Highlights of the day

  • 1615 Étienne Brûlé arrives at the Seneca village of Tayagon; first European to view site of Toronto.
  • 1954 Marilyn Bell, age 16, the first person to swim the 51.5 km width of Lake Ontario, from Youngstown, NY.

List of Facts for September 9

  • 1542 Jean-François de Roberval pardons Aussillion de Sauveterre, a volunteer on his expedition who had killed a troublesome sailor; the piece of paper, dated in Canada on this day, and bearing the handwritten signature “J. F. de La Rocque,” is New France and Canada’s Firstt and oldest official document extant. Québec, Québec
  • 1583 Humphrey Gilbert drowns returning from Newfoundland when his ship ‘Squirrel’ is wrecked in a storm off the Azores; his reputed last words are, ‘We are as near to heaven by sea as by land!’ A month earlier, on August 5, 1583, Gilbert had entered St. John’s Harbour with his ships Delight, Golden Hind, Swallow and Squirrel, and read a Royal Charter formally claiming the lands 200 miles around St. John’s for Queen Elizabeth I, thereby founding the First English colony in North America. Azores
  • 1615 Étienne Brûlé arrives with a Huron war party at the Seneca village of Tayagon, at Baby Point on the east bank of the Toronto River, today called the Humber River; First European to view site of Toronto. After a failed attack on the Iroquois, he visits the headwaters of the Susquehanna River and follows it to Chesapeake Bay; on his return he is captured and tortured by the Iroquois; in 1618 he will escape and return to live with the Huron; Toronto, Ontario
  • 1761 Pontiac’s Rebellion - Native Americans grow increasingly restless and angry after French surrender of Fort Detroit to the English under Major Robert Rogers; the English refuse to lower prices on trade goods and furnish them with ammunition; several tribes start to plan an attack on Detroit, stirred up by The Prophet, a Delaware visionary living in the upper Ohio River, and by his disciple, Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa tribe. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1764 Abbé Briand chosen Bishop of Québec after resignation of Mgr. Montgolfier, who had been acting in secret after the English conquest. Québec, Québec
  • 1850 William Robinson signs a treaty with the Ojibway people to settle the colonization of the north shore of Lake Huron. Manitoulin Island, Ontario
  • 1864 Confederation - Charlottetown Conference - The Conference ended, most Canadian delegates, who have been up all night celebrating, head to the Queen Victoria at 5am to set sail for Halifax. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1870 Coinage - Finance Minister authorizes legally struck copper tokens, sous, and half-pence as cents, and Canadian one-pence pieces as two cents, effective October 1, 1870; announces withdrawal of the 20c piece. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1876 The Plains Cree, Woodland Cree and Assiniboine people sign Treaty No.6 (Part 2) at Fort Pitt. Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan
  • 1883 Police - Constables of C Troop of the NWMP mutiny at Fort MacLeod. Fort Macleod, Alberta
  • 1885 Trial - Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench rejects the appeal of Louis Riel of his conviction for treason for leading the North West Rebellion. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1891 Eli Carpenter and J. L. Seaton stake the Payne claim in the Slocan Mountains. BC
  • 1895 Opening of the rebuilt Sault Ste. Marie Canal, widened to take ocean going ships. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
  • 1898 Ottawa Football Club re-organizes into the ORFU Ottawa Rough Riders. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1914 First World War - Creation of the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, the first fully mechanized unit in the British Army. Aldershot, England
  • 1916 First World War - Private Leo Clarke of the 2nd Batallion Eastern Ontario Regiment dies of his wounds; will win the Victoria Cross for his actions this day, covering the construction of a ‘block’ in a newly-captured trench near Pozières, France, after most of his team were casualties; when about 20 Germans, with two officers, counter-attacked, Clarke single-handedly fought them off, killing 5 and capturing one, although suffering from a bayonet wound; gazetted a VC posthumously October 26, 1916; one of three VC winners who lived on Valour Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Etretat, France - See DND feed on Clarke
  • 1918 First World War - New Canadian offensive in the Battle of Amiens begins at 4:20 am; Canadians have 4,000 casualties this day. Amiens, France
  • 1918 See: Canadians Break Through the German Trenches at Amiens, Beginning Canada’s Hundred Days
  • 1918 Epidemic - Returning troops bring the Spanish Influenza to Canada.
  • 1918 See: Influenza Outbreak Hits Canada
  • 1919 J. H. Bell sworn in as Premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Aubin Arsenault. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1919 Record - Alexander Graham Bell sees his hydrofoil reach a new world water speed record of 122 kph; piloted by J.A.D. McCurdy. Baddeck, Nova Scotia
