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206-620: Muir was born in Calgary , Alberta , Canada into a poor family that frequently moved. She was an unwanted, unloved, and abused child. Her mother looked for ways to remove her from the family and, when Muir was eight, placed her in the Midnapore Convent for a month. Then, in 1953, her mother sent an application for Muir to be institutionalized at the Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives (also known as

412-739: A crime against humanity in the Nuremberg Trials . While sterilization programs began to die down in the United States and Great Britain, they continued in Canada's western provinces of British Columbia , Alberta, and Saskatchewan . Notably, it was only in Alberta that a sterilization law had been vigorously implemented. By order of the Alberta Eugenics Board , Muir and 2,831 children and adults were sterilized between

618-596: A developmental disability or mental disorder ), criminals , psychotics , lazy people, social degenerates, mixed races ( African - Caucasian , etc.), immigrants and First Nations people, Catholics , alcoholics , epileptics , unwed mothers, poor people, and others. These "undesirables" were seen as unfit to have children and were bred out of the population through sterilization practices. Eugenics has been attempted in many countries in many ways, including practicing sterilization, castration , and homicide on "defective" persons. An active eugenics movement occurred in

824-773: A metropolitan population of 1,680,000 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Calgary is at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the southwest of the province, in the transitional area between the Rocky Mountain Foothills and the Canadian Prairies , about 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies , roughly 299 km (186 mi) south of

1030-514: A satellite campus of the University of Alberta . The 1970s energy crisis resulted in significant investment and growth in Calgary. By 1981, 45 percent of the Calgary labour force was made up of management, administrative or clerical staff, above the national average of 35 percent. Calgary's population grew with the opportunity the oil boom brought. The 20-year period from 1966 to 1986 saw

1236-525: A band of Piikani Nation encamped along the Bow River. He was also a fur trader and surveyor and the first recorded European to visit the area. John Glenn was the first documented European settler in the Calgary area, in 1873. In spring 1875, three priests – Lacombe, Remus, and Scollen – built a small log cabin on the banks of the Elbow River. In the fall of 1875,

1442-562: A bill in the Alberta Legislature to incorporate the "Calgary University", however there was significant opposition to two degree-granting institutions in such a small province. A commission was appointed to evaluate the Calgary proposal which found the second university to be unnecessary, however, the commission did recommend the formation of the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary ( SAIT ), which

1648-578: A bylaw requiring all large downtown buildings to be built with sandstone , which was readily available nearby in the form of Paskapoo sandstone . Following the fire several quarries were opened around the city by prominent local businessmen including Thomas Edworthy, Wesley Fletcher Orr , J. G. McCallum, and William Oliver. Prominent buildings built with sandstone following the fire include Knox Presbyterian Church (1887), Imperial Bank Building (1887), Calgary City Hall (1911), and Calgary Courthouse No. 2 (1914). In February 1887, Donald Watson Davis , who

1854-471: A contest of ideologies between the two nations. It was not only Britain's position on the world stage that was at risk: Napoleon threatened to invade Britain itself, just as his armies had overrun many countries of continental Europe . The Napoleonic Wars were therefore ones in which Britain invested large amounts of capital and resources to win. French ports were blockaded by the Royal Navy , which won

2060-432: A cousin of Charles Darwin , coined the term eugenics , but the concept had been around since the time of Plato . In essence, eugenics is a combination of Mendel's laws of genetics and Darwin’s theory of evolution . It was believed that many mental and behavioral traits were passed down from parents to their children. People considered inferior or damaging to the human race included: mental defectives (i.e., persons with

2266-629: A decisive victory over a French Imperial Navy - Spanish Navy fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Overseas colonies were attacked and occupied, including those of the Netherlands, which was annexed by Napoleon in 1810. France was finally defeated by a coalition of European armies in 1815. Britain was again the beneficiary of peace treaties: France ceded the Ionian Islands , Malta (which it had occupied in 1798), Mauritius , St Lucia ,

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2472-719: A dependency of the New South Wales colony. From 16 June 1840 New South Wales laws applied in New Zealand. This transitional arrangement ended with the Charter for Erecting the Colony of New Zealand on 16 November 1840. The Charter stated that New Zealand would be established as a separate Crown colony on 3 May 1841 with Hobson as its governor. During the 19th century, Britain and the Russian Empire vied to fill

2678-576: A detailed design and construction start on the south leg of a light rail transit system, which opened on May 25, 1981, and dubbed the CTrain . The University of Calgary gained autonomy as a degree-granting institution in 1966 with the passage of the Universities Act by the Alberta Legislature. The campus provided as a one-dollar lease from the City of Calgary in 1957 had previously served as

2884-593: A doctor informed Muir that she had been intentionally sterilized and the procedure was irreversible. Her attempts to adopt a child were denied because of the stigma of her history as a former inmate of an institution. Muir became depressed and sought professional help in 1989 while living in British Columbia. To determine if she would be a good candidate for group therapy , she took another IQ test and scored 89. Considering her past institutionalization, this score surprised Dr. George Kurbatoff who administered

3090-623: A form that attempted to be more inclusive by showcasing the empire as a family of newly birthed nations with common roots. The last decades of the 19th century saw concerted political campaigns for Irish home rule . Ireland had been united with Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with the Act of Union 1800 after the Irish Rebellion of 1798 , and had suffered a severe famine between 1845 and 1852. Home rule

3296-573: A local government of their own. In the first weeks of 1884, James Reilly who was building the Royal Hotel east of the Elbow River circulated 200 handbills announcing a public meeting on January 7, 1884, at the Methodist Church. At the full meeting Reilly advocated for a bridge across the Elbow River and a civic committee to watch over the interests of the public until Calgary could be incorporated. The attendees were enthusiastic about

3502-588: A minor settlement, and other treaty ports including Shanghai . During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British Crown began to assume an increasingly large role in the affairs of the company. A series of Acts of Parliament were passed, including the Regulating Act of 1773 , Pitt's India Act of 1784 and the Charter Act of 1813 which regulated the company's affairs and established

3708-677: A natural location for the founding meeting of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (precursor to the New Democratic Party ). The organizational meeting was held in Calgary on July 31, 1932, with attendance exceeding 1,300 people. Pat Lenihan was elected to the Calgary City Council in 1939, in part due to the use of Proportional Representation in city elections. He is the only Communist Party member elected to Calgary council. (He

3914-558: A perceived violation of the guaranteed Rights of Englishmen . The American Revolution began with a rejection of Parliamentary authority and moves towards self-government. In response, Britain sent troops to reimpose direct rule, leading to the outbreak of war in 1775. The following year, in 1776, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence proclaiming the colonies' sovereignty from

4120-521: A position he held until his death in 1965. MacEachran was a key figure in promoting the continued sterilization of people who were seen as degenerates and "incapable of intelligent parenting." Inmates of Alberta mental institutions were particularly vulnerable to sterilization under this Act and the Board's practices. Muir had lived at the Provincial Training School for two years and four months before she underwent an intelligence quotient (IQ) test. Low IQ

4326-525: A provisional capital in Edmonton , it would be left up to the Legislature to choose the permanent location. One of the first decisions of the new Alberta Legislature was the capital, and although William Henry Cushing advocated strongly for Calgary, the resulting vote saw Edmonton win the capital 16–8. Calgarians were disappointed on the city not being named the capital, and focused their attention on

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4532-464: A racetrack. It held a lavish parade as well as rodeo , horse racing, and trick roping competitions as part of the event. The exhibition was a success, drawing 100,000 people to the fairgrounds over seven days despite an economic recession that afflicted the city of 25,000. Calgary had previously held a number of Agricultural exhibitions dating back to 1886, and recognizing the city's enthusiasm, Guy Weadick , an American trick roper who participated in

4738-670: A ranked transferable ballot. The UFA government elected in 1921 changed the provincial election law so that Calgary could elect its MLAs through PR as well. Calgary elected its MLAs through PR until 1956 and its councillors through PR until 1971 (although mostly using instant-runoff voting , not STV, in the 1960s). Calgary endured a six-year recession following the First World War . The high unemployment rate from reduced manufacturing demand, compounded with servicemen returning from Europe needing work, created economic and social unrest. By 1921, over 2,000 men (representing 11 percent of

4944-472: A rapid escalation in the number of slaves transported. British ships carried a third of all slaves shipped across the Atlantic—approximately 3.5 million Africans —until the abolition of the trade by Parliament in 1807 (see § Abolition of slavery ). To facilitate the shipment of slaves, forts were established on the coast of West Africa, such as James Island , Accra and Bunce Island . In

5150-472: A security threat to Great Britain or mark the beginning of the break-up of the empire. A second Home Rule bill was defeated for similar reasons. A third bill was passed by Parliament in 1914, but not implemented because of the outbreak of the First World War leading to the 1916 Easter Rising . By the turn of the 20th century, fears had begun to grow in Britain that it would no longer be able to defend

5356-848: A series of Anglo-Mysore wars in Southern India with the Sultanate of Mysore under Hyder Ali and then Tipu Sultan . Defeats in the First Anglo-Mysore war and stalemate in the Second were followed by victories in the Third and the Fourth . Following Tipu Sultan's death in the fourth war in the Siege of Seringapatam (1799) , the kingdom became a protectorate of the company. The East India Company fought three Anglo-Maratha Wars with

