On Sept. 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center towers fell, 2,871 people died, among them 24 Canadians. One of them was former NHL player Garnet (Ace) Bailey, who was on United Airlines Flight 175, which hit the South Tower. The last person out of that tower before it collapsed was believed to be Ron DiFrancesco of Hamilton, who worked on the 84th floor. When the American Airlines passenger plane hit the North Tower first, an announcement told everyone that the South Tower was secure; there was no need to evacuate. DiFrancesco decided to leave anyway. Before he could get to the elevators, the plane carrying Ace Bailey hit the tower between the 77th and 85th floors. DiFrancesco was able to run through smoke and burning debris and finally get to the ground floor. The building then began i...

In 1866, the Fathers of Confederation—among them John A. Macdonald, George-Étienne Cartier, Alexander Galt and George Brown—were in London, staying at the Westminster Palace Hotel. They were fine-tuning the British North America Act which, when passed, would create the Dominion of Canada. At a different hotel was Joseph Howe, who was trying to get Nova Scotia out of Confederation, waving a petition with 30,000 signatures. “Macdonald was the ruling genius and spokesman,” according to Sir Frederic Rogers, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. But there were a few non-genius moments. Macdonald woke up in the middle of the night to find that both he and his bed were on fire. His hair and hands were singed and his shoulder was burned—but he carried on.    The road...