Highlights of the day

  • 1875 James Creighton organizes first recorded hockey game under the new McGill rules
  • 1921 Frederick Banting officially announces his team’s discovery of insulin
  • 2005 Drug dealer kills four RCMP officers - Peter Schiemann, Leo Johnston, Anthony Gordon and Brock Myrol - at Mayerthorpe, Alberta

List of Facts for March 3

  • 1655 Montreal physician offers Canada’s First medical insurance. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1722 Council divides New France into parishes; Québec has 41, Three Rivers 13 and Montréal 28. Québec, Québec
  • 1838 John Maitland and regulars of the 32nd and 83rd Regiments and the Essex Militia cross the ice of Lake Erie with cavalry from St. Thomas under Captain James Ermatinger; they rout Van Rensselaer and his 1, 000 American supporters of the Upper Canadian rebels, who captured Pelee Island on February 2; 11 Americans are killed, and several captured. Pelee Island, Ontario
  • 1841 Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, starts a 20 month-long round the world trip. London, England
  • 1857 Captain John Palliser and his party leave London on their mission to explore the prairie west. London, England
  • 1870 Ambroise-Dydime Lepine 1834-1923 heading the Métis Provisional Government court-martial, sentences Thomas Scott to death; Charles Arkoll Boulton 1841-1899 also sentenced to hang but his life will be spared. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1871 House of Commons approves British Columbia’s terms to join Canada; negotiated by George-Etienne Cartier. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1875 James Creighton organizes the first recorded hockey game under the new McGill rules, at the Victoria Skating Rink. The rules were primarily devised by McGill student Creighton, captain of one of the teams, who moved to Montreal in 1872 from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where he had played a similar game using curved sticks made by the Micmacs. The new Dartmouth-made Starr skates were also used, which allowed quick starts and stops. This game is also the first recorded game of hockey played indoors. Other firsts: a wooden puck is used for the first time instead of a lacrosse or hurley ball; the goal creases are turned to face the playing area; an offside rule is applied; the teams are nine a side, and a goaltender is used. Creighton and his fellow students developed the McGill rules to foster competition; other teams from Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Halifax, Kingston and Toronto soon adopted them, and started playing against each other. Montréal, Québec
  • 1882 Hockey pioneer James Creighton hired to serve as the law clerk of the Canadian Senate; served for 48 years. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1887 US Congress passes Fisheries Retaliation Act; bans Canadian vessels from US waters; stopped imports of Canadian fish. Washington, DC
  • 1903 Manitoba Grain Growers’ Association is formed at Brandon. Brandon, Manitoba
  • 1909 Ottawa Senators beat Montréal Wanderers 8-3 for the Stanley Cup. Montréal, Québec
  • 1915 Troops from Alberta are part of the Canadian Division which entered the line on the Western Front. France
  • 1919 First international airmail delivered, in a flight from Vancouver to Seattle, Washington. Vancouver, BC
  • 1920 Montreal Canadiens score NHL record 16 goals in a 16-3 rout of the Quebec Bulldogs.
  • 1921 University of Toronto doctors Frederick Banting and Charles Best officially announces their team’s discovery of insulin. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1942 First combat flight of the Toronto-built Avro Lancaster bomber. Britain
  • 1953 Canadian Pacific Comet jet crashes with 11 fatalities; world’s First commercial jet crash. Karachi, Pakistan
  • 1957 Canadians Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul win gold in the Ice Pairs event at the World Figure Skating Championship at Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs, Colorado
  • 1958 Passenger service on Kettle Valley Railway switched to Budd diesel cars.
  • 1962 Cairine Wilson dies at age 77; Canada’s First woman senator, Canada’s First woman delegate to the United Nations. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1964 Parliament approves change of name of Trans-Canada Air Lines to Air Canada; to take effect January 1, 1965. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Canadian actor Christopher Plummer stars with Julie Andrews and Eleanor Parker in the film adaptation of the Broadway hit, The Sound of Music, about the Trapp Family singers, released this day. Los Angeles, California
  • 1966 Music - Canadian rocker Neil Young joins Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin and Bruce Palmer form the rock group Buffalo Springfield as a house band for the Whiskey A Go Go nightclub; later Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; 1967 Stephen Stills composition, For What It’s Worth the band’s biggest hit; 1968 broke up after disagreement between Stills and Young. Los Angeles, California
  • 1967 Eric Burdon and the Animals refuse to do a show in Ottawa unless they are paid in advance; audience of 3, 000 go on a rampage, doing $5, 000 in damages. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1968 Jean Beliveau of the Montreal Canadiens scores his 1,000th point against Detroit; scores one goal in a 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings; second NHL player to score 1, 000 career points. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1970 Queen Elizabeth II starts visit to Ottawa and Vancouver with Princess Anne.
  • 1975 Thomas Berger starts public hearings into social and environmental costs of planned 4, 184 km Mackenzie Valley pipeline; Justice of the BC Supreme Court. Yellowknife, NWT
  • 1977 Keith Spicer resigns as Official Language Commissioner. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1980 Pierre Trudeau sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada for the second time, replacing Joe Clark; Clark PM since June 4, 1979. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1981 NY Islanders and Edmonton Oilers skate to an 8-8 tie. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1982 Statistics Canada confirms that Canada entered a recession in 1982. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 New York Islanders score their most goals (11) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (6). Toronto, Ontario
  • 1991 Music - Céline Dion wins Juno Awards for Best Album and Best Female Vocalist; George Fox wins Best Male Country Vocalist; Colin James wins Best Single and Top Male Vocalist; Rita McNeil wins Best Female Country Vocalist; Prairie Oyster win Best Country Group; Blue Rodeo win Best Group; Tragically Hip win Entertainer of the Year. Vancouver, BC
  • 1994 Alan Eagleson indicted on 32 counts of embezzlement, fraud and racketeering; former head of the NHL Players Association and Toronto hockey lawyer refuses to go to the US to face the grand jury; beginning of three years of legal wrangling. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1995 Real estate developer Bramalea Inc. seeks court protection from its creditors; second time in the 1990s. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1997 Toronto City Council votes to ban smoking in restaurants and bars; later modified to allow time for public establishments to implement the bylaw. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2004 United Nations International Narcotics Control Board criticizes Canada for having a provincially run safe house for drug users in Vancouver, British Columbia.
  • 2004 Former Jean Chrétien aide Jean Carle linked to 2004 Canadian sponsorship scandal.
  • 2004 RCMP investigate threatening letters sent to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island government and media buildings.
  • 2005 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers Peter Schiemann, Lionide Johnston, Anthony Gordon and Brock Myrol – are killed by local drug dealer James Roszko in a raid on his farm at Mayerthorpe, Alberta. In July 2007, the RCMP arrested two brothers-in-law from Barrhead, Dennis Cheeseman and Shawn Hennessey, on charges of aiding and abetting Roszko, and therefore being parties to the homicides. In January 2009, both men pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Cheeseman was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Hennessey received 15 years. (Fallen Four Memorial)
  • 2009 Military - WO Dennis Brown, Cpl Dany Fortin and Cpl Kenneth O’Quinn are killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) that detonates near their armoured vehicle. Arghandab, Afghanistan