The North York Hockey league is enjoying it’s 66th year of bringing community-based hockey to the Greater Toronto Area. This will be the second year that the NYHL is eligible to pay the $2 senior entry fee to it’s own games. As the old saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun!

So just how long is 66 years? Well we’ve compiled a TIMELINE and a list of FUN FACTS about 1953, when the NYHL was founded. Here’s what we found:

TIMELINE

• February 5
  • Walt Disney premieres their feature film, Peter Pan.
• March 1
  • Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke which would render him unconscious until his death on March 5.
• March 26
  • Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine which has nearly eliminated polio from most of the world. The number of reported cases of polio has been reduced from 350,000 in 1988 to just 33 in 2018.
• April 17
  • Mickey Mantle hits a 564 foot home run at Griffith Stadium in Washington D.C. This is believed to be the longest home run in baseball history.
• April 18
  • Rick Moranis is born. Rick would go on to star in popular films such as Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
• April 25
  • Francis Crick and James D. Watsom publish their description of the double helix structure of DNA
• May 29
  • Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay are the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest. The total number of summits, as of 2017, is 8093. Of that number, only 288 people have reached the summit without oxygen assistance.
• June 2
  • Queen Elizabeth II is crowned the Queen of Canada. The Canadian Army in Korea would celebrate by firing red, blue and white smoke shells at the enemy.
• June 30
  • The first Chevrolet Corvette is built at Flint, Michigan.
• July 27
  • The Korean war ends. 314 Canadians were killed during the 3 year conflict.
• August 11
  • Hulk Hogan is born. He would go on to become on of the most popular names in professional wrestling history.
• September 4
  • The discovery of REM sleep is first published by researches, Eugene Aserinksy and Nathanil Kleitman.
•  September 5
  • The United Nations rejects the Soviet Union’s suggestion to accept China as a member
• October 6
  • United Nations Children’s Fun (UNICEF) is made a permanent specialized agency of the United Nations
• December
  • Hugh Hefner publishes the first issue of Playboy Magazine. It goes on to sell 54,175 copies for 50 cents each.
• December 30
  • The first colour television sets go on sale for about $1175 USD.
• The Canadian Federal Immigration Act is amended to prohibit homosexuals entry to Canada. This would be repealed in 1977.

FUN FACTS

• The life expectancy of Canadians was 69.2 years old in 1953. Today the life expectancy sits at 82 years old. (84 for women and 80 for men)
• The population of Canada was 14 million people. The population has nearly doubled since then and sits at 37.41 million as of 2019.
• The Prime Minister of Canada was Liberal leader “Uncle” Louis St. Laurent.
• The average wage was $4,000.
• Gas was only 20 cents a gallon.
• The average price of a new car was $1,650.
• The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins in 5 games to win the Stanley Cup.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs finished in 3rd place during the 1953 season.
  • Notable members of the team include: Tim Horton, George Armstrong, captain Ted Kennedy, GM Conn Smythe and coach King Clancy
  • All but Conn Smythe have their numbers retired in the Scotiabank Arena rafters
• The New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers for the World Series.

Original artwork for the premiere of Disney’s Peter Pan.

Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet in the Star Wars parody Space Balls.

The first Chevrolet Corvette made in 1953 in Flint, Michigan.

The first colour television sets go on sale in December of 1953.

Team photo of the 1952-1953 Toronto Maple Leafs.

Here’s to many more years of community based hockey from the NYHL!