5562-675: A way station for its ships travelling to and from its colonies in the East Indies . Britain formally acquired the colony, and its large Afrikaner (or Boer ) population in 1806, having occupied it in 1795 to prevent its falling into French hands during the Flanders Campaign . British immigration to the Cape Colony began to rise after 1820, and pushed thousands of Boers , resentful of British rule, northwards to found their own—mostly short-lived— independent republics , during

5768-411: A week before the election to find the town in disarray. Shortly before the 1886 election, G. E. Marsh brought a charge of corruption against Murdoch and council over irregularities in the voters' list. Travis found Murdoch and the councillors guilty, disqualifying them from running in the 1886 election, barring them from municipal office for two years, and fining Murdoch $ 100, and the councillors $ 20. This

5974-465: Is home to Canada's second-largest number of corporate head offices among the country's 800 largest corporations. In 2015, Calgary had the largest number of millionaires per capita of any major Canadian city. In 2022, Calgary was ranked alongside Zürich as the third most livable city in the world, ranking first in Canada and in North America. In 1988, it became the first Canadian city to host

6180-561: Is seen by some historians as the event defining the transition between the first and second empires, in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific and later Africa. Adam Smith 's Wealth of Nations , published in 1776, had argued that colonies were redundant, and that free trade should replace the old mercantilist policies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion, dating back to

6386-588: Is the subject of the book Patrick Lenihan from Irish Rebel to Founder of Canadian Public Sector Unionism, edited by Gilbert Levine (Athabasca University Press).) In 1922, Civic Government Association formed in opposition to the power of labour groups, endorsing its own competing slate of candidates. Labour's influence was short-lived on the City Council, with Labour as a whole failing to receive substantial support after 1924. Calgary gained further political prominence when R. B. Bennett 's Conservative Party won

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6592-515: The Calgary Herald published on the 31st under the title The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser by teacher Andrew M. Armour and printer Thomas B. Braden, a weekly newspaper with a subscription price of $ 1 per year. Over a century later, the CPR headquarters moved to Calgary from Montreal in 1996. Residents of the now-eight-year-old settlement sought to form

6798-400: The 1921 provincial election . It was elected to form the province's first non-Liberal government. By that time Calgary was using single transferable vote (STV), a form of proportional representation, to elect its city councillors. Calgary was the first city in Canada to adopt PR for its city elections. Councillors were elected in one at-large district. Each voter cast just a single vote using

7004-487: The 1930 federal election and formed government and became Canada's 11th prime minister . Bennett arrived in Calgary from New Brunswick in 1897, was previously the leader of the provincial Conservative Party, advocated for Calgary as the capital of Alberta, and championed the growing city. Calgary had to wait another decade to have a sitting premier represent the city, when sitting Social Credit Premier William Aberhart moved from his Okotoks-High River to Calgary for

7210-456: The 1940 provincial election after his Okotoks-High River constituents began a recall campaign against him as their local MLA. Only a little over a decade after shuttering the municipal tram lines, Calgary City Council began investigating rapid transit. In 1966 a heavy rail transit proposal was developed, however the estimated costs continued to grow rapidly, and the plan was re-evaluated in 1975. In May 1977, Calgary City Council directed that

7416-725: The Acts of Union 1707 . The 18th century saw the newly united Great Britain rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, with France becoming its main rival on the imperial stage. Great Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Empire continued the War of the Spanish Succession, which lasted until 1714 and was concluded by the Treaty of Utrecht . Philip V of Spain renounced his and his descendants' claim to

7622-671: The American War of Independence towards the end of the 18th century, has been referred to by some historians as the "First British Empire". England's early efforts at colonisation in the Americas met with mixed success. An attempt to establish a colony in Guiana in 1604 lasted only two years and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits. Colonies on the Caribbean islands of St Lucia  (1605) and Grenada  (1609) rapidly folded. The first permanent English settlement in

7828-795: The Americas and Asia . A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left Britain the dominant colonial power in North America . Britain became a major power in the Indian subcontinent after the East India Company 's conquest of Mughal Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The American War of Independence resulted in Britain losing some of its oldest and most populous colonies in North America by 1783. While retaining control of British North America (now Canada ) and territories in and near

8034-632: The Blackfoot name, Mohkínstsis , simply meaning "elbow", is the popular Indigenous term for the Calgary area. In the Nakoda or Stoney language , the area is known as Wîchîspa Oyade or Wenchi Ispase , both meaning "elbow". In the Cree language , the area is known as otôskwanihk ( ᐅᑑᐢᑿᓂᕽ ) meaning "at the elbow" or otôskwunee meaning "elbow". In the Tsuutʼina language (Sarcee),

8240-707: The British economy . Added to this was the cost of suppressing regular slave rebellions . With support from the British abolitionist movement, Parliament enacted the Slave Trade Act in 1807, which abolished the slave trade in the empire. In 1808, Sierra Leone Colony was designated an official British colony for freed slaves. Parliamentary reform in 1832 saw the influence of the West India Committee decline. The Slavery Abolition Act , passed

8446-598: The Calgary Protestant Public School District No. 19 was formed by the Legislature on March 2, 1885. On November 27, 1884, Lieutenant Governor Dewdney proclaimed the incorporation of The Town of Calgary . Shortly after on December 3, Calgarians went to the polls to elect their first mayor and four councillors. The North-West Municipal Ordinance of 1884 provided voting rights to any male British subject over 21 years of age who owned at minimum $ 300 of property. Each elector

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8652-546: The Calgary electoral district representative on the 1st Council of the North-West Territories . As for education, Calgary moved quickly: the Citizen's Committee raised $ 125 on February 6, 1884, and the first school opened for twelve children days later on February 18, led by teacher John William Costello. The private school was not enough for the needs of the town and following a petition by James Walker

8858-860: The Caribbean in the British West Indies , British colonial expansion turned towards Asia, Africa , and the Pacific . After the defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century and expanded its imperial holdings. It pursued trade concessions in China and Japan, and territory in Southeast Asia . The " Great Game " and " Scramble for Africa " also ensued. The period of relative peace (1815–1914) during which

9064-809: The First Anglo-Afghan War was a disaster for Britain. When Russia invaded the Ottoman Balkans in 1853, fears of Russian dominance in the Mediterranean and the Middle East led Britain and France to enter the war in support of the Ottoman Empire and invade the Crimean Peninsula to destroy Russian naval capabilities. The ensuing Crimean War (1854–1856), which involved new techniques of modern warfare ,

9270-513: The First World War further dampened the oil craze as more men and resources left for Europe and agricultural prices for wheat and cattle increased. Turner Valley's oil fields would boom again in 1924 and 1936, and by the Second World War the Turner Valley oilfield was producing more than 95 per cent of the oil in Canada. however the city would wait until 1947 for Leduc No. 1 to definitively shift Calgary to an oil and gas city. While Edmonton would see significant population and economic growth with

9476-408: The Government of India Act 1858 , establishing the British Raj , where an appointed governor-general administered India and Queen Victoria was crowned the Empress of India . India became the empire's most valuable possession, "the Jewel in the Crown", and was the most important source of Britain's strength. A series of serious crop failures in the late 19th century led to widespread famines on

9682-458: The Great Trek of the late 1830s and early 1840s. In the process the Voortrekkers clashed repeatedly with the British, who had their own agenda with regard to colonial expansion in South Africa and to the various native African polities, including those of the Sotho people and the Zulu Kingdom . Eventually, the Boers established two republics that had a longer lifespan: the South African Republic or Transvaal Republic (1852–1877; 1881–1902) and

9888-422: The Khedivate of Egypt into the 20th century, it was officially a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire and not part of the British Empire. The French were still majority shareholders and attempted to weaken the British position, but a compromise was reached with the 1888 Convention of Constantinople , which made the Canal officially neutral territory. With competitive French, Belgian and Portuguese activity in

10094-414: The Mahdist Army in 1896 and rebuffed an attempted French invasion at Fashoda in 1898. Sudan was nominally made an Anglo-Egyptian condominium , but a British colony in reality. British gains in Southern and East Africa prompted Cecil Rhodes , pioneer of British expansion in Southern Africa , to urge a " Cape to Cairo " railway linking the strategically important Suez Canal to the mineral-rich south of

10300-447: The Maratha Confederacy . The First Anglo-Maratha War ended in 1782 with a restoration of the pre-war status quo . The Second and Third Anglo-Maratha wars resulted in British victories. After the surrender of Peshwa Bajirao II on 1818, the East India Company acquired control of a large majority of the Indian subcontinent. Britain was challenged again by France under Napoleon, in a struggle that, unlike previous wars, represented

10506-542: The Middle East . Increasing degrees of autonomy were granted to its white settler colonies , some of which were formally reclassified as Dominions by the 1920s. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britain's economic lead. Military, economic and colonial tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War , during which Britain relied heavily on its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on its military, financial, and manpower resources. Although

