Highlights of the day

  • 1907 Kenora Thistles Win Stanley Cup
  • 1839 Education - Acadia College opens in Wolfville, Nova Scotia; today’s Acadia University.

List of Facts for January 21

  • 1757 French and Indian War - Robert Rogers defeated with his Rogers Rangers by the French in a skirmish near Ticonderoga. Ticonderoga, New York
  • 1796 Robert Prescott appointed Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada; serves from June 21, 1796 to December 15, 1796. Québec, Québec
  • 1807 Human Rights - Ezekiel Hart elected to the Lower Canada Assembly for Three Rivers; re-elected in 1808 but again barred from sitting because of his religion; First Jew elected to a Canadian legislature. Trois-Rivières, Québec
  • 1815 Politics - Louis-Joseph Papineau elected Speaker of the Assembly of Lower Canada. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1839 Education - Acadia College opens in Wolfville; today’s Acadia University. Wolfville, Nova Scotia
  • 1850 Urban - Incorporation of the Town of Scarborough; council meets at Dowsell’s Tavern on the Markham Road. Scarborough, Ontario
  • 1864 Urban - William Beatty granted 2,000 acres on site of Parry Sound. Parry Sound, Ontario
  • 1880 Communications - W. J. Jeffree’s clothing store and W. I. Pendray’s soap factory install Victoria’s First business telephones. Victoria, BC
  • 1882 William Lees arrives at Peter McLaren’s Mountain Mill on the Castle River to take over duties as foreman. BC
  • 1890 Transport - Columbia & Kootenay Steam Navigation Company incorportated. Victoria, BC
  • 1891 Music - Calixa Lavallée dies at age 48; composer of O Canada. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1896 Smelting - Hall Mines blows in the first, small furnace in its smelter. Nelson, BC
  • 1900 Boer War - Second Contingent of Canadian troops sails from Halifax for South Africa; more troop ships leave January 27, 1900 and February 21, 1900. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1907 Hockey - Kenora Thistles ice hockey team sweep the Montreal Wanderers in 2 games for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1910 Disaster - Broken rail causes derailment of CPR passenger train west of Sudbury, killing 43; likely caused by intense cold. Sudbury, Ontario
  • 1911 Trade - Canada and US agree to comprehensive reciprocity bill; ratified by Senate in July, but fails to pass in Canadian Parliament. Washington, DC
  • 1914 Lord Strathcona dies; fur trader, financier, and politician; founded the Lord Strathcona’s Horse regiment. London, England
  • 1921 Arthur Sifton dies; Brandon lawyer, judge politician; brother of Sir Clifford Sifton; Premier of Alberta 1910-17. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1926 R.R. Bruce commissioned as Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. Victoria, BC
  • 1927 Fire destroys businesses on Columbia Avenue in Rossland. Rossland, BC
  • 1936 Royalty - Edward, Prince of Wales, proclaimed King Edward VIII, one day after the death of his father, George V; will abdicate December 11, 1926 to marry divorced American Wallis Simpson. London, England
  • 1945 General W.A. Griesbach dies; commanded Alberta’s 49th Battalion and the 1st Canadian Brigade in First World War. Alberta
  • 1948 Symbols - Maurice Duplessis government passes a bill making the fleur-de-lys the official flag of Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1960 Thomas Davis dies; politician and diplomat. Saskatchewan
  • 1969 Terrorism - FLQ terrorists set off a bomb on Boulevard Crémazie in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1980 Espionage - Canada expels three diplomats from the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa for spying; caught buying secret information from an American citizen in Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1983 Crime - JoAnn Wilson found murdered in her garage; ex-wife of Saskatchewan MLA Colin Thatcher, son of ex-Premier Ross Thatcher, who will be found guilty of first-degree murder. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1985 Hockey - Ottawa, Ontario native Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders ties Bobby Orr’s career record of 270 NHL goals for a defenceman. Uniondale, New York
  • 1989 Politics - Brian Peckford resigns after 10 years as Conservative Premier of Newfoundland; replaced by Clyde Wells after election. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1992 Justice - Supreme Court of Canada starts review of David Milgaard murder conviction in the death of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller; he will be freed April 16, 1992, after 22 years in jail, when the Court finds a miscarriage of justice. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 Crime - Police charge Dorothy Joudrie with attempted murder after the shooting of her estranged husband, oil executive Earl Joudrie, at her home in Calgary. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1997 Religion - Education - Québec Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Jacques Brassard asks for a meeting with his federal counterpart Stéphane Dion to discuss modifying Article 93 of the Constitution regarding religious guarantees for protestants and catholics in Montréal and Québec school districts. Québec, Québec
  • 2004 Progressive Conservative Party of Canada holds its last caucus meeting before amalgating with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2005 Tourism - China opens its borders to allow Chinese tourists to travel to Canada. Beijing, China
  • 2010 Literature- Death of author Paul Quarrington.