boy William Sherring won an Olympic gold medal at Athens for the marathon. 1906 – "One big reason" for almost 75% increase in the population of Hamilton between 1901 and 1912, boasted Sir John Morison Gibson of Dominion Power and Transmission Company, was "Cheap Electric Power Furnished By Us." This simplistic explanation for the development of Hamilton in the early 20th century leaves much unexamined, but one conclusion cannot be disputed. In the perception of the Hamilton public, a view certainly fostered by Gibson and his fellow hydroelectric promoters, Hamilton was no longer regarded the Birmingham or the Pittsburgh of Canada Hamilton was now, as the title of a 1906 promotional booklet on the city proudly proclaimed, "The Electric City." 1906 – Hamilton Street Railway strike of 1906. Violent strike turns ugly and one of the few times in Hamilton's history that the Riot Act is read and enforced. 1908 – Sir John Morison Gibson (1842–1929) becomes the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario (1908–1914) from Hamilton. 1908 – Robert Stanley Weir, best remembered as the author of the English lyrics to O Canada. His verses were first published in 1908, he spoke of them as representing a humble effort to do a great thing: to supply Canadians with a National Song; not to usurp others more or less in vogue, but to take place with them in the minstrelsy of our country. The song became widely used as a national anthem, was approved as such by Canada's parliament in 1967, and was with minor changes to the lyrics, formally legislated as such in 1980. 1908 – Robert Kerr, Irish-Canadian sprinter. He won the gold medal in the 200 metres and the bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 1908 Summer Olympics. 1909 – On 24 May 1909 a Coney Island-type amusement Park was opened in Hamilton. It was known as Maple Leaf Park and was bounded by Barton Street (north), Ottawa Street (east), Cannon Street (south), Rosslyn Avenue (west). It failed to attract enough visitors to keep the gates open and only lasted a year. Investors of the Park sold the land to local real estate speculators for $25,000 interested in the property because the land itself was a valuable commodity in the booming East Hamilton market. 1910–1919 1910 – Steel Company of Canada (Stelco) is formed. 1910 – Andrew Ross, local Hamilton businessman builds the Barton Street Arena; future home