Retro Raunch Revisit

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 28, 1867: Toronto officially becomes the capital of Ontario with the province having been newly created by Confederation earlier on Jul 1 -- which was the creation of the Dominion of Canada set forth by the British North America Act to unite with the separate colonies of Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as joined provinces in an ambitious aim that would become the foundational structure for a federal system. Toronto's earliest activity began with the First Nations Iroquois indigenous from the 1200's to 1500's, and French explorers & traders landing on the shores of Lake Ontario in Sept 1615. The Fort Portneuf trading post built along the Humber River in 1750, and the trading post named Fort Rouillé in 1751 -- on what is the present grounds of the CNE -- have both at various points been called Fort Toronto. After the Seven Years' War of 1756-63 saw New France (French North American territory including Canada) ceded to the British, the city having been previously called York (after the Duke of York), changed to the Town of York (to also distinguish it from New York City) which became the capital of Upper Canada in Aug 1793. (Jul 1793 had seen the establishment of the Fort York military fortification for the British garrisoned there). The Town of York was a heavily contested site during the War of 1812-14, was renamed Toronto after the city was incorporated in Mar 1834 with William Lyon Mackenzie as the first Mayor, and became a central point of prominence during the Rebellions of 1837-38 where a provisional government was set up. The actual name is likely derived from the Mohawk word 'tkaronto' meaning "where there are trees standing in the water". The namesakes of its downtown major arterial streets (King, Queen, Yonge, Dundas, Bloor) were 2 British royal monarchs, 2 influential British politicians, and an inkeeper/brewer who co-founded Yorkville. During his 1842 North American tour, author Charles Dickens described visiting Toronto as "full of life, motion, business and improvement. The streets are well-paved and lighted with gas". With Toronto's inhabitants made up largely of colonists from the UK and their descendants, during the American Civil War of 1861-65, the population's black citizens grew from the settlement of freed & escaped slaves by the Underground Railroad. As the city became an important connective regional center through expanding east-to-west train travel and on the British & American commerce markets, a profitable mining boom in northern Ontario began in 1903, and the financial sector competed with Montreal as American business opted more for branch offices in Toronto. WWI and WWII impacted the city tremendously as it was a mighty hub for armed forces recruitment & national mobilizations for overseas deployment. The post-war influx of demographic-changing immigration into suburbia in the 1950's resulted in the surrounding districts now unified as the 'Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto' in Apr 1953, and the city experienced an increase in the thriving urban sprawl of the 1960's & 70's. With a further boom of industry in the 1980's, in Jan 1998, the unified Municipality was scrapped for a brand new amalgamation of the 6 boroughs that now formed the singular concentrated 'City of Toronto' which has emerged as both Canada's largest city & economic mecca, as well as being one of the most multicultural & entertainment-driven cities in the world.