144-518: Imperial Oil Limited ( French : Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée ) is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-largest integrated oil company. It is majority-owned by American oil company ExxonMobil , with a 69.6% ownership stake in the company. It is a producer of crude oil , diluted bitumen , and natural gas . Imperial Oil is one of Canada's major petroleum refiners and petrochemical producers. It supplies Esso -brand service stations . Imperial owns 25% of Syncrude , which
288-412: A joint-stock company with a capitalized value of $ 500,000. In addition to Englehart, the original shareholders included Frederick A. Fitzgerald , Isaac and Herman Waterman, William Spencer and his sons William and Charles, Thomas and Edward Hodgins, John Geary, Joseph Fallows, John Minhinnick, William English and John Walker. Together, the shareholders possessed twelve oil refineries and controlled 85% of
432-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
576-485: A July average of 21.0 °C (69.8 °F), and temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F) occur on average 11 days per year. In 2016, however, temperatures rose above this temperature on more than 35 days, and in 2018, four heatwaves led to a peak humidex of 46 °C (115 °F). The city is affected by frequent thunderstorms due to hot, humid summer weather, as well as the convergence of breezes originating from Lake Huron and Lake Erie . The same convergence zone
720-539: A centre of strong Tory support during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, notwithstanding a brief rebellion led by Charles Duncombe . Consequently, the British government located its Ontario peninsular garrison there in 1838, increasing its population with soldiers and their dependents, and the business support populations they required. London was incorporated as a town in 1840. On 13 April 1845,
864-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
1008-836: A deal for the Esso-branded stations to join the PC Optimum rewards program, beginning on June 1, 2018. Loblaw Companies had sold its network of 213 gas stations (all of which are attached to its various grocery store locations) to Brookfield Business Partners in 2017; Brookfield entered into an agreement with Imperial Oil to use the Mobil brand for these stations. As part of the sale agreement, these stations also continue to participate in PC Optimum. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
1152-514: A disadvantage compared to the oil mined at Pennsylvania due to its "distinctive odour" when burned. Canadians called the product "skunk oil". Between 1885 and 1887, Frasch discovered that mixing copper oxide with the oil during the distilling process would remove the sulphur content and odour from the refined product. By this time, Standard Oil had also become interested in the desulphurization process after moving production to oil fields in Ohio that had
1296-461: A distinct sense of place . In 1897, London West was annexed to London. London's eastern suburb, London East, was (and remains) an industrial centre, which also incorporated in 1874. It was founded as Lilley's Corners by Charles Lilley in 1854. Oil was discovered in the Petrolia area and Lilley's Corners was chosen as the refining site because it was close to the railroad. The Ontario Car Works,
1440-560: A dividend of $ 93,000. Following the deal, Imperial Oil shut down the Silver Star refinery in Petrolia and moved its refining operations to Sarnia, Ontario. In a landmark 1911 anti-trust case , the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil to break up into 34 separate companies. Ownership of Imperial Oil, as well Standard Oil's other subsidiaries outside the U.S., were all transferred to only one of those 34 successor firms, Jersey Standard (later renamed Exxon ). Imperial Oil discovered
1584-421: A fire destroyed much of London, which was then largely constructed of wooden buildings. One of the first casualties was the town's only fire engine. The fire burned nearly 30 acres (12 ha) of land, destroying 150 buildings, before it burned itself out later that day. One fifth of London was destroyed in the province's first million-dollar fire. John Carling , Tory MP for London, gave three events to explain
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#17327827166051728-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1872-770: A mixed use complex that blends retail, office, businesses, and education providers. Alongside Citi Cards Canada's offices, in November 2016, CBC announced plans to move its expanded operations into the building. There are many large Real Estate Development firms based in London which are active across Southwestern Ontario . These include Sifton Properties, Drewlo Holdings, Old Oak Properties, Tricar Developments, York Developments, Farhi Holdings and Westdell Developments. Combined, they own or operate over 300 million square feet of commercial and residential real estate . On 11 December 2009, Minister of State Gary Goodyear announced
