Ontario History Trivia

1. In 1611, this English explorer sailed into a bay that is now named after him. Who is he?

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: Henry Hudson

In the early 1600s, three explorers made their way into the province now known as Ontario. French explorer Etienne Brule explored there from 1610 to 1612. French explorer Samuel de Champlain found his way there in 1615, finding Lake Huron. Henry Hudson sailed into Hudson Bay in 1611. He claimed the area for England. Hudson and his crew spent what must've been a very cold winter there. He wanted to keep going west but was thrown out by his crew and was never seen again. Before any of these explorers made their way to this land, it was inhabited by Algonquian and Iroquoian tribes.

From Quiz The War of 1812 in Niagara

Answer: Laura Secord

Laura Secord, a United Empire Loyalist, walked 20 miles (32 km) from where she lived (Village of St. Davids in the Niagara Region) to the British camp at Decew House near the Village of Beaverdams to warn officers there of the impending attack. They were able to adjust their plans and form a counter-attack and win the battle about which they were informed by Laura Secord.

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: Great Britain and France

The Seven Years War, fought from 1756-63, is considered the first global war. It was fought by France and Great Britain in India, America and Europe. One of the main causes of the war was control of trade and colonies and fighting took place in North America. Early in the war, France won some key victories and had control of the Great Lakes region. However Britain saw victories later in the war including at Fort Frontenac (in Kingston, Ontario) and Niagara, Ontario. Britain won the war and there were two key impacts as a result. One was the Quebec Act which gave language and religious freedoms and helped set up Canada as a bilingual country. The other was around the relationship with Indigenous peoples as only the British could make treaties with Indigenous tribes. With respect specifically to Ontario, the area was contested between the French and the British until the end of the war when it was controlled by the British.

From Quiz History of Toronto

Answer: Etienne Brule

Étienne Brulé was a French explorer whose arrival in Toronto in 1615 is regarded as the first by a European. Brulé was a close ally of the Huron tribe and was an interpreter for Samuel de Champlain. He is believed to have explored parts of Ontario and sailed down through Lakes Ontario and Erie to New York and Pennsylvania. However, Brulé either never left a journal or it is lost to history. Brulé met his fate in 1633 when he was executed by his Huron allies after they mistakenly believe he betrayed them to the rival Seneca tribe.

From Quiz The War of 1812 in Niagara

Answer: Alfred

Alfred was considered to have been a brave horse in the face of fighting. A bronze statue of Alfred is situated at the base of the Niagara Escarpment where Brock was killed during the Battle of Queenston Heights.

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: Upper Canada

As a result of the Constitutional Act of 1791 by the Parliament of Britain, the Province of Quebec was divided into two parts, depending on the location of the area along the St Lawrence River. Lower Canada was on the eastern side of the river and is now southern Quebec. French laws and institutions remained in place in Lower Canada. Upper Canada was on the western side of the river and is now known as the area of southern Ontario. British laws and institutions remained in place. The two Canadas were united again, as the Province of Canada, in 1840. On July 1st, 1867, the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) formed the Dominion of Canada along with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

From Quiz History of Toronto

Answer: The Mississaugas believed the British were renting the land

The Mississaugas of New Credit is a First Nations tribe who lived in what is now Toronto. In 1787, the British negotiated the sale of land that would later become most of Toronto and other parts of Ontario from the Mississaugas. The Native Americans were given a variety items including money and rum for their land. The purchase was necessary because Canada was seeing an influx of Loyalists who fled the United States during and after the American Revolution. However, the Mississaugas believed the British were only renting the land in exchange for goods and money. The terms of the purchase had to be renegotiated in 1805 and the issue wasn't fully settled until 2010.

From Quiz The War of 1812 in Niagara

Answer: General Isaac Brock

Brock's Monument stands atop the Niagara Escarpment where the Battle of Queenston Heights took place. A statue of Brock stands atop a cylindrical monument that stands 185 feet tall. It is the tallest historical monument in Canada.

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: Laura Secord

During the War of 1812, this Canadian heroine purportedly walked 20 miles (32 km) to warn the British of an American attack. Her bravery allowed British and Mohawk fighters to be ready for the attack and ultimately win the Battle of Beaver Dams. Born in Massachusetts, Secord lived in the Niagara region of Ontario with her husband, who fought for the British. Her heroic walk meant that American forces were impeded in their goal to control the Niagara peninsula. Many battles were fought throughout the region, including the Battle of Queenston Heights and a battle at Fort George, Niagara-on-the-Lake which the Americans had won. The Laura Secord Chocolate company, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, was named after her, on the 100 year anniversary of her walk.

