Since the beginning of 2024, V.I.A. has published dozens of pieces offering little-known or relatively obscure facts about Vancouver.
Over 200 different facts have been published in that time, under the banner of "5 things you (probably) didn't know," such as about TV shows shot in Vancouver.
And these are a few of our very favourites.
1. Vancouver played Vancouver, Washington in a film
Vancouver (the Canadian one) has been known to play lots of different American cities, real and fictional, from New York and Detroit to Riverdale and Smallville.
And while Vancouver, Washington may not be the setting for many films, it was one of the settings of 50 Shades of Grey. While parts of the story take place in Seattle and Georgia, the film starts in Vancouver.
2. Someone lives in Stanley Park
There is exactly one legal residence in Stanley Park where one couple lives.
They are caretakers for a few things at the park and have lived there for three decades.
3. The term "Canadian Tuxedo" started because Bing Crosby wasn't allowed in the Hotel Vancouver
On a trip to Vancouver in 1951, Crosby, one of Hollywood's biggest names at the time, was late walking into the Hotel Vancouver.
And he was dressed down a little bit.
A Vancouver Sun newspaper article from the time describes his attire as including a leather jacket, "cheap dungarees," and hightop boots. Crosby was also unshaven. The night clerk didn't recognize Crosby (and Crosby didn't introduce himself), and the clerk turned him away.
Outside the hotel, a bellboy recognized who Crosby was and snuck him, and all his stuff, up to a room via the freight elevator.
The story hit the media and Levi's designers decided to make Crosby an all-denim outfit, and it was dubbed the "Canadian Tuxedo."
4. A local church has some very old windows. Like, really old
The (likely) oldest functional piece of any building in Vancouver is not where one might expect it.
Windows at St. John's Anglican Church in Shaughnessy has some very old windows. While the building is old by Vancouver standards, it has some windows that are way, way older than the rest of it.
"The Sanctuary Memorial windows are made of 11th-century glass fragments from Canterbury Cathedral that were shattered during the bombing raids of World War II," explains the church's website.
5. The Vancouver Grizzlies were the first NBA team to have a website
While the Grizzles weren't the first team on the NBA court, they were the first on the 'net...as in the internet.
Before they ever played a game the team had a website, launched in 1995.
6. A historic research vessel is sitting in Kitsilano
The Ben Franklin is in an odd spot, given its history.
The unique submersible was built in 1968 to allow a six-person team to live underwater for a month (that part of it got NASA interested too, since spaceflight was new).
While most submarine vessels are built to drive places, the Ben Franklin was designed to just go with the flow, literally.
It was dropped off the coast of Florida with neutral buoyancy and allowed to just float between 600 and 2,000 feet beneath the ocean's surface. Around 30 days later, it popped up again, south of Halifax.
It was used a few more times (Robert Ballard, who found the Titanic, got his start on board) but it was decommissioned in 1971. Eventually, it was moved to the Vancouver Maritime Museum, where it sits today.
7. Pressed flowers from the first train to arrive in Vancouver still exist
The first train to arrive in Vancouver marked one of the biggest turning points in the city's history.
For years after, the fact Vancouver was a terminal city and a port became, arguably, the biggest economic driver in the city.
Even before the city boomed, locals knew the railway was a big deal. That first Canadian transcontinental passenger train arrived on May 23, 1887, and a massive crowd waited for it at the foot of Howe Street.
Engine 374 arrived in the city covered in flowers. While it may be a small surprise to find out that the exact train engine retired in Vancouver (it's what is inside the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown), it's probably a bigger surprise to learn some of those flowers (which were put on the train in the town of Yale) still exist, too.
Annie Sanders was a little girl when the train arrived and was handed a bouquet from the train made up of ivy, marguerites, and cornflowers.
Given how notable the event was, she decided to preserve the flowers, pressing them in a frame. In 1937, as a woman in her 50s or 60s, she gave them to the Vancouver Archives, which later passed the artifact to the museum.
8. A Vancouverite won the first-ever gold in any Olympic snowboarding event
Born in Vancouver, Ross Rebagliati's name is fairly well known now.
While many people remember he won a medal in a (sort of) controversial manner during the 1998 Winter Games, it's easy to overlook it was the very first medal of any sort in any snowboarding event.
The men's giant slalom competition was the first of the four snowboarding events that took place in Nagano, Japan. The women's giant slalom and both halfpipe competitions happened afterwards.
While Vancouver's Philip Kim won the first-ever gold for men in breaking at the Olympics, the women's event happened first, with no Canadians competing.
9. One professional sporting event at BC Place saw just 728 tickets sold
The whole thing about BC Place is its size.
It's massive, with room for more than 54,000 sports fans, depending on how it's set up.
It can be set up for smaller events, like when only the lower bowl is used. Even then, it holds well over 20,000 people, and the teams that play there regularly have significant crowds. According to Sports Business Journal, the Whitecaps are seeing around 26,000 per game show up, while the BC Lions saw around 24,000 per game, according to Sports Illustrated.
That said, not every team to play there has drawn thousands of people.
Back in 1988, the Vancouver Nighthawks were a part of the World Basketball League, an upstart league that had the odd requirement that no player be taller than 6'5".
It seems the Nighthawks fell a bit short of their goals. By their second game, they were only drawing a fraction of the number of fans they'd hoped for, with 932 tickets sold, according to the Vancouver Sun, hardly making a splash in the cavernous stadium.
A box score from August 4 shows even fewer, with 728 in attendance.
And it was a pattern; other box scores show attendances of 819, 732, and 1,422.
The Nighthawks were put up for sale. No one bought them, and the team was shut down after one season. The league itself only lasted until 1992.
10. A captured Howitzer was placed at the entrance to Stanley Park
Uncommon for parks in Vancouver, Stanley Park has a cannon: the 9 O'clock gun.
But it's not the only giant gun that's been put there. In one case a huge German Howitzer was shipped from Europe to the Georgia Street entrance of the park after it was captured by Canadian troops during WWI.
The weapon was a bit of a sight and a postcard was even produced showing it.
11. The X-Files production team once painted a local quarry red
The X-Files was one of the first big-name TV shows to be shot in Vancouver
One reason for that was because the city and nearby regions can play the role of many parts of the US (from the North Shore mountains to the farm fields of Delta to the city's downtown).
One place Vancouver isn't well suited to play is the southwestern U.S., in particular the dusty red deserts of New Mexico.
However, that's where an episode of Season 2 was set, and so the production crew had to figure out how to recreate that in Vancouver.
So they painted a quarry red.
It was a fairly large set, so it wasn't like they could only paint a few square feet. There are several shots there, including a helicopter flying over and soldiers running around.
In widescreen versions of the episode, it's actually possible in at least one shot to spot the edge of the painted area (it's a very straight line with grey rock next to it).
12. Prosthetic eyes were given to fish at the Vancouver Aquarium
Almost a decade ago, vets at the Vancouver Aquarium gave a couple of fish living there prosthetic eyes.
The two rockfish were both missing a single eye (due to cataracts). Because of this, other fish were aggressive to the single-eyed fish, perceiving them as weak.
To counter this, each got the faux eyes, to fake out the other fish.
