Highlights of the day

  • 1945 Canadian General Charles Foulkes takes the surrender of all German forces in Holland.
  • 1972 Birth of the Québec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association (WHA).
  • 1973 Ron Turcotte rides Secretariat to victory in the Kentucky Derby in 1:59.4, breaking Northern Dance’s 1964 record.

List of Facts for May 5

  • 1660 Bishop François de Laval threatens to excommunicate all residents of New France who sell liquor to the Indians. Québec
  • 1727 Nova Scotia commissions First Justices of the Peace. Nova Scotia
  • 1789 Estaban Jose Martinez arrives in Nootka Sound on Spanish warship Princesa; proclaims Spanish sovereignty on west coast. Nootka Sound, BC
  • 1800 David Thompson starts survey of North Saskatchewan River. Saskatchewan
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Major General Henry Proctor attacks 1,200 US reinforcements coming up to end 5 day siege of Americans under William Henry Harrison at Fort Meigs; 400 US soldiers killed, British losses number only 15 in this battle. Fort Meigs, Ohio
  • 1814 War of 1812 - Commodore James Yeo leads a fleet of warships from Kingston to bombard Fort Ontario; Lt. General Gordon Drummond lands 1,100 troops and Col. Fisher and Capt. Mulcaster attack the Fort and its 500 US defenders; they will capture it the following day. Oswego, New York
  • 1826 Red River Flood - Heavy rains follows a severe winter in the Red River Settlement; between May 3 and 4 the Red River rose five feet, then on May 5, the ice broke and the flood swept away 47 houses, killing 5 colonists; the Hudson’s Bay Company sent out boats to rescue stranded colonists from roof tops. Manitoba
  • 1842 Abraham Gesner opens Gesner Museum at Saint John; the First public museum in Canada is a financial failure; but geologist Gesner goes on to invent kerosene, and makes a fortune. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1859 Richard Moody makes town of Queensborough the capital of British Columbia; later called New Westminster. New Westminster, BC
  • 1863 Founding of Huron College by Bishop Cronyn of the Anglican Church; now affiliated with the University of Western Ontario. London, Ontario
  • 1893 US Stock market crash due to Sherman Silver announcement and higher US tariffs; 15,000 businesses go bankrupt, over 600 banks close and and up to 20% of the US work force is unemployed; causes economic depression in Canada and severe damage to Canada-US trade. New York, New York
  • 1900 Private Richard Thompson of Ottawa, Ontario is awarded one of only seven Queen’s Scarves, knitted by Queen Victoria, for his gallantry in the Boer War. London, England
  • 1903 Cokers strike CNP Coal: to June 12.
  • 1906 CPR launches steamboat Kuskanook (1008 tons) at Nelson, BC. Retired 1930.
  • 1908 First Alberta Provincial Music Festival is held. Alberta
  • 1909 CPR’s Lower Spiral Tunnel completed.
  • 1909 Outburst in the Carbonado mine; two killed.
  • 1912 Olympics- Canadian team joins 27 other nations and a total of 2,546 competitors at the opening of the fifth Olympic Games; to July 22. Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1922 University of Saskatchewan confers its First honorary Doctor of Law degree on pioneer Angus Mckay. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1929 CNR radio operator achieves two-way conversations with moving trains. Montréal, Québec
  • 1931 William Walsh appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta; serves to October 1, 1936.
  • 1936 Hedley Mascot Gold Mining Limited’s mill near Hedley, BC begins operations.
  • 1945 Second World War - Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes takes the surrender of all German forces in Holland, near Wilhelmshaven, Aurich, and Emden. Germany. A typewriter can’t be found, so the document is typed and signed on May 6.
  • 1949 Johns-Manville strikers seize town of Asbestos on learning of plans to hire scab workers; 400 heavily armed police eventually end insurrection. Asbestos, Quebec
  • 1950 Red River Flood hits Manitoba - Waves caused by 80 kph winds break through the dikes of Winnipeg, inundating the city, leaving one dead, and causing $100 million damage; one third of the population are forced to flee their homes; 10,000 people will evacuate the Red River valley south of Winnipeg; ends May 25, 1950 File:Two nuns paddling a canoe through the gates of their convent. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1952 Ottawa suspends consumer restrictions. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1964 Hal Banks sentenced to five years in jail, but later flees to native US; Seafarers’ International Union leader. Montréal, Québec
