Highlights of the day

  • 1924 Canadian team attends opening of first Winter Olympic games at Chamonix.

List of Facts for January 25

  • 1627 Medicine - Louis Hébert dies of a fall, after ten years in Québec; body later reinterred in church attached to the Québec General Hospital; Canada’s First doctor, apothecary, settler. Québec, Québec
  • 1791 Constitution - British Parliament approves bill splitting the old province of Québec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, each with its own assembly. London, England
  • 1870 Red River Rebellion - Second Red River Convention is elected. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1870 Red River Rebellion - Louis Riel leads two week convention to consider the Canadian proposals put forward by HBC factor and MP Donald Smith. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1876 Religion - George McDougall is lost in a blizzard near his mission at Morleyville, during a buffalo hunt, and freezes to death; Methodist missionary, author and school superintendent. Morleyville, Alberta
  • 1905 Ontario Election - James Whitney leads Conservatives to majority victory in provincial election; defeats Liberal government of George Ross. Ontario
  • 1912 First sitting held in Saskatchewan’s new legislative building. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1924 Olympics - Canadian team attends the opening of the First Winter Olympic games at Chamonix. The Toronto Granites will win the first Winter Olympics Gold Medal for Canada in Ice Hockey. Chamonix, France
  • 1932 Communications - Governor General Lord Bessborough speaks to the Lieutenant Governor of each province, to inaugurate the Trans-Canada Telephone System. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1948 Finance - Investors Syndicate of Canada incorporates Investors Mutual of Canada Ltd.; Canada’s First public mutual fund will be first sold to the public in 1950. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1953 Fire at dockside destroys Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Canada; used as a troop ship during Second World War. Liverpool, England
  • 1962 Banking - Bank of Montréal acquires Newfoundland Savings Bank. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1963 Wilson Kettle dies at age 102; has at that time 582 living descendants. Newfoundland
  • 1965 Religion - Archbishop Maurice Roy of Québec appointed a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Québec, Québec
  • 1971 Terrorism - FLQ terrorist Paul Rose put on trial for the murder of Québec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte. Montréal, Québec
  • 1973 Environment - Freighter Irish Stardust grounds north of Vancouver Island, spilling 378, 000 litres of fuel oil; spill spreads 320 km south. BC
  • 1976 Politics - Stuart Smith elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, succeeding Robert Nixon. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1977 Sovereignty - René Lévesque tells Wall Street audience at the Economic Club of New York that separation is inevitable. New York, New York
  • 1979 Unity - Jean-Luc Pépin and John Robarts release the Report of the Task Force on Canadian Unity; recommend that Québec should have the power to maintain its language and culture, and that federal powers be reduced. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1993 Women - Catherine Callbeck sworn in as Premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Joe Ghiz; first female premier elected in Canadian history. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1996 Jean Chrétien launches a major cabinet shuffle, adding Pierre Pettigrew and Stéphane Dion. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Justice - Leilani Muir awarded $750, 000 by Alberta judge; she was wrongly diagnosed as mentally disabled and sterilized by the province’s Eugenics Board in 1959. Red Deer, Alberta
  • 2004 Pro Wrestling - Chris Benoit of Edmonton, Alberta wins the WWE’s Royal Rumble.
  • 2010 Foreign Aid - Global foreign ministers meet in Montreal to attend the Ministerial Preparatory Conference of the Group of Friends of Haiti event to discuss how to help Haiti rebuild after the devastating earthquake. Montreal, Quebec
  • 2010 Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea is pied in her face at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters, west of Toronto, by PETA activist Emily McCoy, 37, from New York City.
  • 2010 Newfoundland and Labrador residents witness an unidentified flying object in the sky.