From Quiz History of Toronto

Answer: York

The town of York was designed to be a temporary capital of Upper Canada at the time of its founding by John Graves Simcoe and his wife. Initially, the plans for the city structure and construction were chaotic with many different plans proposed. Simcoe took full control and under his watch, Yonge Street and Dundas Street were built. Because of the lack of available labor, slaves were used in the construction of York but Simcoe, who opposed slavery, gradually freed them and forbade the slave trade in York.

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: Family Compact

From the 1810s to the 1840s a group of powerful men ruled politically, economically and judicially in Upper Canada. It was a conservative group that was not in favour of democracy, which was a reason why it was protested and did not rule for very long. One of the core beliefs of the elite members of this group was loyalty to Britain, as the original members had fled the USA and thought that was essentially a wild and unruly place. They believed in loyalty to the King, to the church and to the British Empire and thought that social elites made good lawmakers. The group had their hands in the Executive and Legislative Councils, the Bank of Upper Canada, the Law Society and Upper Canada College.

From Quiz History of Toronto

Answer: British General Sheafe became disgraced

There was almost no strategic gain as a result of the Americans' victory at York in 1813. Any supplies they had managed to capture were unable to be transported out of York because of the poor weather. The American troops wound up burning much of what they could get their hands on. In addition, York was overall not a very strategic gain geographically as the British and their allies had troops elsewhere in the area that were more of an immediate threat (such as in the Great Lakes). The only significant gain for the Americans was that General Roger Hale Sheafe retreated out of York and became something of a disgrace. He lost his prominence and reputation because he retreated quickly out of York. In addition, the American win here disrupted Sheafe's plans in the region. This left the British unprepared and may have led to the American win at the Battle of Lake Erie.

From Quiz The War of 1812 in Niagara

Answer: Battle of Lundy's Lane

The Battle of Lundy's Lane took place in July, 1814. All told, 267 soldiers were killed (173 Americans and 94 British), and 1183 were wounded (624 Americans and 559 British). The British also took 117 prisoners, and the Americans took 221 prisoners.

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: John Sandfield Macdonald

John Sandfield Macdonald was Premier of Ontario from 1867 to 1871 as a member of the Liberal-Conservative Party. He instituted a number of acts that paved the way for the province's growth, including an act that encouraged individuals to take up land in northern parts of Ontario. He created the District of Muskoka which also encouraged colonization in more northern parts of the province. He provided education aid to the University of Toronto, which was the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada (it was established as King's College in 1827). He was a Roman Catholic Premier and there wasn't another Roman Catholic Premier of Ontario after him until 2003.

From Quiz History of Toronto

Answer: Foreigners were confusing it with New York

As the city of York grew in importance, it was being confused with New York City by non-Canadians. In fact, there were many, many places in Ontario also named York or something similar. Citizens of York began referring to the city as "dirty little York", a moniker that was deemed reputation-ruining so the city name was changed to Toronto, from a Native American word of disputed meaning.

From Quiz The War of 1812 in Niagara

Answer: Many First Nations that were native to the area.

Many First Nations fought alongside the British throughout the War of 1812. In the Niagara Region, these included help from the following Nations: Ottawa, Chippewa, Delaware, Munsey, Wyandot, Fox, Shawnee, Moravian, Cherokee, Kickapoo, and Sioux.

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: 1912

The Conservative government of Premier James Whitney passed Regulation 17 in July 1912. This regulation was written by the Ministry of Education and forbade teaching French in separate schools in Ontario beyond the second grade. As expected, French people reacted with great anger and this had an impact on young French men signing up to participate in the First World War. The regulation was repealed in 1927 but despite that, it wasn't until 1968 that French-language schools in Ontario were recognized under the Education Act. The Regulation remained a point of contention for French speaking Ontarians for years.

From Quiz History of Toronto

Answer: Montgomery's Tavern

Mackenzie was the first mayor of Toronto, who opposed British troops occupying the city after the Lower Canada Rebellion. Once the British left, he seized control of a munitions depot. Tensions were high in Toronto and Mackenzie kidnapped several prominent British Loyalists and held them in Montgomery's Tavern. The Loyalists were able to escape their capture. This led to a clash between rebel and Loyalist supporters. On December 7, 1837, rebel forces met the Loyalists outside Montgomery's Tavern which was something of a headquarters for the rebels. The Loyalists easily dispersed the flanks of rebels who mostly fled the scene. Mackenzie was not in attendance at the so-called Battle of Montgomery's Tavern but his actions were the inspiration for it and he is sometimes incorrectly credited as having led the rebellion there.

