Highlights of the day

  • 1867 John Alexander Macdonald 1815-1891 marries Susan Agnes Bernard, the sister of his personal secretary.
  • 1881 Macdonald Government Incorporates the CPR Company
  • 1967 Founding of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women

List of Facts for February 16

  • 1597 Troilus de Mesgouez, Marquis de La Roche c1540-1606 gets grant from Henry IV for expedition to New France. Paris, France
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Sir John Sherbrooke orders six companies of the 104th Regiment of Foot, plus 4th New Brunswick Regiment, to proceed to Kingston, to strengthen the defences of Upper Canada against an expected American invasion in the Spring; they start a gruelling 52-day march overland up the Saint John River valley to the St. Lawrence in winter; travelling on snowshoes, and pulling supplies on toboggans; they lose only one man, arriving in Quebec on March 15 and Kingston April 12. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1825 John Franklin 1786-1847 leaves England on a second Arctic expedition, with George Back, John Richardson, and surveyor Edward Kendall, to explore from the Mackenzie Delta; they travel overland via New York, and winter at Fort Franklin on Great Bear Lake, built for them by HBC trader Peter Dease. They leave for the Mackenzie Delta in June 1826, and split up to chart over 1100 miles of coastline. After a second winter at Fort Franklin, the party are back in England on September 26, 1827. Liverpool, England
  • 1835 Upper Canada Legislature votes to erase records of William Lyon Mackenzie’s many expulsions from that body. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1857 Early thaw and floods in Canada West destroy mill dams and bridges. Ontario
  • 1867 John Alexander Macdonald 1815-1891 marries Susan Agnes Bernard, the sister of his personal secretary; which event, he quips, ‘was an example of union ‘. London, England
  • 1872 First session of the British Columbia legislature opens. Victoria, BC
  • 1881 George Stephen signs charter and incorporates Canadian Pacific Railway; President until 1888; with partners R. B. Angus, Duncan Mclntyre, Donald A. Smith, J. J. Hill, and J. S. Kennedy. Montréal, Québec
  • 1881 Upon the receipt of a $1 million surety bond, Charles Tupper, federal Minister of Railways, signs papers to create the third incarnation of the Canadian Pacific Railway with the CP syndicate of George Stephen, Duncan McIntyre, J.J. Hill, J.S. Kennedy, the Kohn, Reinach and Co. of Paris, and the Morton Rose and Co. of London.
  • 1882 New Brunswick lawmakers meet for the first time in the new Legislative Assembly building. Frederiction, New Brunswick
  • 1889 D.C. Corbin takes his own contract to build the Spokane Falls and Northern Railway; sold his Idaho railroads to the Northern Pacific.
  • 1900 Montréal Shamrocks beat Winnipeg Victorias 2 games to 1 for the Stanley Cup. Montréal, Québec
  • 1912 Crow’s Nest Pass Street Railway Company incorporated in Alberta. Line to run between Pincher Creek and Sentinel, Alberta.
  • 1916 Mob of 500 men, mostly soldiers, wrecks a Calgary restaurant for dismissing an ex-soldier. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1921 Newsy Lalonde of the Montréal Canadiens scores 5 goals against Hamilton.
  • 1930 Near Sentinal, Alberta. East Kootenay Power’s grid interlinked with that of Calgary Power.
  • 1934 David Murray Anderson 1874-1936 presides over First meeting of new ruling Newfoundland Commission, with three Newfoundlanders and three non-Newfoundlanders; appointed by Britain; two years earlier, with Newfoundland facing imminent bankruptcy, PM Frederick Alderdice appealed to Britain for financial aid and the appointment of a royal commission to consider Newfoundland’s future; the resulting Amulree Report of 1933 recommended temporary suspension of responsible government, and the Newfoundland Commission ruled the Dominion for 15 years. Newfoundland
  • 1936 Fourth Winter Olympic games close at Garmisch; the Port Arthur Bearcats take home Canada’s only medal, the silver in Ice Hockey. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
