20 odd things about Toronto

The Toronto Star's Adam Mayers lists 20 odd things about our city, in his Looking Back column.
Some odd facts about Toronto's history include:

Lord Stanley, of Cup fame, came to the Ex (CNE) in the summer of 1888 when he was Governor-General. The buzz that year was Thomas Edison's phonograph. Stanley recorded a short greeting to U.S. president Grover Cleveland, which was the first recording made in Canada.

The St. Lawrence market was the centre of town during the early part of the 19th century and market day was the highlight of the week, a place to buy, sell and trade and meet friends. For about 30 years, petty criminals were strung up there along with sides of beef. Some were put in stocks or pillories on market day, where being pelted with refuse and heckled by passersby was part of the humiliation of their sentence.

In the 1850s you didn't take the kids to the Island for a good time. It was home to a rough crowd who frequented the seedy bars, brothels and gambling joints. Toronto's first racetrack ran between Ward's and Centre Islands.

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