Highlights of the day

  • 1700 Great Cascadia Earthquake Causes Massive Tsunami on West Coast
  • 1924 Symbol - Parliament approves the Red Ensign as Canada’s official flag for government buildings at home and abroad.

List of Facts for January 26

  • 1611 Religion - Madame de Poutrincourt leaves Dieppe with Jesuits Pierre Biard and Enemond Masse and her son, Charles Biencourt; First titled lady, First Jesuits in Canada. Dieppe, France
  • 1612 Religion - Gilbert du Thet arrives at Port-Royal with a relief ship; lay Jesuit sent to administer missions. Port Royal, Nova Scotia
  • 1666 Second Anglo-Dutch War - War breaks out between between England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Denmark and France; until July 31, 1667. Europe/Canada
  • 1700 Disaster - The Great Cascadia Earthquake, probably a category 9 quake, occurred at about 9 pm this day; paleoseismological evidence and written records from Japan indicate that Washington state and BC coastal areas suffered a massive tsunami. British Columbia
  • 1776 American Revolutionary War - Eustache Chartier de Lotbinière, a Canadian priest, is appointed chaplain to serve Canadians who joined the American invading force; US Congress ratifies his appointment August 12, 1776; the US Army’s First chaplain is a French Canadian. Québec
  • 1836 Military - John Colborne assumes his new post as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in British North America. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1870 Red River Rebellion - Second Red River Convention meets. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1885 Frederick Denison reaches the northern outskirts of the city of Khartoum with his Canadian Nile Voyageurs on the expedition led by General Garnet Wolseley, who had led the Red River Expedition of 1870; they will be too late to rescue British General Charles Gordon, who had been trapped and killed during a Muslim uprising; 16 Canadians lost their lives in this, Canada’s First overseas military expedition. Khartoum, Sudan
  • 1887 Federal Election - John A. Macdonald wins majority of votes in Nova Scotia; dampens repeal movement. Charles Tupper had resigned from as Canadian High Commissioner in London to return and run in the election; he is re-elected. Nova Scotia
  • 1888 Rail - Charter of the Columbia and Kootenay Railway and Transportation Company cancelled. Victoria, BC
  • 1906 Canadian Pacific steamship RMS Empress of Ireland launched to carry passengers and mail between Québec and Liverpool, along with her sister ship RMS Empress of Britain. The ship was 570 feet (174 m) in length with a beam of 66 feet (20.1 m) and displaced 14,191 tons. Her service speed was 18 knots (33 km/h), 2 propellers and she had a capacity of 1,580 passengers and crew. The Empress of Ireland was not a glamorous luxury liner, but she had her own orchestra. She was hit and sank in the St. Lawrence on May 29, 1914. Belfast, Northern Ireland
  • 1913 Hockey - Pro hockey teams return to the seven man team from six men. Canada
  • 1924 Symbol - Parliament approves the 1921 version of the Red Ensign as Canada’s official flag for government buildings at home and abroad; until the Maple Leaf is adopted; Order-in-Council mandates its use on Canadian government buildings outside Canada; first officially allowed use of the ensign, although the older version, with the arms of the four founding provinces, has been used unofficially for many years. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1924 Crime - Ausby Auloff convicted of robbery after being captured in Butte, Montana; sentenced to seven years in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, federal penitentiary; dies there April 5, 1926. Blairmore, Alberta
  • 1938 Media - last issue of the Saskatchewan Herald, the province’s First newspaper, is published. Saskatchewan
  • 1942 Second World War - Wartime Prices and Trade Board brings in sugar rationing; 12 ounces per person per week; sugar bowls are to be removed from tables in all restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, and institutions across the country. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1956 Olympics - Canadian team attends opening of 7th Winter Olympic games at Cortina. Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
  • 1962 Military - Canadian Marine Service renamed the Canadian Coast Guard. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1972 Medicine - Gerald LeDain issues part one of his Commission on the Non-medical Use of Drugs Report; recommends legal heroin for pain treatment; later rejected by government. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1974 Media - Global Television network begins broadcasting. Ontario
  • 1974 Health - Senior Centre at old Blairmore hospital opened. Blairmore, Alberta
  • 1979 Rail - CPR given permission to abandon Carmi Subdivision between Penticton, BC and Midway; rails removed that summer. Midway, BC
  • 1980 Foreign Affairs - Prime Minister Joe Clark warns USSR that Canada will boycott the Moscow Summer Olympics if Soviet troops do not leave Afghanistan by February 20, 1980. Canada does not attend the Games. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 Aboriginal - Federal government announces land claims settlement with Yukon first nations, who receive $620 million and title to 20,000 sq km. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1985 Hockey Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky scores his 50th goal against Pittsburgh Penguins in the 49th game of season, on his birthday, to beat the old Maurice Richard/Mike Bossy record. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1985 Politics - Frank Miller elected leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party; will replace Bill Davis as Premier in February. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1988 Banking - CIBC buys 65% of investment dealer Wood Gundy for $190 million, mostly in shares; will also provide $100 million in subordinated loans. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1990 Justice - Donald Marshall Jr. exonerated in Marshall Enquiry Report nearly 19 years after he was falsely convicted, and wrongly served 11 years for stabbing death of Sandy Seale in Sydney, Nova Scotia; royal commission report says Marshall a victim of ineptitude and unfairness in the justice system, as well as racism, because he was a Micmac Indian. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1990 Canadian Space Agency signs $146 million contract with Spar Aerospace for First phase of Radarsat, to be launched in 1994 to send back high-resolution images of Arctic ice, oil spills, etc. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1993 Brian Tobin sworn in as Premier of Newfoundland; calls election for February 22, 1993; the former federal Cabinet Minister was chosen by the provincial Liberals to replace outgoing Premier Clyde Wells. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1993 Women - Jeanne Sauvé dies in hospital; born in Prud’homme, Saskatchewan April 26, 1922, Sauvé served as Canada’s First woman Governor General of Canada; also the First female Speaker of the House of Commons. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1996 Lucien Bouchard becomes the 4th President of the Parti Québecois. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1998 Energy - TransCanada Pipelines and Nova Corp announce $14 billion merger; largest to that date in Canada’s energy sector. Calgary, Alberta
  • 2001 Justice - Supreme Court of Canada upholds federal law banning the possession of child pornography; overrules lower court decision that struck down the law on the basis of freedom of speech. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2009 Politics - Governor General Michaëlle Jean reads the Speech from the Throne to reopen the 40th Canadian Parliament for its second session after a two-month prorogation. Ottawa, Ontario