Toronto History – Toronto is a thriving city with a diverse culture and an interesting history. Founded as a trading center in the 1600’s, aboriginal peoples would gather by the shores of Lake Ontario to do business and socialize. This “meeting place” was named Toronto, a literal translation in the Huron language.

English Settlers arrived in 1793, and they renamed the area York. The town of York became a city in 1834, and the Huron name of Toronto reinstated. The city kept growing and growing until it reached the booming population of almost 5 million that it has today. Toronto is now the capital city of Ontario, and the number one tourist destination in Canada.

Toronto has an amazing Heritage Foundation that works hard to preserve the history of the city. It is rich history, full of culture and art. Below is abrief timeline of some of the historical events in Toronto.

1600 - Huron’s have a favorite on Lake Ontario for meeting. In the Huron language it is known as To'ron'to - Place of Meeting.1615 - Etiênne Brulé is the first European to arrive in the area.
1751 - Fort Toronto is built by the French, but ultimately lost to the British.
1793 - Sir John Simcoe moves to Toronto and renames it "York".
1796 - Yonge Street is first laid out. It is the longest street in the world and measures 1,896.3 Km.
1813 - American soldiers march in and burn the town of York.
1834 - York is renamed "Toronto" and, with a population of 9, 000, is upgraded to city status.
1837 - The Mackenzie Rebellion tries but fails to overthrow the British who rule Upper Canada.
1851 - The "Northern" becomes Toronto’s first railroad.
1875 - Nurse Elizabeth McMaster founds the Hospital for Sick Children.
1878 - The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) opens for the first time in Toronto.
1904 - Twenty acres burn to the ground in the Great Fire of Toronto.
1914 - Toronto wins its first Stanley Cup!
1922 - Frederick Banting and John MacLeod - win the Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin.

To find out more about Toronto’s history, visit www.heritagetoronto.org.