EDUCATION

• Fredericton is home to more than 35 schools, both immersion and non-immersion
• Sir Howard Douglas Hall, more commonly known as the Old Arts Building, of  UNB is the oldest university building still in continuous use in Canada
• UNB (founded in 1785) share's with the University of Georgia the distinction of being the oldest provincial and state universities in North America
• UNB Law School - ranked second in Canada (Canadian Lawyer Magazine 2007)
• Fredericton High School is the oldest established English-speaking high school in   Canada - 1785
• In 1984, St. Thomas University became the first university in Canada to establish a chair in Native Studies
• The first engineering school in Canada was established at UNB in 1900
• Fredericton has the third highest university-educated population in the entire
  country at 30.5%!
• The NB College of Craft & Design, in Fredericton, is the only post secondary institution in Canada exclusively devoted to training professional crafts artisans.
• Because of the presence of two universities, the population of Fredericton is younger than the national average with a relatively large population in the 20-24 age range

ATTRACTIONS AND ENTERTAINMENT

• The upper level of City Hall was an Opera House (1876-1940s). Travelling entertainers and local performers appeared on the Opera House stage, including Oscar Wilde
• The Beaverbrook Art Gallery houses the magnificent "Santiago El Grande" by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali
• Almost 3000 works of art comprise the permanents collection at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
• The oldest racetrack in New Brunswick is in Fredericton and has been operating since 1888

CITY SCAPES

• Before the arrival of the Loyalists in 1784, the entire area of New Brunswick was known as Sunbury County, part of Nova Scotia
• The St. John River, nicknamed "The Rhine of North America", is the largest river on the Eastern seaboard. It flows over 450 miles
• The Old Burial Ground in the center of Fredericton contains graves dating back to 1787
• The ornamental cherub on top of the fountain in front of City Hall, "Freddie the Little Nude Dude" is older than the Statue of Liberty - he turns 124 in 2009
• The face of the clock on City Hall has a diameter of 16 feet
• Fredericton's motto is "Fredericopolis silvae filia noblis" - Fredericton, noble daughter of the forest
• Governor Carleton gave the original names Queen, King, Brunswick, George and Charlotte to the original streets in 1817
• Regent Street was named for George IV, who was Prince of Regent from 1811 to 1820

RECREATION AND SPORTS

• Matt Stairs, currently playing baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies, played in Fredericton for many years
• Willie O'Ree of Fredericton was the first black hockey player in the NHL. He was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1958
• The very first curling match of the Fredericton Curling Club was held Christmas Day, 1854 on the St. John River
• Fredericton is home to the oldest astronomical observatory in Canada - the Brydone Jack Observatory was established in 1851
• A tall case clock once belonging to Benedict Arnold is now in the Morehouse House at the Kings Landing Historical Settlement

PEOPLE

• John James Audubon, the noted naturalist, stayed at Government House in Fredericton in 1830.  This is where he painted some of his famous bird portraits, including "The Pine Finch".  A watercolour lithograph of his complete work is on permanent display at the Provincial Legislative Building on Queen Street.
• The notorious Benedict Arnold once lived in Fredericton
• Lord Beaverbrook, Fredericton's greatest benefactor, was born Max Aitken in 1879
• Fredericton was named "Frederickstown" by Governor Thomas Carleton after Prince Frederick, second son of King George III, in 1785. The name was quickly shortened to Fredericton
• President John F Kennedy and his brother, Senator Robert Kennedy, each received an honorary degree from UNB, in 1957 and 1967 respectively
• The first freely elected mayor of Fredericton was Sir John Allen, elected in 1851

ARTS AND CRAFTS

• Fredericton is the only city to have its history illustrated in beautiful hand woven tapestries (on display in the City Hall Council Chambers)
• Fredericton has the unique honour of being the Pewtersmith Capital of Canada, if not all North America.  Dr. Ivan (Bill) Crowell introduced the art and taught at the NB College of Craft and Design.

LITERATURE

• The first English novel in Canada was written in Fredericton in the early 1800s - "St. Ursula's Convent" by Julia Beckwith
• Clement Moore, author of "The Night Before Christmas", was the godson of Fredericton's Jonathan Odell.  Children in Fredericton enjoyed the poem long before it became popular with children around the world.  A handwritten copy, dated 1825, was found in Odell's papers
• The oldest official student publication in Canada is UNB's "The Brunswickan"

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

• Fredericton was the first City in Canada to offer free wire-less internet with Fred-eZone, the municipally-owned Wi-Fi Network, and winner of a 2004 Canadian Information Productivity Award. 
• Fredericton's tax rates are the lowest of any city in New Brunswick
• Named "One of the Top Five New Technology Boomtowns" by the Globe & Mail Report on Business Magazine, April 2001
• Named "Best City for Business" by Canadian Business Magazine, May 2002
• Fredericton's economy is booming with more businesses per capita than any place in Canada - one business for every fourteen people in the Fredericton region (KPMG's 2002 Competitive Alternatives Study)
• The household income per capita in Fredericton is 1% higher than the national average
• The average housing costs in Fredericton are 48% lower than the national average
• In 2007, the tourism industry put $208.6 million into the economy
• Savage's Bike Shop is the oldest bike shop in Canada
• Fredericton among the top places to live in Canada (MoneySense Magazine)
• Fredericton ranked 5th - Fredericton named to the Intelligent Community Forum's (ICF) Smart21 list

TRANSPORTATION

• The first road in New Brunswick was from Fredericton to Miramichi in 1819
• The first railway flanger or "cow catcher" in the world was invented by John Hamilton of Fredericton.  The flanger was attached to the front of the trains to push objects off the tracks to prevent them from becoming caught under the wheels of the train.
• The Brunswick Lion woodboat, a type of schooner only found along the St. John River and permanently moored at Kings Landing Historical Settlement, is the only example of such a boat in the world.
• The oldest outhouse in New Brunswick, originally from the home of John Saunders, is located at Kings Landing.  It features a unique design - an octagonal four seater.

CHURCHES

• Fredericton's Christ Church Cathedral is the home of "Little Ben", the working model for "Big Ben"
• The first entirely new Cathedral foundation on British soil, since the Norman Conquest of 1066, began in Fredericton when Queen Victoria, acting as Head of The Church of England, made Fredericton a Cathedral City on April 25, 1845.  Three years later, on March 30th, 1848, the city was incorporated.  The cathedral was completed in 1853.
• The first mass on record in the City of Fredericton was celebrated in 1612 among the Native Peoples by Father Edmond Masse
• The cross on the Cathedral (1995) is 12 ft high and 6 ft across, weighing 500 lbs. It is an exact copy of the original cross.