Today is Constitution Day and the 30th Anniversary of the Charter of RIghts and Freedoms

  • 1851 Launch of Marco Polo, the Fastest Ship in the World
  • 1903 Barr Colonists Arrive in Saskatoon
  • 1982 Queen Elizabeth Signs The Canada Act 1982 Into Law

List of Facts for April 17

  • 1610 Henry Hudson sets sail on the Discovery to look for the North West Passage; he will discover Hudson Bay and die there, cast adrift by mutineers the following June. England
  • 1645 Charles d’Aulnay attacks Fort La Tour; with Charles de La Tour in Boston, seeking help to maintain his hold in Acadia, his wife, Françoise-Marie Jacquelin, is forced to surrender, and dies soon after. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1754 Claude-Pierre de Contrecoeur captures an English post at the confluence of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers; builds Fort Duquesne, after ejecting a group of English settlers from Virginia. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1840 William Lyon Mackenzie disciple October 13, 1849. Queenston, Ontario
  • 1851 James Smith launches his square-rigged clipper ship Marco Polo at Marsh Creek, Courtenay Bay; named for its full-length figurehead of the famous Venetian traveller; built with the body of a cargo ship above the water line and the configuration of a much-faster clipper ship below; soon sets a record for the passage from Saint John to Liverpool at 15 days; 1852 The Fastest Ship in the World sets a new speed record circumnavigating the globe from Liverpool to Australia and around in only five months and 21 days. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1855 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, incorporated as a city. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1856 Québec City made the temporary seat of the government of the Province of Canada, replacing Kingston. Québec, Québec
  • 1866 Nova Scotia Assembly votes in favour of Maritime Union. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1885 Major-General Frederick Middleton’s column reaches Clark’s Crossing. Clark’s Crossing, Saskatchewan
  • 1889 Saint John and Portland agree to merge, becoming one City of Saint John. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1893 British Columbia Coal, Petroleum and Mineral Company, Limited, incorporated to absorb assets of Crow’s Nest Coal and Mineral Company.
  • 1896 An Act to Incorporate the Columbia and Western Railway Company (C&W) receives royal assent in British Columbia; capitalization of $5 million.
  • 1896 Mineral Act of 1896 read into British Columbia law.
  • 1903 Settlement - The Rev. George Exton Lloyd leads 1,500 Barr colonists to Saskatoon; with much baggage and the Rev Isaac Barr missing, they stay for two weeks before embarking in wagons and on foot to the colony on what is now the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, originally called Britannia Settlement, later named Lloydminster. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1913 Alberta Election - Arthur Sifton’s Liberals re-elected in Alberta with a third consecutive majority; election called the most dishonest in the province’s history. Alberta
  • 1915 H. M. Mosdell founds the St. John’s Daily Star newspaper. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1918 Canadian Parliament meets in camera for wartime discussion; First secret session. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1919 Women in New Brunswick granted right to vote in provincial elections, but not to hold office. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1935 Nelson Opera House burns down. Nelson, BC
  • 1944 Second World War - RCAF Canso aircraft from No. 162 Squadron sinks German submarine U-432 southwest of Iceland. North Atlantic
  • 1945 Second World War - Canadian Army clears the Germans out of Apeldoorn. Apeldoorn, Netherlands
  • 1945 Music - Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonic Choir First perform together at the Queen Street Auditorium; Orchestra holds First concert in October at the Lyric Theatre. Kitchener, Ontario
  • 1962 Canada elected to UN Commission on Human Rights for three year term; beginning January 1,1963. United Nations, New York
  • 1964 Texas Gulf Sulphur announces Kidd Creek copper-zinc-silver discovery; leads to highest daily volume in North American stock exchanges to date: 28.7 million shares. Timmins, Ontario
  • 1965 Canadian Pacific Railway passenger train derails near Terrace Bay, killing one, injuring 47. Terrace Bay, Ontario
  • 1967 Lester Pearson announces creation of the Order of Canada, effective July 1; to honour outstanding citizens for service to Canada or humanity at large. The honour will be granted by the Governor General, and new Governor General Roland Michener will be First to hold the Order. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1967 Roland Michener takes office as the third Canadian born Governor-General. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Montreal Expos’ Bill Stoneman pitches a no-hitter to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-0. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1969 National Archives of Canada acquires Louis Riel’s 32-page, hand-written account of the 1870 North West Rebellion. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Sylvia Ostry appointed director of the Economic Council of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 National Defence to make Yellowknife permanent headquarters for the Canadian military in the North. Yellowknife, NWT
  • 1970 Québec Savings Bank granted full chartered bank status; founded in the 1840s as La Banque Populaire. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1973 Hockey - John McLellan resigns as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs; replaced by Red Kelly. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1974 Saskatchewan to provide free prescription drugs to provincial residents. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1981 Hockey - New York Islander Denis Potvin ties NHL record, scoring three playoff power-play goals in a game against the Oilers. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1982 Constitution - Queen Elizabeth II signs the Speech by Pierre Trudeau
  • 1983 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers’ Wayne Gretzky sets a playoff record for most points in a game, with seven (on four goals and three assists) in a 10-2 win over the Calgary Flames; record broken in 1988 when Patrick Sundstrom scored eight in a game for New Jersey. Edmonton’s Paul Coffey also set a Stanley Cup record for defensemen, with a goal in his fifth consecutive playoff game. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1985 Constitution - Governor General proclaims Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the Equality Rights guarantee comes into force. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1985 Constitution - Canada Post issues stamp honouring Thérèse Casgrain, politician, leader in struggle for women’s’ rights.
  • 1990 Environment Minister Lucien Bouchard releases draft rules forcing 90 pulp and paper mills to install secondary waste treatment plants; estimated 50% of all waste dumped into Canadian waters; will cost industry $5 billion. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Monique Landry promises Iran $6.5 million to help Kurdish refugees; total Canadian relief of $16.6 million added to $2 million for Turkish camps. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Ottawa bans Meme breast implant, reports it can break down, release cancer causing chemicals. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 Québec pop singer Julie Masse reveals she and rocker Corey Hart are having a baby; Hart produced most of her 1994 album, Circle of One. Montréal, Québec
  • 1996 Bud Olson appointed Alberta Lieutenant Governor (to February 10th, 2000).
  • 1998 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Toronto Dominion Bank announce plans to merge into Canada’s second-largest bank in a $15 billion stock swap; the merger is later blocked by the government. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1998 Canadian Space Agency astronaut Dave Williams flies aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia; the first non-American to serve as medical officer.
  • 2000 Chris Jericho Wins WWE (then called WWF) World Title only to have it stripped away 15 minutes later.
  • 2002 Four Canadian infantrymen are killed, and eight injured, in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two U.S. F-16s, dropping a 230-kilogram bomb.
  • 2004 Dalai Lama visits Canada for 19-day tour.
  • 2004 Canadian peacekeeper serving in Prnjavor, Bosnia-Herzegovina, injured in road accident, one civilian also injured. Cause under investigation. Bosnia