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10712-406: The National Energy Program implemented by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau 's government and the drop in world oil prices , and the end of the construction boom in Calgary is associated with the completion of the Petro-Canada Centre in 1984. The two-tower granite Petro-Canada Centre, which some locals called "Red Square" alluding to the city's hostile view of the state-owned petroleum company, saw

10918-432: The Olympic Winter Games . Calgary was named after Calgary Castle (in Scottish Gaelic, Caisteal Chalgairidh ) on the Isle of Mull in Scotland . Colonel James Macleod , the Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police , had been a frequent summer guest there. In 1876, shortly after returning to Canada , he suggested its name for what became Fort Calgary . The Indigenous peoples of Southern Alberta refer to

11124-409: The Orange Free State (1854–1902). In 1902 Britain occupied both republics, concluding a treaty with the two Boer Republics following the Second Boer War (1899–1902). In 1869 the Suez Canal opened under Napoleon III , linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean . Initially the Canal was opposed by the British; but once opened, its strategic value was quickly recognised and became

11330-434: The Provincial Training School was a signature from Muir's mother permitting the legal enforcement of compulsory sterilization . Over the years, Muir was educated to a grade 5 level and saw her mother only intermittently until her departure from the institution at the age of 20. Muir’s sterilization was part of a progression towards forced sterilization and eugenics that began in the 19th century. In 1883, Francis Galton ,

11536-411: The Royal African Company was granted a monopoly on the supply of slaves to the British colonies in the Caribbean. The company would transport more slaves across the Atlantic than any other, and significantly grew England's share of the trade, from 33 per cent in 1673 to 74 per cent in 1683. The removal of this monopoly between 1688 and 1712 allowed independent British slave traders to thrive, leading to

11742-500: The Saint John and Saint Croix river valleys, then part of Nova Scotia , felt too far removed from the provincial government in Halifax , so London split off New Brunswick as a separate colony in 1784. The Constitutional Act of 1791 created the provinces of Upper Canada (mainly English speaking ) and Lower Canada (mainly French-speaking ) to defuse tensions between the French and British communities, and implemented governmental systems similar to those employed in Britain, with

11948-443: The Seychelles , and Tobago ; Spain ceded Trinidad ; the Netherlands ceded Guiana , Ceylon and the Cape Colony , while the Danish ceded Heligoland . Britain returned Guadeloupe , Martinique , French Guiana , and Réunion to France; Menorca to Spain; Danish West Indies to Denmark and Java and Suriname to the Netherlands. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution , goods produced by slavery became less important to

12154-441: The Treaty of Paris of 1763 had important consequences for the future of the British Empire. In North America, France's future as a colonial power effectively ended with the recognition of British claims to Rupert's Land, and the ceding of New France to Britain (leaving a sizeable French-speaking population under British control) and Louisiana to Spain. Spain ceded Florida to Britain. Along with its victory over France in India,

12360-429: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada , local post-secondary institutions adopted "official acknowledgements" of Indigenous territory using the Blackfoot name of the city, Mohkínstsis . In 2017, the Stoney Nakoda sent an application to the Government of Alberta, to rename Calgary as Wichispa Oyade meaning "elbow town"; however, this was challenged by the Piikani Blackfoot . The Calgary area

12566-417: The Victorian gold rush , making its capital Melbourne for a time the richest city in the world. The British also expanded their mercantile interests in the North Pacific. Spain and Britain had become rivals in the area, culminating in the Nootka Crisis in 1789. Both sides mobilised for war, but when France refused to support Spain it was forced to back down, leading to the Nootka Convention . The outcome

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12772-454: The War of 1812 , and invaded Canadian territory. In response, Britain invaded the US, but the pre-war boundaries were reaffirmed by the 1814 Treaty of Ghent , ensuring Canada's future would be separate from that of the United States. Since 1718, transportation to the American colonies had been a penalty for various offences in Britain, with approximately one thousand convicts transported per year. Forced to find an alternative location after

12978-399: The dominions , colonies , protectorates , mandates , and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was the largest empire in history and, for a century, was

13184-545: The metropole and the entirety of the empire while at the same time maintaining the policy of "splendid isolation". Germany was rapidly rising as a military and industrial power and was now seen as the most likely opponent in any future war. Recognising that it was overstretched in the Pacific and threatened at home by the Imperial German Navy , Britain formed an alliance with Japan in 1902 and with its old enemies France and Russia in 1904 and 1907, respectively. Britain's fears of war with Germany were realised in 1914 with

13390-413: The privateers John Hawkins and Francis Drake to engage in slave-raiding attacks against Spanish and Portuguese ships off the coast of West Africa with the aim of establishing an Atlantic slave trade . This effort was rebuffed and later, as the Anglo-Spanish Wars intensified, Elizabeth I gave her blessing to further privateering raids against Spanish ports in the Americas and shipping that

13596-440: The protectionism of Spain and Portugal. The growth of trade between the newly independent United States and Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success. The war to the south influenced British policy in Canada, where between 40,000 and 100,000 defeated Loyalists had migrated from the new United States following independence. The 14,000 Loyalists who went to

13802-399: The spice trade of the East Indies archipelago to the Netherlands and the textiles industry of India to England, but textiles soon overtook spices in terms of profitability. Peace between England and the Netherlands in 1688 meant the two countries entered the Nine Years' War as allies, but the conflict—waged in Europe and overseas between France, Spain and the Anglo-Dutch alliance—left

14008-475: The "Sugar Revolution" transformed the Caribbean economy in the mid-17th century. Large sugarcane plantations were first established in the 1640s on Barbados, with assistance from Dutch merchants and Sephardic Jews fleeing Portuguese Brazil . At first, sugar was grown primarily using white indentured labour , but rising costs soon led English traders to embrace the use of imported African slaves. The enormous wealth generated by slave-produced sugar made Barbados

14214-480: The "jugular vein of the Empire". In 1875, the Conservative government of Benjamin Disraeli bought the indebted Egyptian ruler Isma'il Pasha 's 44 per cent shareholding in the Suez Canal for £4 million (equivalent to £480 million in 2023). Although this did not grant outright control of the strategic waterway, it did give Britain leverage. Joint Anglo-French financial control over Egypt ended in outright British occupation in 1882. Although Britain controlled

14420-428: The 1730s. This trade, illegal since it was outlawed by China in 1729, helped reverse the trade imbalances resulting from the British imports of tea, which saw large outflows of silver from Britain to China. In 1839, the confiscation by the Chinese authorities at Canton of 20,000 chests of opium led Britain to attack China in the First Opium War , and resulted in the seizure by Britain of Hong Kong Island , at that time

14626-457: The 1980s prevented a full economic recovery until the 1990s. In May 1980, Nelson Skalbania announced that the Atlanta Flames hockey club would relocate and become the Calgary Flames . Skalbania represented a group of Calgary businessmen that included oil magnates Harley Hotchkiss , Ralph T. Scurfield , Norman Green , Daryl Seaman and Byron Seaman , and former Calgary Stampeders player Norman Kwong . Atlanta team owner Tom Cousins sold

14832-429: The 1980s, 70 percent within Alberta, as a result of capital spending, increased tourism and new sporting opportunities created by the facilities. Thanks in part to escalating oil prices, the economy in Calgary and Alberta was booming until the end of 2009, and the region of nearly 1.1 million people was home to the fastest-growing economy in the country. While the oil and gas industry comprise an important part of

15038-581: The Alberta Eugenics Board was performed by MAA & PAA Theatre at the 2012 Edmonton International Fringe Festival . Muir died at home in Devon, Alberta on March 14, 2016. Calgary Calgary is the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta . It is the largest metro area within the three prairie provinces . As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and

15244-640: The Alberta government has apologized for the forced sterilization of over 2,800 people. Nearly 850 Albertans who were sterilized under the Sexual Sterilization Act were awarded C$ 142 million in damages. In 1996, a documentary was released about Muir's life called The Sterilization of Leilani Muir . Produced by the National Film Board of Canada , the film won awards at the 1997 HESCA Film Festival in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and

15450-588: The Americas the following year but did not return; it is unknown what happened to his ships. No further attempts to establish English colonies in the Americas were made until well into the reign of Queen Elizabeth I , during the last decades of the 16th century. In the meantime, Henry VIII 's 1533 Statute in Restraint of Appeals had declared "that this realm of England is an Empire". The Protestant Reformation turned England and Catholic Spain into implacable enemies. In 1562, Elizabeth I encouraged

15656-765: The Americas was founded in 1607 in Jamestown by Captain John Smith , and managed by the Virginia Company ; the Crown took direct control of the venture in 1624, thereby founding the Colony of Virginia . Bermuda was settled and claimed by England as a result of the 1609 shipwreck of the Virginia Company's flagship , while attempts to settle Newfoundland were largely unsuccessful. In 1620, Plymouth

15862-669: The British Caribbean, the percentage of the population of African descent rose from 25 per cent in 1650 to around 80 per cent in 1780, and in the Thirteen Colonies from 10 per cent to 40 per cent over the same period (the majority in the southern colonies). The transatlantic slave trade played a pervasive role in British economic life, and became a major economic mainstay for western port cities. Ships registered in Bristol , Liverpool and London were responsible for

