The Avro Arrow

The Avro Arrow

The Avro Arrow was Canada's greatest aeronautical achievement but the project was canceled in 1959. The Avro Arrow or also known as CF-105, was a supersonic jet and was faster and more advanced than any other aircraft at its time. It was designed to carry air-to-air nuclear-tipped missiles to destroy Soviet bomb attacks over the Canadian North. The main reason for the scraping of the project was the cost, originally the production estimated 2 million per aircraft but it later rose to 12 million. The cost for reproduction of this would be too much and would not be able to sell the plane to Europe or the U.S. So it was cancelled on February 20 1959 “The conclusion arrived at is that the development of the Arrow aircraft and Iroquois engine should be terminated now” (Prime Minister Diefenbaker).This makes us think what would the technology for planes be like now if we hadn't scraped the project.

Although canceling the Arrow made economic sense because of its high cost for reproduction I don’t think it was necessary for every part in the aircraft to be scrapped because I'm sure with time they would've re created the project but cheaper and more price conscientious. Also it does not make sense for the money to be spent on the project and for Canada not to keep the plane because now the money that had gone into it goes completely to waste. I also believe that even keeping the original and making modifications to older planes that were in Canada’s hands according to the Avro Arrow. It is still a mystery why this project was scrapped.

Baby Boom

Chart of the Birth Rate from 1909 - 2009

The Baby Boom began with the births of many children who had been waited for until the depression was over. There were two main other factors that affected the birthrate as well, many people married, and those who did had more kids. Married and single women born between 1911 and 1912 had an average of 2.9 children, whereas those born between 1929 and 1933 had an average of 3.3. This means that each woman had an extra 0.4 kids or increased by 13%. The second factor was more adults got married at a younger age this is called “timing phenomena”. Also these young couples needed to have their kids in the first few years of their married life. Between 1940 and 1965 births in Canada rose from 253 000 in 1940 to 479 000 in 1960, an extra 1.5 million more births occurred.

The baby boomers effect us greatly today, it is estimated 3.3 million people will be over the age of 80 by 2036 from the previous 1.3 million. Also eventually these senior citizens will need health care and although we produce 200 doctors/ nurses each year we need around 400 to be able to keep up with the baby boomers. The baby boomers although they create problems they are also good for the economy because they control over 80% of personal financial assets and more than half of consumer spending. They buy 77% of all prescription drugs, 61% of over the counter drugs, and 80% of all leisure travel. I think the baby boomers are good for now but eventually they will cause problems to the economy because when they are not around all the buying they do that boosts the economy wont be around, and all the purchase of prescription drugs, over the counter drugs, and leisure travel will decrease.

Was the War Measures Act Justified During the October Crisis?

Pierre Laporte a victim to the FLQ (also known as Front de libération du Québec)

During October 1970 in the province of Quebec two government officials were kidnapped, one Pierre Laporte who was later murdered by the FLQ and the other James Cross. This caused the Prime Minister at the time Pierre Trudeau to use the War Measures Act but before Laporte was killed, this was the first time it was used in Canada in peacetime. The War Measures Act allows the police to have more power and arrest and hold citizens and by definition allowed the government to assume sweeping emergency powers in the event of "war, invasion or insurrection, real or apprehended“. The War Measures Act was only used 3 times in Canadian history, the first in WW1, the second in WW2, and the third in the October Crisis. But it was very debatable whether it was needed in the October Crisis.

Many people believe enacting the war measures act was needed because they say it was the only defense to cease the FLQs violence but, I believe it was not justified because there were over 450 people arrested many of which were innocent these people could be held as long as they needed. Some people were held for months. This to me is when you know you have too much power and reminds me of WW2 as Hitler had Totalitarian power but luckily Trudeau did not have the same thoughts of Hitler. Also Trudeau could have done a lot more with the totalitarian power the War Measures Act gave him, any opponent of Trudeau could not fight back against him.

The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Moscow-Washington Hotline

The red phone often seen on Television

The Cuban missile crisis was a 13-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side, and the United States on the other. It started in October 1962, and was the closest we have come to a nuclear war. The United States as well as Soviets were prepared to use their nuclear weapons in the battlefield. The Soviets thought the U.S. Would invade Cuba so the soviets were trying to protect them. In the end the Soviet Union agreed to return their missiles that were in Cuba back to the Soviet Union as long as the United States did not invade as well as the removal of nuclear weapons from southern italy and Turkey. They agreed and this resulted in the Moscow-Washington Hotline.

