Vancouver has been around a bit, and over that time it has had its share of historic moments.
Sometimes it's made international headlines (for everything from the 2010 Winter Olympics to the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar). More often those historic moments are more local.
There are certainly many that have been forgotten over the years, but here are five unusual moments from Vancouver history you (probably) don't recall.
1. Marie Lloyd's controversial performance
Marie Lloyd was a popular English performer at just after the turn of the century (the least one, when it turned into 1900).
While touring around North America in 1914 she brought her show to Vancouver, and the city was scandalized by what she was offering.
On opening night she performed a song called "The Ankle Watch" and as part of the performance she showed something that caused an uproar from local politicians (the mayor was in the audience on opening night).
She lifted her dress (which reached all the way to the floor) and showed off a watch she was wearing, just above her ankle.
The response was swift, and the city had her drop songs from he show and give a tamer performance if she was to do the rest of her shows here.
She complied, but didn't hold back with her thoughts, and her last show ended up cancelled.
2. The Mayor of Vancouver walked into a plane's propellers
L.D. Taylor is one of Vancouver's longest serving mayors, serving 11 years and winning eight elections.
While there were likely a number of things that gave him headaches over the years, the worst probably came in July of 1928.
After a ceremonial flight to celebrate air travel starting up between Victoria, Seattle and Vancouver, Taylor got off the plane as it landed in Richmond.
With the sun low in the sky, and his hat pulled down to block it, the mayor walked directly into the propellers of the plane he had just disembarked from.
It took him a little while to recover, but he did. However, he was lucky. One doctor at the time noted that if he was a half-inch taller he'd have been killed.
3. There was a cricket match with a team of Hollywood stars
The stars of Hollywood are often in Vancouver for one reason or another, but few come as part of a sports team.
In 1936 a crew came from Hollywood after Vancouver's cricket team had visited California and played games against locals down there.
The teams from Hollywood included Errol Flynn, who was a massive star at the time, along with a bunch of other recognizable faces from film at the time. The team included Nigel Bruce, Harry Watten, Henry Stephenson, and C. Aubrey Smith, who was likely the organizer of the team since he'd been a professional player before acting.
4. A ship was accidentally shot in the First Narrows
A story in Chuck Davis's History of Metropolitan Vancouver notes that during WWII, in preparation for whatever may come, large guns were built at the First Narrows.
On Sept. 13, a ship missed where it was supposed to stop, and the order was given to fire a shot from shore.
Due to the angle of the shot, it bounced off the ocean water near the ship that it was intended for and skipped on into the Fort Rae, a recently lauched freighter.
It ended up punching a hole below the water line, which caused flooding in one of the holds. Luckily the captain was able to beach it and it was patched up at a later date.
5. Wendy King's book was found
During the 1970s Wendy King was a sex worker in Vancouver and had apparently built up a notable clientele.
In 1979 her Vancouver apartment was raided and a little brown book was taken by police
While King went to court, the brown book was sealed by the B.C. Supreme Court and the names inside never revealed.