16068-615: The British Empire as the new United States of America . The entry of French and Spanish forces into the war tipped the military balance in the Americans' favour and after a decisive defeat at Yorktown in 1781, Britain began negotiating peace terms. American independence was acknowledged at the Peace of Paris in 1783. The loss of such a large portion of British America , at the time Britain's most populous overseas possession,

16274-471: The British Empire became the global hegemon was later described as Pax Britannica (Latin for "British Peace"). Alongside the formal control that Britain exerted over its colonies, its dominance of much of world trade, and of its oceans, meant that it effectively controlled the economies of, and readily enforced its interests in, many regions , such as Asia and Latin America . It also came to dominate

16480-608: The British defeated the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies, left the British East India Company in control of Bengal and as a major military and political power in India. France was left control of its enclaves but with military restrictions and an obligation to support British client states , ending French hopes of controlling India. In the following decades the British East India Company gradually increased

16686-411: The Calgary area as "elbow", in reference to the sharp bend made by the Bow River and the Elbow River . In some cases, the area was named after the reeds that grew along the riverbanks, reeds that had been used to fashion bows . In the Blackfoot language (Siksiká) the area is known as Mohkínstsis akápiyoyis , meaning "elbow many houses", reflecting its strong settler presence. The shorter form of

16892-401: The Calgary townsite moving onto Section 15, with the fate of the old townsite sealed when the post office was anonymously moved across the icy Elbow River during the night. The CPR subdivided Section 15 and began selling lots surrounding the station, $ 450 for corner lots and $ 350 for all others; and pioneer Felix McHugh constructed the first private building on the site. Earlier in the decade it

17098-639: The Centre Street Bridge over the Bow River) opened in 1907 which provided for residential expansion north of the Bow River. The early-1910s saw real estate speculation hit Calgary once again, with property prices rising significantly with growing municipal investment, CPR's decision to construct a car shop at Ogden set to employ over 5,000 people, the projected arrival of the Grand Trunk Pacific and Canadian Northern Railways in

17304-556: The City of Calgary Charter elevated the frontier town to the status of a full-fledged city. Calgary became the first city in the North-West Territories, receiving its charter a decade before Edmonton and Regina . The Calgary charter remained in force until it was repealed with the Cities Act in 1950. The charter came into effect in such a way as to prevent the regularly scheduled municipal election in December 1893, and recognizing

17510-578: The District Court. Cayley published articles critical of Travis and his judgment, in which Travis responded by calling Cayley to court, dismissing him from his position as Clerk, ordering Cayley to apologize and pay a $ 100 fine. Cayley refused to pay the fine, which Travis increased to $ 500, and on January 5, the day after the January 1886 Calgary town election , Cayley was imprisoned by Travis. Murdoch returned to Calgary on December 27, 1885, only

17716-788: The Dominion Exhibition as part of the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Real Wild West Show, returned to Calgary in 1912 to host the first Calgary Stampede in the hopes of establishing an event that more accurately represented the "wild west" than the shows he was a part of. He initially failed to sell civic leaders and the Calgary Industrial Exhibition on his plans, but with the assistance of local livestock agent H. C. McMullen, Weadick convinced businessmen Pat Burns , George Lane , A. J. McLean , and A. E. Cross to put up $ 100,000 to guarantee funding for

17922-485: The Elbow River and west to Eighth Street, and the first federal census listed the boom town at 3,876 inhabitants. The economic conditions in Calgary began to deteriorate in 1892, as development in the downtown slowed, the streetcar system started in 1889 was put on hold and smaller property owners began to sell. The first step in connecting the District of Alberta happened in Calgary on July 21, 1890, as Minister of

18128-662: The English a stronger colonial power than the Dutch, who were forced to devote a larger proportion of their military budget to the costly land war in Europe. The death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and his bequeathal of Spain and its colonial empire to Philip V of Spain , a grandson of the King of France , raised the prospect of the unification of France, Spain and their respective colonies, an unacceptable state of affairs for England and

18334-696: The French throne, and Spain lost its empire in Europe. The British Empire was territorially enlarged: from France, Britain gained Newfoundland and Acadia , and from Spain, Gibraltar and Menorca . Gibraltar became a critical naval base and allowed Britain to control the Atlantic entry and exit point to the Mediterranean . Spain ceded the rights to the lucrative asiento (permission to sell African slaves in Spanish America ) to Britain. With

18540-462: The Games, resulting in the facility earning praise as "the fastest ice on Earth". Canada Olympic Park was built on the western outskirts of Calgary and hosted bobsled , luge , ski jumping and freestyle skiing . It was the most expensive facility built for the games, costing $ 200 million. Despite Canada failing to earn a gold medal in the Games, the events proved to be a major economic boom for

18746-739: The Honorable Madame Joanne B. Veit presiding. On January 25, 1996, Veit ruled in favor of Muir awarding C$ 740,780 in damages with an additional C$ 230,000 for legal costs. Veit proclaimed: In 1959, the province wrongfully surgically sterilized Ms. Muir ... the particular type of confinement of which Ms. Muir was a victim resulted in many travesties to her young person: loss of liberty , loss of reputation , humiliation and disgrace, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of normal developmental experiences, loss of civil rights , loss of contact with family and friends, [and] subjection to institutional discipline. Since Muir’s case,

18952-575: The Interior Edgar Dewdney turned the first sod for the Calgary and Edmonton Railway in front of two thousand residents. The railway was completed in August 1891. Although its end-of-steel was on the south side of the river opposite Edmonton , it immensely shortened travel time between the two communities. Previously stagecoach passengers and mail could arrive in five days and animal pulled freight anywhere between two and three weeks,

19158-460: The Leduc discovery, many corporate offices established in Calgary after Turner Valley refused to relocate north. Consequently, by 1967, Calgary had more millionaires than any other city in Canada, and per capita, more cars than any city in the world. Early-20th-century Calgary served as a hotbed for political activity. Historically Calgarians supported the provincial and federal conservative parties,

19364-529: The Michener Centre) in Red Deer, Alberta . At that time there were no vacant beds. Two years later on July 12, 1955, shortly before her 11th birthday, Muir was admitted into the institution solely on the basis of information provided by her mother, without any diagnostic testing. She thought she had been sent to an orphanage. Under superintendent Leonard Jan Le Vann , a precondition for admission into

19570-559: The Māori population. The UK government finally decided to act, dispatching Captain William Hobson with instructions to take formal possession after obtaining native consent. There was no central Māori authority able to represent all New Zealand so, on 6 February 1840, Hobson and many Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi in the Bay of Islands; most other chiefs signing in stages over

19776-698: The NWT Lieutenant-governor, organized a public meeting in the NWMP barracks room on the issue of getting a representative in the NWT Council. Walker wrote the clerk of the Council that he was prepared to produce evidence that Calgary and environs (an area of 1000 square miles) held 1000 residents, the requirement for having a Council member. A by-election was held on June 28, 1884, where James Davidson Geddes defeated James Kidd Oswald to become

19982-655: The National Energy Program marked the end of Calgary's boom. In 1983 Calgary City Council announced service cuts to ease the $ 16 million deficit, 421 city employees were laid off, unemployment increased from 5 to 11 percent between November 1981 and November 1982, eventually peaking at 14.9 percent in March 1983. The decline was so swift that the city's population decreased for the first time in history from April 1982 to April 1983, and 3,331 homes were foreclosed by financial institutions in 1983. Low oil prices in

20188-661: The Netherlands as a colonial power, in the short term the Netherlands' more advanced financial system and the three Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century left it with a stronger position in Asia. Hostilities ceased after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when the Dutch William of Orange ascended the English throne, bringing peace between the Dutch Republic and England. A deal between the two nations left

20394-496: The North-West Territories , who happened to be in Calgary at the time, to discuss an allowance for a school, an increase from $ 300 to $ 1,000 grant for a bridge over the Elbow River, incorporation as a town, and representation for Calgary in the Legislative Council of the North-West Territories . The committee was successful in getting an additional $ 200 for the bridge, In May, Major Walker, acting on instructions from

20600-468: The Pacific between 1769 and 1777, James Cook visited New Zealand . He was followed by an assortment of Europeans and Americans which including whalers, sealers, escaped convicts from New South Wales, missionaries and adventurers. Initially, contact with the indigenous Māori people was limited to the trading of goods, although interaction increased during the early decades of the 19th century with many trading and missionary stations being set up, especially in

20806-675: The Pacific for the extension of the North American fur trade . Alexander Mackenzie of the North West Company led the first, starting out in 1792, and a year later he became the first European to reach the Pacific overland north of the Rio Grande , reaching the ocean near present-day Bella Coola . This preceded the Lewis and Clark Expedition by twelve years. Shortly thereafter, Mackenzie's companion, John Finlay , founded

21012-566: The Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War, and the two continued to co-operate in arenas outside India: the eviction of the French from Egypt (1799), the capture of Java from the Netherlands (1811), the acquisition of Penang Island (1786), Singapore (1819) and Malacca (1824), and the defeat of Burma (1826). From its base in India, the company had been engaged in an increasingly profitable opium export trade to Qing China since