2016-588: A monopoly on the process until 1905. Despite rising revenue and growth in the 1890s, Imperial Oil faced continuing challenges in its markets, primarily from Standard Oil, which operated a series of subsidiary companies across Canada. Although Imperial dominated the Western Canadian market, the company could not establish a strong foothold in the Maritimes or Quebec as Standard supplied these regions through long-term contracts with local companies. While
2160-464: A new hotel (Delta London Armouries, 1996) in its place, preserving the shell of the historic building. In the 1950s, two reserve battalions amalgamated and became London and Oxford Rifles (3rd Battalion), The Royal Canadian Regiment . This unit continues to serve today as 4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment . The Regimental Headquarters of The Royal Canadian Regiment remains in London at Wolseley Barracks on Oxford Street. The barracks are home to
2304-406: A number of gardens and conservatories. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , London had a population of 422,324 living in 174,657 of its 186,409 total private dwellings, a change of 10% from its 2016 population of 383,822 . With a land area of 420.5 km (162.4 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,004.3/km (2,601.2/sq mi) in 2021. At
2448-443: A number of musical and artistic exhibits and festivals, which contribute to its tourism industry, but its economic activity is centered on education , medical research , manufacturing , financial services , and information technology . London's university and hospitals are among its top ten employers. London lies at the junction of Highways 401 and 402 , connecting it to Toronto , Windsor , and Sarnia . These highways also make
2592-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
2736-496: A platform to advertise and sell their services to those looking for voiceover work. Other tech companies located in London include AutoData, Carfax Canada , HRDownloads, Mobials, Northern Commerce and Paystone which recently raised $ 100M. The London Life Insurance Company was founded there, as was Canada Trust (in 1864), Imperial Oil , GoodLife Fitness , and both the Labatt and Carling breweries. The Libro Financial Group
2880-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
3024-587: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
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#17327827166053168-526: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
3312-941: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
3456-540: A separate subsidiary, independent of Imperial Oil. From the 1934-35 season through the 1975-76 season , Imperial Oil was a sponsor of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation program Hockey Night in Canada for both radio and television broadcasts. Esso, which had three stars on their signs, sponsored Hockey Night in Canada 's three stars of the game. In the same era, the company
3600-614: A similar sulphur content to Lambton County. In 1886, Standard Oil persuaded Frasch to return to the United States and join their company by offering "a salary higher than that of any other scientist in the country" and an exchange of his shares in the Empire Oil Company for an equivalent amount in Standard Oil. After returning to the United States, Frasch perfected his desulphurization strategy, and Standard Oil held
3744-795: A subtribe of the Lenape or Delaware people), expelled from their homeland in Modern New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania after the creation of the United States . The Oneida Nation of the Thames , Chippewas of the Thames First Nation , and Munsee-Delaware Nation reserves are located south-west of the city. The current location of London was selected as the site of the future capital of Upper Canada in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe , who also named
3888-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
4032-531: Is politically separate from Middlesex County , though it remains the county seat. London and the Thames were named after the English city and river in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe , who proposed the site for the capital city of Upper Canada . The first European settlement was between 1801 and 1804 by Peter Hagerman. The village was founded in 1826 and incorporated in 1855. Since then, London has grown to be
4176-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
4320-779: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French
4464-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
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4608-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
4752-655: Is also the site of the Flame of Hope, which is intended to burn until a cure for diabetes is discovered. London's role as a military centre continued into the 20th century during the two World Wars, serving as the administrative centre for the Western Ontario district. In 1905, the London Armoury was built and housed the First Hussars until 1975. A private investor purchased the historic site and built
4896-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
5040-462: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
5184-591: Is currently the eleventh-largest urban area in Canada , eleventh-largest census metropolitan area in Canada , and the sixth-largest city in Ontario. On Victoria Day , 24 May 1881, the stern-wheeler ferry SS Victoria capsized in the Thames River close to Cove Bridge in West London. Approximately 200 passengers drowned in the shallow river, making it one of the worst disasters in London's history, and
