Canada’s creative spirit in arts, sciences and industry is clearly exemplified by the accomplishments of Sanford Fleming, the dynamic chief engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway who surveyed the first rail route across Canada, designed our first postage stamp and achieved lasting international fame as the "Father of Standard Time."

In Montréal, Canadian surgeon Wilder Penfield revolutionized the techniques of brain surgery, using his scalpel and electronic probes to reveal many of the secrets of cognition, memory and sensation.

On 12 December 1901, Guglielmo Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic radio transmission on Signal Hill. Three short beeps, a single “s” in Morse code, marked the beginning of a new era in instantaneous global communication.

These Minutes tell the stories of Canadian innovators.