21218-505: The Seven Years' War therefore left Britain as the world's most powerful maritime power . During the 1760s and early 1770s, relations between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain became increasingly strained, primarily because of resentment of the British Parliament's attempts to govern and tax American colonists without their consent. This was summarised at the time by the colonists' slogan " No taxation without representation ",

21424-762: The Spanish, and in 1666 succeeded in colonising the Bahamas . In 1670, Charles II incorporated by royal charter the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), granting it a monopoly on the fur trade in the area known as Rupert's Land , which would later form a large proportion of the Dominion of Canada . Forts and trading posts established by the HBC were frequently the subject of attacks by the French, who had established their own fur trading colony in adjacent New France . Two years later,

21630-608: The Swedish community of Falun and Italian community of Cortina d'Ampezzo . On September 30, 1981, the International Olympic Committee voted to give Calgary the right to host the 1988 Olympic Winter Games , becoming the first Canadian host for the winter games. The Games' five primary venues were all purpose-built, however, at significant cost. The Olympic Saddledome was the primary venue for ice hockey and figure skating. Located at Stampede Park ,

21836-632: The United Kingdom in the 19th century. By 1907, the first sterilization law was enacted in the United States and, in 1910, a eugenics section of the American Breeders Association and the Eugenics Records Office were established. Both affiliations were largely influenced by Charles Davenport and Harry Laughlin , but both were headed by Davenport himself. By the 1920s and 1930s, forced sterilizations were performed in nearly thirty US states. Hitler much admired

22042-912: The Western Psychological Association Film Festival in Seattle, Washington. After the trial, Muir lived in Devon, Alberta with her pets. She was an active board member of the Living Archives on Eugenics in Western Canada Community University Research Alliance, and enjoyed spending her free time with family, friends, pets, and other animals. She continued to speak about her life story at international conferences and wrote an autobiography called A Whisper Past: Childless after Eugenic Sterilization in Alberta . The play Invisible Child: Leilani Muir and

22248-645: The annexation of the Dutch colony of New Netherland in 1664, following the capture of New Amsterdam , which was renamed New York . Although less financially successful than colonies in the Caribbean, these territories had large areas of good agricultural land and attracted far greater numbers of English emigrants, who preferred their temperate climates. The British West Indies initially provided England's most important and lucrative colonies. Settlements were successfully established in St. Kitts  (1624), Barbados  (1627) and Nevis  (1628), but struggled until

22454-561: The apprenticeship system was abolished in 1838. The British government compensated slave-owners. Between 1815 and 1914, a period referred to as Britain's "imperial century" by some historians, around 10 million sq mi (26 million km ) of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire. Victory over Napoleon left Britain without any serious international rival, other than Russia in Central Asia . Unchallenged at sea, Britain adopted

22660-605: The area is known as Guts’ists’i (older orthography, Kootsisáw ) meaning "elbow". In Kutenai language , the city is referred to as ʔaknuqtapȼik’ . In the Slavey language , the area is known as Klincho-tinay-indihay meaning "many horse town", referring to the Calgary Stampede and the city's settler heritage. There have been several attempts to revive the Indigenous names of Calgary. In response to

22866-592: The armies of the Dominions , as well as many thousands of volunteers from the Crown colonies. The contributions of Australian and New Zealand troops during the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign against the Ottoman Empire had a great impact on the national consciousness at home and marked a watershed in the transition of Australia and New Zealand from colonies to nations in their own right. The countries continue to commemorate this occasion on Anzac Day . Canadians viewed

23072-455: The beginning of the oil and gas age in Calgary. Archibald Wayne Dingman and Calgary Petroleum Product's discovery was heralded as the "biggest oil field in the British Empire" at around 19 million cubic metres, and in a three-week period an estimated 500 oil companies sprang into existence. Calgarians were enthusiastic to invest in new oil companies, with many losing life savings during the short 1914 boom in hastily formed companies. Outbreak of

23278-418: The bid for Calgary and spent two years building local support for the project, selling memberships to 80,000 of the city's 600,000 residents. It secured CA$ 270 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments while civic leaders, including Mayor Ralph Klein , crisscrossed the world attempting to woo International Olympic Committee (IOC) delegates. Calgary was one of three finalists, opposed by

23484-589: The bulk of British slave trading. For the transported, harsh and unhygienic conditions on the slaving ships and poor diets meant that the average mortality rate during the Middle Passage was one in seven. At the end of the 16th century, England and the Dutch Empire began to challenge the Portuguese Empire 's monopoly of trade with Asia, forming private joint-stock companies to finance

23690-529: The business of establishing its own overseas colonies. The British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with the English settlement of North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean, and the establishment of joint-stock companies , most notably the East India Company , to administer colonies and overseas trade. This period, until the loss of the Thirteen Colonies after

23896-590: The city and Calgary's growing reputation as a growing economic hub. The period between 1906 and 1911 was the largest population growth period in the city's history, expanding from 11,967 to 43,704 inhabitants in the five-year period. Several ambitious projects were started during this period including a new City Hall , the Hudson's Bay Department Store , the Grain Exchange Building, and the Palliser Hotel , this period also corresponded to

24102-483: The city, which had fallen into its worst recession in 40 years following the collapse of both oil and grain prices in the mid-1980s. A report prepared for the city in January 1985 estimated the games would create 11,100 man-years of employment and generate CA$ 450 -million in salaries and wages. In its post-Games report, OCO'88 estimated the Olympics created CA$ 1.4 billion in economic benefits across Canada during

24308-599: The coasts of Africa and Brazil to China , and France had begun to settle the Saint Lawrence River area, later to become New France . Although England tended to trail behind Portugal, Spain, and France in establishing overseas colonies, it carried out its first modern colonisation, referred to as the Munster Plantations , in 16th century Ireland by settling it with English and Welsh Protestant settlers. England had already colonised part of

24514-416: The colony was abandoned two years later. The Darien scheme was a financial disaster for Scotland: a quarter of Scottish capital was lost in the enterprise. The episode had major political consequences, helping to persuade the government of the Kingdom of Scotland of the merits of turning the personal union with England into a political and economic one under the Kingdom of Great Britain established by

24720-461: The committee and on the next evening a vote was held to elect the seven members. A total of 24 candidates were nominated, which equalled 10 per cent of Calgary's male population. Major James Walker received 88 votes, the most amongst the candidates, the other six members were Dr. Andrew Henderson, George Clift King , Thomas Swan, George Murdoch, J. D. Moulton, and Captain John Stewart. The civic committee met with Edgar Dewdney , Lieutenant Governor of

24926-457: The continent. During the 1880s and 1890s, Rhodes, with his privately owned British South Africa Company , occupied and annexed territories named after him, Rhodesia . The path to independence for the white colonies of the British Empire began with the 1839 Durham Report , which proposed unification and self-government for Upper and Lower Canada, as a solution to political unrest which had erupted in armed rebellions in 1837. This began with

25132-399: The country following the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. Several people who helped establish the Munster plantations later played a part in the early colonisation of North America, particularly a group known as the West Country Men . In 1578, Elizabeth I granted a patent to Humphrey Gilbert for discovery and overseas exploration. That year, Gilbert sailed for the Caribbean with

25338-477: The decline of the empire. India , Britain's most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence in 1947 as part of a larger decolonisation movement, in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The Suez Crisis of 1956 confirmed Britain's decline as a global power, and the handover of Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997 symbolised for many the end of the British Empire, though fourteen overseas territories that are remnants of

25544-540: The economy, the city has invested a great deal into other areas such as tourism and high-tech manufacturing. Over 3.1 million people now visit the city annually for its many festivals and attractions, especially the Calgary Stampede. The nearby mountain resort towns of Banff , Lake Louise , and Canmore are also becoming increasingly popular with tourists. Other modern industries include light manufacturing, high-tech, film, e-commerce, transportation, and services. British Empire The British Empire comprised

25750-418: The empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after the First World War, Britain was no longer the world's preeminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War , Britain's colonies in East Asia and Southeast Asia were occupied by the Empire of Japan . Despite the final victory of Britain and its allies , the damage to British prestige and the British economy helped accelerate

25956-477: The empire remain under British sovereignty . After independence, many former British colonies, along with most of the dominions, joined the Commonwealth of Nations , a free association of independent states. Fifteen of these, including the United Kingdom, retain the same person as monarch , currently King Charles III . The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England , following

26162-456: The end of the "Sandstone City" era as steel frames and terracotta facades such as the Burns Building (1913) which were prevalent in other North American cities overtook the unique sandstone character of Calgary. The growing City and enthusiastic residents were rewarded in 1908 with the federally funded Dominion Exhibition . Seeking to take advantage of the opportunity to promote itself, the city spent CA$ 145,000 to build six new pavilions and

26368-406: The eugenics practices in the United States and, after becoming the German chancellor in 1933, the Nazis emulated and applied these practices on anyone whom they deemed to be a degenerate, especially Jews . Scientists discredited the eugenics movement after witnessing the events of World War II and the acts committed by the Nazis in the name of genetic cleansing. Forced sterilization was declared

