Halifax, Nova Scotia

Halifax (2001 pop.: 119,292) (Area :79.22 SQ Km) is the largest urban community in Atlantic Canada. Halifax was founded by the British goverment under the direction of the Board of Trade and Plantations under the command of Governor Edward Cornwallis in 1749 After a protracted struggle between residents and the Executive Council, the city was incorporated in 1841. Halifax was also the shire town of Halifax County. On April 1,1996 the government of Nova Scotia amalgamated the four municipalities within Halifax County, among them the City of Halifax, and formed the Halifax Regional Municipality, a single-tier regional government covering that whole area. The City of Halifax ceased to be a legal entity, but the city of Halifax now referred to as an unincorporated "Metropolitan Area" by the provincial government. Residents of Halifax are called Haligonians. Halifax and the neighbouring metropolitan area of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia form the urban core of the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).

Halifax "firsts" and other records

• Within Canada
  • 1750 Oldest Anglican Church (St. Paul's Church on the Grand Parade)
  • 1752 First printing press, printed book and newspaper (the Halifax Gazette)
  • 1756 Oldest Lutheran Church (Little Dutch (Deutsch) Church)
  • 1758 First seat of democratic government in Canada
  • 1789 First University (University of King's College)
  • 1813 First Sunday school for African American peoples
  • 1819 First Legislature (Province House)
  • 1825 Founding of the Halifax Banking Company (now Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce)
  • 1832 Founding of the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
  • 1846 First decorated English Christmas tree
  • 1862 First science institute (the Nova Scotian Institute of Science)
  • 1864 Founding of the Merchant Bank (now Royal Bank of Canada)
  • 1876 First lawn tennis game
  • 1884 First law school (at Dalhousie University)
  • 1887 First art college, Victoria School of Art and Design (now the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University founded by Anna Leonowens)
  • 1970 First common-user container terminal with the opening of Halifax's South End container terminal
  • First public school
  • Largest kidney transplant program

• Within North America
  • 1752 Oldest salt water ferry service
  • 1752 First Board of Trade
  • 1755 First post office
  • 1758 First naval dockyard (Halifax was founded as a naval base in 1749, and has had a naval dockyard since 1758)
  • 1767 First naval clock
  • 1794 First Martello tower
  • 1800-1801 First Round church (St. George Round Church - commissioned by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the only one designed by a member of the British Royal Family)
  • 1799-1805 Oldest consecutively occupied government residence, since the White House was evacuated and burned during the War of 1812
  • 1837 First yacht squadron opened (The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron)
  • 1838-1840 Cunard Steamship Line founded in Halifax (see article for records set by Cunard Line)
  • 1847 First zoo (sold to New York City in 1863 to become the Central Park Zoo)
  • 1890 First all electric street light city
  • Oldest continuously operating farmer's market (Halifax Farmer's Market)

• World-wide
  • 1800s The sport of hockey was refined and developed in and around Halifax, Dartmouth and Windsor (first official rules in Halifax)
  • 1840 First use of wood pulp to make paper
  • 1846-1850 Dr. Abraham Gesner, developed the distillation of kerosene from crude oil and bitumen, driving the Petroleum industry
  • 1936 First live radio news coverage in Canada and largest broadcast hookup originating on this continent (on coverage of Moose River Mine Disaster, April 1936) [1]
  • World's first skyscrapers to use seawater for air-conditioning (Purdy's Wharf Office Towers)
  • World's longest downtown boardwalk (runs for over 4 km alongside the harbour)

• Other
  • 1836 Victorian Garden (Public Gardens) established and remain today in urban centre
  • 1998 First east coast North American port to welcome a Panamax vessel, the Regina Maersk
  • Largest naval dockyard on the eastern seaboard north of Norfolk, Virginia, USA
  • Set a precedence in free speech and freedom of the press for Canada and the British Empire [2] [3] [4] (see Joseph Howe [5])
  • World’s second largest ice free natural harbour
  • North American centre for Buddhism
  • World centre for Shambhala Buddhism
  • Devastated by the greatest man-made explosion prior to the atomic bomb (the Halifax Explosion)
  • Canada's second largest scientific centre (after Ottawa, Ontario)