Highlights of the day

  • 1943 Royal Canadian Navy corvette HMCS Ville de Québec sinks a U-boat off Italy; RCN’s First U-boat kill.

List of Facts for January 13

  • 1823 Early project for the union of the two Canadas is abandoned. Québec, Québec
  • 1837 Fire devastates business district of Saint John. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1838 William Lyon Mackenzie 1795-1861 evacuates Navy Island under heavy artillery fire from British troops; he had settled there after his failed rebellion against the British in Upper Canada; goes to Buffalo, where he will be arrested for violating US neutrality laws. Buffalo, New York
  • 1839 Hudson’s Bay Company given a lease for exclusive trading rights on Vancouver Island; to buttress British claim north of 49th parallel. London, England
  • 1842 Disaster - Brigantine “Germ”, 101 tons, lost off Cranberry Head with a cargo of lumber. Nova Scotia
  • 1849 Vancouver’s Island declared a British Colony under stewardship of Hudson’s Bay Company; James Douglas, chief factor of Hudson’s Bay Company’s Pacific district is appointed acting governor; a Royal Grant renews the Hudson’s Bay Company lease for monopoly of trade on Vancouver Island for ten more years, for a fee of seven shillings per year, on condition that colonization is undertaken; creation by the Imperial Government of the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island follows. Vancouver Island, BC
  • 1892 Legislative Assembly of the North West Territories passes the Liquor License Ordinance of 1891-92, containing 146 sections regulating the sale of liquor. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1899 William Mackenzie and Donald Mann form the Canadian Northern Railway by amalgamating the Winnipeg Great Northern Railway and the Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company; by 1915 the system has 9, 362 miles of track. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1899 William Mackenzie and Donald Mann incorporate the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) after amalgamating the Winnipeg Great Northern Railway Company and the Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company,
  • 1908 Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922 his Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) makes its First trial of a bamboo biplane hang glider, which evolves into the June Bug and Silver Dart powered planes. Baddeck, Nova Scotia
  • 1908 Montreal Wanderers sweep Ottawa Victorias in 2 games for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1926 Fire destroys a wing of the Chateau Frontenac Hotel. Québec, Québec
  • 1942 Canadian fighter pilots arrive in Singapore from the Middle East as part of a force of 50 Hawker Hurricanes; cannot compete with the Japanese in dogfights and are handicapped by an inadequate ground control system; Singapore surrenders Feb. 15, 1942. Singapore
  • 1942 German Navy starts Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag) against Allied shipping; by April, U-boats will have sunk 198 ships (1, 150, 675 tons), half of them tankers; they also take the battle into the Gulf of St. Lawrence as far upriver as Rimouski. Atlantic Ocean
  • 1943 Royal Canadian Navy corvette HMCS Ville de Québec sinks a U-boat off Italy; RCN’s First U-boat kill. Mediterranean Sea
  • 1944 Deputy Finance Minister Clifford Clark suggests new Family Allowance scheme; estimates cost at $200 million. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1947 Britain’s Privy Council rules that Canada is within its rights in passing legislation making the Supreme Court of Canada the final court of appeal; marks the end of legal recourse to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, except in federal-provincial matters . London, England
  • 1949 New findings published on asbestosis and the dangers of asbestos in insulation; will deal a blow to one of Quebec’s major mining industries. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1949 Prince Edward Island bans sale and manufacture of margarine, to protect dairy industry. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1961 The third federal-provincial conference on the Constitution reaches a general agreement on the need to amend the BNA Act. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Avalanche kills 7 people at Ocean Falls. Ocean Falls, BC
  • 1966 Canada gives $1 million long-term loan to Ceylon, for purchase of industrial raw materials. Sri Lanka
  • 1966 Ottawa starts skills program for unemployed; announced at federal-provincial conference on manpower training. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1976 Ontario signs agreement with Ottawa; 400, 000 public sector employees put under the Anti-Inflation Board. Ontario
  • 1982 Ann Cools appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau; First black Canadian to serve in the Upper Chamber. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 Oiler Wayne Gretzky extends his consecutive scoring streak to 45 games, in a 3-1 losing effort to the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo, New York
  • 1985 Oiler Wayne Gretzky gets his 400th NHL goal. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1991 Mark Messier of the Edmonton Oilers scores his 1,000 point against Philadelphia Flyers.
  • 1992 Vancouver rocker Bryan Adams opens the North American leg of his Waking Up the World tour; criticizes CRTC regulations which denied Canadian content status to the songs on his Waking Up the Neighbors album since they were written with British producer Robert (Mutt) Lange; under CanCon rules they can only be played up to 18 times a week on Canadian radio stations. Sydney, Nova Scotia
  • 1994 Ralph Klein warns Albertans to prepare for hurt and pain as his government prepares to implement new spending cuts. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1995 All 73 stores of Peoples jewellers put into receivership. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1995 NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow announce new collective bargaining agreement to end the three-month lockout by the 26 National Hockey League teams; 1994-95 regular season will begin January 20, with a 48-game intra-conference schedule, plus a full slate of playoffs, to end no later than July 1. New York, New York
  • 1996 Grizzlies basketball team beats Miami 69-65; third lowest score of an NBA game since the 24-second shot clock was introduced for the 1954-55 season; Miami scores only 24 points in the second half, tying the NBA record low shared by Milwaukee and Chicago. Vancouver, BC
  • 1997 Mike Harris government brings in massive changes to the Ontario Municipalities Act. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1998 Hydro-Québec turns off the lighted logo on its Montréal headquarters to symbolize concern with those seriously devastated by the ice storm. Montréal, Québec
  • 1999 Weather - Toronto calls in the Canadian Army to help dig its way out of a snow dump. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2004 Canada’s PM Paul Martin meets U.S. President George W. Bush officially for the first time; Bush announces that Canada will be allowed into a second round of bidding for contracts to rebuild Iraq.
  • 2010 Government of Canada sends DART relief force to Haiti to help with the aftermath of the earthquake.