26574-406: The event. The Big Four , as they came to be known, viewed the project as a final celebration of their life as cattlemen. The city constructed a rodeo arena on the fairgrounds and over 100,000 people attended the six-day event in September 1912 to watch hundreds of cowboys from Western Canada, the United States, and Mexico compete for $ 20,000 in prizes. The event generated $ 120,000 in revenue and

26780-517: The exception of international relations . Australia and New Zealand achieved similar levels of self-government after 1900, with the Australian colonies federating in 1901 . The term "dominion status" was officially introduced at the 1907 Imperial Conference . As the dominions gained greater autonomy, they would come to be recognized as distinct realms of the empire with unique customs and symbols of their own. Imperial identity, through imagery such as patriotic artworks and banners, began developing into

26986-441: The facility was expected to cost $ 83 million, but cost overruns pushed the facility to nearly $ 100 million. The Olympic Oval was built on the campus of the University of Calgary . It was the first fully enclosed 400-metre speed skating venue in the world as it was necessary to protect against the possibility of either bitter cold temperatures or ice-melting chinook winds . Seven world and three Olympic records were broken during

27192-423: The fallopian tubes) on Muir. She had been told that the surgery was to remove her appendix. She would not find out until nearly a decade later why she could not bear children. In 1965, Muir left the Provincial Training School for a life of independence. Over the next 15 years, she worked as a waitress and had two failed marriages. During her first marriage, she was unable to conceive a child. After fertility tests,

27398-439: The first permanent European settlement in British Columbia , Fort St. John . The North West Company sought further exploration and backed expeditions by David Thompson , starting in 1797, and later by Simon Fraser . These pushed into the wilderness territories of the Rocky Mountains and Interior Plateau to the Strait of Georgia on the Pacific Coast, expanding British North America westward. The East India Company fought

27604-404: The following months. William Hobson declared British sovereignty over all New Zealand on 21 May 1840, over the North Island by cession and over the South Islnd by discovery (the island was sparsely populated and deemed terra nullius ). Hobson became Lieutenant-Governor, subject to Governor Sir George Gipps in Sydney, with British possession of New Zealand initially administered from Australia as

27810-419: The following year, abolished slavery in the British Empire on 1 August 1834, finally bringing the empire into line with the law in the UK (with the exception of the territories administered by the East India Company and Ceylon, where slavery was ended in 1844). Under the Act, slaves were granted full emancipation after a period of four to six years of "apprenticeship". Facing further opposition from abolitionists,

28016-413: The foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23 percent of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered 35.5 million km (13.7 million sq mi), 24 per cent of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its constitutional , legal , linguistic , and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it

28222-463: The formation of the provincial university. However, the efforts by the community could not sway the government, and the University of Alberta was founded in the City of Strathcona , Premier Rutherford's home, which was subsequently amalgamated into the City of Edmonton in 1912. Calgary was not to be left without higher education facilities as the provincial Normal School opened in the McDougall School building in 1905. In 1910, R. B. Bennett introduced

28428-533: The frontier town, in early 1884 Jack Campbell was appointed as a constable for the community, and in early 1885 the Town Council passed By-law Eleven creating the position of Chief Constable and assigning relevant duties, a precursor to the Calgary Police Service . The first chief constable, John (Jack) S. Ingram, who had previously served as the first police chief in Winnipeg, was empowered to arrest drunken and disorderly people, stop all fast riding in town, attend all fires and council meetings. Calgary Town Council

28634-679: The government on the suitability of Botany Bay for the establishment of a penal settlement , and in 1787 the first shipment of convicts set sail, arriving in 1788. Unusually, Australia was claimed through proclamation. Indigenous Australians were considered too uncivilised to require treaties, and colonisation brought disease and violence that together with the deliberate dispossession of land and culture were devastating to these peoples. Britain continued to transport convicts to New South Wales until 1840, to Tasmania until 1853 and to Western Australia until 1868. The Australian colonies became profitable exporters of wool and gold, mainly because of

28840-419: The importance of the moment, the entire Town Council resigned to ensure the new city could choose the first Calgary City Council . Calgary's first municipal election as a city saw Wesley Fletcher Orr garner 244 votes, narrowly defeating his opponent William Henry Cushing 's 220 votes, and Orr was named the first mayor of the City of Calgary. By late 19th century, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) expanded into

29046-426: The increasingly healthy profits of colonial trade remained in English hands, Parliament decreed in 1651 that only English ships would be able to ply their trade in English colonies. This led to hostilities with the United Dutch Provinces —a series of Anglo-Dutch Wars —which would eventually strengthen England's position in the Americas at the expense of the Dutch. In 1655, England annexed the island of Jamaica from

29252-424: The intention of asserting imperial authority and not allowing the sort of popular control of government that was perceived to have led to the American Revolution. Tensions between Britain and the United States escalated again during the Napoleonic Wars , as Britain tried to cut off American trade with France and boarded American ships to impress men into the Royal Navy . The United States Congress declared war,

29458-426: The intention of engaging in piracy and establishing a colony in North America, but the expedition was aborted before it had crossed the Atlantic. In 1583, he embarked on a second attempt. On this occasion, he formally claimed the harbour of the island of Newfoundland, although no settlers were left behind. Gilbert did not survive the return journey to England and was succeeded by his half-brother, Walter Raleigh , who

29664-407: The interior and established posts along rivers that later developed into the modern cities of Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. In 1884, the HBC established a sales shop in Calgary. HBC also built the first of the grand "original six" department stores in Calgary in 1913; others that followed were Edmonton, Vancouver , Victoria , Saskatoon , and Winnipeg. In October 1899 the Village of Rouleauville

29870-405: The ire of his superiors Colonel James Macleod and Major Acheson Irvine . Major Irvine cancelled the order by Brisebois and wrote Hewitt Bernard , the then Deputy Minister of Justice in Ottawa, describing the situation and suggesting the name "Calgary" put forward by Colonel Macleod. Edward Blake , at the time Minister of Justice , agreed with the name and in the spring of 1876, Fort Calgary

30076-444: The ire of property owners on the east side of town. Property owners on both sides of Centre Street sought to bring development to their side of Calgary, lost successfully by eastsider James Walker who convinced the Town Council to purchase land on the east side to build a stockyard, guaranteeing meat packing and processing plants would be constructed on the east side. By 1892 Calgary had reached present-day Seventeenth Avenue , east to

30282-399: The larger 53-storey west tower rise to 215 m (705 ft) and become the largest building in Calgary for 26 years, and a smaller 32-storey east tower rise 130 m (430 ft). The city further expanded the CTrain system, planning began in 1981, and the northeast leg of the system was to be operational in time for the 1988 Olympics. The 1980s oil glut caused by falling demand and

30488-436: The larger trade, by 1720, in terms of sales, the British company had overtaken the Dutch. During the middle decades of the 18th century, there were several outbreaks of military conflict on the Indian subcontinent , as the English East India Company and its French counterpart , struggled alongside local rulers to fill the vacuum that had been left by the decline of the Mughal Empire . The Battle of Plassey in 1757, in which

30694-419: The lawful mayor of the growingly disorganized Town of Calgary, both holding council meetings and attempting to govern. Word of the issues in Calgary reached the Minister of Justice John Sparrow David Thompson in Ottawa who ordered Justice Thomas Wardlaw Taylor of Winnipeg to conduct an inquiry into the "Case of Jeremiah Travis" . The federal government acted before receiving Taylor's report, Jeremiah Travis

30900-455: The loss of the Thirteen Colonies in 1783, the British government looked for an alternative, eventually turning to Australia . On his first of three voyages commissioned by the government, James Cook reached New Zealand in October 1769. He was the first European to circumnavigate and map the country. From the late 18th century, the country was regularly visited by explorers and other sailors, missionaries , traders and adventurers but no attempt

31106-509: The lower Congo River region undermining orderly colonisation of tropical Africa, the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 was held to regulate the competition between the European powers in what was called the " Scramble for Africa " by defining "effective occupation" as the criterion for international recognition of territorial claims. The scramble continued into the 1890s, and caused Britain to reconsider its decision in 1885 to withdraw from Sudan . A joint force of British and Egyptian troops defeated

31312-450: The male workforce) were officially unemployed. Labour organizations began endorsing candidates for Calgary City Council in the late 1910s and were quickly successful in electing sympathetic candidates to office, including Mayor Samuel Hunter Adams in 1920 . As well the Industrial Workers of the World and its sequel, the One Big Union , found much support among Calgary workers. The city's support of labour and agricultural groups made it

31518-433: The most successful colony in the Americas, and one of the most densely populated places in the world. This boom led to the spread of sugar cultivation across the Caribbean, financed the development of non-plantation colonies in North America, and accelerated the growth of the Atlantic slave trade , particularly the triangular trade of slaves, sugar and provisions between Africa, the West Indies and Europe. To ensure that

31724-428: The north. The first of several Church of England missionaries arrived in 1814 and as well as their missionary role, they soon become the only form of European authority in a land that was not subject to British jurisdiction: the closest authority being the New South Wales governor in Sydney. The sale of weapons to Māori resulted from 1818 on in the intertribal warfare of the Musket Wars , with devastating consequences for

