 13
1913 		Lilia (Lilly Stephansson) Seifried born.
Lilia (Lilly Stephansson) Seifried was born 13 February 1913. Featured on The Women of Aspenland website.
 
Feb 8
1916 		Captian Wilfrid Reid
Mary Lumsden was asked to say hello to her cousin Wilfrid. All she said was "Woppie." Thereafter, this was shortneded to "Wop," and the nickname stayed. His training was complete on this date he graducated to the rank of flight lieutenant. He was well known as a World War I Ace, and aviation pioneer in Alberta.
 
Feb 6
1919 		Donald MacLaren ~ Service Order
Donald Roderick MacLaren, known as one of Canada's World War I Aces, was given the Distinguished Service Order on this date.
 
Feb 21
1932 		The Great Corona Hotel Fire
While Edmontonians prepared for sleep on 21 February 1932, gas leaked through a cracked pipeline beneath 107 Street and the lane just behind Jasper Avenue and seeped into the basement of what was then the Corona Hotel. Then manager James Christie went to the basement and upon lighting a match, ignited a blaze.
 
Feb 31
1936 		Harvester - Stacker patented
Orville Newton Gilbert patented his invention, a hay-stacking machine, on 31 March 1936. An alternative to the traditional method of harvesting wheat, Gilber's inventions introduced a way of stacking crops rather than binding small bundles with twine. The Harvester-Stacker was a large wagon-box with a v-shaped floor. The box was balanced on a central axle so that it could be tilted backwards to allow the material inside to tumble out. A binder would run along side the stacker, passing cut hay onto a conveyor belt that would run up into the wagon-box. Farmhands would then tramp the hay until the barge was full, and a perfectly topped stack would be deposited onto the ground.
 
Feb 12
1948 		Beet Lifter
Andrew A. Briosi from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada patented a beet lifter, which was made out of a carriage formed with a frame mounted on wheels, with a hitch at the front, and a yoke secured at the rear of the frame. The yoke carried a pair of adjustable discs to lift the beets.
 
Feb 28
1961 		Patent of the Calf Weaner
Ernest O. Leitch, Brownvale patented the calf weaner. This was an animal weaner comprising a halter having nose and head bands with additional buckled bands for securing the halter on the head of an animal.
 
Feb 24
1982 		Gretzky broke goal record
Wayne Gretzky scored on Sabres’ netminder Don Edwards at the old Buffalo Auditorium. The goal gave him 77 on the season, breaking Phil Esposito’s record of 76.