Highlights of the day

  • 1877 McGill University Gazette publishes the seven McGill Hockey Club rules of “hockey on ice”.
  • 1879 Henry Birks opens his first jewellery shop, Henry Birks and Company, at 222 Rue Saint-Jacques, Montreal.
  • 2010 Vancouver Olympics - Canada’s men’s curling team take the gold medal with a 6-3 championship win over Norway; veteran Canadian snowboarder Jasey-Jay Anderson wins gold in the parallel giant slalom.

List of Facts for February 27

  • 1751 Fur Trade - Jacques de La Jonquière sends Pierre de Simblin to build a trading post at Lac de la Carpe to curb British influence south of Hudson Bay. Québec
  • 1838 Lower Canada Rebellion - Chasseurs raid Potton in the Eastern Townships, while a group of 600 patriotes assemble at Plattsburg, New York and cross Lake Champlain to Alburg, Vermont. Potton, Québec
  • 1839 Opening of fourth session of thirteenth Parliament of Upper Canada; meets until May 11, 1839; adopts resolutions favouring a union of Upper and Lower Canada. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1842 Religion - Architecture - Opening of St. Thomas’ Church, Shanty Bay, built of ‘rammed earth ‘. Shanty Bay, Ontario
  • 1877 Hockey - McGill’s University Gazette publishes the McGill Hockey Club rules, loosely based on the newly codified English Rules of Field Hockey; first formal regulations of the game of hockey, called “Hockey on Ice”, they are based on the Halifax Hockey Clue Rules. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1879 Retail - Henry Birks opens a small jewellery shop, Henry Birks and Company, at 222 Rue Saint-Jacques, in the heart of Montreal’s business section; has had a turnover of $30,000 the first year. His business formula is: cash sales only and the same price for everyone. In 1893, he went into partnership with his three sons, William Massey, John Henry, and Gerald Walker as Henry Birks and Sons. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1890 Rail - James Baker, the Chairman of British Columbia’s Standing Committee on Railways proposed amending the Crow’s Nest and Kootenay Lake Railway Act to extend the completion dates; Baker is part-owner of the CN&KL. Victoria, BC
  • 1899 Mining - Labour - Amendment to British Columbia’s Inspection of Metaliferous Mines Act, 1897, received royal assent, limiting underground miners’ hours to 8 hours per day. Victoria, BC
  • 1899 Shipping - CPR launches steamboat Ymir (70 tons) at Nelson; withdrawn in 1929. Nelson, BC
  • 1900 Politics - BC Lieutenant-Governor Thomas McInnes dismisses BC Premier Charles Semlin after his electoral redistribution bill is defeated by one vote; Semlin argues that he has not lost the confidence of the house, as the vote was not on a money bill. McInnes then asks Attorney General Joseph Martin to form a government, but the Assembly passes a motion of non-confidence against Martin the next day and walks out when McInnes arrives to prorogue the session. In June, Wilfred Laurier asks the Governor General to dismiss McInnes from office. Victoria, BC
  • 1900 Boer War - Royal Canadian Regiment plays a decisive role in the final days of the Battle of Paardeburg. Paardeburg, South Africa - See: Russell Hubly, The Battle of Paardeburg.
  • 1905 Politics - Clifford Sifton resigns from the Wilfrid Laurier cabinet. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1909 Symbols - Ontario adds crest, supporters and motto to provincial Coat-of-Arms. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1914 Rail - First Grand Trunk Pacific Railway passenger train arrives in Calgary. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1917 Franchise - Women in Ontario win right to vote in provincial elections. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1941 Thomas Miller installed as 7th Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1945 Military - Remaining First Canadian Corps veterans of the Italian campaign join the Canadian army in northwest Europe. Italy
  • 1951 Military - Canada posts army officer to staff of Supreme Allied Commander; First step in providing Canadian ground troops in Europe for NATO. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1957 Finance - Canadian group buys shares of Investors Syndicate of Canada from Murchison and Allegeny interests; Dominion Securities, Webb & Knapp and ISC officers including Clarence Peterson. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1970 Farming - Prairie farmers are offered money by the federal government not to grow wheat under the LIFT program. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1974 Opening of 2nd session of the 29th Parliament; until May 8, 1974. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1974 Music - Joni Mitchell’s album Court and Spark turns gold; her highest charting singles are Help Me and Free Man in Paris. New York, New York
  • 1976 Farming - Canadian Wheat Board sells China 963, 989 tonnes of wheat. Beijing, China
  • 1977 Crime - Royal Canadian Mounted Police raid Toronto hotel suite of Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones rock group; RCMP seizes 22 grams of heroin, 5 grams of cocaine and narcotics paraphernalia; charge him with possession of heroin with intent to traffic and possession of cocaine; Richards is released on $25,000 bail; later found guilty, but released on condition the Stones play two benefit concerts for the blind. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1982 Politics - Doug Young elected leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party. New Brunswick
  • 1988 Elizabeth Manley of Ottawa wins Silver Medal in Women’s Figure Skating at the Calgary Winter Olympics; East Germany’s Katarina Witt wins Gold, Debi Thomas of the US gets the Bronze. Witt is the First woman figure skater since Sonja Henie to win gold medals in two consecutive Winter Olympic Games. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1988 Hockey - Montreal Canadiens’ captain Bob Gainey scores the only hat trick of his fifteen year NHL career. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1990 Energy - Ottawa withdraws from $4.1 billion OSLO oil sands project. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Military - Coalition under US General Norman Schwarzkopf proclaims victory over Iraq in the six-week Gulf War; Iraq agrees to a cease-fire ending the conflict; Canadian troops start to return home after combat operations cease; Canada sent a total of 2,400 troops, 26 fighter planes, 3 warships and a field hospital. Iraq
  • 1992 Justice - Supreme Court of Canada unanimously upholds Canada’s anti-pornography law; rules sexually explicit material is obscene and not protected by the freedom of expression guarantee in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1994 Olympics - 17th Winter Olympics end in Lillehammer; Canada takes home only three gold medals - Myriam Bédard for Biathlon (2) and Jean-Luc Brassard for Moguls Freestyle Skiing. Lillehammer, Norway
  • 1995 Paul Martin tables his second Budget as Finance Minister; wants to cut federal spending 8.8% and bring the deficit down to 3% of GDP. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Hockey - Former Edmonton Oilers star Wayne Gretzky leaves the Los Angeles Kings NHL team and joins the St. Louis Blues; he will later jump to the NY Rangers. St. Louis, Missouri
  • 1998 Governor General Roméo LeBlanc announces that Alan Eagleson has been expelled from the Order of Canada due to his conviction for fraud. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1998 J.J. Harper Day is observed throughout Manitoba. Manitoba
  • 2010 Olympics - Canada’s men’s curling team - skip Kevin Martin, third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert - beat Norway 6-3 in the Gold Medal Game in Men’s Curling at the 2010 Winter Olympic; cap an unbeaten 13-0 performance. Vancouver, BC February 27 - Olympics - Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky and Denny Morrison win gold in the Men’s team pursuit speed skating race. Vancouver, BC February 27 - Olympics - Jasey-Jay Anderson wins gold in the Men’s parallel giant slalom snowboarding event. Vancouver, BC February 27 - Olympics - Lyndon Rush, Lascelles Brown, Chris Le Bihan and David Bissett win a bronze medal in Four-man Bobsleigh at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Vancouver, BC