Trivial Saskatoon
Posted by
Rachel at
12:49 PM on April 9, 2007.
Some stuff I learned from the City of Saskatoon Archives and the Saskatchewan Archival Information Network:
Mayor Don Atchison was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1972
Saskatoon’s first and only recorded earthquake occurred at 9:15 am on May 15, 1909. It lasted 30 seconds and was felt as far away as Winnipeg and Lethbridge.
Saskatoon’s Municipal Swimming Pool on Avenue H in Victoria Park opened on July 15, 1925. Filtration and chlorination systems were primitive, and the pool was quickly dubbed the “Avenue Itch” pool. Despite having “its own peculiar smell, which was obvious for blocks” the pool was hugely popular with the people of Saskatoon. During the Depression, admission was “five cents if you had, free if you didn’t”.
On July 17, 1951, Saskatoon’s new sewage station, in present-day Archibald Park, exploded.
Mount Blackstrap officially opened on December 15, 1970. Built for the 1971 Canada Winter Games, it required 900,000 cubic yards of fill to create. The people of Saskatoon donated their used Christmas trees to be iced into its slopes to give an “alpine” feel to the ski runs.
Saskatoon is derived from “mis-sask-quah-toomina,” the Cree Indian name for a local berry.
Some of the first experiments done aboard the NASA space shuttle were a result of research conducted at the University of Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan separated from the Northwest Territories in 1905.
Famous horror film star Boris Karloff performed in Saskatoon theatres before World War I.
Seven bridges cross the south Saskatchewan river within the city limits.
The city is one of the brightest in Canada, enjoying an average of 2,381 hours of sunshine every year.
The 1930 U of S Men's Lit Chorus made very homely women
