Today is Tartan Day. Features:

  • 1970 Pierre Trudeau opens first ever Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife.
  • 1990 Premier Clyde Wells confirms Newfoundland will not support Meech Lake Accord
  • 2011 Heritage Minister James Moore names Maple Leaf Tartan as official national symbol; red, green and yellow colours represent changing colours of maple leaf.

List of Facts for March 9

  • 1541 Jean-François de La Roque de Roberval c1500-1560 authorized to take a boatload of convicts to Canada to assist in founding a colony; Jacques Cartier sent ahead to prepare the way for Roberval. Paris, France
  • 1812 War of 1812 - US President Madison tells Congress that the letters of spy John Henry showed that the Governor of Canada was inciting rebellion in New England. Madison says that the letters prove that Governor Francis Gore had employed Henry to persuade the New England states to leave the United States and join Canada. Deceived by the con man, Madison paid $50,000 for the letters, which were worthless. Washington, DC
  • 1815 Treaty of Ghent proclaimed at Québec; end of War of 1812. Québec, Québec
  • 1824 Canada adopts the patent system. Québec, Québec
  • 1824 Lower Canada Assembly passes Fabrique Act; priests in every parish to provide one school for every 100 families. Quebec
  • 1855 First Great Western Railway locomotive crosses the 255 m. long Niagara Falls suspension bridge to the USA, giving Ontario direct rail connection to New York; the world’s first wire cable suspension bridge; it was built across the Gorge from 1851-55 by engineer John Roebling, who later built the Brooklyn Bridge. Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • 1870 BC Legislature passes resolution to send delegates to Ottawa to negotiate Confederation; J. S. Helmcken and Joseph Trutch chosen to go. Victoria, BC
  • 1873 John A Macdonald government proposes establishment of a Mounted Police force for the North West Territories; act passed May 23. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1881 Lawrence Clarke from the Electoral District of Lorne first member elected to the North-West Council. Battleford, Saskatchewan
  • 1885 Politics - Pascal Poirier of Shediac, New Brunswick, appointed Canada’s first Acadian Senator. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1893 Hockey - Montreal Hockey Club beats the Montreal Crystals 2-1 in their final game of the season. Montreal HC will be awarded their third straight AHAC Championship Trophy by virtue of placing first in the regular season. As champions of the AHAC, the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup (known today as the Stanley Cup) was to be awarded to Montreal as its inaugural champion. But on May 15, 1893, Sheriff John Sweetland finally presented the trophy instead to MAAA president J. A. Taylor during the MAAA annual meeting. Disputes between the Montreal HC and the MAAA kept the Cup in the MAAA hands until it was accepted by the HC on February 23, 1894. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1895 Hockey - Montreal AAA beat Queens University (Kingston) for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1901 Naturalized Japanese Canadians win right to vote; successfully appeal the 1907 BC Elections Act that denied the vote to citizens of Asiatic origin. Victoria, BC
  • 1904 Hockey - Lester Patrick the first hockey defenseman on record to score a goal; Brandon Wheat Kings player. Brandon, Manitoba
  • 1906 Coal miners at Lethbridge go on strike at the Galt Coal Mine; until December 2. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1907 Hamilton news vendor fined $30 for selling US papers on a Sunday. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1915 Alfred Schmitz Shadd dies; pioneer doctor. Saskatchewan
  • 1926 Alex Morrison president.Board of Trade organized in Coleman, Alberta
  • 1928 First telephone call between Vancouver and London, England. Vancouver, BC
  • 1934 New Brunswick women win the right to hold provincial public office. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1942 Jimmy Gardiner announces new agricultural policy - less wheat, more of everything else; suggests price rise to 90¢ bushel; largest carryover of wheat in history = 480 million bushels. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1945 Second World War - - HMCS Uganda arrives in Sydney to join the British Pacific Fleet. Sydney, Australia
