Highlights of the day

  • 1758 Admiral Boscawen begins siege of Louisbourg from Halifax.
  • 1876 Opening of Royal Military College in Kingston.
  • 1938 Toronto-born cartoonist Joe Shuster creates Superman comic book.
  • 1951 Vincent Massey tables report of his Commission on Canadian Culture.

List of Facts for June 1

  • 1658 Pierre Radisson starts second visit to west of Lake Superior with Médart des Groseilliers; meets Sioux; later claims he visited Hudson Bay. Minnesota
  • 1714 Philippe de Costebelle surrenders Placentia to English under Captain John Moody; moves to Cape Breton (Ile Royale); John Moody appointed Deputy-Governor of Placentia. Placentia, Newfoundland
  • 1748 Sulpician priest François Piquet founds a mission and trading post at La Présentation to assist Indians wanting to convert to Christianity, present day Ogdensburg. Ogdensburg, New York
  • 1758 Vice Admiral Edward Boscawen of the Royal Navy arrives at Gabarus Bay, 10 km west of Louisbourg, just after midnight in dense fog from Halifax, Nova Scotia; with thirty nine warships, supply ships and ten transports, crowded with 10,000 regular troops, Highlanders, light infantry, rangers, and colonial militia. The expedition is commanded by Major General Jeffery Amherst, with his field commander, Brigadier General James Wolfe. Louisbourg, Nova Scotia See July 26
  • 1792 Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe arrives to take up his post as First Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1796 Under the terms of the February 29, 1796, the British agree to vacate six western forts on or before this date.
  • 1797 First session of second Parliament of Upper Canada meets. Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
  • 1807 George Stuart opens the Home District School, First public school in York. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1812 War of 1812 - US President James Madison lists grievances against Britain: seizure of US seamen, violation of U.S. neutrality laws; US prepares for war, which will be declared June 18. Washington, DC
  • 1813 War of 1812 - HMS Shannon, Captain Philip Broke, captures USS Chesapeake, Captain James Lawrence, in a 15 minute fire fight off Boston harbour; tows her to Halifax; naval battle sees 48 American sailors killed, 23 British. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1816 Pemmican War - Nor-Westers capture and plunder Brandon House. Brandon, Manitoba
  • 1831 James Ross First discovers the position of the North Magnetic Pole on the west coast of Boothia Peninsula; spends third Arctic winter in Victoria Harbour. Boothia, Nunavut
  • 1831 Opening of Kingston Penitentiary; with 6 inmates. Kingston, Ontario
  • June 1 -Census - Start of of 1831 Census of Lower Canada, taken from June 1 to October 1. Québec
  • 1834 J.J. Astor and son (William B. Astor) sell the Western Department of their American Fur Company to Pratt, Chouteau & Co. (Pierre Chouteau, Jr). Montana
  • 1837 Thomas Simpson leaves Fort Chipewyan with Peter Dease to repeat Franklin’s journey west along the Arctic coast. Fort Chipewyan, NWT
  • 1839 Governor’s Special Council replaced by an Executive Council. Québec, Québec
  • 1839 Lower Canada banks resume payment after two years of rebellion. Quebec
  • 1840 Samuel Cunard navigates his 700 ton wooden paddlewheel steamer Unicorn to Halifax; after two week trip from Liverpool with 27 passengers. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1858 First Province of Canada coinage minted: pennies, nickels, dimes and 20 cent pieces. Québec, Québec
  • 1860 Province of Canada’s first official post office established at Port Arthur. Thunder Bay, Ontario
  • 1866 Militia Minister George-Étienne Cartier orders out bulk of Canadian militia to meet Fenian threat; over 20,000 men will be at arms by June 3, 1866. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1866 A thousand heavily armed Irish-American Fenian insurgents cross the Niagara River from Buffalo, New York, while American authorities look the other way. Most of the Fenians are battle-hardened recently demobilized Civil War veterans carrying familiar weapons and large quantities of ammunition. Fort Erie, Ontario
  • 1867 Charles Stanley, Lord Monck appointed First Governor-General of the Dominion of Canada, as the British North America Act takes effect; will serve from July 1, 1867 to November 13, 1868. London, England
  • 1871 Library of Parliament founded. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1873 Prince Edward Island officially enters Confederation as a province of Canada. PEI
  • 1874 William Johnston opens Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph as its First Principal; today’s Guelph University. Guelph, Ontario
  • 1875 First sod turned at Fort William to start government construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway west to Winnipeg; on the left bank of the Kamistiquia River about 6 km. upriver from Lake Superior. Thunder Bay, Ontario
  • 1876 Opening of Royal Military College in Kingston with a class of 18 cadets; mandate to train regular officers and militia. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1882 Winnipeg gets first gas lighting in Manitoba. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1882 Salvation Army begin operations in Canada; founder William Booth’s philosophy of providing “soup and salvation” will be put into action in July. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1883 CPR track laying reaches Alberta. Medicine Hat, Alberta
  • 1885 Thomas Hammill murdered at the Bluebell claim. BC
  • 1888 The CPR’s Banff Springs Hotel opens. Banff, Alberta
  • 1892 GN steel laid to Spokane’s Union Station. Spokane, Washington
  • 1897 Gold discovered at Wawa; near present day Hemlo. Wawa, Ontario
  • 1900 Post Office opens its Crow’s Nest, BC, bureau.
