telephone exchange in the British Empire was opened in Hamilton. (Hugh Cossart Baker Jr.) 1879 – May 15 – Hamilton is the site of the first commercial long-distance telephone line in the British Empire. (Hugh Cossart Baker Jr.), Hamilton to Dundas. 1880–1889 1880 – McMaster University opens up in Toronto (Bloor Street campus). Eventually moves to Hamilton in 1930. 1880 – Apr 29 – Hugh Cossart Baker Jr. of Hamilton, Ontario received charter to build a national telephone company. It was called The Hamilton Telephone Company and this was the charter that enabled the creation of the Bell Telephone Company in Canada. Hugh Cossart Baker Jr. became the manager of the Ontario division until he retired in 1909. 1880 – Trained nursing introduced in city hospital. 1881 – Thomas Willson, Hamilton inventor, designed and patented the first electric arc lamps in 1881. 1881 – First public telephones installed. 1882 – Ernest D’Israeli Smith, (E. D. Smith) after being frustrated by paying to have his fruit transported from the Stoney Creek area, had founded a company in 1882 to market directly to wholesalers and eliminate the middleman. E.D. Smith & Sons Ltd. continues operating today, and has since the early 20th century has sold manufactured preserves and jams. Its namesake founder served as the Conservative MP for Wentworth around the turn of the 20th century. 1883 – Asphalt sidewalks on main streets. 1886 – Florence Lawrence, "Hollywood's first movie star" is born January 2, 1886, in Hamilton, Ontario. 1888 – Group of English businessmen visiting the city nicknamed it the "Birmingham of Canada." 1889 – Wentworth Historical Society is founded. (8 January 1889) 1889 – James McMillan, (born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario) becomes U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan in 1889. 1889 – Robert B. Harris (along with his brother John M. Harris) establish the Hamilton Herald newspaper in 1889. Begins publishing on August 1 becoming Hamilton's first one-cent newspaper. Hamilton is now a 3-newspaper town: The Hamilton Spectator, The Hamilton Times and The Hamilton Herald. Newspaper lasts until 1936. 1890–1899 1890 – First organized hockey game held in Hamilton; Bank of Hamilton vs. Knox, Morgan. (this is the earliest reference to an organized hockey game being played in Hamilton.) 1890 – Hamilton's first public library opens up on Main Street West. Officially opened up by Lord and Lady Aberdeen on September 16, 1890. 1890 – First bowling alley