Highlights of the day

  • in Canadian History
  • 1955 Suspension of Montreal Canadiens star Rocket Richard by NHL sparks 7 hour riot along Ste-Catherine St., with 100 arrests.

List of Facts for March 17

  • 1577 Martin Frobisher c1539-1594 gets commission from the Cathay Company to hunt for gold in the Arctic; he will return with tons of worthless pyrites, which are dumped as street ballast in London, giving rise to the legend that the streets of London were paved with gold. London, England
  • 1613 The wife of Nicholas Guy gives birth to a son; likely the First English child born in Newfoundland; probably a relative of John Guy, the Bristol merchant who started the settlement at Cuper’s Cove in Conception Bay, and brought out 16 women in 1612; the colonists experiment with farming, cut spars and planks, make salt, potash and glass, collect samples of ore and trade in cured fish and train oil. Cupids, Newfoundland
  • 1649 Jesuits burn Ste-Marie mission to prevent it falling into the hands of the Iroquois. Midland, Ontario
  • 1666 Daniel de Remy de Courcelle 1626-1698 returns to Québec; lost over 60 men from exposure and hunger over winter campaign against the Iroquois. Québec, Québec
  • 1752 Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de La Jonquière 1685-1752 dies in office; replaced by Longueuil as Governor. Québec, Québec
  • 1760 First Canadian St. Patrick’s Day may have been celebrated by Irish troops of the Montreal Garrison, following the British conquest of New France. Montréal, Québec
  • 1765 First Canadian St. Patrick’s Day on record celebrated by Irish troops serving in the British Army at Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1776 British forces under William Howe evacuate Boston for Halifax after Revolutionary War General George Washington seizes Dorchester Heights in a night attack with cannon brought down from Ticonderoga. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1824 Montreal Irish hold their first St. Patrick’s Day parade. Montreal’s parade is the longest continually running St. Patrick’s Day parade in the World. Montréal, Québec
  • 1810 Newspaper ‘Le Canadien’ suppressed by a magistrate and two constables; politicians claim it was an arbitrary proceeding. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1845 Geological Survey of Canada is established. Montréal, Québec
  • 1845 St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Company gets charter to build to US border and Portland, Maine; to give Montréal year-round access to a winter port. Montréal, Québec
  • 1858 St. Patricks Day riot breaks out during parade; one man fatally stabbed. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1866 United States unilaterally ends Reciprocity Treaty, after Canadian fishing concessions to Americans end; operating since June 5, 1854; end of free trade starts a recession in Canada; causes public opinion in Maritimes to move toward Confederation. Washington, DC
  • 1869 Louis Riel 1844-1885 is elected president of the Provisional Government in the Northwest Territories. Manitoba
  • 1898 British Columbia Copper Company, Limited, incorporated in West Virginia, U.S.A., by L.W. Mayer et al to buy out the Boundary Mines Company and build smelter to exploit the Mother Lode.
  • 1900 Montreal Shamrocks sweep Halifax Crescents in 2 games for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1902 Granby Consolidated blows in No.4 furnace at Grand Forks smelter.
  • 1902 Winnipeg Victorias lose the Stanley Cup 2 games to 1 in a challenge match to the Montréal AAA; the Victorias had won the cup on January 23. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1906 Canadian Tommy Burns knocks out Jem Roche in 80 seconds at the Royal Theatre in Dublin to retain his world heavyweight title; quickest world heavyweight title fight on record. Dublin, Ireland
  • 1906 Montreal Wanderers lose second game to Ottawa Silver 7, but win the Stanley Cup by outscoring Ottawa 12-10 in the total points 2 game series. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1907 CPR establishes Pacific Coal Company, Limited to take charge of Hosmer Mines, Limited, which begins development of property in Elk valley.
  • 1908 Laurier government creates National Battlefields Commission; partly to save Quebec’s Plains of Abraham from property development. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1928 Canadian National Railways Depot opens in Edmonton; demolished in 1964 for the CN Tower, which is built in 1966. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1941 No. 6 Air Observer School of the British Commonwealth Air Training program opens to New Zealand students. Saskatchewan
  • 1944 International Air Transport Authority created to regulate air traffic among nations; IATA headquarters to be in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1945 Second World War - German U-Boat U-878 torpedoes and sinks RCN Bangor Class minesweeper HMCS Guysborough where the Bay of Biscay meets the English Channel off Ushant; fifty-one of her ship’s company are lost. France
  • 1948 Aviation - A.V. Roe Canada’s Orenda Engines division runs the Chinook engine (Turbo Research 4), Canada’s first jet engine, for the first time; designed by Winnett Boyd. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1952 Two boys discover a dead body hanging near Lumberman’s Arch in Vancouver’s Stanley Park; the corpse, hung from a rope, had gone unnoticed for a year. Vancouver, BC
  • 1955 Montreal Canadiens star Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard 1921- suspended from NHL by league president Clarence Campbell; sparks 7 hour riot along Ste-Catherine St., with 100 arrests. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1964 Government introduces Canada Pension Plan Bill in House of Commons. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Ottawa starts $112 million program to improve Indian housing, water supplies, sanitation and roads. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1967 Commons-Senate committee recommends removal of judge Leo A. Landreville 1917- from Ontario Supreme Court; First in Canadian history. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1978 RCMP charge Toronto Sun editor Peter Worthington and publisher Donald Creighton with violating Official Secrets Act; published information from secret report on Soviet espionage activities in Canada. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1983 Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings scores his 50th goal of the season against Quebec Nordiques.
  • 1985 Brian Mulroney 1939- welcomes President Ronald Reagan to a Canada-US Summit meeting in the Chateau Frontenac; called the Shamrock Summit because of their common Irish ancestry and the date - St. Patrick’s Day. Québec, Québec
  • 1986 Michel Goulet of the Quebec Nordiques scores his 50th goal of the season against Montreal Canadiens.
  • 1987 House of Commons passes motion supporting free trade with the US; opposed by Liberals and NDP. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Tom Cochrane and Red Rider perform the First of two shows with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra; concerts later released as The Symphony Sessions. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1990 Housing Minister Alan Redway promises compensation to Chinese-Canadians forced to pay over $20 million for admission to Canada; from 1885-1923; from $50 to $500 per person. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Mike Gartner of the Maple Leafs scores 30th and 31st goals of the season in 4-2 victory over Vancouver; extends his NHL record of 30 goal seasons to 15. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1996 Montreal Canadiens play First game in new Montreal Forum, now called the Centre Bell. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1998 Olympics - USA Women’s Hockey Team beats Canada for their first Olympic Gold medal. Nagano, Japan
  • 2003 Epidemic - Health Canada announces 17 suspected SARS cases in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Canadian Food Inspection Agency creates a programme for routine testing of poultry for avian influenza (bird flu), after 57,000 chickens have to be destroyed in British Columbia. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Sponsorship Scandal - House of Commons finance committee summons 11 federal bureaucrats to testify in a private hearing, later to become public hearing.170
  • 2004 Military - Canadian Forces sends 170 soldiers to Haiti to provide security in Operation Halo. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Postal - Canada Post issues stamp to honour former Governor General of Canada Ray Hnatyshyn. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Fishery - Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan announces increased patrols outside the 320 kilometres limit off Canada’s east coast. Ottawa, Ontario