Highlights of the day

  • 1868 Queen Victoria approves design for the Great Seal of Canada, with arms of the four provinces.
  • 1874 Alexander Mackenzie’s Liberal government passes the Dominion Elections Act, bringing in the secret ballot.
  • 1887 The 4,700 km CPR main line opens for direct traffic from Montreal to Vancouver.
  • 1940 Canadians assist evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops from Dunkirk.
  • 2004 Labrador Inuit win self-government of 15,800 sq km of northern Labrador, to be called Nunatsiavut.

List of Facts for May 26

  • 1603 Samuel de Champlain lands at Tadoussac on Aymar de Chaste’s Bonne Renommé with Gravé du Pont and Pierre de Monts; witnesses Montagnais ‘tabagies’ or feasts; gives them religious teaching. Tadoussac, Québec
  • 1703 Governor of New France Louis de Callière dies. Québec, Québec
  • 1793 Alexander Mackenzie who had come overland; will depart September 20, 1793. Vancouver Island, BC
  • 1826 Former US citizens and naturalized residents of Upper Canada given the right to vote and stand for election to the Assembly of Upper Canada. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1841 Lord Sydenham meets Assembly of the Province of Canada in Kingston for First time as Governor General. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1846 Citizens of St. John’s petition the Governor for responsible government in Newfoundland. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1848 Last members of Franklin expedition die on Montréal Island on about this date; evidence of cannibalism later found. Montréal Island, Nunavut
  • 1850 Armand de Charbonnel consecrated Roman Catholic Bishop of Toronto. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1864 Montana Territory created along the Canadian border from part of Dakota Territory. Montana
  • 1868 Queen Victoria approves design for the Great Seal of Canada, with arms of the four provinces. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1874 Alexander Mackenzie’s Liberal government passes Dominion Elections Act, bringing in the secret ballot; federal elections to be held on the same day; no more property qualifications for MPs. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1882 Nicholas Sheran, owner and operator of the First commercial coal mine in Alberta at Lethbridge, drowns in the South Saskatchewan River. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1886 Military - Masons lay last stone in the “First Graving Dock” in Esquimalt Harbour; the drydock can accommodate any ship in the British Empire; two companies will go bankrupt during construction, leading to the fall of a provincial ministry over contracts. The drydock receives its first ship, HMS Cormorant, on July 20, 1887. The “First Graving Dock” is closed June 1, 1927 when it is replaced by the larger “Esquimalt Graving Dock” (completed in 1924 and will officially open July 1, 1927. It is rehabilitated and brought back into service in 1945; renamed “Naden” dock in 1971, it is still in service. Victoria, BC
  • 1887 Westminster gives Canada the power to negotiate commercial treaties with foreign countries. London, England
  • 1887 Canadian Pacific Railway 4,700 km main line opens for public traffic, 18 months after the last spike at Craigellachie, BC. CPR trains have been running across Canada for a year, but passengers can now ride directly to Vancouver. Montréal, Québec
  • 1895 First church service held in Rossland, BC. Conducted by Presbyterian Hugh Robertson.
  • 1896 Bridge collapses in Victoria, killing 55 occupants of a streetcar. Victoria, BC
  • 1898 Constitution - Judicial Committee of Imperial Privy Council rules that Ottawa has sole power to regulate ocean fisheries. London, England
  • 1906 Saskatoon incorporated as a city; formerly Pile O’Bones. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1908 Energy - Canadian drillers working for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company make the first major oil strike in the Middle East at Masjid-i-Suleiman; Lord Strathcona a major investor in the APOC. Iran
  • 1910 Arthur Sifton replaces Alexander Rutherford as Liberal Premier of Alberta; serves to October 30, 1917. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1914 CPR launches steaboat Sicamous (1787 tons) at Okanagan Landing, BC. Retired 1936.
  • 1919 Roland Groome pilotes the First newspaper delivery flight from Regina, Saskatchewan to Moose Jaw. Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
  • 1919 Winnipeg General Strike - Winnipeg City Council votes to prohibit sympathetic strikes by city firemen. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1926 Religion - Ontario-born evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson supposedly kidnapped from a beach near Santa Monica and taken away to a cabin where she is held prisoner; an elaborate memorial service will be held at her Four Square Temple on June 20, 1926, but three days later, she reappears in Douglas, Arizona, with a tale of having escaped from her kidnappers; law enforcement officials challenge her story and charge her with perjury, after rumours surface about an affair with her married radio station manager; she will be acquitted in December. Santa Monica, California
