Quebec City is often called the most European city in North America. In the 2002 film Catch Me if You Can it was chosen as a film location for its European character and French feel. Place Royale, within Old Quebec, stands in for a French village, Montrichard, and the church in the background of the arrest scene is Notre-Dame-des-Victoires.
The Quebec Nordiques were a team in the National Hockey League from 1979 until 1995, which played in Quebec City; previously, they had been in the rival World Hockey Association, and were one of four WHA teams which joined the NHL when the WHA folded.
Quebec City was the smallest market in the NHL, and the Nordiques struggled financially in their final seasons there. After the 1994-95 season, the franchise was sold, and moved to Denver, Colorado, where it was renamed the Colorado Avalanche.
Games between the Montreal Canadiens and the Quebec Nordiques were often referred to as “La Guerre civile.”
The National Hockey League was formed in 1917, with four franchises: Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs. Before play started, however, the Bulldogs franchise folded, and the three remaining owners created a fourth franchise for the initial season, which was the Toronto Arenas. Toronto won the first NHL title, and then defeated the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for the 1918 Stanley Cup.
In the early 20th century, Russian revolutions started in 1905, and also in 1917. The 1917 revolution eliminated the czars, and established the Bolsheviks of Vladimir Lenin and the Soviet Union. This revolution was also named the Red October Revolution.
The 1917 Canadian general election, sometimes called the “Khaki election”, was one of the most divisive in Canadian history. The issue was whether the federal government should implement conscription to support Canada’s war effort. The Conservative government of Robert Borden supported conscription. The Liberal party in opposition split on the issue, and most anglophone Liberal MPs joined in a coalition with the Conservatives. Francophone Liberals and some anglo Liberals supported the Liberal leader, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, in his opposition to conscription. The Unionists were elected.
The word “khaki” is a loanword from Urdu, in which it means “soil-colored.” It came into usage in English from the British Indian Army, where the color was used in their uniforms.
The shooting of Boer prisoners, whether or not they were wearing elements of British Army khaki uniforms at the time of capture, was a major issue in the 1980 Australian court-martial drama Breaker Morant. The movie costarred Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown and Jack Thompson.
The ‘breaker’ in Breaker Morant is because Harry Morant was a ‘horse breaker’, one who trained, or broke, wild horses.
Bruce Beresford, the Australian director of Breaker Morant, has said he’s always surprised that so many people miss the point of the movie: Morant and his two codefendants were actually guilty of war crimes, as charged, even though the court-martial seemed - and perhaps was - stacked against them.
Comment: Then he shouldn’t have spent so much time of the movie making the trial looked rigged, because that really was the take-away; that they were “scapegoats of Empire”.
In play: Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are one of Agatha Christie’s set of sleuths. Unlike Miss Marple and Poirot, who never age throughout the novels, Tommy and Tuppence do. When we first meet them, they are young and have just come out of World War I (The Secret Adversary, published 1922). They reappear as a middle-aged couple during World War II, with adult children who are going off to war (N or M, 1941). In their last appearence, Postern of Fate (1973), they are clearly elderly, with Tommy’s once red-hair now grey.
Agreed.
In play, very simple play here because I had to look it up: a postern is a back or side entrance.
Tuppence is a shortened form of twopence, which is a coin worth 2/100 of a pound sterling. A copper coin for that amount, featuring the likeness of George III, was minted for just one year, in 1797. The back side of the coin showed Britannia, the female personification of Britain.
Twopence coins in silver were minted in 1817, 1818, and 1820.
(Added ‘back side’ to avoid being Ninja’ed by @Bullitt!)
Brian May, guitarist of the rock band Queen, uses British sixpence coins for his plectrums (guitar picks). In particular, May prefers coins minted before 1956, due to their particular metal content. He has also contracted with the Royal Mint to have custom sixpence coins minted, which he has sold as souvenirs to fans.
Thanks @kenobi_65 for explaining what a plectrum is, so I don’t have to look it up. 
Isaac Newton, from 1699 until his death in 1727, was the Master of The Royal Mint.
The Royal Mint now has a Visitor Centre, opened since 2016, in Llantrisant. On Google Maps it is in Ynysmaerdy, in Pontyclun, about 160 miles west of London. It is west of Bristol, and between Bristol and Swansea.
Google Maps < Google Maps, Visitor Centre, The Royal Mint
“Llan” in Welsh refers to an area that has been sanctified in some way, normally be being dedicated to a saint. “Llantrisant” would thus be referring to the “land dedicated to Tristan”. The double-l sound in Welsh is difficult for non-Welsh speakers, and can be approximated by the “thl” sound in “athlete”.
In the late 19th century, Tristan was a thoroughbred racehorse who ran 51 races from 1880 to 1884 and won 27 of them. He ran well in races of from six furlongs to 2 and a half miles. In his career he defeated three winners of The Epsom Derby for 3 year olds.
Epsom salts are the heptohydrate of magnesium sulfate, and are commonly used in bath salts, skin exfoliants, and pain relievers. They take their name from Epsom, England, where a saline spring produces the salt.
Correction to 2634 – Tuppence refers to pre-decemal coinage, and was 2/240 of a pound. In decimal, “two pee” is the common expression for two new pencem or 2/100 of a pound.
Resume olay
Singer Petula Clark, born in 1932 and known for her signature 1964 hit song, “Downtown”, was born in Epsom, Surrey, England.