Highlights of the day

  • 1754 George Washington Sparks the French and Indian War.
  • 1898 Start of building the 177 km long White Pass & Yukon Railway.
  • 1934 Birth of Dionne Quintuplets: Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne.

List of Facts for May 28

  • 1664 French West India Company gets royal grant of New France and all French colonies in North America; monopoly of trade in exchange for a royalty to the King. Paris, France
  • 1754 Seven Years War - Joseph de Jumonville is killed with nine other Canadians during defeat by Virginia Militia Major George Washington and Tanaghrisson at the Battle of the Great Meadows; outbreak of French and Indian War. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania See May 27
  • 1760 Seven Years War - James Murray leads 3,900 men against Duc de Lévis’ 5,000 on the Plains of Abraham; British heavily mauled in a two-hour battle, but successfully retreat behind the walls of Québec. Sainte-Foy, Québec
  • 1763 Pontiac’s Rising - Pontiac leads Wyandots in defeat of Lieutenant Cuyler at Point Pelee; the so-called ‘Conspiracy of Pontiac’ uprising lasts until August 1765. See May 7 and May 9. Point Pelee, Ontario
  • 1778 James Cook anchors ship Resolution in Resolution Cove, Nootka Sound; begins to chart the coast of British Columbia along with Captain George Vancouver. Nootka Sound, BC
  • 1801 First session of third Parliament of Upper Canada meets at York until July 9, 1801; regulation of militia; founding of market in Kingston, Ontario. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1808 Simon Fraser leaves Fort George with Jules Quesnel to travel in wooden dugout canoes down the river that will one day bear his name. Prince George, BC
  • 1812 War of 1812 - Lower Canada passes general order to raise four regiments of militia; after U.S. militia call-up May 10. Québec, Québec
  • 1813 War of 1812 - General John Vincent ends his retreat to Burlington Heights after losing Fort George; Americans now control Niagara Peninsula. Burlington, Ontario See May 27
  • 1836 Francis Bond Head dissolves Parliament after the Upper Canada Assembly passes a non-confidence motion by a 32-18 vote. He had asked Robert Baldwin, Dr. John Rolph and John Dunn to join the Executive Council, but did not consult them, and they resigned. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1845 Québec fire destroys two-thirds of the city plus the suburbs of St-Roch, Québec and St-Jean, Québec; 1,500 houses destroyed. Québec, Québec
  • 1846 A.C. Anderson tasked by the Hudson’s Bay Company with finding a new Brigade Trail to Fort Kamloops, heads inland from the confluence of the Fraser River and the Coquihalla River . BC
  • 1847 Henry Sherwood becomes Attorney-General for Canada West on Draper’s retirement. Montréal, Québec
  • 1881 Railway surveyor Albert Rogers discovers the pass that today bears his name, the Rogers Pass, which will give the Canadian Pacific Railway a passable, though difficult route through the Selkirk Mountains; Chief Engineer Sandford Fleming had recommended a northerly route through the Yellowhead Pass, but the Canadian government and CPR both wanted the route to follow a line closer to the Canada-United States border to keep out rival American lines. Alberta/BC
  • 1884 Charles Tupper resigns from the House of Commons to become Canada’s First High Commissioner to Britain. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - Thomas Strange drives Big Bear off Frenchman’s Butte; will pursue him for a month. Frenchman’s Butte, Alberta
  • 1886 Canada’s First commercial electric railway starts operating in Windsor. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1888 T.A. Sproat granted 320-acre pre-emption on the Pass Creek delta near what is today Castlegar’s Mill Pond. Sproat’s Landing mushrooms into existence. Castlegar, BC
  • 1891 Richard Thompson and William McCormick stake the Mother Lode at Deadwood, BC.
  • 1892 Cobourg, Ontario comedienne Marie Dressler makes her New York singing debut in the comic opera, The Robber of the Rhine. New York, New York
  • 1892 First GN through-train arrives in Hillyard, Spokane, Washington.
  • 1892 James Baker appointed British Columbia Minister of Education and Immigration. Victoria, BC
  • 1894 Steamboat Gwendoline arrives at Fort Steele, BC.
  • 1895 Owens Art Gallery re-opens on the Mount Allison University campus in Sackville, after being relocated from Saint John, New Brunswick two years previously; oldest university art gallery in Canada. Sackville, New Brunswick
  • 1897 International Transportation Company launches steamboat North Star at Libby, Moontana.
  • 1898 Start of construction of the 177 km long White Pass & Yukon Railway; one of the steepest railroads in the world, will climb 880 metres from sea level up to the White Pass summit in only 32 km of track; 32 km of the line are in Alaska, 52 km in British Columbia and 93 km in Yukon Territory; completed in 26 months and opened July 29, 1900, at a total cost of about $10 million, with not a single dollar in government aid; 35,000 navvies will work on the line, about 2,000 at a time; will make the Chillkoot Trail and its aerial tramways obsolete, and carry thousands of prospectors to the Klondike gold fields, even though the stampede will be already over. Skagway, Alaska
  • 1900 Berliner Gramophone Company of Montréal, Québec registers the famous dog and gramophone symbol, His Master’s Voice as the company’s Canadian trademark. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1927 House of Commons approves Old Age Pension Plan for those over 70 with demonstrable need, who pass a means test; Ottawa’s First major venture into public welfare; will first get approval from the provinces. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1933 Crew of the schooner Dorothy Melita rescued near Cape Spear. Cape Spear, Newfoundland
