Heritage Minutes, also known officially as Historica Minutes: History by the Minute, are a series of sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history. They appear frequently on Canadian television and in cinemas before movies and are now also sold on DVD. The Minutes were first introduced on March 31, 1991 as part of a one-off heavily-promoted history quiz show hosted by Rex Murphy. The thirteen original short films were broken up and run between shows on CBC Television and CTV Network. The continued broadcast of the Minutes and the production of new ones was pioneered by Charles Bronfman's CRB Foundation, Canada Post Power Broadcasting, and the National Film Board. They were devised, developed and largely narrated by noted Canadian broadcaster Patrick Watson, while the producer of the series was Robert Guy Scully. In 2009 Historica merged with The Dominion Institute to become The Historica-Dominion Institute. While the foundations have not paid networks to air Minutes, they have made them freely available, and in the early years paid to have them run in cinemas across the country. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has ruled that Heritage Minutes are an "on-going dramatic series" thus each minute counts as ninety-seconds of a station's Canadian content requirements.
Underground Railroad
Mar 31, 1991
An African American escapes to Canada along the Underground Railroad.
Valour Road
Mar 31, 1991
Three men from Pine Street in Winnipeg win the Victoria Cross in World War I, and the street's name is changed to Valour Road in their honour.
Jacques Plante
Mar 31, 1991
Jacques Plante becomes the first NHL player to wear a goaltender mask in regular play.
Jennie Trout
Mar 31, 1991
Jennie Trout becomes Canada's first woman doctor.
Superman
Mar 31, 1991
Comic book artist Joe Shuster, en route to visit his cousin, Frank Shuster, creates Superman.
Peacekeepers
Mar 31, 1991
Canadian peacekeepers are stationed in Cyprus to help diffuse tension between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
Responsible Government
Mar 31, 1991
Queen Victoria decides to grant Canada responsible government after the crushing of the Rebellions of 1837.
Soddie
Mar 31, 1991
Prairie settlers build a house of sod.
Nellie McClung
Mar 31, 1991
Feminist, politician, and social activist Nellie McClung demands the right to vote in Manitoba.
Orphans
Mar 31, 1991
French Canadian families adopt Irish orphans in the 1850s while allowing them to maintain part of their Irish heritage.
Jacques Cartier
Mar 31, 1991
French navigator and explorer Jacques Cartier misunderstands some Natives resulting in the name Canada.
Halifax Explosion
Mar 31, 1991
Train dispatcher Vince Coleman sacrifices his own life to save a train from the Halifax Explosion.
Wilder Penfield
Mar 31, 1991
A Montreal neurosurgeon makes ground-breaking advances in the treatment of seizure disorders.
