A brief history of the pigeons of Toronto

Pigeons have been living with people for literally as long as anyone can remember. They were one of the first animals we ever... Read More

Toronto’s first truly terrible leader — the slave-owning gambling addict Peter Russell

In 1796, John Graves Simcoe got sick. Just three years earlier, he had founded Toronto as the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper... Read More

Toronto was just a tiny little frontier town when its first road tolls were introduced. That was back in 1820; York wasn’t even 30... Read More

Nobody could beat him. Ever since the beginning of the French Revolution, France had been fighting wars with pretty much every single... Read More

One of my favourite primary sources for old Toronto history is Anna Jameson’s diary, Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in... Read More

Tonight, for the first time in 20 years, the Blue Jays will start a new season as one of the favourites to win the World Series. But... Read More

In 1798, John Sullivan and Michael Flannery got drunk. They were drinking whisky at one of the very first taverns ever built in... Read More

Twenty years before she played Aunt Hetty on Road To Avonlea, Jackie Burroughs met Zal Yanovsky while he was living in a dryer in a... Read More

; This photo of Antarctica was taken more than 100 years ago — back in the days when most of the icy continent had yet to be seen by... Read More

In 1781, William Jarvis got shot. They say it’s probably the best thing that ever happened to him. Before that he was just an... Read More