  • 1901 Village of Slocan, BC, incorporated.
  • 1903 J.F. Rogers commences stage service in south-central British Columbia - Greenwood to Phoenix to Grand Forks, BC.
  • 1903 Richard McBride succeeds Edward Prior as Conservative Premier of British Columbia; serves until December 15, 1915. Victoria, BC
  • 1905 Coal miners at Nanaimo go on strike; until September 30, 1905. Nanaimo, BC
  • 1907 Ottawa passes law requiring Doukhobors to obey homestead regulations. Eventually 400,000 acres of land stripped from the Congregation. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1908 British Columbia Copper restarts operations at Anaconda Smelter at Greenwood, BC.
  • 1908 Post office opens bureau at Passburg; William Kerr, postmaster. Passburg, Alberta
  • 1909 Governor General Earl Grey donates the Grey Cup for the best amateur rugby football team in Canada; the original conditions were later waived and the Grey Cup game is now a contest for champion of a professional body, the Canadian Football League (CFL). Toronto, Ontario
  • 1909 Wilfrid Laurier creates the Department of External Affairs in the thick of US trade negotiations. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1911 Dominion Bureau of Statistics announces Canada’s population has reached 7,206,000. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1911 Red Deer Police Chief George Bell is shot by transient Arthur Kelly. Red Deer, Alberta
  • 1915 National Transcontinental Railway reaches Winnipeg via Moncton, New Brunswick, Edmundston, New Brunswick, Québec, Québec and Senneterre, Québec; will be operated as part of the Canadian Government Railways until the formation of the CNR. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1916 First World War - Canadians fight in the Battle of Mont Sorrel, to June 13, 1916 Mount Sorrell, France
  • 1916 Temperance Act takes effect; prohibition in Manitoba. Manitoba
  • 1919 CPR inaugurates Kootenay Express, No.11, westbound, and Kettle Valley Express, No.12, eastbound, on its Kettle Valley Railway. Kootenay, BC
  • 1927 All automobile drivers in Ontario now required to have a drivers licence. Ontario
  • 1927 Government liquor stores in Ontario start selling liquor to adults with $2 permits, as prohibition ends; the province has been dry for six years, since 1921. Ontario
  • 1927 William Phillips arrives in Ottawa to set up US legation; First American Ambassador to Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1927 Military - The First Graving Dock in Esquimalt Harbour closes; 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
  • 1928 RCMP absorbs provincial police forces of Alberta and Saskatchewan due to the near-bankruptcy of the two provinces. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1932 Leonard Tilley becomes New Brunswick Premier, replacing Charles Richards; son of Samuel Leonard Tilley. NB
  • 1933 RCMP move their offices into Town from the old fort site. Fort Macleod site abandoned. Macleod, Alberta
  • 1937 BC Election - T.D. Pattullo and Liberals re-elected in British Columbia. BC
  • 1938 Toronto-born cartoonist Joe Shuster teams up with Jerry Siegel to create Superman, making his First appearance in DC Comics’ Action Comics Series issue #1; the cost is 10 cents (collectors will pay over $100,000 today). New York, New York
  • 1941 Unemployment Insurance Act goes into effect. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1942 Government brings in sugar rationing due to shortages during the Second World War. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1944 Second World War - Canadian army General H.D.G. Crerar meets with his counterparts, Generals Montgomery, Patton, Bradley and Dempsey to coordinate the upcoming D-Day landings. Portsmouth, England
  • 1948 Flood breaches dikes on Creston flats in southern BC. Creston, BC
  • 1951 Vincent Massey tables report of his Massey Commission on Canadian culture; recommends greater government support for the arts. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1951 Dominion Bureau of Statistics issues census results; shows Canadian population has reached 14,009,429; also shows that 70% of the population of Québec now urban. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1951 Hillcrest-Mohawk Collieries offers to buy all shares of International Coal & Coke, and McGillivray Creek Coal & Coke held by Consolidated Mining & Smelting and L.A. Campbell’s estate. BC
  • 1956 Thomas Bell calls passage of Pipeline Bill ‘Black Friday’, as Speaker reverses one of his decisions, and government invokes closure (a time limit) to debate issue; the bill, lending $80 million to US-owned TransCanada Pipe Lines, will pass June 7, 1951. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1960 Hockey - Lester Patrick dies; hockey pioneer born December 30, 1883, in Drummondville Québec; Patrick broke into pro hockey as a defenceman with Brandon, then played with Montreal Wanderers and Renfrew Millionaires before heading west, where he and his brother Frank Patrick built artificial ice arenas in Vancouver and Victoria. Patrick became manager and playing captain of the Victoria Cougars Stanley Cup winning team in the Pacific Coast Hockey League. In 1926, facing growing competition from the NHL, he sold out his roster and joined the New York Rangers, managing them to three Stanley Cups. Both brothers helped inaugurate hockey’s First major farm system, and contributed greatly to the rules of the game, including the blue line. Victoria, BC