5328-637: Is dominated by medical research , financial services , manufacturing , and information technology . Much of the life sciences and biotechnology related research is conducted or supported by the University of Western Ontario (partly through the Robarts Research Institute ), which adds about C$ 1.5 billion to the London economy annually. Private companies in the industry like PolyAnalytik , Alimentiv , KGK Sciences and Sernova are also based in London. The largest employer in London
5472-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
5616-503: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
5760-634: Is in a hosiery factory, and Arcane Digital moved into a 1930s industrial building in 2015. The Historic London Roundhouse, a steam locomotive repair shop built in 1887, is now home to Royal LePage Triland Realty, rTraction and more. Its redesign, which opened in 2015, won the 2015 Paul Oberman Award for Adaptive Re-Use from the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. London is also home to StarTech.com , Diply , video game companies like Digital Extremes , Big Blue Bubble and Big Viking Games, and Voices.com , which provides voiceover artists
5904-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
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6048-513: Is now dubbed " The Victoria Day Disaster ". At the time, London's population was relatively low; therefore it was hard to find a person in the city who did not have a family member affected by the tragedy. Two years later, on 12 July 1883, the first of the two most devastating floods in London's history killed 17 people. The second major flood, on 26 April 1937, destroyed more than a thousand houses across London, and caused over $ 50 million in damages, particularly in West London. On 3 January 1898,
6192-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
6336-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
6480-719: Is one of the world's largest oil sands operations. It also has holdings in the Alberta Oil Sands , and operates an oil sands mining operation with ExxonMobil, called Kearl Oil Sands . Imperial Oil is headquartered in Calgary , Alberta . It was based in Toronto , Ontario , until 2005. Most of Imperial's production is from its natural resource holdings in the Alberta oil sands and the Norman Wells oil field in
6624-455: Is responsible for spawning funnel clouds and the occasional tornado. Spring and autumn in between are not long, and winters are cold but with frequent thaws. Annual precipitation averages 1,011.5 mm (39.82 in). Its winter snowfall totals are heavy, averaging about 194 cm (76 in) per year, although the localized nature of snow squalls means the total can vary widely from year to year as do accumulations over different areas of
6768-576: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
6912-665: Is the London Health Sciences Centre , which employs 10,555 people. Since the economic crisis of 2009, the city has transitioned to become a technology hub with a focus on the Digital Creative sector. As of 2016, London is home to 300 technology companies that employ 3% of the city's labour force. Many of these companies have moved into former factories and industrial spaces in and around the downtown core, and have renovated them as modern offices. For example, Info-Tech Research Group 's London office
7056-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
7200-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
7344-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
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#17327827166057488-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
7632-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
7776-462: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
7920-561: The Blackfriars Street Bridge , was constructed. It replaced a succession of flood-failed wooden structures that had provided the city's only northern road crossing of the river. A rare example of a wrought iron bowstring arch through truss bridge , the Blackfriars remains open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, though it was temporarily closed indefinitely to vehicular traffic due to various structural problems and
8064-409: The Conservative Party 's National Policy had stopped Standard Oil from fully entering the Canadian market, the economic policy came under attack by Standard Oil lobbyists and Canadian consumers, who asked for a cheaper and higher quality product. In 1893, Ottawa reduced import duties on refined oil products from 7.2 cents to 6 cents per wine gallon , and in 1896, Wilfrid Laurier's government reduced
8208-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
8352-483: The Detroit-Windsor , Port Huron-Sarnia , and Niagara Falls border crossings with the United States easily accessible. The city also has railway stations and bus stations and is home to the London International Airport . A series of archaeological sites throughout southwestern Ontario , named for the Parkhill Complex excavated near Parkhill , indicate the presence of Paleo-Indians in the area dating back approximately 11,000 years. Just prior to European settlement,