  • 1934 Birth of the Dionne Quintuplets at Callender, Ontario, east of North Bay; Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne.
  • 1940 Second World War - Royal Canadian Navy stations seven destroyers in the English Channel these play an important role in evacuating allied troops from Dunkirk, France
  • 1942 Parliament passes Dominion-Provincial Taxation Agreement Act; formalizes 1941 budget arrangements. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1958 Theodor Hess President of Federal Republic of Germany starts one-week visit to Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1962 Ottawa and Manitoba sign agreement to build the $63.2 million Greater Winnipeg Floodway; later nicknamed Duff’s Ditch after Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1965 Thomas Scheer, 42, of Langley, BC, and three other Canadians make first unescorted transatlantic helicopter flight; 6,400 km 15 day journey from Stratford, Connecticut in 26-seat, amphibian Sikorsky; longest single hop was 640 km, from Greenland to Reykjavik Iceland. Prestwick, Scotland
  • 1969 Alberta Premier Harry Strom opens the Alberta Resources Railway, a 378 km line north from Grande Prairie. Grande Prairie, Alberta
  • 1970 Proprietors and directors of the Hudson’s Bay Company (the oldest continuing incorporated company in the world) vote to transfer the head office to Winnipeg, Manitoba; dining that evening at Nelson’s Tavern in Greenwich, England, from which many of the HBC ships sailed, they are served cuisine consisting of Company favourites over the past 300 years. London, England
  • 1979 Frank Frederickson dies; played eleven professional hockey seasons from 1920-31. Manitoba
  • 1980 Newfoundland adopts its provincial flag. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1982 Karen Mitchell founds the organization known known as MADD-Canada to commemorate the death of her daughter Jennifer Mitchell on May 28, 1979 at the hands of a drunk driver; originally known as P.R.I.D.E. (People to Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere); MADD means Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1984 Ontario brings in measures to allow it to censor, classify or ban commercially-distributed videotape. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1985 Ontario Election - David Peterson wins minority for Ontario Liberal Party; signs pact with NDP leader Bob Rae to bring down Frank Miller’s Tories after 42 year rule; Miller resigns. Ontario
  • 1985 Hockey - Philadelphia Flyers 3, Edmonton Oilers 5
  • 1987 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 2, Philadelphia Flyers 3
  • 1988 Industry - Canadian aerosol makers say they will eliminate ozone-depleting CFCs (chloro-fluorocarbons) from spray cans. In 1987, Canada and other countries signed the Montreal Protocol, with measures and timetables for cutting out and eventually banning CFCs, used mainly in refrigerators and air conditioners; still can be used where essential in some medicinal sprays.
  • 1989 Media - RCMP charges Global TV reporter Doug Small and four others with possession of stolen goods, and two others with theft, after they accepted a leaked federal budget before the budget lock-up. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Media - CBS debuts the Dave Thomas Comedy Show; former Second City star. Los Angeles, California
  • 1990 United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar thanks Canada for support of United Nations; discusses security issues with Brian Mulroney, who signs UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Mel Hurtig sells Hurtig Publishing Ltd. of Edmonton, Alberta, with a 100 book backlist including the Canadian Encyclopedia, to Avie Bennett’s McClelland & Stewart; Hurtig firm started in 1972. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Dave Steen named to Canadian Sports Hall of Fame; won bronze medal in decathlon at 1988 Seoul Olympics. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1995 Auto Racing - Jacques Villeneuve wins the Indianapolis 500 race; first Canadian to do so. Indiana, USA
  • 1996 Provincial Election - Glen Clark remains British Columbia Premier as NDP re-elected with a 2-seat majority, in spite of polls that suggested he would lose the election. BC
  • 1996 Actor Phil Hartman shot to death at age 49 by his depressed wife Brynn, who committed suicide as police were removing the couple’s two children from the home after reports of gunfire. Hartman, born in Brantford, Ontario, was a regular on TV’s “News Radio” and “Saturday Night Live.” He also appeared in more than 20 movies. California
  • 2003 Hockey - NHL goaltender Patrick Roy retires after 18 NHL seasons with the Montréal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche, four Stanley Cup rings and three Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) trophies; won 551 games during the regular season and 151 in playoffs; got second career as coach of the Québec Remparts. Denver, Colorado -May 28 - Medicine - Ontario Premier Ernie Eves says the province will spend $720 million to cover SARS-related health-care costs; $190 million will go to doctors, nurses and health workers who lost salaries and contracts. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2005 MP Justin Trudeau, son of Pierre Trudeau, marries Sophie Gregoire. Montreal, Québec
  • 2007 Provincial Election - Robert Ghiz, son of former premier Joe Ghiz, wins the Prince Edward Island election, ending 11 years of Tory rule; Liberals take 23 seats to four for the PCs. PEI
  • 2010 Stephen Harper bestows honorary Canadian citizenship on the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of 20 million Ismaili Muslims, and philanthropist. Ottawa, Ontario