By Katherine Kopiak (ArtSci ’13)
Contributor

1. Classes were first held at Queen’s on March 7, 1842 in a wood-frame house on the outskirts of Kingston. There were a total of 13 students and two professors.

2. The Oil-Thigh was written by a student named Alfred Lavell after the Queen’s football team lost a game to U of T in 1898; he wrote it in order to encourage them to win the next – which they did! Cha-gheill!

3. Speaking of football, the Queen’s Football team has won more championships than any other university football team in Canada! They are also one of the only two universities, U of T being the other, to have won the Grey Cup.

4. Queen’s was the first university west of the Maritimes that accepted women. They first did so in 1869.

5. The two World Wars impacted Queen’s students dramatically. During both, several students served in the military, many of which lost their lives (there’s a memorial room in the JDUC that recognizes those Queen’s students who sacrificed their lives during the war). Grant Hall acted as an army hospital for the injured for a period of time. Some positive advancements also occurred due to the Second World War, including establishment of the School of Nursing in 1941.

6. The two statues that are located along the Queen’s waterfront were originally built due to the fact that researchers believed there were active faults in the ground beneath them. It was thought that the tectonic plates below them would move and force the two statues to touch by year 2000; however they never touched!

7. The Ale House, a popular bar for Queen’s students in the hub of downtown Kingston, was once a performance theatre. The dance floor that many of you have likely danced upon before used to be the stage!

8. Kingston has been recognized as the most romantic city in all of Canada. It makes sense once you think about it; the water for romantic walks, the variety of restaurants for dinner dates, and so on. Definitely something to take advantage of this coming Valentine’s Day!

9. Speaking of restaurants, Kingston has also been said to have the most restaurants per capita in all of Canada. If you haven’t been to many yet, it’s time to start taste testing!

10. Harper’s Burger Bar, le Chien Noir and Atomica Gourmet Pizza & Wine Bar are owned by the same people. Each restaurant uses free-range, locally farmed meat.

11. Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first ever prime minister, lived in Kingston for a period of his life.

12. Hockey’s well-known and loved Don Cherry lives on Wolfe Island, right across from campus!

13. Ontario Street used to be a railway. Have you ever noticed that there is a train modeled down by the water across from City Hall?

14. There have been several shipwrecks in Kingston, some accidental and some sunk purposely that are now used as diver sites for scuba divers. For instance, the second ship ever built for travelling to Wolfe Island and back was purposely sunk for scuba diving purposes. If you’re around this summer, grab some flippers and check out the scuba scene!

15. Furniture store, James Reid, on Princess Street has been in business for over 150 years.

16. Kingston General Hospital has been running longer than any other public hospital in the country.