Highlights of the day

  • 1817 Lord Selkirk Signs Treaty with Ojibway and Swampy Cree.

List of Facts for July 18

  • 1628 David Kirke & Lewis Kirke attack French supply fleet of Company of 100 Associates under command of Claude de Brison. Gaspé, Québec -
  • 1739 Census shows population of New France to be 42,701. Québec -
  • 1796 Peter Russell appointed President of the Council of Upper Canada; acting administrator. Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario -
  • 1809 Crime - Judge sentences two Montréal women to 25 lashes for disorderly conduct. Montréal, Québec
  • 1812 War of 1812 - British start to drive back American invaders in week long skirmish at River Canard, after an advance guard from US General William Hull’s army clashes with a patrol from Fort Malden. Two British soldiers were killed - the first casualties of the War of 1812. Amherstburg, Ontario
  • 1814 War of 1812 - Eight traitors captured during the War of 1812 are hanged at Ancaster, Upper Canada; two days later, their headless bodies are put on public display to discourage disloyalty to the British Crown. Ancaster, Ontario
  • War of 1812 - William McKay marches south with 150 Michigan Fencibles and party of Green Bay Indians; captures Prairie du Chien, and the US gunboat Governor Clark. Prairie du Chien, Iowa Selkirk Treaty - Lord Selkirk makes first treaty with local Ojibway and Swampy Cree people on behalf of King George III; local chiefs surrender title to lands to the Red River Colony, confirm his land rights in the Colony and agreeing not to harm the colonists, in return for an annual gift of 200 lbs of tobacco. Manitoba
  • 1818 Disaster - Grasshoppers plague Red River Colony, hiding the sun and devouring everything green; staple potato crop of settlers and livestock completely destroyed in just a few minutes. Manitoba
  • 1853 The Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railroad starts operating from Toronto to Brantford, Ontario. Toronto, Ontario
  • Trains start running over First North American international railroad between Portland, Maine and Montréal; gives Montréal access to ice-free winter port. Montréal, Québec
  • 1881 Sitting Bull and about 200 Sioux cross the Saskatchewan border and surrender to the US Army at Fort Buford, Dakota Territory, after living in Canada for over four years. Saskatchewan
  • 1905 Parliament passes The Dominion Act, to create the new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan out of the North West Territory. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1913 Sikh immigration from India causes race riots in Vancouver. Vancouver, BC
  • 1916 Kootenai Brown dies at his home on Waterton Lake; born in County Clare, Ireland, during the potato famine; served in India with the British Army, sold his commission in 1861, and prospected for gold in the Cariboo; worked as a Pony Express rider in the Dakota and Montana territories; married Metis woman Olive Lyonnais in 1869, and joined her people in the buffalo hunt, then ran a small trading post on the shores of Waterton Lake (which he called Kootenay Lake after the original inhabitants) and guided hunters and visitors. Brown lobbied for the establishment of Kootenay National Forest in 1895, and served as fishery officer and forest ranger. In 1911, the government created Waterton Lakes National Park. Waterton Lake, Alberta
  • 1921 Albert Election - Herbert Greenfield wins majority in provincial election as head of the United Farmers of Alberta, defeating Premier Charles Stewart’s Liberals; succeeded as UFA Premier in 1925 by John Brownlee, until 1935. Alberta
  • 1922 Joseph-Elzear Bernier leaves Québec City in command of the Canadian Government Arctic Expedition, sent to assert Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic. Québec, Québec
  • 1922 Manitoba Election - United Farmers of Manitoba win a majority in the provincial election. Manitoba
  • 1928 British Columbia Election - Simon Tolmie leads Conservatives to win in BC provincial election. BC
  • 1929 Prince Edward Island plebiscite sustains prohibition of alcoholic beverages. PEI
  • 1931 J.W.F. Johnson commissioned as the lieutenant-governor of British Columbia. Victoria, BC
  • 1932 Canada and US sign treaty laying the groundwork to develop the St. Lawrence Seaway. Washington, DC
  • 1941 Record - Highest recorded temperature in Alberta is 43.3 C at Fort Macleod. Fort Macleod, Alberta
  • 1944 Second World War - Bomber Command sends 100 RAF and RCAF planes to attack German defenses around Caen; much of the city destroyed and up to 3,000 French killed; Canadians and British gain a few miles in attacks beyond Caen in Operation Goodwood/Atlantic to secure Vaucelles, France and Colombelles, France, preparing the way to break through the triangle to Falaise, France; the 2nd Infantry under Maj. Gen. Charles Foulkes comes into line to join the 3rd and 2nd Armoured Brigade of Lt. Gen. Guy Simonds’ 2nd Corps and they move forward to take the German stronghold on the Verrières Ridge. Caen, France
