Nova Scotia - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island - page 75

have to offer. In summer, never-ending festivals ignite the party ambience that much
more.
History
Pirates, warring colonialists and exploding ships make the history of Halifax read like an
adventure story. From 1749, when Edward Cornwallis founded Halifax along what is
today Barrington St, the British settlement expanded and flourished. The destruction of
the French fortress at Louisbourg in 1760 increased British dominance and sealed Hali-
fax as Nova Scotia's most important city.
Despite being home to two universities from the early 1800s, Halifax was still a rough
and ready sailors' nest that, during the War of 1812, became a center for privateer black-
market trade. As piracy lost its government endorsement, Halifax sailed smoothly into a
mercantile era, and the city streets, particularly Market and Brunswick Sts, became home
to countless taverns and brothels.
On April 14, 1912, three Halifax ships were sent in response to a distress call: the 'un-
sinkable' Titanic had hit an iceberg. Over 1500 people were killed in the tragedy and
many were buried at Fairview Cemetery, next to the Fairview Overpass on the Bedford
Hwy.
In 1917 during WWI, the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship carrying TNT and
highly flammable benzol, collided with another ship. The 'Halifax Explosion,' the
world's biggest man-made explosion prior to atomic bombs being dropped on Japan,
ripped through the city. More than 1900 people were killed and 9000 injured. Almost the
entire northern end of Halifax was leveled.