  • 1966 Hockey - Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1968 Toronto rocker Neil Young plays final show with Buffalo Springfield; he and Steven Stills will join David Crosby and Graham Nash, while Jim Messina will team up with Kenny Loggins. Buffalo Springfield were together only two years and released three albums. Long Beach, California
  • 1970 Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman and the Guess Who rocket to the top of the US charts with their No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: American Woman; Winnipeg based band. New York, New York
  • 1972 Québec Indian Association files legal action to stop James Bay power project; claims compensation under the 1912 Transfer Act that gave the province northern land. Québec, Québec
  • 1972 Hockey - Birth of the Québec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association (WHA). The franchise was originally awarded to a group in San Francisco, as the San Francisco Sharks, but when financing fell through, it was sold to a group of six owners of the Quebec Remparts junior team. The team’s first head coach was Maurice “Rocket” Richard but he decided coaching wasn’t his forte and stepped down after two games. Québec, Québec
  • 1973 New Brunswick jockey Ron Turcotte and Secretariat win the Kentucky Derby in a time of 1:59.4, breaking the record set by Northern Dancer in 1964; the record still stands. Louisville, Kentucky
  • 1975 Ottawa raises export price of natural gas from $1.00 per thousand cubic feet to $1.40 on Aug. 1; to $1.60 on Nov. 1 Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Stuart Garson dies; lawyer and politician; Premier of Manitoba from 1943-48. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1977 Willy Adams becomes the First Inuk to enter Parliament when he is appointed to the Senate. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1980 Canada’s Cliff Thornburn beats Alex Higgins 18-16 to take the world professional snooker title; First player from outside the British Isles to win. Britain
  • 1982 Canadian Wheat Board announces record Chinese wheat purchase; at least $2.25 billion over 3 years. China
  • 1983 Bill Bennett and Social Credit returned to office; win British Columbia election with 35 seats to the NDP’s 22.
  • 1987 Bryan Adams opens a North American concert tour to promote his album, Into the Fire. Shreveport, Louisiana
  • 1987 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings 3, Edmonton Oilers 1
  • 1988 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings 3, Edmonton Oilers 5
  • 1989 Clyde Wells becomes Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, replacing Thomas Rideout. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1992 CBC cancels The Tommy Hunter Show after 27 years as a weekly series; North America’s longest-running network music show; the CBC felt that ‘Canada’s Country Gentleman’ appealed only to an older audience. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 William Hopper says Petro-Canada to lay off 1,200 employees by end of 1993; company lost $598 m in 1991; largest corporate loss in the history of Canada to that date. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1995 Official opening ceremony for CN’s new rail tunnel between Sarnia and Port Huron, Michigan; can handle full height double stack container cars. Sarnia, Ontario
  • 1996 Martin Prochazka scores a tie breaker with 19 seconds left, leading the Czech Republic to a 4-2 win over Canada 4-2 for the world hockey championship. Europe
  • 1997 Crosby, Stills and Nash help mark the 27th anniversary of the Kent State University shootings, performing their hit Ohio, written by Canadian rocker Neil Young after the killings of four students by National Guardsmen during an anti-war demonstration on May 4, 1970. Kent, Ohio
  • 2000 Communications - Love Bug virus cripples computers around the globe.
  • 2002 Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang leader Maurice Boucher is convicted in of two counts of first-degree murder. Montréal, Québec
  • 2005 Military - Canadian Forces Maritime Command board of inquiry finds no one accountable for the fatal fire aboard HMCS Chicoutimi. Halifax, Nova Scotia