Highlights of the day

  • 1647 First horses arrive in Canada; gift from the King of France; origin of Canadian breed.
  • 1872 Lord Dufferin takes office as Canada’s Governor General.
  • 1940 HMCS Fraser sunk in collision with HMS Calcutta, in the Gironde estuary; 47 lost.
  • 1968 Pierre Trudeau wins majority in 28th federal general election.

List of Facts for June 25

  • 1625 Missionary Nicolas Viel murdered by Iroquois while paddling in a canoe; first priest reported killed by Aboriginal Canadians. - Québec, Québec
  • 1647 First horses arrive in Canada; gift from the King of France to Governor Charles de Montmagny; origin of Canadian breed. - Québec, Québec
  • 1686 Pierre d’Iberville captures the HBC’s Fort Albany after a siege. - Fort Albany, Ontario
  • 1687 Antoine de Cadillac marries Marie-Thérèse Guyon, niece of New France privateer, Denis Guyon, whom he met at the Governor’s ball at Château St. Louis. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1758 French and Indian War - James Wolfe finally silences Louisbourg’s Island battery after six days of bombardment; opened fire on the 19th from Lighthouse Point; all external batteries now secure. - Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
  • 1759 French and Indian War - James Wolfe nears Québec with 8,500 men and a fleet of 168 ships commanded by Admiral Charles Saunders; captures river pilots to help the fleet navigate the river. - Île aux Coudres, Québec
  • 1815 Pemmican War - Traders of the North-West Company attack the Red River Settlement. Manitoba
  • 1829 John Brant (Tekarihogen) appointed superintendent of the Six Nations Reserve at Oshwekan; son of Joseph Brant. - Brantford, Ontario
  • 1840 Montréal gets new city charter. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1840 Québec gets new city charter. - Québec, Québec
  • 1847 Alexander Murray reaches Yukon River; starts building Fort Yukon post at junction of Yukon and Porcupine River; north of Arctic Circle in Alaska. - Fort Yukon, Alaska
  • 1853 John Rae leaves York Factory to survey west coast of Boothia Peninsula and look for remnants of Franklin Expedition; between Castor and Pollux River and Bellot Strait. - York Factory, Manitoba
  • 1855 Great Western Railway puts its steamers Canada and America into service from Hamilton to Oswego, NY; route to New York City via Erie Canal. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1858 Victoria Gazette and Anglo-American First published; British Columbia’s First newspaper. - Victoria, BC
  • 1872 Lord Dufferin takes office as Canada’s Governor General. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1878 George Walkem new Premier of British Columbia, replacing Andrew Elliott; serves to June 6, 1882. - Victoria, BC
  • 1893 Father Coccola, Pielle Tête de Fer and James Cronin register the St. Eugene, the Peter and the Society Girl claims. BC
  • 1898 Salvation Army group finishes 882 km trek over the Chilkoot Pass from Skagway, Alaska to organize a mission for the Klondike gold miners; the Sally Ann provides food, shelter, and medical services until 1912. - Dawson City, Yukon
  • 1902 WFM strikes CNP coal mining operations. Ends in failure on August 4, 1902. BC
  • 1912 Ontario Premier James Whitney issues the Ontario Circular of Instructions, with the notorious Regulation 17, that limited teaching in French in so-called bilingual districts until 1927. - Toronto, Ontario
  • 1914 Vilhjalmur Stefansson reaches Banks Island. - Banks Island, Nunavut
  • 1915 Towns of Redcliff and Grassy Lake are badly damaged by a tornado. - Alberta
  • 1919 Winnipeg General Strike - Trades and Labour Council calls off WGS; started May 15, 1919; many union ringleaders convicted of seditious conspiracy and given prison terms. - Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1923 Ontario Election - George Ferguson leads Conservatives to majority in Ontario provincial election, defeating E.C. Drury’s United Farmers of Ontario. Ontario
  • 1923 Aurélien Bélanger elected to Ontario Legislature as prominent Franco-Ontarian spokesman; led opposition to Regulation 17, limiting French education. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1925 Mining - Ray Howey, George McNeely and Lorne Howey, prospectors from Cobalt, Ontario, discover a major vein of gold under the roots of an upturned tree on the shores of Red Lake; sparks the last great gold rush in North America. So far, over 21 million ounces of gold have been extracted from the area. Red Lake, Ontario June 25 - Nova Scotia Election - Edgar Rhodes leads Conservatives to power in NS provincial election. - Nova Scotia
  • 1926 CNR takes over Hudson Bay Railway Company; continues building line to salt water port of Churchill on Hudson Bay. Churchill, Manitoba
  • 1927 Prince Edward Island Election - Albert Saunders leads Liberals to win over Conservatives in provincial election; province also votes to continue prohibition of alcoholic beverages. - PEI
  • 1940 Second World War - RCN River Class destroyer HMCS Fraser sunk in collision with the British cruiser HMS Calcutta, in the Gironde estuary, while participating in a flotilla with HMCS Restigouche in the evacuation of almost 16,000 Polish soldiers and thousands of civilians from Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a port in the Bay of Biscay on the Spanish border with France, and one of the six French exit points still open to refugees; 47 lost. St. Jean de Luz, France
