Discover Vancouver BC History FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY English Thursday 28th of August 2008 08:52:11 AM Copyright: (C) Discover Vancouver, Inc. /rss.php The Polar Bear Club swim was started by Peter Pantages. Every New Year's Day several hundred cold-defying people leap screaming into the chilly waters of Vancouver's English Bay. The first meeting was held of the new Vancouver city council following the amalgamation January 1 of Vancouver with the municipalities of South Vancouver and Point Grey. The city had, overnight, grown in population by more than 50 per cent to become the third largest in Canada. Prisoners in Vancouver's chain gang went on strike to protest having to work clearing the city's lanes. The first Granville Street bridge opened. (The current bridge is the third.) The first professional hockey game ever played in Vancouver is enjoyed by the crowd at the Patrick brothers' Denman Arena. The Vancouver Millionaires beat the New Westminster Royals 8 to 3. Vancouver's longest wet spell began. It ended 29 days later. There had been recorded rain on every one of those 29 days. But believe it or not, no fewer than five cities in Canada have an average annual precipitation higher than Vancouver's paltry 1,113 mm. Every major city from Quebec City eastward to St. John's gets more annual precipitation than Vancouver. Take that, Duchovny! The first export shipment of grain was made out of Vancouver, a full 23 years after the railway had arrived. Tom Alsbury was sworn in as Vancouver mayor. Alsbury was the first Vancouver mayor to have been born in the 20th century. (1904) After his departure from office, Alsbury became an effective spokesman for seniors. One of the busiest stretches of street in Vancouver, the twinned Dunsmuir/Georgia Viaduct opened in Vancouver. (There had been an earlier, ill-constructed viaduct, along Georgia Street only. Chunks kept falling off.) As they sailed by it, Col. Richard Moody of the Royal Engineers named Lulu Island in Richmond in honor of 16-year-old Lulu Sweet, a visiting member of a touring English musical revue. She and other cast members were aboard for a tour.