8496-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
8640-441: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
8784-439: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
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#17327827166058928-419: The Leduc Woodbend Devonian oil reef in 1947, marking the beginning of the contemporary period in Canadian oil and gas development. Drilling began on the landmark discovery well Leduc No. 1 on November 20, 1946. In 1989, Imperial Oil acquired Texaco 's Canadian operations . When Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999 to form ExxonMobil , the combined company continued to maintain Mobil's Canadian operations as
9072-413: The Northwest Territories . Imperial Oil was ranked 34th in the Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI) for 2021 out of 120 mining, oil, and gas corporations that extract resources north of the Arctic Circle . In April 1880, Jacob Lewis Englehart and 16 prominent oil refiners in London, Ontario , and Petrolia, Ontario , formed Imperial Oil in response to Standard Oil 's growing dominance of
9216-420: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
9360-438: The Sifton Bog , as well as some of the most agriculturally productive areas of farmland in Ontario. The Thames River dominates London's geography. The North and South branches of the Thames River meet at the centre of the city, a location known as "The Forks" or "The Fork of the Thames". The North Thames runs through the man-made Fanshawe Lake in northeast London. Fanshawe Lake was created by Fanshawe Dam, constructed to protect
9504-520: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
9648-682: The census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the London CMA had a population of 543,551 living in 222,239 of its 235,522 total private dwellings, a change of 10% from its 2016 population of 494,069 . With a land area of 2,661.48 km (1,027.60 sq mi), it had a population density of 204.2/km (529.0/sq mi) in 2021. As per the 2021 census, the most common ethnic or cultural origins in London are English (21.9%), Scottish (17.4%), Irish (16.8%), Canadian (12.1%), German (9.3%), French (6.6%), Dutch (5.0%), Italian (4.5%), British Isles (4.3%), Indian (3.7%), Polish (3.6%), and Chinese (3.0%). Indigenous people made up 2.6% of
9792-488: The 1900–1930 era. The London Technical and Commercial High School came under heavy attack from the city's social and business elite, which saw the school as a threat to the budget of the city's only academic high school, London Collegiate Institute. The Banting House , a National Historic Site of Canada, is where Frederick Banting developed the ideas that led to the discovery of insulin . Banting lived and practiced in London for ten months, from July 1920 to May 1921. London
9936-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
10080-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
10224-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
10368-917: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
10512-538: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
10656-453: The First Hussars militia regiment as well. London annexed many of the surrounding communities in 1961, including Byron and Masonville, adding 60,000 people and more than doubling its area. After this amalgamation, suburban growth accelerated as London grew outward in all directions, creating expansive new subdivisions such as Westmount, Oakridge, Whitehills, Pond Mills, White Oaks and Stoneybrook. On 1 January 1993, London annexed nearly
10800-484: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
10944-623: The Great Western Gasworks and the London Street Railroad all had their headquarters in Lilley's Corners. In 1872, Lilley's Corners became a village. It was annexed to London in 1885. Attaining the status of town in 1881, it continued as a separate municipality until concerns over expensive waterworks and other fiscal problems led to amalgamation in 1885. The southern suburb of London, including Wortley Village,
11088-520: The London area was the site of several Attawandaron , Odawa , and Ojibwe villages. The Lawson Site in northwest London is an archaeological excavation and partial reconstruction of an approximately 500-year-old Neutral Iroquoian village, estimated to have been home to 2,000 people. These groups were driven out by the Iroquois by c. 1654 in the Beaver Wars . The Iroquois abandoned
11232-590: The School of Military Instruction in London. Established by Militia General Order in 1865, the school enabled Officers of Militia or Candidates for Commission or promotion in the Militia to learn Military duties, drill and discipline, to command a Company at Battalion Drill, to Drill a Company at Company Drill, the internal economy of a Company and the duties of a Company's Officer. The school was not retained at Confederation, in 1867. In 1875, London's first iron bridge,
