KNOW TO is a board game. A game about Toronto. About Toronto’s stories. About Toronto’s history. About Toronto’s diversity. Think Monopoly meets Trivial Pursuit.
And we’d love for you to help us create it. Who exactly is “us”? We’re Julie, Sam, Wendy & Zenia – a group of fellows from the inaugural DiverseCity Fellowship program.
As part of the program, we became interested in telling Toronto’s diverse stories … and we wanted to do that in a fun and creative way. So we chose to create a board game about Toronto, one that would teach, surprise, and inspire you and others.
As we develop the strategy and content, we want to include the experts: you!
• Send us facts about TO (preferably ones that are backed up by a reference!);
• Give us feedback on our game as it evolves,
• Take our polls and answer some of the questions we have posted.
We’re aiming to have a trial product ready by the end of the year and if we’re lucky, by next year we’ll have a fun and interesting game that we all created together.
YOUR CALL TO ACTION: LET US KNOW AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT TORONTO BELOW.
Here are some sample Toronto facts:
Q: What does the name Toronto mean?
A: “Meeting Place”
Q: What country’s forces occupied the city of York for six days during the war of 1812?
A: United States
Q: What radical politician and newspaperman was Toronto’s first mayor?
A: William Lyon Mackenzie
Q: What two iconic stores open in 1869 and 1872 respectively and dominated Toronto retail until the latter part of the 20th century?
A: Eaton’s and Simpson’s
The Wheat Sheaf Tavern is Toronto’s oldest bar; it was built in 1848!
The light tower at the top of the Canada Life building at Queen/University is a weather beacon and can tell you whether temps are rising/falling, or if it’s clear skies all day or it’s going to rain. Very handy!
hey cool todd, i didn’t know that. makes me think of the empire state building in new york except the lighting colours typically represent and event (ie. blue and white means that the United Nations is in)
Before being converted to condos in 2006, the Tip Top Tailors building was the manufacturing and office site of Tip Top Tailors Ltd., a menswear retailer. Built in 1929, the building encompasses features of the art deco genre and was designated a Toronto Heritage Site. It now houses 256 units with some two-storey penthouse units costing up to $4 million.
Toronto Life magazine has a cool column (sort of) dedicated to Toronto trivia. Check it out here: http://www.torontolife.com/daily/category/urban-decoder/
I think you guys will find some useful facts there.
The Star just completed their series of “lists” that may come in handy: http://www.thestar.com/list. The one I thought may be fun to include is Five Toronto Inventions at http://www.thestar.com/article/663839.
Also: the windows of the Royal Bank Plaza at Bay/Front contain 24k gold. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Bank_Plaza)
The longest street in the world is Yonge st:
http://ask.yahoo.com/20021121.html
Up until very recently, the CN Tower was the tallest free standing structure in the world.
The ghost of Ivan Reznikov haunts University College at U of T.
http://www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id31196
The statue of King Edward VII in Queen’s Park once stood in New Delhi.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snuffy/3063718511/
My Toronto is pigeons.
My Toronto is CTV.
Ok, back to pigeons. I’ve never seen a baby pigeon, although I’m pretty sure they do exist.
http://torontoist.com/2008/01/wild_toronto_pi.php
A recent issue of Toronto Life had some very interesting facts listed. They ran an article titled “50 reasons to love your city,” and I found out some stuff I never knew. (i.e Did you know there is an organic farm at Weston Road and the 401? Or that the Fairmount Royal York Hotel grows its own honey on the roof?)
If your looking for facts on T.O, the article had some great stuff. See below.
http://www.torontolife.com/features/50-reasons-love-toronto-right-now/
WL MacKenzie and the revolutionary forces in 1834 met at a tavern at Yonge and Eglinton…tavern moved to Etobicoke, plaque at Broadway and Yonge confirms location.
http://torontoist.com/
Other ideas include calling the game “Toropolis” (Toronto as metropolis) and thinking about questions which would ask, “How diverse/cosmopolitan is your Toronto?”
