Interesting Facts About Edmonton #2
Consider some more intriguing facts about our capital city:
1. It is thought that, in 1754, Anthony Henday, an explorer working for the Hudson’s Bay Company, was the first European to visit the Edmonton area. Appropriately, the long sought-after ring road around Edmonton which is currently under construction, bears his name.
2. Ron Hayter, from Ward 2, is the longest serving councillor in Edmonton’s history. He has served continuously since 1971.
3. Matthew McCauley was the first mayor of Edmonton when it was incorporated as a town in 1892. He was instrumental in establishing the first school board and the first municipal police force. There is a neighbourhood in Edmonton between the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Commonwealth Stadium named after him.
4. In the 2006 census, people with European roots formed the largest cluster of ethnicity in Edmonton. They were mostly of English, Scottish, German, Irish, Ukrainian and French origins.
5. If Mill Woods, a community in SE Edmonton, were a separate municipality, it would be Edmonton’s third largest city.
6. Edmonton has a semi-arid continental climate with extreme seasonal temperatures, milder though than either Winnipeg or Regina which are both situated further south. Average daily temperatures range from -11.7 degrees Centigrade in January to 17.5 degrees Centigrade in July. However temperatures exceed 30 degrees C for at least 4 days each year and plummet to -20 degrees C or less for an average of 28 days each year.
7. Edmonton averages 140 frost-free days a year [May 24-Sept. 23].
8. The Edmonton tornado in 1987 touched down 6 times, killing 27 people and causing more than $250 million in property damage.
9. Edmonton is one of Canada’s premier research and education centers. The University of Alberta, the Alberta Research Council, the Edmonton Research Park and the National Institute for Nanotechnology are part of this exciting leading edge development.
10. The Francis Winspear Center for Music is one of the most acoustically perfect concert halls in Canada and is home to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
11. Fort Edmonton Park, nestled in the river valley along the North Saskatchewan River, is Canada’s largest living history museum. If you want to take a step back in time, beginning with a steam locomotive ride, this is the place to be during the spring and summer.