11376-720: The Thames (then known as the Escunnisepe ) to Upper Canada. London was part of the Talbot Settlement , named for Colonel Thomas Talbot , the chief administrator of the area, who oversaw the land surveying and built the first government buildings for the administration of the western Ontario peninsular region. Together with the rest of southwestern Ontario, the village benefited from Talbot's provisions not only for building and maintaining roads but also for assignment of access priorities to main routes to productive land. Crown and clergy reserves then received preference in
11520-431: The building's construction were fined $ 400,000, with The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development declaring the companies had failed to "provide proper information, instruction and supervision, specifically on the use of proper concrete measuring techniques on the project." The area was formed during the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age , which produced areas of marshland , notably
11664-523: The casualties of the economic crisis in 2011, the site will soon be home to a major Amazon distribution center employing 2,000 workers by 2023. London's city centre mall was first opened in 1960 as Wellington Square with 400,000 sq ft (37,000 m ) of leasable area, with Eaton's and Woolworths as anchors. From 1986 to 1989, Campeau expanded Wellington Square into Galleria London with 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m ) of leasable area and 200 stores including The Bay and Eaton's. However,
11808-623: The city. GDLS has a 14-year $ 15-billion deal to supply light armored vehicles and employs over 2,400 people. McCormick Canada , formerly Club House Foods, was founded in 1883 and currently employs more than 600 Londoners. A portion of the city's population work in factories outside of the city limits, including the General Motors automotive plant CAMI , and a Toyota plant in Woodstock . A Ford plant in Talbotville became one of
11952-439: The city. Some of the snow accumulation comes from lake effect snow and snow squalls originating from Lake Huron, some 60 km (37 mi) to the northwest, which occurs when strong, cold winds blow from that direction. From 5 December 2010, to 9 December 2010, London experienced record snowfall when up to 2 m (79 in) of snow fell in parts of the city. Schools and businesses were closed for three days and bus service
12096-486: The company concentrated its refining efforts at Petrolia. In 1884, Imperial Oil purchased the exclusive use of Herman Frasch 's fractional distillation patent, which was more efficient at separating crude oil into usable products. Imperial initially offered Frasch $ 10,000 and Imperial Oil stock, but he persuaded the company to offer him a salary that matched Fitzgerald's and a seat on the Board of Directors. Frasch had taken
12240-543: The company to the Colonial Development Corporation , a British company. After three years, the deal collapsed, and the Board of Directors instead chose to sell the company to Standard Oil. The agreement specified that Standard Oil would acquire 75% of Imperial Oil's shares, Imperial Oil would acquire all of Standard Oil's Canadian subsidiary companies, Imperial's capitalization would be increased to $ 1 million, and Imperial shareholders would receive
12384-691: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario , Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor . The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census . London is at the confluence of the Thames River and North Thames River, approximately 200 km (120 mi) from both Toronto and Detroit ; and about 230 km (140 mi) from Buffalo, New York . The city of London
12528-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
12672-533: The development of London in a 1901 speech: the location of the court and administration in London in 1826, the arrival of the military garrison in 1838, and the arrival of the railway in 1853. The population in 1846 was 3,500. Brick buildings included a jail and court house, and large barracks. London had a fire company, a theatre, a large Gothic church, nine other churches or chapels, and two market buildings. The buildings that were destroyed by fire in 1845 were mostly rebuilt by 1846. Connection with other communities
12816-526: The downriver areas from the catastrophic flooding which affected the city in 1883 and 1937. London has a humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfb ), with modestly warm summers, and cold and cloudy winters with frequent snow. Because of its location in the continent, London experiences large seasonal contrast, tempered to a point by the surrounding Great Lakes . The proximity of the lakes also ensure abundant cloud cover, particularly in late Fall and Winter. The summers are usually warm to hot and humid, with
12960-542: The downstream rivers. Financing for this project came from the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. Other natural disasters include a 1984 tornado that led to damage on several streets in the White Oaks area of South London. On 11 December 2020, a partially-constructed apartment building just off of Wonderland Road in southwest London collapsed, killing two people and injuring at least four others. In January 2024, both Oxford County companies involved in
