Highlights of the day

  • 1940 Québec women allowed to vote and run for office in provincial elections.
  • 1950 BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and PEI sign agreement with Ottawa to build Trans-Canada Highway.
  • 1959 Icebreaker D’Iberville opens the 650 km St. Lawrence Seaway for traffic.
  • 1967 Canadian Forces Reorganization Act unifies the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force.

List of Facts for April 25

  • 1720 First Governor and Council of Nova Scotia appointed. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1785 Governor Thomas Carleton writes to Lord Sydney about his plan to establish St. Ann’s Point (Fredericton) as the future seat of government for New Brunswick; situated at the centre of the province, it would be easier to defend in case of American invasion. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1815 George Murray appointed provisional Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada; serves until July 1, 1815. Ontario
  • 1845 Queen Victoria declares Fredericton, New Brunswick, a city, in spite of its population of only 4,000; ancient ecclesiastical law required that the center of any new diocese must be a city. Windsor, England
  • 1849 Lord Elgin signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, providing payment for people who lost property in the rebellions of 1837-1838. Angry Tory mobs are furious the Queen’s representative would sign a bill rewarding treason. They throw garbage and dead rats at members of the Assembly, and pelt an official reading the Riot Act with onions. That night, the mobs set fire to the Legislature, destroying parliamentary and government records; the official portrait of Queen Victoria is rescued from the flames by a young engineer named Sandford Fleming. Lord Elgin barely escapes to th not interfere in a Canadian civil matter. As a result of this lack of public security in Montreal, the government decides to move to Toronto; so begins the period of wandering government, when Kingston and Quebec City will also share the duties of being the capital of the Canadas. Montréal, Québec
  • 1855 Henry Pynn dies in London; the Newfoundland-born soldier fought under the Duke of Wellington in the wars against Napoleon. London, England
  • 1858 Mining - First wave of at least 30,000 gold-seekers reach BC from California to join the Fraser River gold rush; workings from Hope, BC to just north of Lillooet, BC. Victoria, BC
  • 1862 George-Étienne Cartier introduces his Militia Bill for a more efficient military; leads to the Cartier-Macdonald government’s defeat. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1870 Delegation from Red River is received by the Canadian government. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1871 Order-in-Council resolves to create a federal lands act. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1900 Boar War - Canadians engage Boers in Battle of Israel’s Port. Israel’s Port, South Africa
  • 1906 Motion to move the capital of Alberta from Edmonton to Calgary is defeated in the legislature. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1908 Westmount incorporated as a city; Montréal residential area. Westmount, Québec
  • 1914 CPR President Thomas Shaughnessy formally opens the Bassano Dam on the Bow River, a project to provide water for the Eastern Irrigation District, an area of over 600,000 hectares; the earthen dam has a 107 metre wide base and extends over 2150 metres beyond the spillway, which can handle a flow of 3000 cubic metres of water through the sluice gates; almost 300,000 cubic metres of earth were moved to build the dam, called by Scientific American America’s Greatest Irrigation Project. Bassano, Alberta
  • 1915 First World War - Captain Francis Scrimger from Montréal, the medical officer with the 14th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, rescues scores of wounded under fire at the Second Battle of Ypres; later awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during heavy fighting between April 22 and 25. Ypres, Belgium
  • 1917 Doukhobor Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood, headed by Peter Verigin, is incorporated. Saskatchewan
  • 1933 The US and Canada drop the Gold Standard as a basis for a currency price; countries decide to inflate currency to stimulate the economy and fight the Depression. Ottawa/Washington, Ontario/DC
  • 1940 Québec women allowed to vote and run for office in provincial elections, 22 years after women were granted the federal vote. In 1927, Idola St-Jean founded l’Alliance canadienne pour le vote des femmes du Québec. The following year, Thérèse Casgrain founded La Ligue des droits de la femme. Both these groups lobbied Liberal Premier Adélard Godbout, who finally succeeded in getting the clergy to drop their opposition. Québec, Québec
  • 1940 Second World War - Two Canadian army battalions held back in Scotland; on the way to join British force bound for Norway. Scotland
