February 2015

Monthly Archive: February 2015

Toronto at the Turn of the (Last) Century

Posted: February 19, 2015 - 15:04 , by ROM
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The City of Toronto was officially incorporated in 1834 and the second half of the 19th century was a period of great growth in the city. The population grew through railway and steamer links, which facilitated the arrival of immigrants at the port or the new Union Station building. The harbour was a key asset for trade and expansion, and  was steadily under development.

Year of the Sheep, Goat or Ram?

Posted: February 18, 2015 - 12:11 , by Robert Mason
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A flock of ceramic sheep

Beginning on February 19th 2015 and ending on February 7th 2016 is the Year of the Sheep, or Goat, or Ram in the Chinese calendar. No other year of the Chinese lunar calendar seems to create quite so much confusion as the Year of the Sheep/Goat/Ram. The confusion probably stems from the Chinese term for all of these characters: "Yang". Hence in Chinese, Year of the Yang works perfectly, there is no confusion, and you can use any member of the caprinae subfamily (which includes sheep and goats) to figurally represent the year. However, in English we are left with this confusion.