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: Berlin

The city of Kitchener has a strong German heritage and German language schools and churches were created there. By 1871 the city that was then known as Berlin was bilingual in both English and German, with German being the main language. During World War One with Germany being one of the Axis Powers, the Canadian government became suspicious of Germans in Canada and there was anti-German sentiment. Germans were place in internment camps and cultural sanctions were placed on German communities. The city of Berlin, Ontario changed its name to Kitchener, Ontario in 1916 as a result of a referendum in which just over fifty one percent of voters said yes to the proposed name change. It was named Kitchener after a British commander Horatio Herbert Kitchener.

From Quiz History of Toronto

Answer: E & S Currie Limited

The 1904 Great Fire of Toronto was the largest fire in Toronto's history, surpassing the Cathedral Fire in 1830s. E & S Currie Limited was a neckwear factory in downtown Toronto. The exact cause of the fire is unknown but it is widely believed to have been some kind of electrical mishap. The fire destroyed over a hundred buildings and claimed one death. In addition, thousands of people were left jobless. Today, the TD Bank Tower and Union Station stand where the brunt of the fire burned.

From Quiz The War of 1812 in Niagara

Answer: 1,200

Despite being bolstered by a number of militias, the British soldiers were severely outnumbered during the War of 1812. They were helped by the militias and also by numerous First Nations communities throughout the war.

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: 1917

Ontario became the fifth Canadian province to give women the right to vote, in April 1917. This was after decades of activism. Prominent suffragettes who fought for the right of Ontario women to vote included Dr. Emily Stowe and her daughter Dr. Augusta Stowe-Gullen. In 1917 when women were given the right to vote, there were restrictions on who could vote. Those left out included anyone under the age of twenty one, Indigenous women, women in prison and women in asylums. Ontario became the first Canadian province to elect a woman to the House of Commons when, in 1921, Agnes Macphail was elected as a Member of Parliament.

From Quiz History of Toronto

Answer: Baseball game

The Christie Pits Riot was one of many anti-Semitic riots that plagued Toronto prior to and during World War II. Toronto's Jewish population was primarily poor and working-class folk. During the hot summer of 1933, many Jewish citizens frequented the public beaches to cool off. This was met with disdain by some non-Jewish people in the city who began waving swastikas to keep Jews away. The city government only coolly sided with the Jewish population and made only weak attempts to disband the Swastika Clubs in the city. Things came to a head on August 16, 1933 during a baseball game between Jews and Italians on one team and Catholics on the other. Spectators began waving a huge blanket with a swastika on it which led to the clash. The Catholics had hoped the Italians would side with them but the Italians took the side of their teammates. No one was killed in the riot and damage was minimal. However, the city government began siding with the Jewish population more strongly than before. This did nothing to quell anti-Semitism in Toronto as non-Jews primarily blamed Jews for the incident.

From Quiz Some Key Moments in Ontario History

Answer: Alcohol sales

The Ontario government prohibited the sale of alcohol in Ontario in 1916. Inspiration for the movement came from similar movements in the UK and USA and was strongly supported by groups who believed that alcohol led to all kinds of societal problems. When the Act was first passed, alcohol sales were prohibited (however, alcohol could still be manufactured and imported). Actually drinking alcohol was also never made illegal. Ontario became a hub for illegal alcohol smuggling to the USA. Prohibition ended in 1927 and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario was set up. It controls the sale and consumption of alcohol in the province.

From Quiz History of Toronto

Answer: Domestic

The 2010s decade saw the world paralyzed by terrorism in many forms. Toronto, while having some incidents, was not a place that saw frequent acts of terrorism. The main focus of international terrorism-stopping efforts was preventing Radical Islamic terrorism such as from groups like ISIS. By the end of the decade, however, domestic terrorism was on the rise as well. On April 23, 2018 a Canadian man drove a van through the North York City Center in downtown Toronto and killed ten people and injured sixteen. Witnesses stated that the driver intentionally plowed into as many people as possible with the intent of hitting them. While the motive of the driver has never been revealed, the perpetrator was a member of incel online chat rooms. Incel stands for involuntary celibacy and members associated with these groups had been responsible for violent attacks around the world.

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