31930-428: The office of Mayor of Calgary. Calgary had only a couple days' peace following the November election before the Calgary Fire of 1886 destroyed much of the community's downtown. Part of the slow response to the fire can be attributed to the absence of functioning local government during 1886. As neither George Murdoch or James Reilly was capable of effectively governing the town, the newly ordered chemical engine for

32136-415: The open traffic of liquor, gambling and prostitution in Calgary despite prohibition in the North-West Territories. Travis' view was accurate as the Royal Commission of Liquor Traffic of 1892 found liquor was sold openly, both day and night during prohibition. Travis associated Clarke with the troubles he saw in Calgary and found him guilty, and sentenced Clarke to six months with hard labour . Murdoch and

32342-437: The opposite of the Liberal-friendly City of Edmonton. However, Calgarians were sympathetic to the cause of workers and supported the development of labour organizations. In 1909, the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) formed in Edmonton through the merger of two earlier farm organizations as a non-partisan lobbying organization to represent the interests of farmers. The UFA eventually dropped its non-partisan stance when it contested

32548-413: The other members of Council were shocked, and a public meeting was held at Boynton's Hall in which a decision was made to send a delegation to Ottawa to seek an overruling of Travis' judgement by the Department of Justice. The community quickly raised $ 500, and Murdoch and a group of residents headed east. The punishment of Clarke did not escape Hugh Cayley the editor of the Calgary Herald and Clerk of

32754-454: The other powers of Europe. In 1701, England, Portugal and the Netherlands sided with the Holy Roman Empire against Spain and France in the War of the Spanish Succession , which lasted for thirteen years. In 1695, the Parliament of Scotland granted a charter to the Company of Scotland , which established a settlement in 1698 on the Isthmus of Panama . Besieged by neighbouring Spanish colonists of New Granada , and affected by malaria ,

32960-495: The outbreak of the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739, Spanish privateers attacked British merchant shipping along the Triangle Trade routes. In 1746, the Spanish and British began peace talks, with the King of Spain agreeing to stop all attacks on British shipping; however, in the 1750 Treaty of Madrid Britain lost its slave-trading rights in Latin America . In the East Indies, British and Dutch merchants continued to compete in spices and textiles. With textiles becoming

33166-421: The outbreak of the First World War. Britain quickly invaded and occupied most of Germany's overseas colonies in Africa. In the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand occupied German New Guinea and German Samoa respectively. Plans for a post-war division of the Ottoman Empire, which had joined the war on Germany's side, were secretly drawn up by Britain and France under the 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement . This agreement

33372-434: The passing of the Act of Union in 1840, which created the Province of Canada . Responsible government was first granted to Nova Scotia in 1848, and was soon extended to the other British North American colonies. With the passage of the British North America Act, 1867 by the British Parliament , the Province of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were formed into Canada, a confederation enjoying full self-government with

33578-536: The passing of the Sexual Sterilization Act in 1928 and its repeal in 1972. One of the main advocates of eugenics who helped pass Alberta's sterilization law was the first female magistrate of the British Empire , Emily Murphy , who was also one of The Famous Five who campaigned for women's rights in the 1920s. Under her influence, many Albertans, especially farmers who saw first-hand what selective breeding can do to enhance livestock quality, agreed that eugenics could be used to improve human stock as well. One of

33784-443: The people influenced by Murphy’s opinions was the Minister of Agriculture and Health, George Hoadley. Hoadley convened the first meeting of the Alberta Eugenics Board a year after the Sexual Sterilization Act was passed. This Board interviewed all people considered to have inferior genetic stock and approved the sterilization of 4,725 of 4,800 cases. The three-member Board elected a fourth member John M. MacEachran to act as chairman,

33990-404: The population increase from 330,575 to 636,107. Population growth became a source of pride, the June 1980 Calgary Magazine exclaimed "Welcome to Calgary! Calgary almost specializes in newcomers..." . High-rise buildings were erected during the economic boom, and more office space opened in Calgary in 1979 than in New York City and Chicago combined. The end of the oil boom is associated with

34196-448: The power vacuums that had been left by the declining Ottoman Empire , Qajar dynasty and Qing dynasty . This rivalry in Central Asia came to be known as the "Great Game". As far as Britain was concerned, defeats inflicted by Russia on Persia and Turkey demonstrated its imperial ambitions and capabilities and stoked fears in Britain of an overland invasion of India. In 1839, Britain moved to pre-empt this by invading Afghanistan , but

34402-485: The provincial capital of Edmonton and approximately 240 km (150 mi) north of the Canada–United States border . The city anchors the south end of the Statistics Canada -defined urban area, the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor . Calgary's economy includes activity in many sectors: energy; financial services; film and television; transportation and logistics; technology; manufacturing; aerospace; health and wellness; retail; and tourism. The Calgary Metropolitan Region

34608-437: The recently organized Calgary Fire Department (Calgary Hook, Ladder and Bucket Corps) was held in the CPR's storage yard due to lack of payment. Members of the Calgary Fire Department broke into the CPR storage yard on the day of the fire to retrieve the engine. In total, fourteen buildings were destroyed with losses estimated at $ 103,200, although no one was killed or injured. The new Town Council sprung into action, drafting

34814-405: The region in 1878 and on all outstanding matters in 1907 with the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente . The destruction of the Imperial Russian Navy by the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 limited its threat to the British. The Dutch East India Company had founded the Dutch Cape Colony on the southern tip of Africa in 1652 as

35020-399: The region in the same year for the Cochrane area by order of Major James Walker. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) reached the area in August 1883 and constructed a railway station on the CPR-owned Section 15, neighbouring the townsite across the Elbow River to the east on Section 14. The difficulty in crossing the river and the CPR's efforts to persuade residents resulted in the core of

35226-450: The role of global policeman, a state of affairs later known as the Pax Britannica , and a foreign policy of " splendid isolation ". Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many countries, such as China, Argentina and Siam , which has been described by some historians as an " Informal Empire ". British imperial strength

35432-411: The site became a post of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP). The NWMP detachment was assigned to protect the western plains from US whisky traders, and to protect the fur trade , and Inspector Éphrem-A. Brisebois led fifty Mounties as part of F Troop north from Fort Macleod to establish the site. The I. G. Baker Company of Fort Benton, Montana ,

35638-423: The size of the territories under its control, either ruling directly or via local rulers under the threat of force from the Presidency Armies , the vast majority of which was composed of Indian sepoys , led by British officers. The British and French struggles in India became but one theatre of the global Seven Years' War (1756–1763) involving France, Britain, and the other major European powers. The signing of

35844-450: The sovereignty of the Crown over the territories that it had acquired. The company's eventual end was precipitated by the Indian Rebellion in 1857, a conflict that had begun with the mutiny of sepoys, Indian troops under British officers and discipline. The rebellion took six months to suppress, with heavy loss of life on both sides. The following year the British government dissolved the company and assumed direct control over India through

36050-405: The structures to the ground. The local police did not attempt to intervene. Mayor Alexander Lucas had inexplicably left town during the riot, and when he returned home he called the NWMP in to patrol Calgary for three weeks to prevent further riots. Finally on January 1, 1894, Calgary was granted a charter by the 2nd North-West Legislative Assembly , officially titled Ordinance 33 of 1894 ,

36256-419: The subcontinent in which it is estimated that over 15 million people died. The East India Company had failed to implement any coordinated policy to deal with the famines during its period of rule. Later, under direct British rule, commissions were set up after each famine to investigate the causes and implement new policies, which took until the early 1900s to have an effect. On each of his three voyages to

36462-418: The successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, commissioned John Cabot to lead an expedition to discover a northwest passage to Asia via the North Atlantic. Cabot sailed in 1497, five years after the first voyage of Christopher Columbus , and made landfall on the coast of Newfoundland . He believed he had reached Asia, and there was no attempt to found a colony. Cabot led another voyage to

36668-402: The team to Skalbania for US$ 16 million, a record sale price for an NHL team at the time. The team reached the playoffs each year in its first 10 years in Calgary and won the team's only Stanley Cup in 1989 . Public concern existed regarding the potential long-term debt implications that had plagued Montreal following the 1976 Olympics . The Calgary Olympic Development Association led

36874-435: The test, and suggested that she did not have a mental defect now that she lived in a better environment. Not long after this IQ test had proved that Muir was of normal intelligence and should never have been sterilized or placed in the Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives, she sought legal counsel to sue the Alberta government on her behalf for wrongful sterilization. The four-week trial began on June 22, 1995, with

37080-412: The time, the Board ordered that she be sterilized. Other factors that increased the likelihood of sterilization were Muir's Irish-Polish background and Catholic religion, her presumed incapability of intelligent parenting, and that she had "shown definite interest in the opposite sex" while living in a public institution. On January 19, 1959, doctors performed a bilateral salpingectomy (destruction of

37286-442: The train was able to make the trip in only a few hours. Smallpox arrived in Calgary in June 1892 when a Chinese resident was found with the disease, and by August nine people had contracted the disease with three deaths. Calgarians placed the blame for the disease on the local Chinese population, resulting in a riot on August 2, 1892. Residents descended on the Town's Chinese-owned laundries, smashing windows and attempting to burn