The Moscow-Washington hotline created on August 30, 1963 was a direct phone line between the president and the soviet premier, this became one of the most famous top level communications systems in modern history. This phone is often seen in TV as the Red Phone on the presidents desk, but it is thought that it is a phone line but this is false, it was set up as a teletype connection or also known as a teleprinter which is similar to a typewriter that sends messages. Then later in 1988 this was replaced by fax machines. Since 2008 the Hotline is secure computer link and messages are exchanged by e-mail, Keeping our countries safe from another nuclear war. I think this invention is very important in history because it keeps our main powers of the world in peace.

Fun in the 1920's and Fun today

                                            

The Cotton Club was the most famous nightclub in New York during the 1920s and 30s.                                                                               

The 1920's had many new discoveries and was an important decade filled with economic thrive. Times were tough after WW1 because the economy had changed from a war-time economy to a peace-time economy. As well as veterans were not returned back to their jobs and were left broke and unable to feed their families if they had one.  The recession in 1920-21 soon turned around, due to some smart government decisions and raising wages of some industries, also there was a large industrial capacity,  and then entertainment industry boomed because the 1920's became all about having fun.

There were a lot of things for people to do and have fun in the 1920's but is very different from today. Some things to do were listening to the radio, which today we mainly listen to radio just while in the car. Visiting friends, which we still of course do today. Also the movie industry came to be in the 1920s, many silent movies were made, but today people stated seeing movies often and the technology behind these movies has advanced greatly with surround sound and giant screens as well as High Definition. Jazz was also very big during the 20's so people would go to places to dance and drink similar to clubs today although the music is very different. Also today we have many concerts all the time and a wide range of genres that are very different from the Jazz music. Although the 20's became all about fun this came to a short stop when the stock market crashed in late October 1929.

The Atomic Bomb and the Start of Military Superiority

Picture of "Little Boy" and "Fat man"

The Atomic Bomb invented during the time between WW1 and WW2 the U.S. Heard that in Nazi Germany there were efforts to create at atomic bomb, so the U.S. Decided to try and produce one as well they named this “The Manhattan Project”. The Atomic bomb was used on the Japanese during WW2 because of retaliation from the random attack on Pearl Harbour which occurred on December 7, 1941 in which 3,500 Americans were either killed or wounded as well as the destruction of many military ships and planes. There were two Atomic bombs that were dropped the first in Hiroshima but the Japanese still did not surrender, and then other Nagasaki after this bomb the Japanese quickly surrendered and WW2 was over. 110, 000 people were killed in these two bombing and affected many generations, this event started the race for military superiority in the world today.

After these bombings countries all over the world began to develop their own nuclear weapons so they could defend them selves in any situation. For example during the cold war the world was very afraid of a Nuclear War to start between the U.S. And the Soviet Union but thankfully nothing occurred. The sheer devastation the bomb caused on Japan gave the rest of the world something to fear and caused the Soviet to make even more nuclear weapons than the United States had so that they would know if they used another bomb they would be nuclear warfare. Today nuclear war is one of the biggest threats to our planet and without the bombing of Hiroshima this technology would not be as advanced as it is today

The Holocaust and the Darfurian Genocide

Burning Darfurian land

During the second world war extermination camps or also known as death camps were built by Nazi Germany to systematically kill millions of people by gassing, extreme labour, and starvation. There were many victims such as political prisoners, criminals, homosexuals, gypsies, the mentally ill and other but the Jews were the main target. The Nazi attempts at Jewish genocide is also known as the Holocaust. This was not the first genocide in history but before the Holocaust the word Genocide was not around. Since the Holocaust there have been many more Genocides and even though people say they would stop it if it happened again they still don’t.

Starting in 2003 and still going on today is the Darfurian Genocide there is the mass slaughter and rape of Darfuri, men, women, and children in Western Sudan. It is carried out by a group of government-armed and funded Arab militias. They destroy Darfurians by burning villages, looting economic resources by dropping dead bodies in wells to contaminate water supplies, murdering, raping, and torturing civilians. Over 480, 000 people have been killed, and over 2.8 million are displaced. There are groups trying to help but unfortunately they do not get enough support to be able to stop it. Although people say they didn’t know the Holocaust is happening or they didn’t believe it this is happening and still nothing is done to stop it and this isn’t the only place this is happening in our world today. Some places like the Democratic Republic of Congo even have the risk of turning into an all- out genocide, but yet again nothing is done. It makes you really know how lucky we are to live in a place like Canada