Highlights of the day

  • 1816 First regatta on Qidi Vidi Lake; Royal St. John’s Regatta North America’s Oldest Continuing Sporting Event.
  • 1892 First electric streetcars start operating in Toronto; converted from horse-drawn vehicles.

List of Facts for August 12

  • 1615 Joseph Le Caron arrives with Samuel de Champlain as First missionary to the Hurons; celebrates First recorded Roman Catholic Mass in Ontario at Carhagonha, near Midland. Midland, Ontario
  • 1638 Start of construction of the Hôtel-Dieu hospital at Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1641 Supposed date of arrival of Pierre de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance at Québec; they had a rough crossing, and likely arrived in September. Québec, Québec
  • 1662 François de Laval leaves for France to ask King Louis XIV to abolish Company of New France for failing to support the Church. Québec, Québec
  • 1756 French and Indian war - Marquis de Montcalm sets up a battery on high ground 80 yards from British post of Fort Ontario and starts firing on it with cannon, some of which were Braddock’s own cannon, seized after the Battle of the Wilderness. At 4 pm, Col. James Mercer decides the fort is no longer tenable, and orders his regulars - the 15th Regiment and the 51st Regiment - to evacuate across the river to old Fort Oswego; the French then open fire with every gun, and the walls of Fort Oswego start to break apart under the cannonade. The defenders will hold out for two more days before being massacred by Montcalm’s Indian allies. Oswego, New York
  • 1764 Pontiac’s Resistance - John Bradstreet holds peace talks at Fort Presqu’ile with the Delaware and Shawnee who supported Pontiac; he was sent to attack them. Erie, Pennsylvania
  • 1768 Imperial order-in-council confirms border between Canada and New York. London, England
  • 1770 Samuel Hearne reaches Dubawnt Lake, about 640 km from Coppermine; forced to turn back because of broken quadrant. Dubawnt Lake, NWT
  • 1787 Charles Inglis consecrated as the First Anglican Bishop of Nova Scotia; First bishop in the British Empire outside Great Britain. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1811 Laying of the cornerstone of Province House, Nova Scotia’s legislative building. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1816 Record - Start of First recorded regatta at St. John’s, with two or three days of rowing on Qidi Vidi Lake and sailing races in the harbour between the crews from various visiting ships and the local populace; using small sailing gigs, jolly-boats (yawls), and whale boats; today called The Royal St. John’s Regatta - North America’s Oldest Continuing Sporting Event. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1842 Imperial Statute creates the Amalgamated Assembly of Newfoundland. London, England
  • 1845 Steamships Kent and London collide in clear weather on Lake Erie, with the loss of ten lives. Point Pelee, Ontario
  • 1845 Lieutenants Henry Warre and Merwin Vavasour arrive at Fort Vancouver on a surveying expedition. Washington
  • 1856 First Legislature of Vancouver Island meets at Victoria; First elected parliament west of Upper Canada consists of seven members, elected by only 40 voters. Victoria, BC
  • 1858 First telegraph message sent from Newfoundland to Valencia, Ireland, on cable laid by the USS Niagara and HMS Agamemnon. Cape Trinity, Newfoundland
  • 1863 First cargo of lumber leaves Burrard Inlet for export. Vancouver, BC
  • 1876 US yacht Madeleine beats the Countess Dufferin from Toronto, Ontario in two straight heats in the 4th America’s Cup. Newport, Rhode Island
  • 1882 Great Western Railway amalgamates with the Grand Trunk Railway. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1887 Inauguration of the Montréal-Maskinongé Railway. Montréal, Québec
  • 1889 Imperial Statute defines boundaries of Ontario and Manitoba. London, England
  • 1892 First electric streetcars start operating in Toronto; converted from horse-drawn vehicles to the new Toronto Railway Company cars on the Church route; remainder of lines will be converted over the next two years. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1896 Gold is discovered near Dawson City, Yukon (see also August 16, 1896); after word reaches the United States in June, 1897 thousands of Americans head to the Klondike to seek their fortunes. Dawson City, Yukon
  • 1897 British naval authorities grant US Navy permission to put battleship ‘Indiana’ in drydock in Halifax. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1900 Opening of the Théâtre National in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1903 Senator Matthew Cochrane dies on his Québec estate at Compton; boot and shoe manufacturer and the First of Alberta’s cattle barons; founded the Cochrane Ranch Company in 1881 and got a 100,000 acre lease along the Bow River west of Calgary; a ranch later sold to the Mormon Church for colonization. Compton, Québec
  • 1909 Marcus Daly estate sells Nickel Plate operation at Hedley, to U.S. Steel’s subsidiary, Exploration Syndicate of New York which organized Hedley Gold Mining Company to work project. Hedley, BC
  • 1912 Kénogami incorporated as a city. Kénogami, Québec
  • 1914 First World War - Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary after the declaration against Germany; Canada automatically involved. London, England See August 4
  • 1918 First World War - Private Thomas Dinesen of the 42nd Battalion Québec Regiment (Royal Highlanders of Canada) single-handedly captures 2 km of strongly defended enemy trenches during 10 hours of hand-to-hand fighting; kills 12 Germans with grenade and bayonet; awarded Victoria Cross October 26, 1918. Parvillers, France