To that end, here are some more sample questions:
Statistics Canada’s 2006 census data indicates that, in the Toronto census metropolitan area, 18,445 individuals identified Somalia as their place — or one of their places — of ethnic origin. In Africa, Toronto is known as Dixon in the Somalian refugee camps because of the apartments along Dixon Road near Pearson Airport, those apartment buildings being known as “Little Mogadishu”. Why did the first Somali refugees start arriving in Toronto in 1989?
Answer: In the late 1980s, conflict in Somalia arose as a result of the beginnings of a civil war that is recognized as having begun in 1991. On December 3, 1992, UN Security Council Resolution 794 was passed unanimously approving UN Humanitarian troops which landed in 1993.
Which architect is recognized for the architectural design behind not only the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto, but also the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen, and the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester?
Answer: Daniel Libeskind.
Is it Frank Lloyd Wright or Frank Gehry who is recognized for the 2008/2009 redesign of the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto? Hint: the architect was also born and raised in Toronto.
Answer: Frank Owen Gehry (born Ephraim Owen Goldberg, February 28, 1929). He is also credited with the design of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Bilbao, Spain (1997), the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, California (opened in 2003), the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota (completed in 1993), and the Dancing House in downtown Prague, Czech Republic (in collaboration with Czech architect Vlado Milunić; completion in 1996). It is Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) who is credited with the design for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City (opened in 1959), among many other acclaimed buildings such as Robie House in Chicago, Illinois (1910), Fallingwater near Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania (1934-1937), the Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wisconsin (1936), and Westcott House in Springfield, Ohio (1905).
Newspaper magnate Conrad Black — who controlled Hollinger International, Inc. prior to his downfall and incarceration (in March 2008) in Florida — made a Toronto building at 10 Toronto Street infamous in what year when he was caught by security camera removing boxes from his office, contrary to court orders?
Answer: 2005.
The National Club (“NC”), established in 1874 only 7 years after Canadian Confederation (1867) and now located at 303 Bay Street, Toronto since 1907, has the following mission statement: “The National Club offers its members and guests a private, downtown enclave rich in relationships, a celebrated heritage and unrivalled service.” While the NC asserts that it has “always welcomed women”, it admits that “this did not extend to admitting women to membership”. In what year was “a vote on allowing women membership . . . held at the Annual General Meeting . . . the result [being that] virtually [all were] in favour of full membership for women”?
Answer: 1992
In the Toronto census metropolitan area, 188,110 people identified Portugal as their place — or one of their places — of ethnic origin. What is the name of the famous Post-Impressionist painter who not only married a Danish woman (Mette Sophie Gad) and had five children with her but also now has several descendants of French, Portuguese, and Danish descent living in Copenhagen, Denmark?
Answer: Paul Gauguin (born Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (June 7th, 1848 – May 8th, 1903). One of his children – Emil – married Olga Hedemann, producing one child: Boerge Emil. Boerge Emil married Vibeke Hűttemeier, producing one child, named Mette (after her great-grandmother). Mette married Eduardo Ribeiro da Silva Fonseca (born in Santos-o-Velho, one of the 53 civil parishes of Lisbon, Portugal on August 8th, 1940), producing three children (or great-great grandchildren of Gauguin), whose middle/family names are now Gauguin da Silva Fonseca.
In the Toronto census metropolitan area, 537,060 people identified China as their place — or one of their places — of ethnic origin. What was the name of the fixed fee charged for each Chinese person entering Canada and levied after the Canadian Government passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 to discourage the Chinese from entering Canada after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway? It was ended by the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 (a.k.a. the Chinese Exclusion Act), which stopped most Chinese immigration.
Answer: The Chinese head tax. A movement for redress in the 1980s led to Stephen Harper, upon becoming Prime Minister in 2006, saying at a news conference: “Chinese Canadians are making an extraordinary impact on the building of our country. They’ve also made a significant historical contribution despite many obstacles. That’s why, as I said during the election campaign, the Chinese Canadian community deserves an apology for the head tax and appropriate acknowledgement and redress.”
In the Toronto census metropolitan area, 484,655 people identified (East) India (76,110 people, Pakistan) as their place — or one of their places — of ethnic origin. In 1947, when India became independent from British colonial rule, and there was partition into India and Pakistan, who was the first prime minister of India? Hint: in his autobiography, he wrote or quoted both of the following: “I am at home everywhere but belonging nowhere”; “On rencontre sa destinée souvent par les chemins qu’on prend pour l’éviter” (meaning, “One meets one’s destiny often by the paths one takes to avoid it”).