13104-457: The early 1990s recession, following by the bankruptcy of Eaton's in 1999 and then the departure of The Bay in 2000 resulted in only 20 stores left by 2001. Galleria London then began seeking non-retail tenants, becoming the home for London's central library branch, and satellite campuses for both Fanshawe College and Western University . The complex was purchased and renamed to Citi Plaza by Citigroup in 2009. Citi Plaza has been redeveloped as
13248-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
13392-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
13536-491: The entire township of Westminster , a large, primarily rural municipality directly south of the city, including the police village of Lambeth . With this massive annexation, which also included part of London township , London almost doubled in area again, adding several thousand more residents. In the present day, London stretches south to the boundary with Elgin County , north and east to Fanshawe Lake , north and west to
13680-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
13824-570: The floor of the assembly hall at London City Hall collapsed, killing 23 people and leaving more than 70 injured. Testimony at a coroner's inquest described the wooden beam under the floor as unsound, with knots and other defects reducing its strength by one fifth to one third. After repeated floods, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority in 1953 built Fanshawe Dam on the North Thames to control
13968-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
14112-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
14256-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
14400-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
14544-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
14688-500: The largest southwestern Ontario municipality and Canada's 11th largest metropolitan area , having annexed many of the smaller communities that surround it. London is a regional centre of healthcare and education, being home to the University of Western Ontario (which brands itself "Western University"), Fanshawe College , and three major hospitals: Victoria Hospital , University Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital. The city hosts
14832-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
14976-575: The late early 1990s Imperial Oil had acquired retail operations from Texaco 's Canadian unit Texaco Canada Incorporated. With ExxonMobil having majority ownership, Imperial Oil licences its parent company's brands, including the Esso and Mobil names for service stations, and the Speedpass electronic payment system. Until 2018, Imperial Oil was a member of the rewards program Aeroplan . On March 13, 2018, Loblaw Companies announced that it had reached
15120-660: The major banks. Industries included several tanneries, oil refineries and foundries, four flour mills, the Labatt Brewing Company and the Carling brewery in addition to other manufacturing companies such as EMCO Wheaton . Both the Great Western and Grand Trunk railways had stops here. Several insurance companies also had offices in the city. The Crystal Palace Barracks , an octagonal brick building with eight doors and forty-eight windows built in 1861,
15264-493: The more inclusive "London West", it remained a separate municipality until ratepayers voted for amalgamation with London in 1897, largely due to repeated flooding. The most serious flood was in July 1883, which resulted in serious loss of life and property devaluation. This area retains much original and attractively maintained 19th-century tradespeople's and workers' housing, including Georgian cottages as well as larger houses, and
15408-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
15552-561: The official languages, 98% of the population reported knowing English and 7.2% French. In 2021, 48.8% of the population identified as Christian , with Catholics (21.5%) making up the largest denomination, followed by United Church (4.7%), Anglican (4.4%), Orthodox (2.0%), Presbyterian (1.5%), Baptist (1.4%), and other denominations. 37.2% of the population reported no religious affiliation. Others identified as Muslim (8.4%), Hindu (2.1%), Sikh (1.0%), Buddhist (0.9%), Jewish (0.5%), and with other religions. London's economy
15696-589: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
15840-499: The oil market. Englehart aimed to emulate John D. Rockefeller and merge the entire Canadian oil industry into one conglomerate . Although the majority of Ontario's top oil producers agreed to join in the enterprise, exceptions included John Henry Fairbank , who was then Canada's largest oil producer, and James Miller Williams , founder of the Canadian Oil Company. Englehart and the refiners established Imperial Oil as
15984-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
16128-655: The population, with most being First Nations (1.9%). Ethnocultural backgrounds in the city included European (68.7%), South Asian (6.5%), Arab (5.3%), Black (4.2%), Latin American (3.0%), Chinese (2.9%), Southeast Asian (1.4%), Filipino (1.4%), West Asian (1.3%), and Korean (1.0%). The 2021 census found English to be the mother tongue of 71.1% of the population. This was followed by Arabic (3.7%), Spanish (2.7%), Mandarin (1.6%), Portuguese (1.3%), French (1.1%), Polish (1.1%), Korean (0.8%), Punjabi (0.8%), Malayalam (0.8%), and Urdu (0.7%). Of