  • 1945 Canada one of 50 nations attending founding United Nations Conference on International Organization, opening in San Francisco; will approve United Nations Charter on June 26. San Francisco, California.
  • 1945 Second World War - RCAF’s No. 6 Group makes its last bombing raid over Germany. Germany
  • 1947 Lou Thesz beats Canada’s Whipper Billy Watson in St Louis, to become world professional wrestling champion. St. Louis, Missouri
  • 1947 Confederation - Major Peter Cashin leads a delegation of the Newfoundland National Convention to London; on arrival, Secretary for the Dominions Lord Addison states Westminster’s position - if Newfoundland votes to return to Responsible Government it can expect no further aid from Britain. Cashin argues that Britain is conspiring to sell Newfoundland to the Dominion of Canada, and violating the 1934 agreement to restore Responsible Government as soon as Newfoundland became self-supporting again. The National Convention will also visit Ottawa in June. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1950 BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and PEI sign an agreement with Ottawa to build the Trans-Canada Highway, to be the longest national highway in the world; construction starts in the summer of 1950; road not completed until 1970; cost over three times the original estimate. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1959 Transport - St. Lawrence Seaway opens for traffic as the First ship, the icebreaker D’Iberville, enters the locks south of Montréal; the 650 km. waterway between Montréal and Lake Erie links the Great Lakes together as far as Duluth, Minnesota on Lake Superior - a distance of 3776 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean. To commemorate the event, Canada and the US both issued a similar Seaway stamp. Some of the Canadian issue got inverted, resulting in a collector’s dream. Montréal, Québec
  • 1964 Hockey - Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 3 for their third consecutive Stanley Cup. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1967 Military - Commons passes the Canadian Forces Reorganization Act, unifying the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force into one service, the Canadian Armed Forces, with common uniform and rank designations. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1972 Paula the cat, a ten month old tabby, survives a fall from the 26th floor of an apartment building. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1974 Canada to support UN Emergency Force in Middle East for additional six months. United Nations, New York
  • 1979 Manitoba Court of Appeal strikes down an 1890 law prohibiting the use of French in the provincial legislature, courts and schools. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1983 Ottawa to pay $630 million for new Coast Guard ships, and $147 million for fire-fighting aircraft. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 Canada signs agreement with Soviet Union to cooperate in Arctic research and resource development. Moscow, Russia
  • 1985 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 8, Winnipeg Jets 3; Oilers win Division Finals 4 games to 0.
  • 1987 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 5, Winnipeg Jets 2
  • 1988 Hockey - Calgary Flames 4, Edmonton Oilers 6; Oilers win Division Finals 4 games to 0.
  • 1989 Hockey - Penguin Mario Lemieux ties NHL record of 4 goals in the first period of a playoff game. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1989 Tory Finance Minister Michael Wilson’s budget leaked by Global TV reporter Doug Small. When opposition parties reject his request for an emergency evening sitting, he calls a 10 pm news conference to announce budget highlights. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Gallup Poll finds Reform Party backed by 16%, up from 7% in March; PCs 14%; Liberals 32%, NDP 26%; undecided 37%, up from 24% in March. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1991 George Erasmus suggests new national treaty separate from the current constitutional negotiations; Chief of Assembly of First Nations. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Interprovincial Pipeline mothballed; Québec refiners can buy oil cheaper offshore; Sarnia to Montréal 832 km line built in 1974 energy crisis. Montréal, Québec
  • 1998 The United States announces large tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.
  • 2003 After more than two weeks with no new cases of SARS, health workers begin to suggest the disease is contained. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2007 Energy - Shell Canada delisted after 45 years on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Royal Dutch Shell bought out the minority shareholders for $8.7-billion, and folded Shell Canada, which has a 60% stake in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, which yields 155,000 barrels a day, into an international leviathan which operates in 140-odd countries and grossed $319 billion US in 2006.