Answer: Jawaharlal Nehru (August 15, 1947 – May 27, 1964).
More sample questions as food for thought:
Which Toronto architectural firm designed not only the Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts (home of the Canadian Opera Company) in Toronto but was also selected in 2009 to design a new ballet and opera house in the Mariinsky Theatre complex in St. Petersburg, Russia?
Answer: Diamond and Schmitt Architects. This firm also designed the Museum subway station in Toronto, the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan (NY, NY, USA), Southbrook Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, to name only a few.
As in every other jurisdiction in Canada, Torontonians (including e.g., current/potential litigants, lawyers, and judges) are subject to decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada (the “SCC”), the highest judicial body in the country. Of note, south of the 49th parallel, after taking office as the President of the United States on January 20th, 2009, Barack Obama, on May 26th, 2009, nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayer for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. From 1993-2006, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of only two women (along with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court) and, from 2006-2009, Ginsburg was the only woman alongside eight men. In contrast to the U.S., in 2009, how many women are on the nine-judge bench of the SCC?
Answer: 4. They are: 1) the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin; 2) the Honourable Madam Justice Marie Deschamps; 3) the Honourable Madam Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella; and 4) the Honourable Madam Justice Louise Charron.
As in every other jurisdiction in Canada, Torontonians (including e.g., current/potential litigants, lawyers, and judges) are subject to decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada (the “SCC”), the highest judicial body in the country.
(a) In 2009, how many visible minorities are represented on the SCC bench? Note that Statistics Canada’s 2006 census data defines visible minority as including: Chinese, South Asian, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Southeast Asian, Arab, West Asian, Korean, Japanese, visible minorities not included elsewhere (e.g. Guyanese, West Indian, Kurd, Tibetan, Polynesian, Pacific Islander, etc.), and multiple visible minority (i.e., “mixed”).
(b) In 2009, including Sotomayer, how many visible minorities will be represented on the nine-judge bench of the U.S. Supreme Court?
Answers:
(a) 0.
(b) 2: Clarence Thomas (African American) and Sotomayer (Hispanic American).
What road does not follow Toronto’s standard street grid pattern as it originated as a First Nations travel route between the Humber River and the Don Valley.? Davenport Road.
The earliest Toronto neighborhoods were the five municipal wards that the city was split into in 1834. The wards were named for the patron saints of the four nations of the British Isles . What are the name of the five wards? St. George, St. Andrew, St. Patrick, St. David and St. Lawrence
What bridge did the designer, Edmund Burke, fight long and hard to have a lower deck added to the bridge for trains? The Prince Edward Viaduct or Bloor Street Bridge. (Nevertheless he finally got his way, and thereby saved the city millions of dollars when the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway started using the deck in 1966)
What year did the provincial government created the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, a regional government that incorporated numerous local municipalities? In 1954.
What municipalities did Metropolitan Toronto (Metro) include? Toronto, York, East York, North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, Swansea, Forest Hill, Weston, Leaside, Mimico, New Toronto, and Long Branch.
What event occurred in Toronto In 1954, causing significant flooding and killing 81 people? Hurricane Hazel swept through Toronto
Etobicoke, Long Branch, Mimico, and New Toronto amalgamate to become? Borough of Etobicoke in 1967
What year was the Town of York, with a population of about 9,000, is incorporated as the City of Toronto (March 6)? 1834
What year was the Village of Yorkville founded? 1853. In 1883 Yorkville is annexed by Toronto.
What year was the Town of Parkdale founded? 1878. In 1889 Parkdale is annexed by Toronto.
What year was the Village of Brockton founded? 1884. In 1884 Brockton is annexed by Toronto.
In 1843 which church was intended to be the Cathedral for the Diocese of Toronto. and never completed? Church of St. Alban the Martyr (Anglican) 100 Howland Avenue
What year was the first news paper published in Toronto? October 4, 1798
The Toronto Purchase was an agreement between the British crown and the Mississaugas of New Credit in 1787. The Mississaugas of New Credit exchanged for 250,808 acres (101,528 hectares) of land in Toronto for 149 barrels of goods and a small amount of cash. A revision of the deal was made in? 1805.
