Highlights of the day

  • 1980 O Canada Proclaimed as Canada’s National Anthem.
  • 2003 Canadian Multiculturalism Day First Celebrated.

List of Facts for June 27

  • 1726 Jacques de Pensens sets sail to take possession of Île St-Jean (Prince Edward Island) for France. - France
  • 1759 General James Wolfe lands a body of troops across from Québec and blockades the St. Lawrence River to French shipping; starts siege lasting 75 days. Lévis, Québec
  • 1778 Frederick Haldimand arrives in Québec as Governor-in-Chief of Canada; serves to May 22, 1786. - Québec, Québec
  • 1825 John Galt incorporates the Canada Land Company to settle the Queen’s Bush in south-western Ontario. - London, England
  • 1844 Incorporation of La Banque du Peuple. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1854 New Brunswick chemist Abraham Gesner awarded US patent for distilling kerosene from petroleum; he was the first to refine kerosene oil from coal for lighting in 1846, and built a plant on Long Island near New York. Kerosene quickly replaced whale oil as the standard lighting fuel in North American homes, which led to the collapse of the whaling industry. - Washington, DC
  • 1860 Don Juan wins the Queen’s Plate, run for First time at Toronto’s Carlton Track; North America’s oldest continuously held horse race. - Toronto, Ontario
  • 1867 George Brown opens two-day Liberal Party convention in Toronto. - Toronto, Ontario
  • 1876 A.N. Richards commissioned lieutenant-governor of British Columbia. Victoria, BC
  • 1888 NWT Election - Elections held for the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. - NWT
  • 1890 Canadian boxer George ‘Little Chocolate’ Dixon wins world bantamweight crown.
  • 1893 New York Stock Exchange crash; 600 banks and 74 railroads defunct by year’s end; caused by higher tariffs; Canadian trade and commerce severely affected. - New York, New York
  • 1897 The Lumière Brothers from Paris hold the First cinema projection in Montréal at the Palace Theatre, on Boulevard St-Laurent. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1898 William Mackenzie and Donald Mann announce that the Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railway would begin laying rail from Penticton, BC
  • 1898 Joshua Slocum, from Briar Island, Nova Scotia, sailed his 11 metre oystercatcher called Spray into the harbour of Newport, Rhode Island, becoming the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation of the earth - a distance of 46,000 miles (74,000 km). Slocum left Boston, Massachusetts on April 24, 1895 to begin his epic around-the-world voyage. He first sailed to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to refit, and then was off. In 1899 he described the voyage in Sailing Alone Around the World. Newport, Rhode Island,
  • 1905 Board of Railway Commissioners authorizes amendment to charter of Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railway permitting it to cross the border and connect with American lines. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1936 Manitoba Election - Communist Party MLA elected in the Manitoba provincial election. - Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1946 Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 is enacted, recognized the definition of a Canadian citizen which included a reference to being a British subject. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1949 Federal Election - Louis St. Laurent leads Liberal Party to re-election victory in 21st federal general election; captures 190 of 262 seats, 65 more seats than held previously; Liberals win a fourth consecutive majority.
  • 1957 Canadian Overseas Telephone Corporation (COTC) starts First direct radio-telegraph service from Canada to Japan. - Japan
  • 1960 New Brunswick Election - Louis Robichaud leads Liberals to win in NB provincial election. - New Brunswick
  • 1969 Richard Nixon US President starts visit to Canada. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1970 Atlantic Records releases Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s album Ohio; with Toronto rocker Neil Young; title and lead single commemorate the National Guard shootings of student protestors at Kent State University. - New York, New York
  • 1972 Bobby Hull signs 10-year contract for $2,500,000 to coach and play for the Winnipeg Jets of the fledgling World Hockey Association, giving the WHA instant credibility; hockey’s First millionaire, Hull plays out his career with Swedish stars Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson. - Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1974 Orillia, Ontario born folk singer Gordon Lightfoot has a # 1 Billboard Pop Hit with Sundown. - New York, New York
  • 1975 Pierre Trudeau opens L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Park at tip of Great Northern Peninsula; evidence of Norse landing in North America found in 1961; designated a UN World Heritage Site. - L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland
