Stephen P. H. Butler Leacock was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humourist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humourist in the world. He is known for his light humour along with criticisms of people's follies.
Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of Central Ontario. The population in 2021 was 33,411.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, also known simply as The Meaning of Life, is a 1983 British musical sketch comedy film written and performed by the Monty Python troupe, directed by Terry Jones. The Meaning of Life was the last feature film to star all six Python members before the death of Graham Chapman in 1989.
Sir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland.
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is a sequence of stories by Stephen Leacock, first published in 1912. It is generally considered to be one of the most enduring classics of Canadian humorous literature. The fictional setting for these stories is Mariposa, a small town on the shore of Lake Wissanotti. Although drawn from his experiences in Orillia, Ontario, Leacock notes: "Mariposa is not a real town. On the contrary, it is about seventy or eighty of them. You may find them all the way from Lake Superior to the sea, with the same square streets and the same maple trees and the same churches and hotels."
Edward Bradley was an English clergyman and novelist. He was born in Kidderminster and educated at Durham University from which he took his pen name Cuthbert Bede. His most popular book was The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, on the experiences of an Oxford undergraduate. There was a sequel, Little Mr Bouncer and his friend Verdant Green. Tales of College Life, introduces the character of Mr Affable Canary. The celebrated illustrations to the Verdant Green books were the work of the author.
Humour is an integral part of the Canadian identity. There are several traditions in Canadian humour in both English and French. While these traditions are distinct and at times very different, there are common themes that relate to Canadians' shared history and geopolitical situation in North America and the world. Though neither universally kind nor moderate, humorous Canadian literature has often been branded by author Dick Bourgeois-Doyle as "gentle satire," evoking the notion embedded in humorist Stephen Leacock's definition of humour as "the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life and the artistic expression thereof."
Solar Pons is a fictional detective created by August Derleth as a pastiche of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
Mariposa is a fictional Canadian town created by Stephen Leacock as the setting for a series of short stories. Commissioned by The Montreal Star newspaper, they were later collected and published in one volume as Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Since then, many attempts have been made to expand the canon, present it in a different form or make reference to it.
Ging̱olx is a Nisg̱a’a Village in the Nass River valley in British Columbia, Canada. The village population is approximately 400 people. Ging̱olx is one of four Nisg̱a’a villages that make up the Nisg̱a’a Nation. The community itself has four clans which are Killer Whale, Eagle, Raven and Wolf. Ging̱olx village's government consists of 1 chief and 5 councillors.
Samuel Southey Hinds was an American actor and former lawyer. He was often cast as kindly authority figures and appeared in more than 200 films in a career lasting 22 years.
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is an 8½ hour-long adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1839 novel, performed in two parts. Part 1 was 4 hours in length with one interval of 15 minutes. Part 2 was 4½ hours in length with two intervals of 12 minutes. It was originally presented onstage over two evenings, or in its entirety from early afternoon with a dinner break. Later it was presented on television over four evenings.
The bibliography of Charles Dickens (1812–1870) includes more than a dozen major novels, many short stories, several plays, several non-fiction books, and individual essays and articles. Dickens's novels were serialized initially in weekly or monthly magazines, then reprinted in standard book formats.
Henry William Lowe "Hal" Hurst, (1865–1938) was an English painter, etcher, miniaturist, illustrator and founding member of the Royal Miniature Society.
The Union United Church of Montreal is Montreal, Quebec, Canada's oldest black congregation. It was founded in 1907 by several members of Montreal's black community who experienced racial conflict and were banned from entering all-white churches. Union was started with a treasury of just $1.83. The church has gone on to have a long and rich history, and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007. It is just one of the many churches that are part of the United Church of Canada. It is believed to be the only church affiliated with the United Church of Canada, however, that worships in the historically black tradition and has a predominantly black congregation.
Monty Python's Flying Circus is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam, who became known collectively as "Monty Python", or the "Pythons". The first episode was recorded at the BBC on 7 September 1969 and premiered on 5 October on BBC1, with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German TV. A feature film adaptation of several sketches, And Now for Something Completely Different, was released in 1971.
William Noyes (1568–1622), Rector of Cholderton, Wiltshire, was an Anglican clergyman of Puritan teachings. Under the influence of his instruction, members of his family succeeded him in Puritan ministry both in England and in Massachusetts Bay Colony, at first in Newbury, Essex County, where two of his sons, James and Nicholas, and his nephew Thomas Parker, were prominent figures. His grandson, Nicholas Noyes, was closely involved in the Salem witch trials. The religious motivations which led them to New England also gave rise to an extensive American branch of the Noyes family, of which William Noyes is the direct progenitor.
"Archaeology Today", recorded on 9 October 1970 and broadcast on 17 November 1970, was the 21st episode of the popular British television comedy Monty Python's Flying Circus which was created by the Monty Python group. As stated on the Monty Python's Flying Circus Wiki, "The show often targets the idiosyncrasies of British life, especially that of professionals, and is at times politically charged"; this episode in particular seems to target the professional world of anthropology and archaeology.
Innocent Sinners is a 1958 British black and white film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Flora Robson, David Kossoff and Barbara Mullen.
The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom is a play written by African American abolitionist William Wells Brown. While the play was published in 1858, it was not officially produced until 1971 at Emerson College. It was one of the earliest extant pieces of African American dramatic literature. Williams Wells Brown would tour and give readings of his play at Anti-Slavery rallies and political events.