Etobicoke, North York, Toronto, Scarborough, York, East York, Vaughan, King Township, western end of Markham, Ontario (or Thornhill, Ontario) and western end of Whitchurch were all sold by The Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation Toronto purchase deal. What land was not part of the deal? Toronto Islands
What led to the establishment of the Toronto-based Canadian Race Relations Foundation (“CRRF”) which is “Canada’s leading agency dedicated to the elimination of racism in the country”, “foster[ing] racial harmony and cross-cultural understanding”?
Answer: It was the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement signed in 1988 between the Canadian government and the National Association of Japanese Canadians (“NAJC”). As stated by the CRRF, the Agreement “acknowledged that the treatment of Japanese Canadians during and after World War II was unjust and violated principles of human rights.” This treatment included: the internment of ethnic Japanese in Canada (e.g., in BC and in POW camps in Ontario); the revoking of Canadian citizenship and deportment; the mass firing of Japanese workers with impunity; and detention/seizure/destruction/vandalism of property owned/used by Japanese (including a Buddhist temple). Post-war, the NAJC campaigned for redress and hired Price Waterhouse (“PW”) to quantify Japanese Canadians’ economic damages from loss of wages and property confiscations. PW estimated the total loss to be $443 million in 1986 dollars. Note as well that, in 2006, in the Toronto area, 23,310 people identified Japan as their place — or one of their places — of ethnic origin.
Thorton and Lucie Blackburn, two free slaves who settled in Toronto, started the city’s first cab company. “The TTC uses the Blackburn logo colours red and yellow for its street cars to this day.”
There is a historic plaque at the Blackburn site that was erected Augusy 29th 2002 (near Sackville Street and Queen.
Reference:
“I’ve Got Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Rail Road,” by Karolyn Frost. Page 268
–Courtesy of Anil Patel
Wendy/Anil Patel, what a great factoid! Thanks for sharing.
Q: What Toronto City landmark is built on top of Toronto’s first Chinatown?
A: Nathan Philips Square and the New City Hall
Q: How many Chinatowns are there in Toronto?
A: Three (Chinatown (Spadina/Dundas); East Chinatown (Broadview and Gerrard); Scarborough Chinatown (Agincourt or North-west Scarborough))
Q: What is the largest Asian themed mall in North America?
A: Pacific Mall in Markam (at Kennedy and Steeles, just north of Toronto)
Q: What group of people is being commemorated by the large monument off Spadina just south of the railroad tracks?
A: The Chinese Railroad Workers who helped to complete the the most dangerous and difficult stretch of the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Rocky Mountains in BC.
-all courtesy of DiverseCity Fellow Karen Sun
Thank you, Karen!
Came across this artcile on the Toronto Star website today…
Pieces of Toronto’s past
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/682084
There are some interesting tidbits of info in there…
Sports Question:
Q: Which former Toronto Blue Jay hit a seagull while throwing a baseball with his team at that time?
A: Dave Winfield with the New York Yankees
From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Winfield
On August 4, 1983, Winfield accidentally killed a seagull by throwing a ball while warming up before the fifth inning of a game at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium. Fans responded by hurling obscenities and improvised missiles. After the game, he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station for the trumped up charge of cruelty to animals. He was released after posting a $500 bond. Yankee manager Billy Martin quipped, “It’s the first time he’s hit the cutoff man all season.” Charges were dropped the following day.[6] In the off-season, Winfield returned to Toronto and donated two paintings for an Easter Seals auction, which raised over $60,000.[7][1] For years afterward, Winfield’s appearances in Toronto were greeted by fans standing and flapping their arms — until he became a fan favorite when he joined the Blue Jays in 1992.
Canadian Omar Khadr’s detention in Guantanamo Bay was recently litigated at the Supreme Court of Canada. Two of the three third party interveners were based in Toronto, one of them being the Criminal Lawyers’ Association (Ontario). The other Toronto-based intervener made joint submissions with Human Rights Watch. Who was it?
Answer: the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law – International Human Rights Clinic, represented by Audrey Macklin, Tom A. Friedland, and Gerald Chan.