Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is widely recognized as the most famous painting in the history of art. But did you know that X-rays of the Mona Lisa show that there are three completely different versions of the same subject, all painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, under the final portrait.

1912 Triumph Free Engine

Triumph, the quintessential British motorcycle, was actually founded by two German immigrants. Mauritz Sculte and Siegfried Bettman produced their first motorized cycle in 1902.

The “Free Engine” Model was a great technical advancement for its day. This was the first Triumph to have a clutch, allowing the engine to continue running while the machine was stopped – hence the name Free Engine.

Triumph motorcycles were sold in Alberta in 1912 by a dealer in Calgary by the name of Trail and Parr. They were also available through the T. Eaton Company catalogue.

As soon as 1912, Triumph had already achieved racing success and would go on to become one of the greatest names in motorcycle history.

This motorcycle can be found at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum

Chief Crowfoot 1830 - 1890

Crowfoot was born around 1830 near the Belly river in southern Alberta into the Blood tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy, with the name "Astohkomi" or "Shot Close". After a raid on a Crow camp when he was a teenager he was given a hero's name, "Isapo-muxica" or "Crowfoot".

Crowfoot was a warrior who fought in as many as 19 battles and sustained many injuries. Despite this, he tried to obtain peace instead of tribal warfare. When the Canadian Pacific Railway sought to build their mainline through Blackfoot territory, negotiations with Father Albert Lacombe convinced Crowfoot that it should be allowed.

He died on April 25th, 1890, at Blackfoot Crossing, of tuberculosis.

The Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is generally recognized as being the lynchpin of the Commonwealth air forces during the early years of the Second World War.

The Hurricane traces its origins to the biplane Fury fighter. Initial plans were to redesign the Fury as a monoplane, but it quickly evolved into an entirely new eight-gun monoplane which first flew November 6, 1935. After testing, the RAF ordered the monoplane, now known as the Hurricane, into production. The first aircraft reached operational units in 1937.

Due to limited production capacity at Hawker, the decision was made to contract an outside manufacturer to manufacture the Hurricane. Hawker Aircraft awarded the contract to Canadian Car and Foundry Company Limited with plants in Fort William (Thunder Bay), Amherst, NS and Montreal.

Production of the Canadian-built Hurricane Mk I began in 1938 using components imported from the U.K. The first major modification was the usage of the Packard-built Rolls Royce Merlin engine, resulting in a new designation as the Mk. X.

Canadian Hurricanes continued development to meet the changing needs of the RAF and RCAF. The next evolution was designated the Mk. XI. It differed from the Mk X mainly in having RCAF supplied military equipment.

The final variant, the Mk. XII, was noted for having a “universal” wing capable of different weapons configurations and had the highest production of Canadian Hurricanes. Canadian production ended in 1943 after 1451 Hurricanes were built; this represented over 10% of all Hurricanes built.

One of the greatest Canadian fighter aces of the Second World War was Pilot Officer William “Willie” McKnight (an Alberta native) who was credited with more than 16 kills against Luftwaffe aircraft at the beginning of the war while flying a Hurricane. McKnight later disappeared while on a mission and was never seen again.

The importance of the Hurricane to the outcome of the war cannot be overstated. They saw action in every theatre the British were involved with and proved adaptable to many non-traditional roles including tank busting, anti-shipping and reconnaissance. It is this legacy that has assured its place in aviation and military history.