  • 1937 Rodmond P. Roblin dies; businessman, politician; Premier of Manitoba 1900-1915. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1940 RCAF’s No. 110 Army Cooperation Squadron sails for Britain; First of 48 squadrons to go overseas. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1948 Fire devastates downtown Coleman, Alberta.
  • 1949 House of Commons passes the Newfoundland Union Act by a vote of 140-47. Newfoundland officially joins Canada March 31, 1949. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1960 The new National Gallery of Canada building opens in Ottawa.
  • 1963 Ottawa teen idol Paul Anka marries Marie-Ann DeZogheb, daughter of a Lebanese diplomat he met in Puerto Rico. Paris, France
  • 1963 Second HMCS Saskatchewan is commissioned at Esquimault; paid off in March 1994. Esquimalt, BC
  • 1967 Anne Francis (Florence Bird) chairs new Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada; ‘to ensure for women equal opportunities with men’; First Canadian commission headed by a woman later made 167 recommendations, including paid maternity leave. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Police return Grey Cup trophy to CFL headquarters; recovered from a Toronto hotel locker room after an anonymous tip; cup stolen December 1969 from the Lansdowne Park offices of the Ottawa Rough Riders, who won it that season. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1970 Premiers meet for two-day federal-provincial conference; agree on anti-inflation measures; agree on banning phosphates in laundry detergents. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1971 Pierre Trudeau, under opposition attack in the Commons, utters an apparently unparliamentary expression that he later describes as ‘fuddle-duddle.’ Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1973 Canada signs anti-hijacking agreement with Cuba; each country to prosecute hijackers in the other’s country, or return them to the country where the hijacking took place. Havana, Cuba
  • 1984 Canada’s Brian Orser wins Silver Medal in Figure Skating; highest Olympic award ever to a Canadian male; again wins Silver in 1988 Calgary Olympics. Sarajevo, Bosnia
  • 1984 Canada’s Gaetan Boucher wins second Gold Medal in Speedskating at the 14th Winter Games; fourth medal of his career. Sarajevo, Bosnia
  • 1985 Novelist Marian Engel dies of cancer at age 51; author of Bear. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1990 Jean-Pierre Kingsley appointed Chief Electoral Officer, replacing Jean- Marc Hamel; Elections Canada Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Michel Goulet of the Chicago Blackhawks scores his 500th goal against Calgary Flames.
  • 1998 Supreme Court of Canada starts hearing the federal government’s arguments on the legality of a potential unilateral declaration of independence or secession by Québec; Ottawa tables an 85 page brief arguing that Québec has no domestic or international right to UDI. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Nunavut Election - One of the 19 members of the consensus government is acclaimed and 18 elections are held. Eight members of the previous government are re-elected, five are defeated, and five who did not run again are replaced. MLAs will choose the premier from among themselves on March 5; incumbent Paul Okalik is challenged by Tagak Curley.
  • 2004 Canadian Recording Industry Association asks a judge to order major Canadian internet service providers to hand over names of 29 suspected illegal file swappers. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Elsie Wayne announces retirement from politics; Conservative Party of Canada MP from Newfoundland.
  • 2004 Hockey - Trevor Linden plays his 897th game, becoming the Canucks all-time leader in NHL games played. Vancouver, BC
  • 2006 Olympics - Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards wins bronze in women’s skeleton. Turin, Italy
  • 2006 Olympics - Canada’s men’s speed skating team wins silver for men’s team pursuit in speed skating. Turin, Italy
  • 2006 Olympics - Canada’s women’s speed skating team wins silver for women’s team pursuit in speed skating. Turin, Italy
  • 2006 Olympics - Canadian Jeff Buttle wins bronze medal for men’s figure skating solid free skate. Turin, Italy
  • 2010 Olympics - Maëlle Ricker of Canada wins gold in Snowboarding Cross at the 2010 Winter Olympics; first olympic medal in the sport for a Canadian woman. Vancouver, BC