Highlights of the day

  • 1776 Benedict Arnold orders Montréal burnt as his Army of the Continental Congress retreats south.
  • 1846 U.S. President Polk signs Oregon Treaty declaring 49th parallel and Strait of Juan de Fuca the boundary line.
  • 1891 John Abbott sworn in as PM after being chosen leader of Conservative Party on Macdonald’s Death.
  • 1944 Tommy Douglas & CCF win Saskatchewan election, taking 47 of 55 seats; Canada’s first socialist government.

List of Facts for June 15

  • 1534 Jacques Cartier steers southward along west coast of Newfoundland to Cabot Strait, then turns west. Newfoundland
  • 1605 Pont-Gravé arrives at Ste-Croix from France with supplies and 45 new colonists. Dochet Island, Maine
  • 1616 Education - Récollet friar Pacifique Duplessis opens First school for Indian children at Tadoussac; later moves to Trois-Rivières. Tadoussac, Québec
  • 1625 Religion - First Jesuits arrive at Québec to aid the Récollets; led by Jean de Brébeuf, together with Fathers Charles Lalemant and Enémond Masse, and two lay brothers of the Society of Jesus. Québec, Québec
  • 1629 Brothers David Kirke, Lewis Kirke and Thomas Kirke reach Gaspé on a second privateering expedition with nine ships; plan to capture Québec and the St. Lawrence River trade; accompanied by Sir William Alexander, Jr., proprietor of Nova Scotia, who sails directly south for Port Royal, while the Kirkes found a settlement at Port aux Baleines. Gaspé, Québec
  • 1673 Marquette & Joliet arrive at upper reaches of Mississippi River, after paddling more than 800 km; explore south; believe Mississippi empties into Gulf of Mexico. Arkansas
  • 1676 Chief citizens of Québec hold meeting to fix price of bread. Québec, Québec
  • 1776 American Revolutionary War - Benedict Arnold, American General, orders Montréal burnt as the Army of the Continental Congress retreats south; citizens put the fire out. Montréal, Québec
  • 1790 David Thompson reaches mouth of Saskatchewan River; travels from Cumberland House. Cumberland House, Manitoba
  • 1811 John Jacob Astor’s ship Tonquin attacked by local Nootka who kill the sailors and destroy the ship the next day; end of New York fur trader’s hopes for northwest coast trade in competition with North West Company. Vancouver Island, BC
  • 1814 War of 1812 - Major General Jacob Brown leads 500 American raiders across Lake Erie to burn and loot Port Dover and Long Point. Port Dover, Ontario
  • 1815 Most Selkirk settlers, who had grown dependent on buffalo for survival, forced to leave for Upper Canada because of harassment by Métis hunters; North West Company traders wanting to challenge the authority of the Hudson’s Bay Company were backing the Metis nationalists; settlement reestablished the following August, 1816. Red River, Manitoba
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837 - Governor Lord Gosford bans public meetings, and the movement toward rebellion intensifies. Montréal, Québec
  • 1846 U.S. President James Polk signs the Oregon Treaty, also known as the Buchanan-Pakenham Treaty (Treaty of Washington), declaring the 49th parallel and the Strait of Juan de Fuca the boundary between Oregon and British America; Queen Victoria signs the Treaty two days later. The treaty was a compromise - the British claimed Oregon and the Americans claimed all of the west coast up to the southern limit of the Russian territory of Alaska - 54/40 - the slogan ‘Fifty-four forty or fight’ was a Democratic Party slogan in the 1844 American election. Washington, DC
  • 1859 The Pig War - Hudson’s Bay Company pig breaks into potato patch of American squatter; nearly triggers British-American war over ownership of one of the San Juan Islands. Washington
  • 1863 Hudson’s Bay Company shares offered for Public sale for First time. Edward Watkin and the International Financial Society of London buy them all leading to re-organization of the Company. London, England
  • 1863 Robert Benson acquires control of the Hudson’s Bay Company for the International Financial Society, a syndicate of bankers. London, England
  • 1864 John Linklater retires from Hudson’s Bay Company service and departs Tobacco Plains for the Coast, leaves Michael Phillipps in charge. BC
  • 1873 Cypress Hills Massacre - News reaches Ottawa that a band of American whisky/fur traders and wolfers have massacred a band of Nakota (Assiniboine) in the Cypress Hills; this event leads to formation of the North-West Mounted Police. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1875 Founding of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Montréal, Québec
  • 1887 Carlisle Graham survives his second ride over the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel. Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • 1891 John Abbott sworn in as Prime Minister after being chosen leader of Conservative Party on John A. Macdonald’s death; hated politics and saw himself as only a caretaker PM. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1892 Shuswap & Okanagan Railway (S&O), 51 miles from Sicamous, BC to Okanagan Landing, completed and awarded British Columbia subsidy of $200,000. Victoria, BC
  • 1894 Unincorporated town of Red Deer is established. Red Deer, Alberta
  • 1898 British Columbia government grants the Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railway a $4,000 per mile subsidy provided work begin by August 8, 1898 and that Ottawa grant a subsidy as well; the line will fail. Victoria, BC
  • 1899 CPR finishes converting the Columbia & Western’s Trail Creek Tramway to standard gauge. BC
  • 1900 James Dunsmuir becomes Premier of British Columbia, succeeding Joseph Martin; serves to November 21, 1902. Victoria, BC
  • 1900 Manitoba Roman Catholics ask Ottawa for relief from Manitoba law abolishing separate schools. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1900 Cornerstone of Winnipeg’s Salvation Army Citadel is laid. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1902 Maritime Provinces switch from Eastern to Atlantic time zone.
  • 1905 Newfoundland bans sale of bait and granting of licenses to Canadian and foreign fishing fleets. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1907 Post Office opens a local bureau; see January 1, 1908. Hillcrest Mines, Alberta
