Highlights of the day

  • 1778 - Captain James Cook anchors HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery in Resolution Cove, trades sea otter pelts.
  • 1867 - Proclamation of the British North America Act; to establish the Dominion of Canada.
  • 1982 - Queen Elizabeth II gives Royal Assent to the Canada Act, 1982, to patriate Canada’s Constitution.
  • 1993 - Catherine Callbeck of Prince Edward Island the first woman in Canada to be elected premier.

List of Facts for March 29

  • 1632 England and France sign Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye; returns Québec and Acadia holdings, captured in 1628-29, to the Company of New France and Emery de Caen’s United Company; gives firmer land title to the Québec colonists. St-Germain-en-Laye, France
  • 1778 Exploration - Captain James Cook anchors HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery in Resolution Cove, at the south end of Bligh Island, about 8 km east across the sound from Yuquot, after an 8 month voyage from England en route to search for a western entrance to the North West Passage. The anchorage was soon called Friendly Cove after a warm reception from the local Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) people, who traded sea otter pelts with the sailors for iron goods. The first Europeans to set foot on the island stayed for a month, repairing the ships and charting the coast, then headed north on April 26, 1778; they failed to find the North-West Passage, and nine months later Cook will be killed by natives on a Hawaiian beach.
  • 1808 John Johnson gives patent and grants 12 acres of land for Williamstown Fair; oldest continuously operating farm fair in Ontario. Williamstown, Ontario
  • 1841 Education - Queen’s College at Horton, a liberal arts college founded by the Baptists in 1838, becomes Acadia College; today Acadia University. Wolfville, Nova Scotia
  • 1841 Education - St. Mary’s College at Halifax, a Jesuit institution for the liberal arts, gets a provincial charter. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1845 London & Gore Railroad incorporated as the Great Western Railway of Canada. London, Ontario
  • 1848 Beginning at 5 am, Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam on Lake Erie at the entrance to the River; only time in recorded history. Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • 1867 British North America Act proclaimed, to establish the Dominion of Canada effective March 22. London, England
  • 1873 Founding of the School of Practical Science for Mining and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto; today’s U of T Faculty of Engineering. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1887 Alberta grants coal mining Licence Number 21 to Edward Bray, J.E. Humphries, William Fernie and F.W. Aylmer.
  • 1892 Canadian Cricket Association established. Montréal, Québec
  • 1895 Royal Commission on selling of liquor concludes that restrictive laws do not decrease sale of liquor; appointed in 1892. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1906 Montreal Wanderers sweep Kenora Thistles in 2 games for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1906 Saskatchewan’s first provincial legislature is opened by Lieutenant-Governor A. E. Forget. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1906 Winnipeg street railway employees riot during two-day strike. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1909 Military - Conservative MP George Foster introduces a Commons resolution to establish a Canadian Naval Service. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1912 Town of Macleod re-incorporated under the laws of the Province of Alberta.
  • 1919 Manitoba sets up joint council to settle labour disputes; Industrial Conditions Act. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1919 Hockey - The Montréal AAA of the NHL beats Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association 4-3 in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Canadiens score three times in the third to tie the game, then win it on Jack McDonald’s goal at 15:57 of overtime. Each team now had won 2 games, with 1 tie, but the Stanley Cup final is halted because of a number of flu-related deaths (both players & fans). The majority of the Montréal team came down with the flu. There was talk for forfeiting the Cup to Seattle, an offer which was refused by Seattle and the PCHA. Canadian Joe Hall died in a Seattle hospital, and Montréal manager George Kennedy never fully recovered and died a few years later. For the only time since its inception in 1893, the 1919 Stanley Cup is not awarded. Montréal, Québec
  • 1922 Energy - British Columbia and Alberta Power Company (BC&A) incorporates the East Kootenay Power Company: president, A.E. Appleyard; general manager, Art. B. Sanborn; general superintendent, Fred.D. Emory.
  • 1922 Fire destroys basilica of Ste-Anne de Beaupré; shrine originally built in 1658 by sailors who escaped a shipwreck. Beaupré, Québec
  • 1926 An act bringing in an 8-hour day (48-hour week) in Alberta is set back one year, until a three-man commission could report on its advisability. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1927 Government control of liquor sales replaces prohibition in Ontario; origin of LCBO and Brewers Retail stores. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1929 Hockey - Boston Bruins sweep NY Rangers in 2 games for the Stanley Cup. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1929 Hugh John MacDonald dies; lawyer, politician, magistrate; Premier of Manitoba 1899-1900. Manitoba
