Highlights of the day

  • 1881 Canada’s second census taken on this day
  • 1928 Reg Fessenden awarded $2.5 million by Radio Trust; recognized as inventor of radio.
  • 1949 Canada becomes a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

List of Facts for April 4

  • 1784 Andrew Stockton marries loyalist girl in what was then called Parrtown; New Brunswick’s First wedding on record. Saint John, New Brunswick 1812, April 4 - War of 1812 - American Trade Embargo against Canada regarded as a prelude to war.
  • 1827 William Parry leaves England for the Arctic on the Hecla; James Ross second- in-command. London, England
  • 1858 Mining - Start of the Fraser River gold rush in British Columbia. Langley, BC
  • 1881 Census - 1881 Canadian census taken on this day: Canada has a total population of 4,324, 810, of which there are 2,188,854 men and 2,135,956 women; among professions, 498,715 are farmers, 165,706 labourers, 40,518 carpenters and joiners, 28,981 commercial clerks and 22,905 fishermen; about 2.5 million are of English descent and 1.2 million of French descent. (Library and Archives Canada)
  • 1887 Opening of the First Colonial Conference in London; forerunner of Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conferences. London, England
  • 1893 Ontario Lieutenant Governor George Airey Kirkpatrick officially opens the Ontario Legislative Building in Queen’s Park, built on the site of a lunatic asylum; the unfinished pink limestone building will eventually cost $1.25 million; the design is criticised by some as “too American”. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1894 John Sparrow David Thompson hosts Canada-Newfoundland Confederation Conference in Ottawa until April 16; the Dominion will not join Canada until 1949. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1896 News of the Yukon’s Klondike gold strike reaches the outside world. Vancouver, BC
  • 1902 Education - British financier Cecil Rhodes leaves $10 million in his will to provide scholarships for Empire and American students at Oxford University. Oxford, England
  • 1904 Emile Berliner, the inventor of the Gramophone, incorporates the Berliner Gramophone Company of Canada; had set up a manufacturing facility for his talking machine in Montréal in 1897, and started making records at the plant in 1900. Montréal, Québec
  • 1907 Derelict remains of Granite City, British Columbia, burns.
  • 1911 Music - English composer Edward Elgar conducts the Sheffield Choir in his Dream of Gerontius at Massey Hall; part of the Musical Festival of the Empire, organized by Canadian impresario Charles A.E. Harriss, with venues in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, as well as the US. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1917 British Columbia gives women the provincial vote. Victoria, BC
  • 1917 Walter Foster becomes Premier of New Brunswick, replacing James A. Murray. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1918 First World War - Cabinet passes wartime order-in-council stipulating that every male between 16 and 60 be regularly employed. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1921 Hockey - NHL Ottawa Senators beat the PCHA Vancouver Millionaires 3 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1922 Premier W.M. Martin resigns, in order to accept a seat on the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1928 Broadcasting - Canadian Inventor Reginald Fessenden awarded $2.5 million by the Radio Trust after lawsuit. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1939 Canada recognizes the government of General Francisco Franco of Spain, following the end of the Spanish Civil War. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1942 Second World War - RCAF Squadron Leader L.J. Birchall spots Japanese fleet heading for Ceylon; alerts naval base and averts disaster for the British Fleet and a second Pearl Harbour. Sri Lanka
  • 1943 William Aberhart delivers his last lecture at the Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1947 Founding of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), with headquarters in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1949 Military - Canada signs the North Atlantic Treaty with Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the U.S.; becomes founding member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization; NATO members pledge to defend each other in event of Soviet attack. NATO is Canada’s first peacetime military alliance. Washington, DC (NATO Media Library)
  • 1951 Music - Nova Scotian Hank Snow has a #1 Billboard country hit with The Rhumba Boogie. New York, New York
  • 1957 Herbert Norman, Canadian Ambassador to Egypt, jumps from the roof of his apartment building to his death after suspicions he was a possible Communist sympathizer were released by a US Senate Subcommittee; a friend of Lester Pearson, he was a Party member in his youth; allegations against him have so far proven groundless, or at least not made public. Cairo, Egypt (Norman’s Suicide Notes)
  • 1960 Music - Ottawa’s Paul Anka has a Billboard hit with Puppy Love; peaks at #2 on the U.S. pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1966 Canada starts five-year, $350,000 project to help increase wheat production in Kenya; an environmental fiasco. Kenya
  • 1972 Cuban official Sergio Pérez Castillo is killed by an explosion planted by anti-Castro dissidents at the Cuban consulate in Montreal. Montréal, Quebec
  • 1984 Hockey - Winnipeg Jets 2, Edmonton Oilers 9
  • 1986 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky gets three assists to break his own single-season record for assists; also sets single season NHL record with his 213th point. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1987 Hockey - Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders scores his 1,000th point against Buffalo Sabres.
  • 1988 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays George Bell hits three home runs in opening day game against the Royals’ Bret Saberhagen; a major league First. Kansas City, Missouri
  • 1990 New York State passes law requiring environmental impact statements on Canadian projects before buying additional power from Hydro-Quebec. Albany, New York
  • 1990 OECD says Canada pays $117,000 for every farm job it saves by subsidizing agriculture; farm support programs raise output 17%. Paris, France
  • 1990 Toronto’s Alannah Myles has a Billboard hit with Black Velvet; peaks at #1 on the U.S. pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1990 Hockey - Winnipeg Jets 7, Edmonton Oilers 5
  • 1994 French organizers reverse cancellation of long-standing hotel reservations for over 100 Canadian Army veterans at the 50th anniversary ceremonies marking the D Day landings. Huge public outcry after vets bumped to accommodate US TV news crews and other VIPs. Normandy, France