16272-633: The position primarily to supervise the installation of his refining method at the Silver Star refinery and resigned in February 1885 once the work was complete. Frasch then joined John Minhinnick in forming a separate venture called the Empire Oil Company. The pair purchased an idle refinery in London , and Frasch began experimenting on a way to remove the sulphur content in the oil pumped at Lambton County . The high sulphur content in Canadian oil placed it at
16416-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
16560-558: The price of oil, and the creation of the Standard Oil Trust resulted in an increase of American oil imports into Canada. In a move to boost kerosene prices, Imperial closed down ten of the twelve refineries it had acquired through the merger, leaving only the Silver Star refinery in Petrolia and the Victor works in London. In 1883, the Victor works was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, and under Englehart's direction,
16704-551: The refining capacity in Canada. Fitzgerald and Englehart were the two largest stakeholders in the company and were named the president and vice president, respectively. Imperial Oil's charter noted that its goal was to "find, produce, refine and distribute petroleum and its products throughout Canada." Despite its early successes, Imperial Oil struggled to make a profit and issue dividends in the early 1880s. The discovery of new oil fields in Pennsylvania and New York drove down
16848-657: The region some 50 years later, driven out by the Ojibwa. An Anishinaabeg community site was described as located near the forks of Thames River (Anishinaabe language: Eshkani-ziibi, "Antler River") in c. 1690 and was referred to as Pahkatequayang ("Baketigweyaang":"At the River Fork" (lit: at where the by-stream is)). Later, in the early 19th century, the Munsee-Delaware Nation (the Munsee are
16992-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
17136-602: The rest of Ontario. In 1814, the Battle of Longwoods took place during the War of 1812 in what is now Southwest Middlesex , near London. The retreating British Army were staying at Hungerford Hill when they were attacked by the Kentucky Mounted Riflemen. In 1827, a settlement was started Bryon when Cyrenius Hall built a gristmill. In 1832, the new settlement suffered an outbreak of cholera . London proved
17280-437: The tariff again to 5 cents. Additionally, Laurier removed restrictions on tank cars and tank steamers, allowing foreign companies to bulk ship oil into Canada by rail or sea. Before, foreign companies had to repackage their product into oil barrels before entering Canada, adding roughly five cents in shipping and handling charges to each gallon of imported oil. In 1895, Imperial Oil's Board of Directors began negotiations to sell
17424-466: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
17568-639: The township of Middlesex Centre (the nearest developed areas of it being Arva to the north and Komoka to the west) and east to Nilestown and Dorchester. The 1993 annexation, made London one of the largest urban municipalities in Ontario. Intense commercial and residential development is presently occurring in the southwest and northwest areas of the city. Opponents of this development cite urban sprawl , destruction of rare Carolinian zone forest and farm lands, replacement of distinctive regions by generic malls, and standard transportation and pollution concerns as major issues facing London. The City of London
17712-679: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
17856-551: The university, and was not annexed until 1961. Broughdale was named after Reverend Charles C. Brough, the Anglican Archdeacon of London who settled there in 1854. Broughdale started to grow when it was connected to the London Street Railroad in 1901, leading to a real estate bubble. A post office was opened in Broughdale on 1 July 1904 with Charles Watlers as postmaster. Broughdale was initially named Brough, but
18000-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
18144-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
18288-469: The village which was founded in 1826. Originally, Simcoe had proposed to call it Georgiana , in honour of George III , the reigning monarch at that time. It did not become the capital Simcoe envisioned. Rather, it was an administrative seat for the area west of the actual capital, York (now Toronto). The London Township Treaty of 1796 with the Chippewa ceded the original town site on the north bank of
18432-536: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
18576-462: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
18720-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