  • 1945 Second World War - The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) is shut down after graduating 131,553 aircrew. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1945 Second World War - HMCS frigate Teme torpedoed by U Boat 246 in the English Channel and declared a total loss. Falmouth England
  • 1960 Paul Anka’s hit single Puppy Love goes to number #1 on the Billboard charts; Ottawa pop singer. New York, New York
  • 1963 Vandals wreck Wolfe Monument on the Plains of Abraham. Québec, Québec
  • 1965 House of Commons approves Canada Pension Plan; compulsory except in Québec, which sets up its own comparable plan. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, outpoints Canadian heavyweight boxing champion George Chuvalo in a 15-round slugfest in Toronto. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1966 Dow Brewery destroys 4,546,000 litres of beer after 16 people die in Québec City area; 1 million gallons go down the drain. Québec, Québec
  • 1967 Dominion Bank sells first debentures; first in Canadian banking history. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1968 Military - National Defence forms the 450 Heavy Transport Helicopter Squadron from 1 Heavy Transport Platoon, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Hockey - Rookie goalie Tony Esposito records his 15th shutout of the season - an NHL record for rookie goaltenders - as his Chicago Black Hawks beat Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0. Chicago, Illinois
  • 1971 Ralph E. Collins appointed first Canadian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1972 Newmont Mining Corporation of Canada, Limited, brings Copper Mountain concentrator on line.
  • 1973 Luis Echeverría Mexican President starts three-day visit to Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1974 Broadcasting - CBC announces it will gradually remove commercials from its AM radio stations. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1975 Hockey - Guy Lafleur of the Montréal Canadiens scores his 50th goal of the season against Kansas City.
  • 1976 Cinema - Budge Crawley of Ottawa’s Crawley Films wins Oscar for best feature-length documentary for his The Man Who Skied Down Everest; first Canadian feature film to win an Oscar. Hollywood, California
  • 1978 Hockey - New England Whalers star Gordie Howe becomes the first 50-year-old to play professional hockey. Hartford, Connecticut
  • 1981 Hockey - Jacques Richard first member of the Québec Nordiques to score 50 goals in a season, in a 4-0 win over Montreal. Quebec City
  • 1982 Constitution - Canada Bill given royal assent. London, England
  • 1984 Labour - Lynn Williams Toronto union leader elected President of United Steelworkers of America; first Canadian to hold the post. USA
  • 1985 Hockey - Wayne Gretzky breaks own NHL season record with 126th assist. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1985 Disaster - Two military planes collide near CFB Edmonton, killing 10. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1985 Hockey - - Winnipeg’s Dale Hawerchuk scores his 50th goal of the season in a 5-5 Jets’ tie against the Chicago Black Hawks; first Jets’ player to score 50 goals in an NHL season. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1989 Music - New Zealand/Australian pop combo Crowded House play a gig for 80 people in the basement of Grant Harvey’s home; the 23-year-old film student won a MuchMusic contest that asked contestants what their house would look like if Crowded House paid a visit; his 4-minute, $87 video production won out of hundreds of other contestants. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1989 Hockey - Sergei Priakin signed by Calgary Flames; first Soviet player allowed to play in North America by Soviet Ice Hockey Federation. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1990 Environment Minister Lucien Bouchard releases Green Plan working paper to clean up the environment. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm says he will step down when his Social Credit party chooses a new leader; he is being investigated for improper real estate dealings relating to the sale of his family’s Fantasy Gardens to a Taiwanese billionaire. Vancouver, BC
  • 1993 Catherine Callbeck leads her Prince Edward Island Liberals to a 31 seat landslide; first woman in Canada to be elected premier; Tory leader Pat Mella wins the only opposition seat in the PEI legislature. Note: BC’s Rita Johnson was the first woman Premier, but she replaced retiring Bill Vander Zalm in 1991, and lost the subsequent election. PEI (See also April 2)
  • 1993 Windspeaker celebrates its 10th anniversary by becoming national. Alberta
  • 1995 Military - Colonel Geof Haswell tells Globe and Mail that Defence Department officials, up to the Minister, approved a plan to shred documents relating to the Somalia Affair. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Basketball - Vancouver Grizzlies lose 105-91 to the Utah Jazz, breaking the NBA record for consecutive losses in a season - 21 in a row. Vancouver, BC
  • 1999 Hockey - Wayne Gretzky scored his 1,072nd all-time goal, surpassing Gordie Howe as the leading scorer in pro hockey history (20 NHL seasons and one season in the WHA).
  • 2004 Crime - Peel Regional Police officer arrested for possessing $2.5 million worth of cocaine. Brampton, Ontario
  • 2004 Terrorism - RCMP raid an Ottawa area home, arrest Momin Khawaja on terrorism charges. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Politics - The Progressive Canadian Party registers with Elections Canada to elect members into the Canadian House of Commons in the 2004 federal election. Ottawa, Ontario