Highlights of the day

  • 1534 Jacques Cartier erects a 10 metre high cross at Gaspé, and takes possession of Canada for France.

List of Facts for July 24

  • 1534 Jacques Cartier lands at rocky Penouille Point on the Gaspé coast; erects 10 metre high cross, bearing fleur-de-lys and motto ‘Vive le Roy de France’; takes possession of the mainland of Canada in the name of King François I; Donnacona, the Iroquois chief at Stadacona (Québec) will later protest against Cartier’s declaration. Gaspé, Québec
  • 1578 Martin Frobisher assembles fleet back in Frobisher Bay, which he calls Countess of Warwick Sound. Frobisher Bay, Nunavut
  • 1629 Samuel de Champlain leaves Québec for England, a prisoner of the Kirke brothers; next day, the Kirkes capture Emery de Caen’s supply ship. Québec, Québec
  • 1701 Antoine de Cadillac and his lieutenant Alphonse de Tonty start building Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit behind a 3 metre high picket fence; the trading post on the St. Clair River between Lakes Erie and Huron will become a major commercial crossroad, and helps halt the advance of the English into the western Great Lakes region; his 9 year rule as governor is marked by conflict with officials in Paris and Quebec, with a local Native tribe and with the Jesuits; 1710 replaced by Charles Regnault, Sieur du Buisson, and named governor of Louisiana. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1749 Swedish naturalist Pierre Kalm arrives at Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1759 French and Indian War - Lieutenant Colonel Eyre Massey arrives outside French Fort Niagara with extra troops; the incoming French reinforcements will be stopped by a volley of musket fire, and attacked by William Johnson’s Indian allies; Pierre Pouchot will surrender the French garrison the following day. Youngstown, New York
  • 1759 French and Indian War - By this date General James Wolfe’s English troops have bombarded Québec with over 15,000 cannon balls from across the St. Lawrence River at Lévis, Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1759 French and Indian War - William Johnson defeats François de Lignery, coming to the aid of the French at Fort Niagara; de Lignery dies of his wounds four days later at La Belle Famille, Québec Lewiston, New York
  • 1766 Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas, makes peace with Sir William Johnson at Fort Ontario; the Treaty of Oswego peace agreement marks the end of the uprising started in 1763. Oswego, New York
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - Guy Carleton conscripts 6,000 French Canadians to fight off the potential American invasion. Montréal, Québec
  • 1788 Guy Carleton divides Upper Canada into four judicial districts: Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nassau, and Hesse; judge and sheriff appointed for each. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1790 Nootka Crisis - Spanish agree to compensate Britain for ships seized in Nootka Sound. Nootka Sound, BC
  • 1814 War of 1812 - General Phineas Riall advances by night toward Niagara with 1,000 men to hold back Jacob Brown’s American invaders; he is greatly outnumbered and waits for reinforcements from Kingston under General Sir Gordon Drummond. Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • 1846 First Canadian demonstration of the electric telegraph at Toronto city hall. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1860 Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales arrives in Newfoundland to begin his North American visit; later King Edward VII. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1862 Gold Rush - Party of 150 men and one woman arrive in Fort Edmonton on the way to travel overland to the Cariboo gold fields in BC; the Overlanders note the scarcity of buffalo on the plains, and find more beef than pemmican available in the Hudson’s Bay Company store. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1874 NWMP, under the command of Colonel George French, reach Roche Percee, near Estevan, during the legendary march west from Fort Garry to Fort Whoop-Up. Estevan, Saskatchewan
  • 1882 A.B. Rogers discovers Rogers Pass through Selkirk Mountains. BC
  • 1882 British Columbia Election - Robert Beaven elected Premier of British Columbia; R.L.T. Galbraith remains MPP for the Kootenay Electoral District. BC
  • 1883 Captain Matthew Webb, First man to swim the English Channel in 1875, drowns while attempting to swim the rapids above Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • 1885 William Henry Jackson found not guilty of treason by reason of insanity for involvement in North West Rebellion; sent to a lunatic asylum in Manitoba. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1895 NWMP constable Charles Constantine builds Fort Constantine at junction of Forty-mile Creek and Yukon River. Fort Constantine, Yukon
