The first Canadian to win the NBA's most valuable player award was Steve Nash, in 2005 and 2006.

Queen Victoria gave British Columbia its name.

In July of 1859, Governor James Douglas announced Queen Victoria's decision that the capitol of British Columbia would be New Westminister.

In September of 1858, Judge Baillie Begbie hand delivered Queen Victoria's proclamation appointing James Douglas Governor of British Columbia.

The day's wage of a carpenter during the Gold Rush of 1858 was $7.

The sternwheeler was the type of boat which could best handle the dangers of the Fraser River.

The Kicking Horse River, located in Yoho National Park, got its name after James Hector's horse nearly kicked him to death while he tried to rescue it from the turbulent river in 1858.

Whistler Mountain was named for the marmots of that frequent the slopes of the mountain, also known as 'whistlers.'

The popular CBC television series The Beachcombers began shooting on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast in 1971.

Poet Phyllis Webb, Emily Carr, and Sarah Ellis were female writers, all of whom won the Governor Generals Award for Literature.

The initial estimated cost to build the Coquihalla Highway was $375 million. When it was completed in 1986, the actual cost totaled $1 billion.

The book entitled The House of All Sorts was written by well-known BC artist Emily Carr.

In 1939, the hockey team Trail Smoke Eaters, from the city of Trail, British Columbia, became the world champions.

In February 1942, the world's largest ocean liner, Queen Elizabeth, arrived in Esquimalt to be refit as a World War II troop carrier.

In May of 1894, the worst flood in memory covered the Fraser Valley - sending drowned and bloated farm animal carcasses into Vancouver's False Creek.