  • 1919 The Prince of Wales, future King Edward VIII, arrives in St. John’s on official visit at war’s end; son of King George V. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1921 Herbert Greenfield sworn in as the First UFA Premier of Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1927 Albert Saunders sworn in as Premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing James D. Stewart. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1928 Olympics - Close of IX Olympiad in Amsterdam; Canada comes away with four gold medals: Percy Williams in the 100 m dash and 200 m dash; Ethel Catherwood in the high jump, and the women’s 4x100 m relay team. Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 1941 Second World War - Ottawa orders all Japanese Canadians to carry a registration card. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1950 NFL New York Giants beat CFL Ottawa Roughriders 27-6 in a summer exhibition football game. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1956 Fire hits downtown Hedley. Hedley, BC
  • 1956 Montréal actor William Shatner marries actress Gloria Rand; Captain Kirk in the TV series Star Trek. Hollywood, California
  • 1956 Disaster - Train collision kills one man and injures four others near Bredenbury Station. Bredenbury, Saskatchewan
  • 1965 India invests in a hardboard mill in Nova Scotia; India’s First industrial investment in western hemisphere. Nova Scotia
  • 1976 Howard Webster says Toronto’s new American League baseball team will be called the Toronto Blue Jays; Chairman of franchise. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1981 Strike - Air traffic controllers resume full operations after Ottawa sets up a fact-finding team to investigate problems involving US flights due to the firing of striking US controllers. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 Olympics - Close of XXIII Olympiad in Los Angeles; record attendance of 5.5 million people despite Soviet-led boycott; Canada makes best Olympic showing ever, winning 44 medals - 10 gold, 18 silver, 16 bronze - including a double gold in swimming by Alex Baumann - the 200 Metre Individual Medley and the 400 Metre Individual Medley. Other golds - Victor Davis in 200 Metre Breaststroke; Linda Thom in Match Pistols; Lori Fung in Rhythmic Gymnastics; Ann Ottenbrite in 200 Metre Breaststroke; Sylvie Bernier in Springboard Diving; and the Men’s Eight Rowing team. Los Angeles, California
  • 1985 Manitoba agrees to resume negotiating with North Dakota over the Garrison Water Diversion Project. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1985 Petro-Canada acquires 1,800 Québec and Ontario stations from Gulf Canada; now Canada’s biggest service station owner. Montréal, Québec
  • 1986 Provincial premiers in conference agree with Brian Mulroney that Québec’s constitutional demands should be given priority at the next federal-provincial conference. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1990 Chief Justice Alan Gold of Québec Superior Court reaches deal accepting Mohawk conditions for resumption of talks at Oka and Kahnesetake; Tom Siddon & John Caccia sign agreement. Montréal, Québec
  • 1991 Guy Saint-Pierre announces takeover of bankrupt Lavalin Inc. for $90 million; President of SNC Group; new SNC-Lavalin has 6,000 employees, 25 offices, $800 million in revenue; world’s fifth largest engineering company. Montréal, Québec
  • 1991 Pierrette Venne joins Bloc Québecois; wants more decentralized federal powers; First female Bloc Québecois member; MP for St-Hubert defected from Conservative caucus August 9, 1991. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Canadian Trade Minister Michael Wilson signs draft North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal with US and Mexico after 14 months of trilateral negotiations; creates the world’s largest trading block; to start January 1, 1994; to phase out trade and investment barriers over 10 years; many exemptions; it will take another year to iron out side issues. Washington, DC
  • 1992 Richard Holden joins Parti Québecois; says independence inevitable; independent MLA for Westmount. Montréal, Québec
  • 1994 Montréal Expos are having their best season to date, with 74 wins and 40 losses, when the major league baseball players go on strike to fight owners’ demands for a salary cap; rest of season canceled Sept. 14, 1994, leaving the Expos with the best record in baseball; strike will last 234 days, and wipe out the World Series. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 The Mask TV cartoon show debuts on CBS; based on the movie starring Canadian comic Jim Carrey. Los Angeles, California
  • 1997 Ontario Hydro announces shut down of the 7 oldest of its 19 nuclear reactors - 3 at the Bruce facility on Lake Huron and 4 at Pickering facility on Lake Ontario; North America’s largest electric utility. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1999 Jean Drapeau dies in Montréal; Mayor of Montréal 1954-73; began his career as a civic activist, and after his Civic Action League led a public inquiry into police corruption, replaced Camilien Houde as Mayor in the election of October 28, 1954; 1960 founded his own Civic Party, promising Montréal a subway and honest government; gave the city Expo ‘67, which drew 50 million visitors, as well as the Montréal Expos baseball team and the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, but such grandiose projects as the Olympic Stadium saddled the city with a crippling debt, holding back such basics as pollution control - as late as 1987, Montréal was still dumping raw sewage into the St Lawrence River; resigned June 20, 1986, after a stroke, and was replaced as Mayor by Jean Doré. Montréal, Québec
  • 2002 Fire guts Tudor House Hotel in Cranbrook. Cranbrook, BC
  • 2004 Andre Ouellet resigns as head of Canada Post after critique of expense claims. Ottawa, Ontario