  • 1948 Hockey - Clarence Campbell NHL President expels New York Rangers Billy Taylor and Boston Bruins Don Gallinger for life on charges of associating with known gamblers. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1951 House of Commons approves incorporation of TransCanada Pipelines; to build 5,000 km natural gas pipeline from Alberta to Québec; sparks Pipeline Debate in 1956 when Government asks for $80 million loan to a consortium of Canadian and American investors. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1967 Hamilton Southam appointed first director of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Pierre Trudeau opens first ever Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife, attended by 500 athletes from the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska; five days of Arctic activities such as such as dog-sledding and drum-dancing, along with other sporting events including hockey, curling, badminton and volleyball; open to residents of the Canadian North, Alaska and Greenland; the Games are now held every two years. Yellowknife, NWT
  • 1973 Canada starts direct air service with Federal Republic of Germany and People’s Republic of China. Montréal, Québec
  • 1977 Health and Welfare Canada bans saccharin from foods, cosmetics, and drugs; potentially carcinogenic; tests showed the sugar substitute caused cancer in laboratory rats; Canada joins US ban. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Terry Fox 1958-1981 loses right leg above the knee to cancer; fitted with artificial leg; learns to walk, drive a car, play golf. Vancouver, BC
  • 1980 National Archives of Canada acquires 1, 000 historic Canadian documents; including the original order for the expulsion of the Acadians. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1981 Hockey - Buffalo Sabres score nine second-period goals, crushing the Toronto Maple Leafs 14-4. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1984 John Candy Toronto comedian stars with Darryl Hannah and Tom Hanks in Ron Howard’s Splash, opening in movie houses this day. New York, New York
  • 1986 Hockey - Gilbert Perreault of the Buffalo Sabres scores his 500th NHL goal in a 4-3 victory over New Jersey Devils. Buffalo, New York
  • 1988 John Joseph Harper is shot and killed by Robert Cross of the Winnipeg Police Department. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1990 Clyde Wells, Newfoundland Premier, confirms he will rescind Newfoundland’s approval of the Meech Lake Accord; approved by the previous Peckford administration; this will effectively kill the Accord. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1991 Québec Liberals adopt Report by lawyer Jean Allaire, released January 29; also endorse the Charter of Rights, and an elected Senate. Montréal, Québec
  • 1991 Hockey - Theoren Fleury of the Calgary Flames scores three shorthanded goals in one game, an NHL record; also scores his fourth career hat trick. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1995 Fishing - Turbot War - Fisheries Minister Brian Tobin orders Canadian fisheries patrol vessels to seize Spanish trawlers for illegally taking undersized turbot outside Canada’s 200-mile offshore limit; one vessel fires warning shots across bow of Spanish trawler Estai off Labrador, captures ship and arrests captain for violating Canadian fishing laws; leads to dispute between Canada and the European Union; The Estai will be released March 15, 1995. Atlantic Ocean
  • 2003 Curling - Alberta’s Randy Ferbey skips Alberta rink to victory against Nova Scotia in the Nokia Brier final, Ferbey rink’s third consecutive Brier win.
  • 2004 Sponsorship Scandal - Gomery investigation finds $2.3 million missing which was to be used to fund the Bluenose 2.
  • 2004 Politics - Belinda Stronach wins Conservative Party of Canada nomination for riding of Newmarket-Aurora, defeating Lois Brown 512-412 in total votes.
  • 2004 Justice - Ottawa police chief Vince Bevan admits involvement in investigating Maher Arar before he was deported to Syria.
  • 2004 Politics - Sheila Copps files an appeal of her Liberal Party of Canada nomination loss and a complaint to the RCMP. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 2004 Health - Second form of avian flu found on a British Columbia farm. BC
  • 2005 Politics - Conservative MPs abstain from voting as Paul Martin’s Liberals pass a budget over the votes of the Bloc and NDP; largest abstention in Canadian parliamentary history. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2011 Symbol - The red, green and yellow plaid Maple Leaf Tartan is named an official national symbol; the pattern incorporates the green of the leaves’ summer foliage, the gold which appears in early autumn, the red which appears with the coming of the first frost, and the brown tones of the fallen leaves. The plaid was created in 1964 by David Weiser in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of Confederation in 1967. The Second Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment Pipes and Drums has adopted the Maple Leaf Tartan, and National Defence Headquarters has approved it for issue for Canadian Forces pipers and drummers who do not have a specific regimental affiliation. It was also featured in costumes worn last year during the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. On October 21, 2010, the Government of Canada announced that April 6 will be formally recognized as Tartan Day. Ottawa, Ontario