Highlights of the day

  • 1750 French Fur Traders Found Toronto, named after “le passage de Toronto”.
  • 1920 Royal Canadian Mint releases first Canadian small penny coin.

List of Facts for April 15

  • 1626 Samuel de Champlain starts his 11th voyage to New France. St-Malo, France
  • 1672 Royal edict prohibits fur traders from going into Indian villages; Indians must bring their furs down to the settlements. Québec, Québec
  • 1750 Pierre de Portneuf starts to build Fort Toronto near the Mississauga village of Teiaiagon on the orders of the Marquis de La Jonquière, Governor of New France. He will complete the post, situated on the east bank of the Humber River up from Lake Ontario, on May 20. Growing trade and a threat from the English at Oswego and in the Ohio valley soon convince the French to build a larger, more secure post, Fort Rouillé, completed the following spring farther east on the site of the CNE at the foot of Dufferin Street. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1783 The Continental Congress ratifies preliminary articles of peace with Great Britain; will conclude with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1814 War of 1812 - Kingston Navy Dockyard launches two warships, the Prince Regent and the Princess Charlotte; under Commodore Sir James Yeo, they will blockade the American fleet in Sackett’s Harbour and capture Oswego, restoring Canadian control of Lake Ontario in the War of 1812 and ending the threat of US invasion. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1853 Hudson’s Bay Company surgeon John Rae sets out from Fort Confidence on an extensive search for Sir John Franklin’ lost expedition; he will survey over 1100 km of coastline, including the final undiscovered parts of the North West Passage, and find the first evidence of the disaster met by the expedition, including the fact that some of the survivors had resorted to cannibalism. Franklin’s widow Lady Jane was outraged and pampleteers like Charles Dickens, tore at Rae for daring to suggest British sailors were capable of such outrages. NWT
  • 1856 U.S. Congress ratifies the Judith River Treaty. Washington, DC
  • 1869 Second session of the First Dominion Parliament meets until June 22; passes act for temporary government for Rupert’s Land and the NWT. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1870 Last day US silver coins allowed to circulate in Canada as legal tender.
  • 1872 3,000 members of 13 unions march in Queen’s Park labour day parade; annual event in the 1870s. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1882 Bank of Nova Scotia opens its Winnipeg branch. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1885 NWMP Inspector Francis Dickens abandons Fort Pitt and withdraws to Battleford after white settlers decide to surrender to Big Bear during the North West Rebellion; he is the third son of novelist Charles Dickens. Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan
  • 1890 Lieutenant-governor of the NWT, Edgar Dewdney, turns the sod on the Calgary and Edmonton Railway (C&E).
  • 1890 Pierre-Amand Landry appointed New Brunswick’s First Acadian judge. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1897 City of Grand Forks incorporated.
  • 1898 Ottawa refuses D.C. Corbin’s final bid to encharter his Kettle River Valley Railway.
  • 1901 Woodstock incorporated as a city. Woodstock, Ontario
  • 1907 More than 3,000 Alberta and BC coal miners go on a three-week strike. Alberta/BC
  • 1910 Murder in Calgary’s red-light district, Nose Creek, leads to a crackdown on prostitution in the city. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1912 After midnight, Robert Hunston and James Goodwin, junior wireless radio operators at Cape Race, hear the last of the RMS Titanic’s distress calls as the stricken ship continues to send out signals. Ships rush to the scene to rescue the survivors, or whom there are 711; they recover 328 bodies; those too badly damaged or deteriorated are buried at sea, and the remaining 209 are brought to Halifax, where they are claimed from the morgues or buried over 11 days starting on May 3. Cape Race, Newfoundland
  • 1919 New Brunswick women granted the right to vote in provincial elections, after almost 50 years of debating the issue. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1920 Royal Canadian Mint releases new Canadian small cent coin. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1923 Insulin becomes available for general use; discovered in 1922 by Banting and Best at the University of Toronto; extracted from the pancreas of animals or synthesized in the laboratory, insulin is a natural hormone for carbohydrate metabolism in the body. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1924 Prohibition ends in Saskatchewan.
  • 1925 Hockey - New NHL team, the NY Americans (formerly Hamilton Tigers) lose their first game, 3-1. New York, New York
  • 1925 Saskatchewan Liquor Control Board is established. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1928 Canadian aircraft rescues crew of downed German airship Bremen; forced down on Greenley Island in the Strait of Belle Isle. Greenley Island, Newfoundland
  • 1931 Six demonstrators are hospitalized after a clash with police; the trouble started after a crowd of 6,000 appealed for assistance from the provincial government. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1937 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings beat NY Rangers 3 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1937 Trade unions legalized in Nova Scotia. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1941 Second World War - No. 402 Fighter Squadron makes RCAF’s First attack over enemy territory. France
  • 1944 The Guy Lombardo Orchestra has a #1 Billboard hit with It’s Love, Love, Love (vocal: Skip Nelson). New York, New York
  • 1945 Canadian Army and British troops liberate the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany. Bergen-Belsen, Germany
  • 1947 Donald Gordon resigns as Chairman of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board; succeeded by Ken Taylor; returns to Bank of Canada as Deputy Governor. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1952 Bluebell mine and new concentrator activated with WK Power.
  • 1952 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings sweep Montréal Canadiens in four games for the Stanley Cup. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1952 Most of Eastend’s residents are forced to evacuate due to flooding. Eastend, Saskatchewan
  • 1958 CP Hotels open their Montréal flagship, the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Montréal, Québec
  • 1969 CN replaces the Newfie Bullet train between St. John’s and Port aux Basques with buses. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1971 Harry Smith appointed First Ombudsman of Nova Scotia; former president of King’s College, Halifax. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1972 Canada and the United States sign the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Washington, DC
  • 1974 Group of nine Québec women win $1 million first prize in the First Loto Canada Olympic draw. Québec
  • 1974 Lucien Lamoureux presides over his 3,010th House of Commons session, becoming the Speaker with the longest service in Canadian history. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1975 Parliament raises salaries of MPs by one third. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1976 Federal Cabinet awards to Dome Petroleum Ltd. of Calgary a permit to drill First offshore wells from artificial islands in the shallow Beaufort Sea; exploration period shortened by six weeks and cleanup bond raised from $10 million to $50 million, after concern from native groups and environmentalists about effects of a possible blowout on the fragile Arctic ecosystem. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Montreal Expos play their First baseball game in the Olympic Stadium - the Big O - after moving from Jarry Park. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1981 Provincial court rules that Rev. André Mercure does not have right to French trial on speeding charge; judgment severely limits use of French in Saskatchewan and Alberta courts. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1981 Québec Court of Appeal rules in favour of Ottawa’s constitutional package. Québec
  • 1984 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 3, Calgary Flames 2
  • 1984 Fleet of tall ships leaves St-Malo on a race to Canada; celebrating the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier’s discovery of Québec. St-Malo, France
  • 1991 Finance Minister Michael Wilson says Canada will give $4 million to the $14 billion fund of the new European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, set up to help rebuild Eastern European economies. London, England
  • 1991 Scientist Ken Croasdale reports that the fixed link bridge from Nova Scotia to PEI will have no damaging effect on ice movement in the Northumberland Strait. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1992 Canadian actor William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk) inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, along with his fellow Star Trek players Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) and DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy). New York, New York
  • 1992 Hockey - New York Islander coach Al Arbour coaches his record breaking 1,438th NHL game. Uniondale, New York
  • 1999 Hockey - April 18, in Madison Square Gardens, New York. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Member of Parliament Svend Robinson confesses to stealing a ring from an auction firm. Takes medical leave. Vancouver, BC