Highlights of the day

  • 1892 Lord Stanley says he will donate a silver challenge cup to the best hockey team in Canada.
  • 1945 Maurice Richard the First NHLer to score 50 goals in a season. Richard does it in 50 games.

List of Facts for March 18

  • 1649 Religion - Jesuit Father Gabriel Lalement dies after a night of torture at the hands of the Iroquois; the invaders leave Huronia the following day. Midland, Ontario
  • 1687 Robert de La Salle assassinated at age 44 by mutineers; he and his men are trying to reach the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico. Texas
  • 1766 British passes the Declaratory Act; gives Crown authority to make laws binding in the colonies; by and with consent of Parliament. London, England
  • 1836 Hudson’s Bay Company paddle wheel steamer Beaver arrives at Fort Vancouver; First steamboat on the Pacific Coast. Vancouver, Washington
  • 1849 William Lyon Mackenzie 1795-1861 visits Toronto, where an attempt is made to lynch the former Mayor and rebel. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1870 Donald Alexander Smith, later Lord Strathcona 1820-1914 leaves Fort Garry to return to Ottawa to report on the situation in Red River. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - NWMP Commissioner Acheson Irvine leaves Regina for Prince Albert with 90 men, 66 horses and a train of sleighs. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - Lawrence Clarke stops at Batoche and tells the Métis that many soldiers are on their way to arrest Riel and Dumont. Batoche, Saskatchewan
  • 1886 CPR starts building Lachine Bridge over the St. Lawrence River. Lachine, Québec
  • 1892 Hockey - Governor General Lord Stanley’s letter read at a dinner of the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Association; says he will donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1897 City of Nelson incorporated. Nelson, BC
  • 1897 Latimer’s townsite plan of Fairview, BC, filed (see June 9).
  • 1906 End of three-day storm in the Assiniboia district; thousands of livestock die. Saskatchewan
  • 1907 Canadian Railroad Commission orders CPR and Grand Trunk to cut passenger fare to 3 cents a mile. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1918 First session of 13th Parliament meets until May 24; will put 10% wartime luxury tax on cars, gramophones, records, player pianos, jewels. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1918 Government passes law bringing in Daylight Saving Time as a way to boost wartime production; matches similar legislation in Britain. The measure is so popular it stays after the war. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1929 Engineers break ground for the Windsor-Detroit tunnel under the Detroit River. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1930 Howie Morenz of the Montréal Canadiens scores 5 goals against New York Rangers.
  • 1931 Member of Parliament A.W. Neil tables a motion in the Commons to observe Armistice Day on November 11 and “on no other date.” Another MP, C.W. Dickie of Nanaimo, moves an amendment to change the name from “Armistice Day” to “Remembrance Day,” reflecting an emphasis on mourned soldiers rather than a piece of paper that was the armistice treaty of 1918. Parliament votes to amend the Armistice Day Act with these changes. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1934 Meteorite streaks across the skies of Alberta and Saskatchewan and explodes in a fireball, turning some skies as light as day.
  • 1940 Glen Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra record No Name Jive on Decca Records. New York, New York
  • 1942 Canadian forces establish unified military commands in Atlantic, Newfoundland, Pacific areas.
  • 1942 US Army Engineers start building Alcan (Alaska) Highway to supply the North West in case of Japanese invasion.. Dawson Creek, BC
  • 1945 Maurice Richard scores in 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins; becomes the First NHLer to score 50 goals in a season. Richard does it in 50 games. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1957 Canada takes part in disarmament conference with Britain, the US, the USSR and France. London, England
  • 1969 John Bracken dies; professor and politician; Premier of Manitoba for two decades, from 1922-1942. Manitoba
  • 1982 CRTC awards pay TV licences to six companies. Gatineau, Québec
  • 1983 Newspaper of the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta (AMMSA), later named Windspeaker, is launched. Alberta
  • 1986 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and President Ronald Reagan agree on action to combat acid rain; after two-day summit. Washington, DC
  • 1986 Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scores his 50th goal of the season against Winnipeg Jets.
  • 1990 Juno Awards given by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; Rita McNeil Best Female Vocalist, Kim Mitchell Best Male Vocalist, The Family Brown Best Country Group, George Fox Best Male Country Vocalist, k.d. laing Best Female Country Vocalist, Alannah Myles Best Album and Best Single, Blue Rodeo Best Canadian Group. Myles’s Black Velvet was number one on the Billboard singles chart at the time. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Energy - Suncor becomes a publicly traded company with an initial share price equivalent to $2.38 (accounting for subsequent share splits). The oilsands company starts phasing its huge bucketwheels and replacing them with massive trucks and shovels.
  • 1993 Military - Master Corporal Clayton Matchee arrested by MPs in connection with the death of a Somali youth who entered the Canadian Forces compound without permission; Matchee later found hanging in his cell and suffered brain damage. Somali Republic
  • 1995 Strike - Canada’s railways workers walk off the job; legislated back to work March 27, 1995.
  • 1997 Singer Joni Mitchell is reunited with a daughter, Killauren, she gave up for adoption many years earlier. [Photo: Barrington Los Angeles, California
  • 2004 Sponsorship Scandal - Commons committee discovers kickbacks in free flag giveaway in 1996; program by Sheila Copps to give away one million free flags. Ottawa, Ontario