18864-1815: Was also involved in film production, providing funding for independent documentary films. Glenbow Museum in Calgary holds a large collection of Imperial Oil's film inventory. Frederick A. Fitzgerald, 1880–1889 Frank Q. Barstow, 1889–1908 Horace Chamberlain, 1908–1911 Walter C. Teagle , 1914–1918 William J. Hanna , 1918–1919 Charles O. Stillman, 1919–1933 G. Harrison Smith, 1933–1944 Richard V. LeSueur , 1944–1945 Henry H. Hewetson, 1945–1949 George L. Stewart, 1949–1953 John R. White, 1953–1960 William O. Twaits , 1960–1970 John A. Armstrong , 1970–1979 James R. Livingstone, 1979–1982 Arden R. Haynes , 1982–1988 Robert B. Peterson, 1988–1992 Ronald A. Brenneman , 1992–1994 Robert B. Peterson, 1994–2001 Timothy J. Hearn, 2001–2007 Bruce H. March, 2007–2013 Richard M. Kruger , 2013–2019 Bradley W. Corson, 2019– Frederick A. Fitzgerald, 1889–1905 G. Harrison Smith, 1944–1945 Richard V. LeSueur , 1945 Frank W. Pierce, 1945–1947 George L. Stewart, 1947–1949 Henry H. Hewetson, 1949–1950 George L. Stewart, 1953–1955 John R. White, 1960–19?? William O. Twaits , 1970–1974 John A. Armstrong , 1974–1981 Donald K. McIvor, 1981–1985 Arden R. Haynes , 1985–1992 Robert B. Peterson, 1992–2002 Timothy J. Hearn, 2002–2008 Bruce H. March, 2008–2013 Richard M. Kruger , 2013–2019 Bradley W. Corson, 2019– Imperial Oil supplied more than 2,000 service stations as of October 2020, all of which were owned by third parties. It sold its remaining 497 stations in 2016 to retailers such as Alimentation Couche-Tard (mostly Ontario and Quebec), 7-Eleven (mostly Alberta and British Columbia ), Parkland , Harnois (Quebec) and Wilson Fuel ( Atlantic Canada ). In
19008-429: Was by road, using mainly stagecoaches that ran daily. A weekly newspaper was published and mail was received daily by the post office. Two villages named Petersville and Kensington once stood where downtown London now is. Petersville was founded by Samuel Peters in 1853. Kensington was founded around about 1878. Petersville and Kensigton were amalgamated on 4 March 1881 to form London West. On 1 January 1855, London
19152-586: Was cancelled after the second day of snow. The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 41.1 °C (106 °F) on 6 August 1918. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −32.8 °C (−27 °F) on 9 February 1934. London has a number of parks. Victoria Park in downtown London is a major centre of community events, attracting an estimated 1 million visitors per year. Other major parks include Harris Park, Gibbons Park, Fanshawe Conservation Area ( Fanshawe Pioneer Village ), Springbank Park , White Oaks Park and Westminster Ponds. The city also maintains
19296-513: Was collectively known as "London South". Never incorporated, the South was annexed to the city in 1890, although Wortley Village still retains a distinct sense of place . The area started to be settled in the 1860s. In 1880, Polk's Directory called London South "a charming suburb of the City of London.". By contrast, the settlement at Broughdale on the city's north end had a clear identity, adjoined
19440-819: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
19584-542: Was founded in London 1951 and is the second largest credit union in Ontario and employs over 600 people. Downtown London is also home to major satellite offices for each of the Big Five banks of Canada , particularly TD Bank which employees 2,000 people, and the digital challenger bank VersaBank is also headquartered in the city. The headquarters of the Canadian division of 3M are in London. General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) builds armoured personnel carriers in
19728-463: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
19872-551: Was incorporated as a city (10,000 or more residents). In the 1860s, a sulphur spring was discovered at the forks of the Thames River while industrialists were drilling for oil . The springs became a popular destination for wealthy Ontarians, until the turn of the 20th century when a textile factory was built at the site, replacing the spa. Records from 1869 indicate a population of about 18,000 served by three newspapers, churches of all major denominations and offices of all
20016-652: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
20160-529: Was once again reopened to vehicular traffic 1 December 2018. The Blackfriars, amidst the river-distance between the Carling Brewery and the historic Tecumseh Park (including a major mill), linked London with its western suburb of Petersville, named for Squire Peters of Grosvenor Lodge. That community joined with the southern subdivision of Kensington in 1874, formally incorporating as the municipality of Petersville. Although it changed its name in 1880 to
20304-449: Was renamed Broughdale in 1906 because it sounded better. In 1924, the University of Western Ontario was founded in the former Broughdale. After the founding of the university, Broughdale became more like a city and less like a village. Broughdale was incorporated as a village in 1930. In 1961, Broughdale was annexed to London. Ivor F. Goodson and Ian R. Dowbiggin have explored the battle over vocational education in London, Ontario, in
20448-594: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
20592-437: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
20736-497: Was used for events such the Provincial Agricultural Fair of Canada West held in London that year. It was visited by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn , Governor-General John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar and Prime Minister John A. Macdonald . Long before the Royal Military College of Canada was established in 1876, there were proposals for military colleges in Canada. Staffed by British Regulars, adult male students underwent three-month-long military courses from 1865 at
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