Highlights of the day

  • 1946 Canada acquires the Canadian section of the Alaska Highway from the US Army after WW II
  • 1970 Bobby Orr the first defenseman to win the NHL scoring title, & the Art Ross Trophy

List of Facts for April 3

  • 1669 Louis XIV orders permanent militia established in New France. Paris, France
  • 1756 Marquis de Montcalm sails from France for Canada; he will die at the battle of the Plains of Abraham. St-Malo, France
  • 1826 Financial panic hits New Brunswick as word spreads that banks in London had failed and the timber trade had collapsed; so-called Black Monday. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1836 Baldwin, Rolph & Dunn resign from Bond Head’s council to protest lack of democracy in Upper Canada. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1849 Education - Robert Baldwin’s University Bill secularizes higher education in Ontario and leads to the renaming of King’s College as the University of Toronto. King’s College was originally founded by the Rev. John Strachan on March 15, 1827. Strachan, anticipating the act, founded a new Anglican institution, Trinity College, now a federated college of the U of T. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1898 Disaster - Chilkoot Pass avalanche kills 88 men during the Klondike gold rush. Yukon
  • 1907 Education - Legislature passes bill establishing the University of Saskatchewan. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1907 Women - Married Woman’s Property Act is passed. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1907 Disaster - Three die in the after damp of a gas blast in the International Coal and Coke mine at Coleman, Alberta.
  • 1916 First World War - Second Canadian Division troops see action at St. Eloi in Flanders; until April 20, 1916. St. Eloi, Belgium
  • 1929 Hudson Bay Railway is completed to Churchill on Hudson Bay.. Churchill, Manitoba
  • 1930 Hockey - Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup for the First time in the new Montreal Forum, beating Boston Bruins 4-3 in game 2 of a two-game series sweep. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1930 Music - Soprano Emma Albani dies in London; born Emma LaJeunesse in Québec, she was the First Canadian-born artist to achieve international fame. London, England
  • 1933 Hockey - Toronto Maple Leafs Ken Doraty scores at 1:44:46 of overtime beyond the one hour regulation game to beat Boston Bruins 1-0 in Stanley Cup semifinals; longest NHL game to that date. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1935 Military - Lt J. P. Connolly appointed Commanding Officer, charged to raise a RCNVR unit in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
  • 1940 Alexander Augustus Frederick, Earl of Athlone, appointed Governor General, replacing the late John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir; serves from June 21, 1940 to March 16, 1946. London, England
  • 1944 Second World War - Victoria flier Lt Cdr Roy Baker Falkner leads an audacious low-level dive-bombing attack against the German battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord; 14 dive-bombing hits cripple the ship and prevent Tirpitz from posing a major threat in the forthcoming invasion of Normandy by the allies in June 1944. (CFB Esquimalt Military and Naval Museum)
  • 1945 Second World War - Canadian Army crosses the Rhine; captures Zevenaar, and reaches Zutphen. Netherlands
  • 1946 Canada agrees to acquire the Canadian section of the Alaska Highway, including telephone systems, buildings and other assets, for $108 million (1,221 miles at $88,000 a mile); 2,450 km long highway originally cost US$140 million to build, as a wartime supply route in case of Japanese invasion of North America. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1950 Tulameen Collieries at Princeton, BC, shuts down.
  • 1957 Music - Elvis Presley plays a concert in Ottawa after performing two the night before in Toronto. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1967 Coal mine explosion kills 15 and injures 9 miners near Natal. BC. Natal, BC
  • 1967 Fifteen of 32 man shift die at 3:59 pm. in Crowsnest Industry Limited’s Balmer North mine at Natal, BC. Ten hurt.
  • 1968 Ottawa removes restrictions on selling gold purchased by the Royal Mint from Canadian producers. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Ottawa to reduce Canadian forces in Europe but remain in NATO alliance. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Hockey - Bobby Orr the first defenseman to win the NHL scoring title, and the Art Ross Trophy; will win it twice; native of Parry Sound, Ontario. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1973 Francois Cloutier, Québec Education Minister, to spend $100 million to improve language teaching; also to encourage immigrants to enroll children in French schools. Québec, Québec
  • 1975 Statistics Canada reports record $2.19 billion paid out in 1974 for unemployment insurance benefits. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1976 Hockey - Pierre Larouche of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores his 50th goal of the season against Washington Capitals.
  • 1977 Hockey - Boston Bruin Jean Ratelle scores his 1,000th NHL point with an assist in a 7-4 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1978 Federal government proposes bill allowing country-wide referendum on national unity. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1982 Hockey - Gilbert Perreault of the Buffalo Sabres scores his 1,000th point against Montréal Canadiens.
  • 1988 Hockey - Penguin Mario Lemieux wins NHL scoring title, stopping Wayne Gretzky’s 7 year streak. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1988 Hockey - Stéphane Richer of the Montréal Canadiens scores his 50th goal of the season against Buffalo Sabres.
  • 1990 Québec Cree Grand Chief Matthew Coon-Come files for injunction to stop $7.5 billion Great Whale Hydro Quebec development in James Bay region; says it will harm environment and damage way of life, by flooding 5,000 sq km of ancestral lands. Montréal, Québec
  • 1991 Redpath Industries to market new product Sucralose; potential rival to Nutrasweet; does not break down at high temperatures in baking. Montréal, Québec
  • 1992 Religion - Congregation of Christian Brothers formally apologizes to victims of physical and sexual abuse at 94-year-old Mount Cashel orphanage; First complaints of abuse arose in 1970s; building to be razed, and proceeds used to help victims. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1996 Basketball - NBA Vancouver Grizzlies beat Minnesota 105-103, snapping a 23-game losing streak; expansion Grizzlies one loss short of record of 24 set by Cleveland Cavaliers (1982). Vancouver, BC
  • 1996 Military - Members of the Canadian Forces ordered to spend the entire day searching for documents that may aid the Somalia inquiry. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1998 Police - Members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary are permitted side arms for the first time. St. John’s, Newfoundland