  • 1976 Canada attends 2-day economic summit of seven major Western nations in Puerto Rico. - San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • 1980 The House of Commons and Senate unanimously pass the National Anthem Act presented by Secretary of State Francis Fox, that O Canada be proclaimed as Canada’s national anthem replacing God Save the Queen as soon as possible in this year of the centenary of the first rendition; the bill allows for minor changes to Robert Stanley Weir’s original English lyrics. Parliament had approved the song as the national anthem 13 years earlier, but the National Anthem Act made it official. O Canada was written by Calixa Lavallée and Adolphe-Basile Routhier, and was First performed in Québec City in 1880; originally known as le Chant nationale, it was not heard outside Québec until the early 20th Century. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 Pierre Trudeau named 1984 winner of Albert Einstein Peace Prize for his global campaign to ease East-West tensions. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1986 Edmonton Oilers star Wayne Gretzky wins the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the 7th consecutive year; will also win in 1987 and 1989. - Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1986 Jean Drapeau says he will not seek 9th term of office; Mayor of Montréal for over 29 years. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1987 Winnipeg rock historian John Einarson organizes a concert featuring ten of Winnipeg’s early rock bands at a Winnipeg nightclub; the show features former Guess Who bandmates Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, jamming with Neil Young; they are joined by Guess Who founder Chad Allan and Fred Turner, formerly of Bachman-Turner Overdrive. - Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1988 External Affairs Minister Joe Clark meets Soviet ambassador Alexei Rodionov to ease confrontation over expulsion of 9 Soviet diplomats accused of espionage, and barring 10 from returning to Canada; Clark called for a freeze on additional expulsions. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston faces Orioles Frank Robinson in a baseball game; First time two black managers have opposed each other in regular season major league play. - Baltimore, Maryland
  • 1990 Parliament adjourns for summer; establishes new Department of Forestry, Canadian Space Agency and Department of Industry, Science & Technology; replaces Ministry of Regional Industrial Expansion. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Queen Elizabeth II starts five-day Canadian tour. - Calgary, Alberta
  • 1991 Supreme Court of Canada unanimously rules unions can collect dues from non-union members in a bargaining unit and use the money for political contributions and other purposes not related to collective bargaining. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Hugh Segal appointed as senior advisor to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; long-time Conservative party worker. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Jerry Peltier elected interim Grand Chief of Kahnesatake, urging end of traditional selection by democratic system; ex head of Kahnesatake Mohawk Coalition. Oka, Québec
  • 1991 Keith Spicer releases final report of the Citizens’ Forum on Canada’s Future, then returns to post as Chairman of CRTC; Spicer Commission Report says Canadians are frustrated with politicians, calls for rethinking of Canada’s structures and a national referendum on constitutional change; recommends that Québec be recognized as a unique province, that there be a prompt settlement of Native land claims and that the Senate be reformed or abolished. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Manitoba and Ontario natives support Great Whale Crees to fight new hydro projects. - Québec
  • 1991 Robert Nixon resigns as Interim Leader of Ontario Liberals; replaces Tom Wells as Ontario Agent-General in London. - Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Toronto Star printers strike, forcing the newspaper to stop the presses for the First time in 99 years; 56 pages of features printed earlier distributed free. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Wanuskewin Heritage Park opens. - Saskatchewan
  • 1993 James Trifunov dies; wrestler; won a bronze medal at the 1928 Olympic Games. - Saskatchewan
  • 1995 Royal Canadian Mounted Police grants an exclusive marketing license to its brand, likeness and image to the Walt Disney Company, who will pay the force royalties and control copyright infringement. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Canadian Space Agency astronaut and NASA Payload Specialist Dr. Robert Thirsk, on Shuttle Columbia Mission STS-78 takes part in Astronaut Lung Function Experiment, to get a better understanding of how gravity affects the pulmonary system during rest and heavy exercise; also continues to enter responses to a battery of problem-solving tasks on the laptop computer Performance Assessment Work Station. Information from tests of the crew’s mental function abilities will be used to create future crew schedules, taking advantage of peak mental performance periods. - Space
  • 2003 First Canadian Multiculturalism Day celebrated; proclaimed November 13, 2002, in the context of Celebrate Canada.