Highlights of the day

  • 1670 Canada’s First Coinage - Louis XIV orders 100,000 livres of silver and copper coins minted for New France
  • 1975 Parliament passes act making the beaver the official symbol of Canada.

List of Facts for March 24

  • 1670 Coinage - King Louis XIV orders 100,000 livres of silver and copper coins minted for New France; the 15 sol piece is today a rarity. Paris, France
  • 1745 King William’s War - William Pepperell leads expedition against Louisbourg, Nova Scotia; force composed largely of untrained Harvard students. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1761 Religion - German soldiers and settlers establish First Lutheran Church in Canada. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1786 Trade - British government prohibits trade between British North American ports and the US. London, England
  • 1837 Human Rights - Lower Canada gives blacks the right to vote. Québec, Québec
  • 1838 Francis Bond Head leaves for England by way of New York State; retiring Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada . New York, New York
  • 1865 Confederation - John A. Macdonald, George-Étienne Cartier, George Brown and Alexander Galt leave for Britain to discuss the union of the BNA provinces. Québec, Québec
  • 1908 John Hazen sworn in as Premier of New Brunswick, replacing Clifford Robinson. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1921 Mary Ellen Smith sworn in as Minister without Portfolio in the British Columbia government; First female cabinet minister in the British Empire; won January, 1918 Vancouver by-election after death of her husband Ralph, Finance Minister in the Liberal government; re-elected in 1920 and 1924. Victoria, BC
  • 1936 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings finally beat Montréal Maroons 1-0 after 16 minutes and 30 seconds of the ninth period (sixth overtime); this Stanley Cup game is longest recorded in NHL history, at 176 minutes and 30 seconds (116 minutes and 30 seconds of overtime); the win for the Wings actually comes after midnight, on March 25, 1935. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1945 Second World War - Canadian Corporal Fred Topham wins VC for bravery as Canadian paratroopers and air support help Canadian Army cross the Rhine in Operation Varsity, a joint British, US and Canadian airborne drop, the largest in the war, with 600 transports and 1,300 gliders; start of the liberation of the Netherlands. Netherlands
  • 1945 Military - Lt. Col. J. S Nicklin dies; Canada’s First parachutist.
  • 1945 Education - Walter Murray dies; educator, First President of the University of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan
  • 1949 Cinema - Toronto-born actor Walter Huston awarded an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and his son, John Houston for Best Director and for Best Screenplay for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (based on a B. Traven story); the only father and son Oscars. Hollywood, California
  • 1962 Religion - RCMP arrests 54 members of the Fraternal Council of Reformed Sons of Freedom Doukhobors and concentrates them in the Oakalla Provincial Prison. Burnaby, BC
  • 1964 Symbols - Prince Edward Island adopts its own provincial flag. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1965 Mountaineering - Robert F. Kennedy reaches top of Mount Kennedy, named by Canadian government in honor of the Senators late brother, President John F. Kennedy; First person to scale the highest unclimbed mountain in North America. Yukon
  • 1969 State Visis - Pierre Trudeau starts two day visit to Washington for talks with US President Richard Nixon. Washington, DC
  • 1970 Fishery - Ottawa bans commercial fishing on Lake St. Clair, sale of pickerel and perch from western Lake Erie; because of mercury contamination. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1971 Police - Québec Police Commission recommends forming contingency plan for emergencies; after examining Montréal police walkout of October 7, 1969. Montréal, Québec
  • 1972 Newfoundland Election - Frank Moores leads Progressive Conservatives to victory in provincial election; 33 seats to 9 for Joey Smallwood’s Liberals. Newfoundland
  • 1975 Symbols - Parliament passes act making the beaver the official symbol of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario (Canadian Register of Historic Places)
  • 1975 Weather - Thunder Bay has one of Ontario’s greatest one day snowfalls, with 102 cm. Thunder Bay, Ontario
  • 1981 Constitution - Progressive Conservatives filibuster in Commons in effort to halt Pierre Trudeau’s constitutional package. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Music - Alannah Myles hit song Black Velvet stays at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; title track from Toronto rocker’s self-titled debut album. New York, New York
  • 1990 Hockey - Pat LaFontaine of the New York Islanders scores his 50th goal of the season against Edmonton Oilers.
  • 1990 Hockey - Stéphane Richer scores his 50th goal against Hartford Whalers.
  • 1992 Hockey - Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores his 1,000th point against Detroit Red Wings.
  • 1996 Basketball - Vancouver Grizzlies lose 90-85 to Cleveland; their 18th consecutive loss, after losing streaks of 18 and 19 games in 1995-96; First team in NBA history with two losing streaks of 18 or more games in the same season. Vancouver, BC
  • 1997 Cinema - The English Patient, a film version of Michael Ondaatje’s novel, wins the Oscar for Best Picture at the 69th Academy Awards. Hollywood, California
  • 1998 Nova Scotia Election - Provincial Election leaves Nova Scotia Liberal Party and NDP tied for the most seats. Nova Scotia
  • 2004 Dominic Agostino dies; Ontario Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament. Ontario
  • 2004 Health - Canadian Food Inspection Agency orders slaughter of 275,000 chickens and turkeys in British Columbia to fight avian flu outbreak. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Police - RCMP release documents detailing investigation of Ottawa Citizen newspaper reporter Juliet O’Neill telling how they searched for details of her knowledge of the Maher Arar case, a January 2004 raid of her house was also documented. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2005 Paul Martin appoints nine new members of the Senate of Canada: Roméo Dallaire, Art Eggleton, Lillian Dyck. Jim Cowan, Elaine McCoy, Grant Mitchell, Robert Peterson, Nancy Ruth and Claudette Tardif. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2009 Energy - Petro-Canada and Suncor announce a friendly merger, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. The new company will be Canada’s largest oil-and-gas company and the last widely held Canadian integrated oil company on the TSX.