20 Factoids | Volume 6
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In the early 1900s, Winnipeg doctor and member of the
Manitoba Legislature, Thomas Glendenning Hamilton
hosted countless séances inside his Elmwood home.
He took thousands of pictures during the table tipping
and Ouija board demonstrations and used mediums
to commune with the dead. After gaining worldwide
interest, Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle attended a séance at Hamilton's home and later
declared, "Winnipeg stands very high among the places
we have visited for its psychic possibilities."
Winnipeg National
Microbiology Laboratory
houses Canada's only Biological
Safety Level 4 containment
laboratory, used to test the
most deadly human and animal
diseases. In 2012, local scientists
discovered antibodies to treat
Ebola, the deadly human virus
typically found in third-world
countries. The vaccine is still
being tested but it's one more
advancement in understanding
and controlling the virus.
The Harlequin Romance publishing empire was
founded in Winnipeg in 1949 by Richard and Mary
Bonnycastle. Today, this empire spans more than 94
international markets and its books are printed in
more than 25 languages.
The biggest gold heist in Canadian
history was carried out at the Winnipeg
International Airport in 1966 by the
Flying Bandit, Ken Leishman—a bank
robber, prison escape artist and folk hero.
