Highlights of the day

  • 1868 D’Arcy McGee Assassinated
  • 1914 Last Spike of the Grand Trunk Pacific
  • 1977 Toronto Blue Jays play their inaugural regular season baseball game.

List of Facts for April 7

  • 1498 King Louis XII starts reign; to 1515; on death of Charles VIII (from 1483). France
  • 1691 Joseph de Villebon appointed Governor (Commandant) of Acadia; during the winter of 1691-92, he erects a fort at the junction of the Nashwaak and St. John Rivers, on the site of Saint John, New Brunswick; Fort Saint-Joseph the capital of Acadia until 1697. Paris, France
  • 1741 Henri-Marie de Pontbriand appointed last Bishop of New France before the Conquest. Québec, Québec
  • 1815 War of 1812 - Wellington’s soldiers finally breach the walls of Badajoz, Spain, after a 3 week siege; killed in the battle are Lt Édouard-Alphonse d’Irumberry de Salaberry of the Royal Engineer, the brother of Charles-Michel de Salaberry, and Capt Francis Gwillim Simcoe of the 3rd Battalion, 27th Foot, son of Lt Gen John Graves Simcoe, founding Lt Gov of Upper Canada.
  • 1849 Toronto fire consumes several city blocks in the downtown core; many old wooden buildings replaced by stone and brick; see also April 19. Toronto Ontario
  • 1851 Province of Canada Post Office issues a proof three-penny black, to be the first Canadian postage stamp; one example survives and it was not issued. Kingston, Ontario See April 23.
  • 1858 April 7 - George-Étienne Cartier adopts Confederation as major plank of Liberal-Conservative party platform. He and John A. Macdonald let all ministers resume offices they held before July 29; procedure known as ‘Double-Shuffle’; under the rules, a Minister changing his portfolio within a month of appointment can avoid election. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1858 Ottawa officially becomes the capital of the Province of Canada.
  • 1866 Confederation - Lt.-Gov. Arthur Hamilton Gordon forces Premier Albert J. Smith to resign his government, despite a majority in the legislature. Fredericton, NB
  • 1868 D’Arcy McGee is shot in the head and killed by an assassin outside his Sparks Street lodging house, as he is turning the key in his lock. McGee was returning late after making a speech in Parliament; he had denounced the Fenians, a militant Irish-American group dedicated to expelling the British from Ireland by force. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald is summoned immediately and personally helps lift McGee’s body onto a bed. McGee will be given a State Funeral, attended by thousands, on what would have been his 43rd birthday, May 9. Ottawa, Ontario.
  • 1869 Last public hanging In Prince Edward Island. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1887 British Columbia passes An Act to aid the Development of Quartz Mines; allows cash advances to $60,000 and a $12,000 grant to erectors of a mill or smelter capable of treating 20 tons of quartz per day. Victoria, BC
  • 1891 Census data puts the population of Manitoba at 152,506. Manitoba
  • 1892 Alexander Mackenzie dies at age 70; former Prime Minister still an MP. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1892 New Brunswick’s Legislative Council ceases to exist as a legislative body at the close of the session, having been abolished the year previous. Fredericton, NB
  • 1896 C&KSN launches the Kokanee (348 tons) at Nelson, BC. Dismantled 1923.
  • 1899 New Brunswick’s Women’s Enfranchisement Association floods the Legislature with 12 petitions for a suffrage bill, containing almost 4,000 signatures. On April 13, Premier Emmerson introduces an enfranchisement bill - but it is voted down 34 to 7. Fredericton, NB
  • 1909 Saskatoon chosen as the site of the University of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1910 Agriculture - Two Prince Edward Island fox farmers sell 25 silver fox pelts for $34,649, when the average yearly wage for a farm labourer is only $319.20. PEI
  • 1914 H. B Kelliher, chief engineer of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, drives in the last spike of the western division of the line at Nechako River Crossing west of Prince George; First train arrives in Prince Rupert April 9; the Winnipeg to Prince Rupert line will officially open Sept 9; later part of the CNR. Fort Fraser, BC
  • 1926 Townspeople and railway workers save the Banff Springs Hotel from a potentially disastrous fire. Banff, Alberta
  • 1927 Hockey - American Division champion Boston Bruins battle to a 0-0 draw agains the Canadian Division champion Ottawa Senators in the first all-NHL Stanley Cup Finals game; the second scoreless tie in NHL playoff history.
  • 1928 Hockey - Lester Patrick, General Manager of the New York Rangers, suits up and replaces his injured goalie Lorne Chabot, and Frank Boucher scores at 7:05 into overtime to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Maroons in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals. Patrick, one of the founders of the NHL, and a former goalie himself, is 45 years old. The Rangers go on to win the series. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1933 Raymond Paley the first known skiing fatality in the Canadian Rockies on Fossil Mountain, Alberta.
  • 1944 Second World War - First group of Canloan officers arrives in Britain; Canadian officers who were lent to the British army.
  • 1948 Military - Royal Canadian Navy’s aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent commissioned to replace HMCS Warrior. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1956 Arthur Hailey has his radio script, Flight into Danger, accepted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Hailey later writes the best-selling novel, Airport. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1972 Military - Royal Canadian Air Force Nos. 446 and 447 Squadrons cease operations;the RCAF’s two BOMARC surface-to-air missile squadrons.
  • 1972 Woodrow Lloyd dies; educator and politician; Saskatchewan Minister of Education 1944-1960 and Saskatchewan Premier 1961-1964. Saskatchewan
  • 1973 Communist insurgents shoot down helicopter in South Vietnam, killing one Canadian and three other members of the International Commission for Control and Supervision (ICCS) team. Vietnam
  • 1974 Hockey - Pittsburgh’s Andy Brown plays his final league game for the Penguins, a 6-3 loss to the Flames, at Atlanta; the last NHL goaltender to play without a mask.
  • 1976 Town of Nackawic incorporated. New Brunswick
  • 1977 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays play their inaugural regular season game and first-ever home opener in a light snowfall at the CNE Exhibition Stadium; the expansion team beats the Chicago White Sox 9-5. Al Woods, pinch-hitting for Steve Bowling in the fifth inning, hits a home run in his First at bat; First American League baseball game played outside the United States. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1982 Hockey - Winnipeg Jets played their first Stanley Cup playoff game, losing 4-3 to the St. Louis Blues at the Winnipeg Arena. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1984 Hockey - Vancouver Canucks defeat Calgary Flames 7-0 in Game 3 of the Smythe Division Semi-Finals. Richard Brodeur records the first playoff shutout in team history. Doug Halward the first defenseman in Canucks history to score a hat trick.
  • 1984 Hockey - Montreal goaltender Steve Penney leads the Canadiens to a 5-0 win over the Bruins, at the Forum in Game 3 of the Adams Division Semi-Finals; recorded his first career playoff shutout.
  • 1984 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 4, Winnipeg Jets 1; Won Division Semi-Finals 3 games to 0.
  • 1988 Hockey - Winnipeg Jets 2, Edmonton Oilers 3
  • 1989 Gunman hijacks bus near Montréal and drives it to Parliament Hill; disarmed by police. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Military - Canadian naval vessels Athabaskan, Terra Nova and Protecteur arrive home from Gulf War; ships left in early August; Huron leaves for the Gulf to help enforce the embargo against Iraq. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 2004 Fadi Ihsan Fadel taken hostage among group of other nationals; Canadian humanitarian working in Iraq.
  • 2004 Spencer Ramsay, son of former MP Jack Ramsay, found dead in the family home.