Highlights of the day

  • 1912 Two Cape Race Wireless Operators Hear Last Messages from Striken Liner Titanic.
  • 1969 Montreal Expos play their first home game at Jarry Park, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7.
  • 1980 Jeanne Sauvé appointed first woman Speaker of the House of Commons

List of Facts for April 14

  • 1612 Discovery - Welsh Admiral Sir Thomas Button sails Henry Hudson’s old ship the Discovery, with the Resolution, into Hudson Bay to search for Hudson’s remains; names island at entrance to Hudson Strait after the Resolution; discovers the Nelson River and winters there, calling the territory New Wales. Button and crew are the first Europeans in Manitoba, Nunavut
  • 1828 Disaster - The 18-gun sloop Acorn sinks off Halifax with the loss of 115 men. Atlantic Ocean
  • 1838 1837 Rebellion - Nine prisoners from Dr. Duncombe’s Rising near Brantford are sentenced to death; three are reprieved and the six remaining are to be hanged April 20. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1842 William Logan appointed director of the Geological Survey of Canada.
  • 1861 Disaster - Boiler explosion aboard Fraser River sternwheeler Fort Yale kills 8 people. Yale, BC
  • 1861 Ice dam causes St Lawrence River to overflow banks, inundating parts of Lachine and old Montreal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1866 Fenian Raids - Irish Fenians invade Indian Island, near Campobello; on April 18, the US military disarm and disperse the invaders by authority of the Neutrality Act. Campobello, New Brunswick
  • 1869 Noon cannon on Parliament Hill fired for the First time. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1871 Parliament passes Act to create uniform currency in Canada; sets denominations of currency as dollars, cents and mills. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1872 Parliament passes the Dominion Lands Act to promote homesteading in the West. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1873 Madawaska County established out of Victoria County, New Brunswick, with Edmundston as the Shire Town. Edmundston, NB
  • 1888 D.C. Corbin et al charter Spokane Falls and Northern Railway in Washington Territory.
  • 1892 Windsor incorporated; gets city charter. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1909 Energy - CPR financier Donald Smith, Lord Strathcona founds the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, the precursor of British Petroleum; Canadian drillers used in the Middle East. London, England
  • 1912 Two young wireless radio operators, Robert Hunston and James Goodwin, hear the first distress call from the luxury liner RMS Titanic, en route to New York south of the Grand Banks. An iceberg has grazed the ship’s side, popping iron rivets and shearing off a fatal number of hull plates below the waterline. [continued tomorrow…] Cape Race, Newfoundland - See: E. J. Pratt’s poem, The Titanic.
  • 1921 Hockey - Ottawa Senators sweep Toronto St Patricks in 2 games for the NHL Championship. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1928 Hockey - New York Rangers beat the Montréal Maroons 2-1 in game five of the finals; winning 3 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup. New York, New York
  • 1931 Hockey - Montreal Canadiens Goalie George Hainsworth shuts out the Chicago Black Hawks 2-0, with his 6th career playoff shutout; Montreal the second NHL team to win the championship in consecutive seasons; 3 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1944 Energy - Hydro-Québec founded by the Québec Hydro-Electric Commission after the Duplessis government expropriates Montréal Light, Heat and Power Consolidated and its subsidiary, Beauharnois Light, Heat and Power Company; after public criticism of poor service and high rates. Montréal, Québec
  • 1944 Second World War - HMCS Swansea (K328) and Royal Navy’s HMS Pelican destroy submarine U-448 with depth charges in the North Atlantic.
  • 1945 Second World War - Canadian Army occupies Arnhem, completes liberation of the low countries. Arnhem, Netherlands
  • 1948 Hockey - Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings 7-2 in game 4 of the finals; a four game sweep, and the Leafs’ second consecutive Stanley Cup Championship. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1953 Hockey - Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 4 games to 1 for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1955 Hockey - Alex Delvecchio scores twice as Detroit Red Wings beat Montreal Canadiens 3-1 in game 7; 4 games to 3 to take the Stanley Cup. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1960 Hockey - Jean Beliveau scores twice as Montreal Canadiens sweep Toronto Maple Leafs in four games for their fifth Stanley Cup in a row; Montreal the first team to win 5 consecutive NHL Championships. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1969 Baseball - Lester Pearson throws out the First ball as a crowd of 29,184 watch the Montreal Expos play their first game at Jarry Park, beating the National Baseball League St. Louis Cardinals 8-7; opening home game of franchise, First regular-season major league baseball game in Canada, and outside the US; broadcast across Canada on CBC television and radio. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1971 Military - HMCS Gatineau re-commissioned as first operational Improved Restigouche Escort Class destroyer. Esquimalt, BC
  • 1975 Judy LaMarsh chairs Ontario Royal Commission to Examine Violence in the Media; former Secretary of State of Canada. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1975 Ontario Court of Appeal rules that divorced women can sue their former husbands for damages. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1976 90,000 Québec teachers stage 24-hour illegal walkout; summonses served on 100 teachers’ union locals. Québec
  • 1978 Anti Inflation Board wound up; oil stocks begin three year price boom. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1980 Opening of first session of the 32nd Parliament; until July 18, 1981. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1980 Parliament - Jeanne Sauvé sworn in as first woman Speaker of the House of Commons; term ends January 15, 1984; Liberal
  • 1980 The National Film Board wins an Oscar for its animated films. Hollywood, California
  • 1983 Hockey - Mark Messier’s 4 goals lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 6-3 win over Calgary Flames, despite 3 goals from Flames’ defenseman Paul Reinhart, in game 1 of the division finals; first time in NHL playoff history that players from both teams score hat tricks in the same game.
  • 1986 Postal - Canada Post issues commemorative stamp honouring aboriginal leader Molly Brant.
  • 1987 Hockey - Los Angeles Kings 4, Edmonton Oilers 5; Oilers win Division Semi-Finals 4 games to 1. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1989 Music - Nova Scotia singer Rita MacNeil makes her US concert debut at the 1,200-seat Berklee Performance Centre. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1990 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 3, Winnipeg Jets 3
  • 1992 Supreme Court of Canada, citing new evidence, rules unanimously that David Milgaard’s 1970 murder conviction in the death of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller should be quashed; recommends a new trial. The Saskatchewan government sets Milgaard free two days later, but decides not to have another trial, nor offer compensation, since the Supreme Court did not rule if he was innocent or a victim of a miscarriage of justice. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Hockey - Scotty Bowman’s Detroit Red Wings defeat Dallas Stars 5-1, finishing their season with 62 victories, beating the 60 wins of the 1976-77 Montréal Canadiens; the winningest season in NHL history. Dallas, Texas
  • 1997 Québec City lawyer Guy Bertrand places his petition asking for a ruling on the legality of Québec separation before the Supreme Court of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2003 Quebec Election - Jean Charest’s Liberals defeat Bernard Landry’s Parti Québécois.
  • 2004 MIlitary - Prime Minister Paul Martin announces extension to deployment of current soldiers in Afghanistan until summer 2005.