Highlights of the day

  • 1851 Province of Canada post office issues 6 penny Prince Albert stamp.
  • 1870 Cartier’s Manitoba Act given Royal Assent; Province to enter Confederation July 15.
  • 1885 Dumont and Riel finally defeated after four days fighting at the Battle of Batoche.

List of Facts for May 12

  • 1604 Pierre De Monts confiscates the vessel of a Captain Rossignol who was illegally engaged in the fur trade in defiance of de Monts’ monopoly; he names the harbour Port Rossignol to mark the incident. Liverpool, Nova Scotia
  • 1630 Charles de La Tour fights off father Claude La Tour, at Fort Lomeron; also called Fort St. Louis; Claude had joined the English and enrolled his son Charles as a Nova Scotia baronet. Cape Sable, Nova Scotia
  • 1758 Exploration - George Vancouver dies; explorer and surveyor of the BC coast 1792-94, who gave his name to the city and island. Petersham, England
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - Seth Warner captures Crown Point from British. Crown Point, New York
  • 1776 Thomas Frobisher starts to build trading post at Île à La Crosse on the Churchill River (Misnipi River). Ile a la Crosse, Saskatchewan
  • 1802 Royal charter grants university powers to King’s College, Windsor. Windsor, Nova Scotia
  • 1804 David Thompson reaches Lake Athabasca. Alberta
  • 1820 Lord Dalhousie appointed Governor-in-Chief of Lower Canada; serves from June 19, 1820 to September 8, 1828. Québec, Québec
  • 1846 Canadian Assembly petitions Queen Victoria for reciprocity - reciprocal free trade with the US . Montréal, Québec
  • 1848 James Ross sails with Robert McClure and Francis McClintock on the Enterprise and Investigator; will winter at Somerset Island, Leopold Harbour, Nunavut. London, England
  • 1851 Postal - Post office issues 6 penny Prince Albert stamp; part of a series with Sandford Fleming’s 3 penny Beaver and a 12 penny Queen Victoria; first postage stamp issue of the Province of Canada. Kingston, Ontario (See June 14).
  • 1867 George-Etienne Cartier sees passage of his Canada Railway Loan Act; to approve £3 million loan guarantee for Intercolonial Railway from Québec to Halifax. London, England
  • 1870 George-Etienne Cartier sees his Manitoba Act given Royal Assent; provides for the entry of Manitoba into Confederation on May 20 Ottawa, Ontario May 12 - Parliament passes The Census Act of May 12, 1870. Under Section 8 of the BNA Act, a census was to be taken no later than May 1, 1871, and every tenth year thereafter. This first census of the Dominion will count the population of the four original provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, to determine appropriate representation by population in the new Parliament. The 1871 questionnaire will cover a variety of subjects, and asks 211 questions on area, land holdings, vital statistics, religion, education, administration, the military, justice, agriculture, commerce, industry and finance. Information was collected in tabular form on population, houses and other buildings, lands, industries and institutions. The population field included the age, sex, religion, education, race and occupation of each person. Not every household answered all 211 questions. The results will be announced April 2, 1871.
  • 1875 Opening of the Prince Edward Island Railroad. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1876 British polar expedition stops 650 km short of the North Pole; farthest northern point reached to that date. Ellesmere Island, Nunavut
  • 1883 Columbia and Kootenay Railway and Transportation Company Act, 1883, receives royal assent in British Columbia. Directors: Jno. C. Ainsworth, Geo. J. Ainsworth, E.W. Blasdel; permissable capitalisation $5 million. Victoria, BC
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - Gabriel Dumont and his Métis and Cree warriors finally defeated after the four day Battle of Batoche; some troops disobey Middleton, storm the trenches and slaughter the Metis defenders, who had run out of ammunition and were firing stones and nails. Riel gives himself up to Middleton’s troops on November 16, 1885. Batoche, Saskatchewan
  • 1887 John Abbott appointed to the Senate; Dean of Law at McGill University, and later Canada’s third Prime Minister. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1890 Military - Frederick Middleton convicted by Parliament of looting furs during command of North West Rebellion; will resign his post under censure in June, 1890. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1892 Shuswap and Okanagan Railway opens for business. BC
  • 1897 CPR launches steamboat Slocan (578 tons) at Rosebery. Re-built, re-registered, re-launched on September 30, 1905. Retired in 1928. Rosebery, BC
  • 1903 Niagara Falls incorporated as a city. Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • 1905 Fire consumes part of the downtown district of Coleman, NWT.
  • 1906 Pincher Creek, Alberta, incorporated as a town. Alberta
  • 1908 Flooding on the St. Lawrence causes serious damage in many municipalities along Lac St. Louis. Québec
  • 1915 Premier Rodmond Roblin resigns over the findings by the Mathers Commission of misappropriation of funds and overspending on building of the Legislature. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1915 Tobias Norris becomes Premier of Manitoba, replacing Sir Rodmond Roblin Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1922 Royal Canadian Navy cuts force to three small ships on each coast as an economy measure. Ottawa, Ontario -*May 12 - Unveiling of a statue of Abraham Martin at the Old Port of Quebec; Martin was the first colonist of New France. Québec, Québec
  • 1924 Wladek Zbysko wins a major wrestling tournament in Montreal.
  • 1926 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, Italian Umberto Nobile and American Lincoln Ellsworth cross the North Pole in the Italian airship Norge; later lands in Alaska. Nunavut