37492-440: The voyages—the English, later British, East India Company and the Dutch East India Company , chartered in 1600 and 1602 respectively. The primary aim of these companies was to tap into the lucrative spice trade , an effort focused mainly on two regions: the East Indies archipelago , and an important hub in the trade network, India. There, they competed for trade supremacy with Portugal and with each other. Although England eclipsed

37698-405: Was a humiliation for Spain, which practically renounced all sovereignty on the North Pacific coast. This opened the way to British expansion in the area, and a number of expeditions took place; firstly a naval expedition led by George Vancouver which explored the inlets around the Pacific North West, particularly around Vancouver Island . On land, expeditions sought to discover a river route to

37904-413: Was a major criterion for sterilization. She was brought to the Calgary Guidance Clinic to take an IQ test a week before meeting with the Eugenics Board and scored an overall mark of 64. Muir was formally diagnosed as a "Mental defective Moron". The Board used Muir's IQ score as sufficient grounds for her sterilization, as a score lower than 70 was considered degraded intelligence. Although she was not told at

38110-454: Was able to cast one vote for the mayor and up to four votes for the councillors ( plurality block voting ). George Murdoch won the mayoral race in a landslide victory with 202 votes over E. Redpath's 16, while Simon Jackson Hogg, Neville James Lindsay, Joseph Henry Millward, and Simon John Clarke were elected councillors. The next morning the Council met for the first time at Beaudoin and Clarke's Saloon. Law and order remained top of mind in

38316-405: Was arrested for threatening a plain-clothes Mountie who entered his saloon to conduct a late-night search. When the officer failed to produce a search warrant , Clarke chased him off the premises; however, the Mountie returned with reinforcements and arrested Clarke. Clarke found himself before Stipendiary Magistrate Jeremiah Travis , a proponent of the temperance movement who was appalled by

38522-406: Was contracted to construct a suitable fort, and after its completion, the Baker company built a log store next to the fort. The NWMP fort remained officially nameless until construction was complete, although it had been referred to as "The Mouth" by people at Fort Macleod. At Christmas dinner NWMP Inspector Éphrem-A. Brisebois christened the unnamed Fort "Fort Brisebois" , a decision which caught

38728-472: Was described as " the empire on which the sun never sets ", as the sun was always shining on at least one of its territories. During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France , and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in

38934-447: Was despite the fact Murdoch was visiting Eastern Canada while the alleged tampering was occurring. Travis' disqualification did not dissuade Calgary voters, and Murdoch defeated his opponent James Reilly by a significant margin in early January to be re-elected as mayor. Travis accepted a petition from Reilly to unseat Murdoch and two of the elected councillors, and declare Reilly the mayor of Calgary. Both Murdoch and Reilly claimed to be

39140-475: Was eager to employ constables versus contracting the NWMP for town duty as the police force was seen as a money-making proposition. Constables received half of the fines from liquor cases, meaning Chief Constable Ingram could easily pay his $ 60 per month salary and the expense of a town jail. For the Town of Calgary, 1884 turned out to be a success. However, two dark years lay ahead for the fledgling community. The turmoil started in late 1885, when Councillor Clarke

39346-589: Was formed later in 1915. Built-up areas of Calgary between 1905 and 1912 were serviced by power and water, the city continued a program of paving and sidewalk laying and with the CPR constructed a series of subways under the tracks to connect the town with streetcars. The first three motor buses hit Calgary streets in 1907, and two years later the municipally owned street railway system , fit with seven miles of track opened in Calgary. The immediately popular street railway system reached 250,000 passengers per month by 1910. The privately owned MacArthur Bridge (precursor to

39552-481: Was founded as a haven by Puritan religious separatists, later known as the Pilgrims . Fleeing from religious persecution would become the motive for many English would-be colonists to risk the arduous trans-Atlantic voyage : Maryland was established by English Roman Catholics  (1634), Rhode Island  (1636) as a colony tolerant of all religions and Connecticut (1639) for Congregationalists . England's North American holdings were further expanded by

39758-472: Was granted his own patent by Elizabeth in 1584. Later that year, Raleigh founded the Roanoke Colony on the coast of present-day North Carolina , but lack of supplies caused the colony to fail. In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended (as James I) to the English throne and in 1604 negotiated the Treaty of London , ending hostilities with Spain. Now at peace with its main rival, English attention shifted from preying on other nations' colonial infrastructures to

39964-457: Was hailed as a success. The Calgary Stampede has continued as a civic tradition for over 100 years, marketing itself as the "greatest outdoor show on earth" , with Calgarians sporting western wear for 10 days while attending the annual parade, daily pancake breakfasts. While agriculture and railway activities were the dominant aspects of Calgary's early economy, the Turner Valley Discovery Well blew South-West of Calgary on May 14, 1914, marked

40170-414: Was incorporated by French Catholic residents south of Calgary's city limits in what is now known as Mission . The town did not remain independent for long, and became the first incorporated municipality to be amalgamated into Calgary eight years later in 1907. The turn of the century brought questions of provincehood the top of mind in Calgary. On September 1, 1905, Alberta was proclaimed a province with

40376-402: Was inhabited by pre- Clovis people whose presence traces back at least 11,000 years. The area has been inhabited by multiple First Nations , the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy; Siksika , Kainai , Piikani ), îyârhe Nakoda , Tsuutʼina peoples and Métis Nation, Region 3. In 1787, David Thompson , a 17-year-old cartographer with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), spent the winter with

40582-404: Was made to settle the country or establish possession. The coast of Australia had been discovered for Europeans by the Dutch in 1606 , but there was no attempt to colonise it. In 1770, after leaving New Zealand, James Cook charted the eastern coast, claimed the continent for Britain, and named it New South Wales . In 1778, Joseph Banks , Cook's botanist on the voyage, presented evidence to

40788-429: Was not divulged to the Sharif of Mecca , who the British had been encouraging to launch an Arab revolt against their Ottoman rulers, giving the impression that Britain was supporting the creation of an independent Arab state. The British declaration of war on Germany and its allies committed the colonies and Dominions, which provided invaluable military, financial and material support. Over 2.5 million men served in

40994-402: Was not expected that the railway would pass near Calgary; instead, the preferred route put forward by people concerned with the young nation's defence was passing near Edmonton and through the Yellowhead Pass . However, in 1881 CPR changed the plans preferring the direct route through the prairies by way of Kicking Horse Pass . Along with the CPR, August 1883 brought Calgary the first edition of

41200-420: Was officially established. In 1877, the First Nations ceded title to the Fort Calgary region through Treaty 7. In 1881 the federal government began to offer leases for cattle ranching in Alberta (up to 400 km (100,000 acres) for one cent per acre per year) under the Dominion Lands Act , which became a catalyst for immigration to the settlement. The I. G. Baker Company drove the first herd of cattle to

41406-440: Was returning across the Atlantic, laden with treasure from the New World . At the same time, influential writers such as Richard Hakluyt and John Dee (who was the first to use the term "British Empire") were beginning to press for the establishment of England's own empire. By this time, Spain had become the dominant power in the Americas and was exploring the Pacific Ocean, Portugal had established trading posts and forts from

41612-607: Was running the I.G. Baker store in Calgary, was elected MP for Alberta (Provisional District) . A former whisky trader in southern Alberta, he had turned his hand to building Fort Macleod and Fort Calgary. The main other contender for the job, Frank Oliver , was a prominent Edmontonian, so Davis's success was a sign that Calgary was surpassing Edmonton, previously the main centre on the western Prairies. Calgary continued to expand when real estate speculation took hold of Calgary in 1889. Speculators began buying and building west of Centre Street, and Calgary quickly began to sprawl west to

41818-427: Was supported by the British prime minister , William Gladstone , who hoped that Ireland might follow in Canada's footsteps as a Dominion within the empire, but his 1886 Home Rule bill was defeated in Parliament. Although the bill, if passed, would have granted Ireland less autonomy within the UK than the Canadian provinces had within their own federation, many MPs feared that a partially independent Ireland might pose

42024-405: Was suspended, and the government waited for his official tenure to expire, after which he was pensioned off. Justice Taylor's report, which was released in June 1887, found Travis had exceeded his authority and erred in his judgements. The Territorial Council called for a new municipal election to be held in Calgary on November 3, 1886. George Clift King defeated his opponent John Lineham for

42230-481: Was the only global war fought between Britain and another imperial power during the Pax Britannica and was a resounding defeat for Russia. The situation remained unresolved in Central Asia for two more decades, with Britain annexing Baluchistan in 1876 and Russia annexing Kirghizia , Kazakhstan , and Turkmenistan . For a while, it appeared that another war would be inevitable, but the two countries reached an agreement on their respective spheres of influence in

42436-401: Was underpinned by the steamship and the telegraph , new technologies invented in the second half of the 19th century, allowing it to control and defend the empire. By 1902, the British Empire was linked together by a network of telegraph cables, called the All Red Line . The East India Company drove the expansion of the British Empire in Asia. The company's army had first joined forces with

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