  • 1945 Second World War - Royal Canadian Navy ammunition barge catches fire in Bedford Basin; the magazine explodes for 24 hours causing evacuation of half the city’s population; $4 million damage but no loss of life. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1958 External Affairs Minister Sidney Smith meets British Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd, and US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles to discuss Middle East policy. Washington, DC
  • 1959 Government to create National Energy Board, with powers over oil, natural gas, and electricity pricing and supply. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Strike by non-medical workers at Québec hospitals for more pay. Québec
  • 1968 Strike by 24,000 postal workers; the three-week nation-wide strike will end August 9, 1968
  • 1968 Bank of British Columbia opens its First branch office. Vancouver, BC
  • 1970 Willie Mays becomes the 10th major league baseball player to get career hit number 3,000, off Mike Wegener in the second inning of the San Francisco Giants’ 10-1 victory over the Montréal Expos. Montréal, Québec
  • 1973 Crime - Former fashion model Christine Demeter found bludgeoned to death in her home; husband Peter Demeter later convicted of hiring an assailant to kill her, to collect $1 million insurance policy. Mississauga, Ontario
  • 1976 Montréal Olympics events begin; Taiwan refused entry; 19 nations absent to protest New Zealand’s rugby tour of South Africa. Montréal, Québec
  • 1976 Montréal Olympics - Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, age 14, performing on the uneven parallel bars, scores the First perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history. Nadia will go on to collect seven perfect scores, three gold medals, a silver and a bronze; she will also win two gold and two silver medals in the 1980 Olympic games. Montréal, Québec
  • 1977 Parliament passes law to control purchase and use of firearms, and increase police wiretapping powers. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1979 Canada to sponsor up to 50,000 Vietnamese Boat People; equal number can enter Canada under private sponsorship. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1981 Canadian blues artist Rick James’ single Give It To Me Baby peaks at #40 on the Billboard pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1990 Gerry Boulet dies of cancer at age 44; singer and keyboardist with French blues-rock band Offenbach; as a solo artist, he won two Félix awards; 1976 made an English language LP, Never Too Tender. Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Johnny Wayne dies at age 72; born John Louis Weingarten at Toronto May 28, 1918. Wayne was half of the comedy duo of Wayne and Schuster with Frank Schuster; 1930s they meet at Harbord Collegiate, Toronto, where they perform in annual revues; 1941 get a morning show with radio station CFRB; during Second World War, toured for the Canadian army in France in The Army Show; 1946 get their own show on CBC radio; 1962 CBC-TV launches The Wayne and Schuster Hour; 1950 start their record 67 performances on TV’s Ed Sullivan Show. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1991 Rita Johnston wins British Columbia Social Credit Party leadership, edging party matriarch Grace McCarthy 941-881 on second ballot; other candidates McCarthy, Jacobsen, Couvelier and Crandall. Vancouver, BC
  • 1991 Archbishop Alphonsus Penny offers his resignation after release of report blaming church officials for covering up sexual abuse by Catholic priests. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1991 Brian Mulroney tells Mikhail Gorbachev Canada will lift freeze on $150 million in food credits imposed during Baltic crackdown; also offers $10 million technical assistance package. London, England
  • 1991 Marcellus François dies 2 weeks after shooting by Sgt. Michel Tremblay; black youth mistaken for murder suspect; Harvey Yanovsky will be appointed July 25, 1991 to head coroner’s inquest. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Toronto-born rocker Neil Young and his manager Elliot Roberts form their own record label, Vapor Records. Los Angeles, California
  • 1997 Russell MacLellan sworn in as Premier of Nova Scotia. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 2002 A Canadian Forces helicopter crashes in a remote region of Labrador, killing two pilots and injuring two other helicopter personnel. Labrador
  • 2004 Canada recalls Canadian ambassador to Iran as trial of Zahra Kazemi’s alleged killer abruptly ends. Teheran, Iran