  • 1933 Franco-Canadian trade treaty is signed in Ottawa, with each side giving the other favoured nation status; France and Canada both lower tariffs on secondary items. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1937 BBC broadcasts King George VI’s coronation at Westminster Abbey throughout the Empire in its first outside broadcast and the the world’s first global radio broadcast. Crisp wire photos send by William Stephenson’s wirephoto system are published in Canadian newspapers. London, England
  • 1945 Second World War - German U-190 complies with orders to surface and surrender; U-899 a day later; only U-boats to surrender to the Royal Canadian Navy. St. John’s Newfoundland (Nova Scotia Archives Footage) May 12, 1947 -Novelist Gabrielle Roy the first woman to serve in the Royal Society of Canada.
  • 1951 Hockey - The Valleyfield Braves, coached by Toe Blake, win the Alexander Trophy, awarded for the first time.
  • 1953 Montreal theatre group, la Jeune Scène, wins the Dominion Drama Festival at Victoria, with its play “Zone” by young playwright Marcel Dubé. Victoria, BC
  • 1955 Canadian pop star Gisele MacKenzie performs on the NBC-TV’s Justice on This Night, singing her song, Hard to Get, that will climb to #4 on the Billboard pop music chart by September. New York, New York
  • 1958 Opening of first session of 25th Parliament; until September 6, 1958. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1958 Military - United States and Canada sign the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) agreement; today the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
  • 1965 Songwriter and music publisher Gordon V. Thompson dies at age 76; sold over 100,000 copies in sheet music before First World War; known for such patriotic songs as Red Cross Nell and Khaki Jim, When We Wind Up the Watch on the Rhine, Back to the Farm with a Farmerette and Quintuplets’ Lullaby (for the Dionnes); 1932 founded the Gordon V. Thompson music publishing firm. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1965 Supreme Court upholds 876 treaties with Saskatchewan first nations requiring the Crown to provide them with medical care. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Flag of Manitoba proclaimed; red ensign with provincial crest. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1966 Parliament passes Act to establish the Science Council of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 District of Sparwood incorporated. Sparwood, BC
  • 1970 Robert Bourassa becomes Premier of Quebec after his Liberals defeats the Union Nationale party.
  • 1970 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awards Montréal, Québec the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1975 Ontario brings in Family Law Reform Bill; to establish equality of both partners in a marriage. Toronto, Ontario -May 12 - First New Music Week held in Montreal to disseminate contemporary music. Montréal, Québec -May 12 - Labour - Strikers occupy the United Aircraft Company plant in Longueuil, Québec.
  • 1980 Maxie Anderson and son Chris Anderson land their 23 m high helium-filled balloon, The Kitty Hawk at Québec; First to make a non-stop balloon flight across North America. they flew the 3220 km from San Francisco to Québec in 4 days. Québec, Québec
  • 1981 North American Air Defence Command (NORAD) changes name to North American Aerospace Defence Command. Colorado Springs, Colorado
  • 1982 Funeral held for Formula 1 racing car driver Gilles Villeneuve, killed in a practice run at Zolder, Belgium, on Saturday, May 8, 1982. Over 5000 people came to pay their respects to Villeneuve’s widow Joan and his two children, Jacques and Melanie; mourners include Pierre Trudeau and René Lévesque. Berthierville, Québec
  • 1984 Ontario begins to extend provincial funding to Roman Catholic High Schools. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1984 Edmonton Oilers 1, New York Islanders 6
  • 1985 Edmonton Oilers 6, Chicago Blackhawks 8
  • 1986 Industry Minister Sinclair Stevens resigns from cabinet while an inquiry looks at a $2.6 million loan to one of his holding companies; denies breaking conflict of interest guidelines. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1987 Music - All 40,000 tickets for three September Pink Floyd concerts at the Montreal Forum sell out in four and a half hours. Montréal, Québec
  • 1988 Social - Liberal government of Robert Bourassa passes a law allowing the creation of le Conseil de la famille (Family Council) with a mandate to explore and investigate major issues interest to families, such as developing the child care system and the automatic payment of child support. Québec, Québec
  • 1989 Sport - Canadian Olympian Ben Johnson admits to Dubin Inquiry that he has used anabolic steroids to enhance performance. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1989 Last train out of Princeton, BC; a work train westbound.
  • 1990 Politics - Founding of the Bloc Québécois Party, as several MPs led by Lucien Bouchard quit the Tories and Liberals. Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 8, Chicago Blackhawks 4; Oilers win Conference Finals 4 games to 2.
  • 1990 Mike Harris wins Ontario PC Party leadership, defeating Rookie MPP Diane Cunningham of London 7,175 to 5,825 votes; chosen by one-member, one-vote system from 33,000 PC members. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Canada’s largest charter airline, Nationair, declares bankruptcy. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Canada’s Cineplex Odeon Corp. and Cinemark USA Inc. terminate merger talks that would have created the world’s largest movie theatre company. New York, New York
  • 1995 Military - Halifax-class frigate HMCS Calgary is commissioned. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1995 Hockey - New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur ties the NHL record getting his 3rd playoff shutout in 4 games. Meadowlands, New Jersey
  • 1997 Jacques Parizeau publishes “Pour un Québec souverain”, stating that within days of a referendum victory, Québec would have no choice but to declare the sovereignty of Québec. Montréal, Québec
  • 2003 Holly Jones, a ten-year-old girl, is abducted and killed in Toronto; parts of her body are later found floating in Lake Ontario Toronto, Ontario