Highlights of the day

  • 1952 Vincent Massey appointed first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.

List of Facts for January 24

  • 1672 Fur Trade - The Hudson’s Bay Company holds its first auction of 24 lots of furs at Garraway’s Coffee House. London, England
  • 1688 Religion - François de Laval resigns as Bishop of New France due to growing ill health. Québec, Québec
  • 1848 Politics - Reformers led by Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine sweep elections in both Canada East and Canada West; will lead to the achievement of Responsible Government on March 11. Québec/Ontario
  • 1885 Communications - The CPR telegraph reaches the Pacific from Halifax; now operating from coast to coast. Vancouver, BC
  • 1895 Rail - D.C. Corbin and partners incorporate the Columbia and Red Mountain Railway in Washington state. USA
  • 1898 Urban - George Gurd and Sir James Edgar buy the Wardner Townsite Company from James Wardner and associates. Wardner, BC
  • 1903 Foreign Affairs - U.S. Secretary of State John Hay and British Ambassador Michael Henry Herbert sign the Hay–Herbert Treaty, refering the Alaska border dispute to a commission which sits from September 3, 1903 to October 2, 1903; the ruling of the Anglo-American Convention, on October 20, 1903, will be largely in favor of American interests, enraging the Canadian public. Washington, DC
  • 1904 Crime - Calgary police recapture escaped murderer Ernest Cashel after a gunfight. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1923 Ernest Armstrong sworn in as Premier of Nova Scotia, replacing George Murray, who had governed for 27 years. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1923 Military - HMC Ships “Skeena” and “Vancouver” land armed parties in the Central American republic of El Salvador during a revolution. El Salvador
  • 1942 Second World War - Wartime Prices and Trade Board rations sugar to 3/4 lb per person per week; cut to 1/2 lb on May 19; coupon rationing July 1. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1946 External Affairs - Canada is appointed to the UN Atomic Energy Commission. London, England
  • 1952 Vincent Massey 1887-1967 appointed the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada; serves from February 28, 1952 to September 15, 1959; grandson of Hart Massey who developed the family farm implement company into a global firm. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1954 Rail - CPR opens diesel service plant in Nelson, BC.
  • 1955 Energy - Start-up of First Canadian nuclear power plant at Des Joachims, Ontario. Chalk River, Ontario
  • 1966 Weather - Starting on this day, Winnipeg records Canada’s longest recorded period of skin-freezing wind-chill, lasting 170 consecutive hours. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1969 Terrorism - FLQ terrorists set off a bomb in a branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia. Montréal, Québec
  • 1971 Energy - Panarctic Oils caps a natural gas well on King Christian Island that had burned out of control for 3 months. Nunavut
  • 1973 Peacekeeping - Canada joins the International Commission for Control and Supervision in Vietnam for 60-day period; ICCS a truce-observance commission; with Hungary, Poland, Indonesia. Vietnam
  • 1978 Space - Nuclear-powered USSR satellite Cosmos 954 re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrates over the Northwest Territories, scattering radioactive debris over parts of northern Canada; Canadian Armed Forces launches large operation to recover debris . NWT
  • 1981 Hockey - Montreal native Mike Bossy, of the New York Islanders, is the second player in NHL history, after Maurice Richard, to score 50 goals in the First 50 games of the season, as his team scores 5 power play goals against the Québec Nordiques. Uniondale, New York
  • 1984 Media - US ABC network agrees to pay $386 million for US TV rights to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics; a record sum to that date; CTV will handle the Canadian feed. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1986 Hockey - Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders scores his 1,000th NHL point against Washington Capitals. Washington, DC
  • 1988 Running - Ben Johnson named the Associated Press (AP) male athlete of the year, the First Canadian track athlete so honoured. On September 26, 1986, at the Seoul Summer Olympics, Johnson will test positive for steroid use, and will be stripped of the Gold Medal he won in the 100 Metre Sprint two days earlier. New York, New York
  • 1990 Taxation - Brian Mulroney’s government introduces legislation to bring in the new Goods and Services Tax (GST), a national valued added tax, to replace the invisible Manufacturers’ Sales Tax that was penalizing Canadian companies. The Bill receives Royal Assent December_17. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Sport - Canadian team attends opening of the 14th Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand
  • 1990 Politics - Sports Minister Jean Charest resigns from the Brian Mulroney Cabinet after revelations he tried to speak to a judge about to rule on a sports-related case; 10th minister to resign from PC Cabinet since 1984. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 Olympics - Québec named as a finalist in the IOC’s choice of a site for the 2002 Winter Olympics; will be won by Salt Lake City. Québec, Québec
  • 1998 Religion - Father George Salamon, from Lebret, is the world’s oldest living Oblate at age 101. Lebret, Saskatchewan
  • 2006 Mario Lemieux announces his second retirement from hockey. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.