Born in
Scotland in 1827, emigrated to
Canada when he was 18, he first proposed building a
railway to the
Pacific and was present at the driving of the last spike in 1885. He invented standard
time zones and designed
Canada's first
adhesive postage stamp, the ``Three-Penny Beaver'', in 1851. He died in 1915.
The main engineering building at the University of Toronto is named in his honour.