Montreal

HISTORY

The French explorer Jacques Cartier discovered the area where Montreal is now located on October 2, 1535. He estimated the population of the native people in the area to be "over a thousand people."

Portrait of Jacques Cartier by Théophile 

The Société Notre-Dame de Montréal founded a permanent mission known as Ville-Marie (or "City of Mary”) on May 17, 1642, which eventually grew into the city of Montreal.

The name 'Montréal' comes from Mont Royal, which means 'Royal Mountain' in French. (At the center of Montreal is a mountain called Mount Royal).

Montreal was originally a fur trading outpost belonging to France. It grew to become the largest city in Canada. (Toronto surpassed it in the 1970s.)

The first cross on Mount Royal was placed there in 1643 by Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the founder of the city. He did this in fulfilment of a vow he made to the Virgin Mary when praying to her to stop a disastrous flood.

Montreal map drawn by François Dollier de Casson in 1672

A large concentration of wooden houses (with fireplaces) led to many devastating fires in the early eighteenth century. In 1721, Montreal received a royal order from France to ban wood construction; buildings were to be constructed using stone, but the ban was never fully respected.

A Portuguese-born black slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique was put to death in Montreal on June 21, 1734, having been tried and convicted of setting fire to her owner's home. The fire spread and destroyed much of what is now referred to as Old Montreal.

The first curling club in North America was established in Montreal in 1807.

The first permanent golf club in North America, Canada's Royal Montreal Club, was founded in 1873.

The earliest recorded use of the term ice hockey for a match is linked with a game that took place between James Creighton and McGill University students. at the Victoria Skating Rink, Montreal, in 1875.

The Montreal Canadiens, the oldest professional ice hockey club in the world, was founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association in 1909.

Saint Jacques Street (formerly St. James Street), in 1910

Montreal radio station XWA started broadcasting the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America in 1920.

In 1964 Montreal's Canadelle company invented the push-up bra.

The city of Montreal begun the operation of its underground Metro rapid-transit system.on October 14 1966. Originally consisting of 26 stations on three separate lines, the Metro now has 68 stations on four lines.

An older generation MR-63 train is in the Beaugrand Garage. Wikipedia Commons

During an official state visit to Canada, on July 24, 1967, French President Charles de Gaulle declared to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: "Vive le Québec libre!" ("Long live free Quebec!"). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, delighted many Quebecers but angered the Canadian government and many English Canadians.

Montreal City Hall's balcony where De Gaulle gave his speech.

Montreal hosted the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics.

Incorporated into the north base of the Olympic stadium is the Montreal Tower, the world's tallest leaning tower at 175 metres (574 ft).

Stade olympique

Montreal was hit by a series of thunderstorms between the noon hour and 2:30 pm on July 14, 1987 Over 100 millimetres (3.9 in) of rain fell during this very short period of time, resulting in The Montreal Flood of 1987.

FUN FACTS

In 2011 the city had a population of 1,649,519.  Montreal's metropolitan area had a population of 3,824,221. Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec and the second-largest city in Canada.

Montreal skyline By S. Lacasse - GNUL from French wikipedia : fr:Image:VuedeMontreal.jpg, 

Most of the people who live in Montreal speak French, It is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris.

The city itself is located on an island sitting in the Saint Lawrence River.

The two islands that now compose Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau were created in part using earth excavated during the creation of the metro system. 

Montreal has many beautiful churches. (It is referred to locally as 'the city of a hundred churches').

The city's drinking water is sourced from the Saint Lawrence River and Lac Saint-Louis, which empties over the Lachine Rapids. 

Source MTLblog