  • 1896 British Columbia Smelting and Refining Company incorporated in New Jersey; $2.5 million in capitalization.
  • 1916 Trial begins for former Manitoba Premier Rodmond Roblin and his ministers for fraud. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1916 Earl W. Bascom enters his first steer riding contest at Welling, Alberta; later known as the first rodeo cowboy to become a professional cowboy artist and sculptor; first cowboy artist to become a Fellow of England’s Royal Society of Arts.
  • 1917 First World War - House of Commons gives third reading to Conscription Act. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1920 Blairmore Opera House hosts a gala dance to aid jailed bootleggers; $160 is raised by the Crowsnest Pass Bootleggers Association. Blairmore, Alberta
  • 1940 Second World War - Fall of France to the Nazi Wehrmacht causes 30¢ drop in Winnipeg wheat price. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1941 Strike of workers at the Aluminium Company of Canada’s plant at Arvida. Arvida, Québec
  • 1943 Second World War - Bomber Command launches week-long Operation Gomorrah on German port of Hamburg; using new device called ‘Window’ to counter Nazi radar; concentrated heavy bombing by the RAF and RCAF leaves 20,000 dead. Hamburg, Germany
  • 1944 Second World War - RCAF part of fleet of 300 allied bombers dropping fire bombs on German positions; some Allied positions hit in error. Normandy, France
  • 1958 CCF convention accepts a Canadian Labour Congress proposal to found a ‘people’s political movement’ to be called the New Democratic Party (NDP). Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1961 Louis Rasminsky appointed Governor of the Bank of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1964 First reporter from the New China News Agency arrives in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1967 French President General Charles de Gaulle shouts the separatist slogan Vive le Québec libre (Long live free Québec!) from the balcony of Montréal’s City Hall; touches off a diplomatic row as Prime Minister Lester Pearson protests the remarks; two days later, de Gaulle abruptly cancels his official visit to Ottawa and returns to France. Montréal, Ontario
  • 1972 Pollution - Ottawa to undertake national survey of 4 hazardous pollutants: lead, beryllium, mercury, asbestos. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 Federal Election - Party leaders Ed Broadbent, Brian Mulroney & John Turner meet in a French-language television debate; First time in history a national leader’s debate has been solely in French. Montréal, Québec
  • 1988 Emma Houlston lands single engine plane; youngest person to fly across Canada; nine year old from Medicine Hat, Alberta; took off from Victoria, BC July 10, 1988; her father the navigator and official pilot-in-command. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1988 Record - Group of thirsty Edmontonians whip up the world’s largest milk shake ever; weighing 54,914 pounds, 13 ounces, the shake uses 44,689 lb, 8 oz of ice cream, 9,688 lb, 2 oz of syrup, and 537 lb, 3 oz of topping. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1991 Douglas Crosby asks forgiveness for abuse suffered by native children in 60 Oblate Order schools since 1880s; President of Oblate Conference of Canada. Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta
  • 1991 Sport - Board of Directors of the CFL Ottawa Rough Riders football team resign. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Smuggling - Québec police find over 270 barrels of hashish floating in the St. Lawrence River, after smugglers try to transfer the drugs from a tug onto life rafts; over 25 people from Vermont, Holland and the Philippines are later arrested. Sept-Îles, Québec
  • 1992 National Defence Minister Marcel Masse announces 13 year $4.4 billion purchase of new EH-101 military helicopters to replace aging Sea Kings. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 Regina, Saskatchewan filling station attendant Dick Assman (pronounced OSS-man) appears to great hilarity on CBS’s Late Show With David Letterman, introducing a dumb ad segment; Assman works at the Petro-Canada at the corner of Victoria and Fleet. New York, New York
  • 1996 Canadian swimmer Marianne Limpert wins silver medal in the 200M individual medley at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Atlanta, Georgia
  • 2004 Trial - Iranian court acquits the accused killer of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi of charges of semi-intentional murder. Teheran, Iran
  • 2004 Jeff Lapcevich wins CASCAR ‘s Canadian Tire 100 at the Vancouver Molson Indy. Vancouver, BC