  • 1942 Second World War - RCAF joins RAF in thousand-plane bombing raid on port of Bremen. - Bremen, Germany
  • 1945 Canada joins 49 other countries in San Francisco to discuss a charter for the United Nations. - San Francisco, California
  • 1950 Korean War - Conflict in Korea begins as 240 tanks from Communist North Korea cross the 38th parallel, ignore UN Security Council call for a cease-fire; conflict will end July 27, 1953. - Korea
  • 1957 George Drew appointed Canada’s High Commissioner to Britain; effective August 1, 1957; former Conservative leader. - London, England
  • 1961 Hyato Ikeda, Prime Minister of Japan starts two-day visit to Canada. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1962 Supreme Court of Canada rules Royal York Hotel in Toronto cannot discharge employees on legal strike. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1963 Alberta starts voluntary medical care program. - Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1964 Oliver and Osoyoos Fruit Growers’ Association forms the South Okanagan Lands Irrigation District (SOLID). - BC
  • 1968 Federal Election - Pierre Trudeau wins majority in 28th federal general election 155 seats to 72; 22 NDP; 14 Créditiste; 1 other; defeats Robert Stanfield with 45.5% of popular vote.
  • 1968 Federal Election - Ed Broadbent First elected to Parliament from Oshawa; future NDP leader; re-elected in 1972, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1984. - Oshawa, Ontario
  • 1968 Federal Election - Len Marchand the First aboriginal Canadian elected to the House of Commons; Liberal party member. - Kamloops, BC
  • 1968 Federal Election - Lincoln Alexander the First black Canadian elected to House of Commons; PC Party member. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1969 Ottawa report on Indian policy recommends full citizenship for aboriginal Canadians, abolition of Indian treaties. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Music - Winnipeg rock group The Guess Who receive a gold record for their hit single, These Eyes. - New York, New York
  • 1969 André Laurendeau and Davidson Dunton table final reports of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in the House of Commons. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Government issues White Paper on Foreign Policy; outlines ways to safeguard sovereignty and increase foreign aid. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Fisheries Minister Jack Davis announces $1.5-million assistance program for fishermen and processors hurt by mercury contamination of fish in Ontario and Atlantic Canada. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1971 Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Canada for a 10-day visit with Prince Philip. - Toronto, Ontario
  • 1973 Canada sells China $50 million worth of wheat. - Beijing, China
  • 1974 The Riverboat coffeehouse in Yorkville closes after four concerts each by Dan Hill and Murray McLauchlan; showcased Canadian folk performers such as Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn and Joni Mitchell in the late 1960s. - Toronto, Ontario
  • 1976 The CN Tower opens in Toronto, Ontario; world’s tallest free-standing structure at 550 metres; cost $63 million to build.
  • 1978 Pierre Trudeau meets British PM Margaret Thatcher to discuss Canada’s plans for patriation of constitution. - London, England
  • 1980 Igor Gouzenko dies; former cipher clerk working in the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, defected on September 5, 1945 revealing details of Soviet KGB espionage ring; lived rest of life under protective cover. - Ontario
  • 1982 Montréal Expos pitcher Floyd Youmans suspended for 60 days due to drug abuse. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1988 Canadian Armand Roy named by United Nations to head multinational peacekeeping force in western Sahara; 700 Canadian infantry to monitor cease-fire in Morocco. - United Nations, New York
  • 1991 Kim Campbell sworn in as Canada’s 19th Prime Minister, with 24 member cabinet by Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn; Canada’s First woman PM, replacing Brian Mulroney; Vancouver Centre MP ; names Jean Charest, her chief rival in the PC leadership vote June 13, 1991 as Deputy Prime Minister. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 James Bay Cree erect barricade at Whapmagootui airport to forcing cancellation of First public hearings into Hydro-Québec’s Great Whale dam project. Whapmagootui, Québec
  • 1991 Alex Hickman cleared by Canadian Judicial Council on financial dealings with banks under review; Chief Justice of Newfoundland Supreme Court trial division. - St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1993 Philip Murray appointed 20th Commissioner of the RCMP; serves to September 1, 2000. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1994 Hockey - Birth of the NHL Carolina Hurricanes.
  • 1997 Justice Minister Anne McLellan declares in a Toronto Sun interview that ‘We cannot be held hostage. If there must be another referendum, the process must be made clear… as well as the consequences of the result.’ - Toronto, Ontario