  • 1961 Statistics Canada releases census details, shows population has reached 18,238,247. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1964 Eamon de Valera President of Ireland starts three-day visit to Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Canadian Coast Guard commissions the John Cabot, the world’s First icebreaker cable-repair ship. Montréal, Québec
  • 1966 CFTO-TV transmits Canada’s First colour TV program. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1968 Canada signs Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty along with the US, Britain, USSR and 57 other countries. United Nations, New York
  • 1968 Queen Elizabeth II proclaims Alberta’s provincial flag. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono record Give Peace a Chance with friends Tommy and Dick Smothers, Derek Taylor, Murray the K and Timothy Leary, during their ‘bed-in’ at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1969 Tobacco advertising ban on Canadian radio and TV comes into effect.
  • 1971 Police charge 13 prisoners with murder in several deaths during rioting that April at the Kingston Penitentiary. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1973 Marshall McLuhan appointed to Papal Commission for Social Communication, to look at the Vatican’s relations with the media. Rome, Italy
  • 1979 Statistics Canada reports that Canada’s population has reached 23,671,500. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1980 Terry Fox reaches Day 51 in his Marathon of Hope. Moncton, New Brunswick
  • 1981 Statistics Canada reports that Canada’s population has reached 24,343,181. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1986 Québec reforms divorce laws, making marriage breakdown the sole cause, and eliminating the notion of fault; couples can jointly petition for divorce. Québec, Québec
  • 1986 Canada loses to Mexico 2-0, in the country’s First World Cup soccer appearance. Mexico
  • 1990 Bruce Phillips appointed federal Privacy Commissioner, replacing John Grace; formerly a newsman and aide to the Prime Minister. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 John Grace appointed federal Information Commissioner, replacing Inger Hansen; formerly Privacy Commissioner. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Pauline Jewitt appointed Chancellor of Carleton University, replacing Gordon Robertson. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 European Community temporarily suspends Grand Banks fishing to help preserve dwindling stocks; suggests unusually cold and salty water to blame, not overfishing. Brussels, Belgium
  • 1992 Hockey - Mario Lemieux leads Pittsburgh Penguins in four game sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks to win hockey’s Stanley Cup for the second straight year. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1992 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney names non-politicians to Privy Council; Maurice Richard, Conrad Black and Nobel Prize-winning scientist John Polanyi; break with tradition to honour Canada’s 125th birthday. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Yugoslavian Ambassador to Canada Goran Kapetanovic, a Bosnian Serb, resigns to protest Serbian violence; Canada supports UN sanctions against Serbia; will send 800 troops to Sarajevo. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Hockey - Florida Panthers advance to Stanley Cup finals, beating Mario Lemieux and the Penguins 3-1 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference playoff; youngest expansion team to reach finals; 14th team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1997 Canadian actor Christopher Plummer wins best dramatic actor Tony Award for his lead role in “Barrymore”. New York City
  • 1997 Kootenay Valley Railway created within CP by management and employees of the line. Term to end December 31, 2001. Kootenay, BC
  • 2004 Ontario votes for fixed voting dates, the first Thursday of October, every four years; second province after BC. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2005 Ottawa radio station CIHT HOT 89.9 plays host to the wedding of Lynn and Alex from The Amazing Race 7. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2007 Warren Winkler of the Ontario Superior Court appointed Chief Justice of Ontario. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2009 Boundary - Canadians entering the USA from this date must show a valid passport before crossing the border. Washington, DC
  • 2009 General Motors Corp. files for bankruptcy protection; largest industrial bankruptcy in history will require massive bailouts from US governments, as well as $10.5 billion from the Canadian and Ontario governments for GM Canada. Detroit, Michigan