  • 1926 Tulameen Gold and Platinum Recovery Company, formed in Vancouver to mine near Princeton, BC. Vancouver, BC
  • 1932 Media - R. B. Bennett government passes the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Act; to supervise all public and private broadcasting; sets up publicly-owned radio network broadcasting in English and French; predecessor of the CBC and Radio-Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1932 J. S. Woodsworth leads socialist Labour MPs and the League for Social Reconstruction to found the Commonwealth Party; will join that August, 1932 in a new party called the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1940 Second World War - Start of the evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops from Dunkirk; some Canadians involved in the rescue. Britain had entered the war with 80,000 military vehicles of all types, but 75,000 were left behind on the beaches at Dunkirk. Dunkirk, France
  • 1943 Education - Québec passes a law requiring free and compulsory schooling in the province. Québec, Québec
  • 1953 Boswell Fruit Growers Association disbanded. Boswell, BC
  • 1964 U Thant, United Nations Secretary-General, addresses a joint sitting of the Commons and Senate. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Bob Dylan and his backup group, the Hawks (later The Band) from Toronto, play a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London; in attendance are members of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones; the concert is recorded, and becomes a famous bootleg album. London, England
  • 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono start their second Bed-In for Peace in a room at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel; during the event, they record the song, Give Peace a Chance. Montréal, Québec
  • 1970 Music - The Guess Who’s American Woman/No Sugar Tonight still the #1 Billboard hit after four weeks on the charts; Winnipeg band with lead singer Burton Cummings. New York, New York
  • 1977 Ottawa adds over 2,900 km of Prairie rail to network protected from abandonment. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1978 Montréal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins 4-1 to win their 21st Stanley Cup. Montréal, Québec
  • 1981 Canada and US sign Pacific coast fishery treaty; each can enter 4 Canadian or US ports. Vancouver, BC
  • 1981 Lawren Harris’ painting, South Shore, Baffin Island, sells for $240,000, record for Canadian painting; Group of Seven member. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1987 Hockey - Philadelphia Flyers 4, Edmonton Oilers 3
  • 1988 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers beat Boston Bruins 6-3, completing a four game sweep, to win their fourth Stanley Cup in five years; MVP Wayne Gretzky has 31 assists, setting a playoff record. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1997 Reform Party airs controversial TV election ad showing black and white images of Jean Charest and Jean Chrétien alongside the 1995 referendum result, with the voice over saying ‘Last time, these men almost lost our country.’ Then it shows Lucien Bouchard and Gilles Duceppe, and asks for a voice for all Canadians, not just politicians from Québec.
  • 2001 Politics - Eric Fairclough elected leader of the Yukon NDP by acclamation; first aboriginal to head a major political party in Canada. Whitehorse, Yukon
  • 2002 Politics - Jean Chrétien shuffles his Cabinet, firing defence minister Art Eggleton and moving Don Boudria out of public works; both embroiled in scandals. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2003 Education - Jean Chrétien announces building a $90 million Canadian History Centre to display Canada’s political and civic history; idea cancelled due to opposition and cutbacks. Ottawa, Ontario -May 26 - Military - CF-18 Hornet fighter crashes during training exercises near Cold Lake base, killing the 38-year-old pilot. Cold Lake, Alberta
  • 2004 Aborigial - Labrador Inuit vote to accept self-government on 15,800 square kilometres of northern Labrador, to be called Nunatsiavut, with jurisdiction over natural resources, social services, justice, education and health. Nain, Labrador
  • 2005 Human Rights - Quebec National Assembly votes unanimously to condemn Islamic tribunals and sharia law. Québec, Québec
  • 2008 Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier resigns over a security breach; left classified documents in his former girlfriend’s Montreal apartment. Ottawa, Ontario -*May 26 - State Visit - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko addresses the House of Commons and meets with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2009 Literature - Novelist Alice Munro wins the Man Booker International Prize, honouring a lifetime of work.