  • 1915 First World War = Lieutenant Frederick Campbell of the 1st Battalion Western Ontario Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Force moves two machine-gun detachments forward under heavy fire at Givenchy; reaches the German front line trench with one gun after nearly all his detachment killed or wounded; holds back German counter-attack by advancing further and firing off 1,000 more rounds before getting hit by fire; dies four days later at age 48; awarded Victoria Cross posthumously August 23, 1915. Givenchy, France
  • 1915 Post Office opens bureau in Bellevue. Bellevue, Alberta
  • 1919 British Army Captain John Alcock and Royal Flying Corps Lt. Arthur Brown make a nose-down landing in a Country Galway peat bog in their Vickers Vimy bomber, a two-motor biplane, completing the First nonstop transatlantic flight in 16 hours, 20 minutes; they win the £10,000 prize offered by the London Daily Mail, and are both awarded knighthoods. Clifden, Ireland
  • 1921 British Columbia shelves Prohibition, opens First government liquor board stores. Victoria, BC
  • 1940 Second World War - Canadians withdraw from Brittany over a two day period. France
  • 1944 Saskatchewan Election - Baptist Minister Tommy Douglas wins in a landslide, taking 47 of 55 seats, defeating William Patterson’s Liberals, who take 5 seats; Co-operative Commonwealth Federation forms Canada’s First socialist (CCF) government; Douglas resigned his Commons seat to run; he will be Premier for the next 17 years, resigning to become First head of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Regina, Saskatchewan June 15 - Second World War - First RCAF fighter wings move into France after D-Day. France
  • 1947 Parliament repeals laws limiting Asian immigration to Canada; Canadians of Asian decent are allowed to vote in federal elections. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1949 British Columbia Election - B.I. Johnson’s Liberal/P.C. coalition re-elected in British Columbia. BC
  • 1951 Fire kills 35 elderly persons at l’Hospice Ste-Cunégond. Montréal, Québec
  • 1951 John Uhrich dies; Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan 1948-1951. Saskatchewan
  • 1951 Parliament amends Northwest Territories Act to provide for partly elective NWT Council. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1962 Canada becomes the third power to reach space with the launch of a scientific satellite by NASA; Canada’s First space vehicle a 11.3 kg non-orbiting instrument package. Wallops Island, Virginia
  • 1964 The Great Flag Debate begins in the House of Commons. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Westshore Terminals coal handling facility on Roberts Bank officially opened by British Columbia Premier W.A.C. Bennett and Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau. BC
  • 1973 Ottawa restricts export of gasoline and heating oil to slow down increase in export of these products. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1974 Gordon Lightfoot has a No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit with Sundown. New York, New York
  • 1977 Judy LaMarsh issues Report of the Ontario Royal Commission on Violence in the Media; rejects greater censorship; advises stricter control over print and broadcast media. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1980 Bob Nolan dies at 72; country singer, poet, songwriter born Robert Clarence Nobles April 1, 1908; of Sons of the Pioneers.
  • 1985 Bryan Adams has a No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit with Heaven. New York, New York
  • 1985 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announces temporary closure of the Canadian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1987 Ontario passes North America’s First pay equity legislation. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1988 Canada expels eight USSR diplomats for industrial espionage; not made public until June 21, 1988. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Elijah Harper blocks Premier Gary Filmon’s attempt to introduce the Meech Lake resolution in the Manitoba Legislature; puts in procedural roadblocks until June 20, 1990, past the deadline; says Meech Lake Accord did not address native concerns. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1990 Patrick Nowlan resigns PC caucus to protest Mulroney’s ‘highly manipulative’ handling of Meech Lake negotiations; veteran Nova Scotia MP. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Dennis Cochrane elected Leader of the Progressive Conservatives in New Brunswick, beating Bev Lawrence 955 to 166; replaces Barbara Filliter, who resigned after 17 months in office. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1991 Paul Bernardo kidnaps, rapes, and murders Leslie Mahaffy. St. Catharines, Ontario
  • 1992 Commons passes new sexual assault legislation - the ‘no means no’ rape law; defines consent by requiring voluntary agreement by the woman; no consent if incapacitated, given by third person, or under abuse of authority. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Lewis MacKenzie Canadian General optimistic about latest ceasefire in capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina; UN Chief of Staff trying to reopen airport to aid flights. Sarajevo, Bosnia
  • 1993 Alberta Election - Ralph Klein leads provincial Conservatives to 7th majority win in a row; PC party trailed in opinion polls under former leader and Premier Don Getty, before electing Klein, a former Liberal, mayor of Calgary. Alberta
  • 1993 Birth of the NHL Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Anaheim, California
  • 1995 Richard Weber of Chelsea, Québec and Russian MD Mikhail Mlakhov reach Ward Hunt Island, Canada’s northernmost point of land, becoming the First to ski to the North Pole and back without support teams or outside help; started 1500 km trek February 13, 1995; by examining drift patterns they proved that Robert Peary could not have reached the Pole. Nunavut
  • 1995 The G-7 nations meet at Halifax for their three day annual conference; Russian President Boris Yeltsin joins in political discussion as events in Bosnia and Chechnya dominate the talks. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1995 Moody’s lowers Québec’s credit rating due to political uncertainty and high taxes. New York, New York
  • 2005 Wayne Gretzky appointed executive director of Team Canada for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.