  • 1929 James Anderson sworn in as Premier of Saskatchewan, replacing Jimmy Gardiner. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1930 Record - Percy Williams sets a new world track record of 10.3 seconds for the 100 Metres. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1939 Second World War - Ottawa sets up the Agricultural Supplies Committee for wartime distribution. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1940 Second World War - Second Victory Loan campaign begins; to raise $300 million. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1942 Second World War - War Cabinet closes the St. Lawrence River to all Allied shipping except coasters; due to German U-Boat submarine danger. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1942 War Cabinet establishes the Wartime Information Board to deal with the public relations surrounding the conscription crisis; chaired by Charles Vining and Norman Mackenzie, the WIB replaces the Bureau of Public Information; John Grierson will serve as General Manager until replaced in 1944 by Davidson Dunton. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1944 Riot - Fighting and near riot breaks out between local youths and Royal Air Force aircrew in training at Moose Jaw airbase; worst such disturbance of Second First World Warn Saskatchewan. Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
  • 1949 Disaster - A Québec Airways DC-3 explodes and crashes enroute from Québec City to Baie-Comeau, killing 23; Albert Guay and 2 accomplices are later convicted of planting a bomb on the plane, and are hanged for murder. St-Joachim, Québec
  • 1953 RCMP forces start arresting Doukhobor dissidents in the Kootenays. BC
  • 1954 Marilyn Bell touches the CNE breakwater, utterly exhausted, becoming the First person to swim the 51.5 km width of Lake Ontario, from Youngstown, NY. The 16 year old Bell does it in 20 hours, 59 minutes, battling lamprey eels and oil pollution; succeeding where marathon champions Florence Chadwick and Winnie Roach failed. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1957 Paul Anka’s single Diana peaks at #1 on the Billboard pop singles chart, First of his three hit singles to top the charts. New York, New York
  • 1959 Edmonton Mayor Bill Hawrelak resigns after a Royal Commission report accuses him of misconduct. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1959 Energy - Ontario Hydro opens Canada’s First large nuclear power plant, near Kincardine. Kincardine, Ontario
  • 1960 Inauguration of the Promenade Des Gouverneurs in front of the Chateau Frontenac in Québec City. Québec, Québec
  • 1964 Expo ‘67 - Government starts building $21 million Katimavik Canadian pavilion on Île Ste-Hélène. Montréal, Québec
  • 1964 Finance - Québec borrows $100 million from British Columbia; First time one province borrowed money from another. Québec
  • 1965 Robert Fowler issues Fowler Report on Canadian Broadcasting, recommending more Canadian content and new authority to replace the Board of Broadcast Governors; result will be creation of a new body, the CRTC. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Education - Simon Fraser University opens for classes; 2,500 students attend first semester. Burnaby, BC
  • 1967 Robert Stanfield chosen as new leader by the Progressive Conservative Party convention in Toronto’s steamy Maple Leaf Gardens; the Tories say farewell to John Diefenbaker, and choose the Premier of Nova Scotia on the 5th ballot, with 1150 votes, to Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin’s 969. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1970 Energy - Opening of Mispec Point terminal; First deep-water terminal for supertankers in North America. Mispec Point, New Brunswick
  • 1970 Ottawa puts a complete ban on pesticide DDT in Canada, effective January 1, 1971. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1971 Hockey great Gordie Howe publicly announces he is retiring from the NHL to serve as Vice President with the Detroit Red Wings organization; he will emerge from retirement two years later to play with his sons Marty Howe and Mark Howe on the WHA Houston Astros team. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1971 Terrorism - Pierre Vallières goes into hiding after fearing arrest for FLQ activities. Montréal, Québec
  • 1971 Environment - Greenpeace crew leave for Amchitka Island, Alaska, to protest a series of underground nuclear tests; will be turned back. Vancouver, BC - See September 30
  • 1975 Statistics Canada reports Canada’s unemployment rate for August to be 7.3%, highest since 1961. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Unveiling of a statue of Maurice Duplessis in front of the Québec National Assembly. Québec, Québec
  • 1978 Jack Warner dies; the film producer and studio boss was one of 12 children of Jewish immigrants from Poland who first settled in London, Ontario, where he was born on August 2, 1892. In 1905 he and his other Warner brothers, Albert Warner, Sam Warner and Harry Warner started a film distribution business in Ohio, but were soon forced to sell out to the Patents Company. They started producing shorts in 1912, and established a studio at Burbank, California, called Warner Bros. In 1927 they launched the sound era with Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer. Hollywood, California
  • 1979 Lynn Johnson premieres her ‘For Better or For Worse’ cartoon strip in selected newspapers; two years later, she will have 50 million readers worldwide in over 1,600 newspapers in the US, Canada and 21 other countries. Based on her own family life, the strip is originally produced from a lakeside cabin in Northern Ontario. In 1985 she wins the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year (First woman to win this award) from the US National Cartoonists Society (NCS) and Best Syndicated Comic Strip from the NCS in 1992. Corbeil, Ontario
  • 1984 Pope John Paul II arrives in Québec City to begin 12 day tour of Canada to September 20, 1984; speaks at a three-hour mass at Laval Stadium attended by over 250,000 people; also visits the tomb of Bishop François de Laval; First pontiff to visit Canada. His itinerary is: Trois-Rivières, Montréal, St. John’s, Moncton, Halifax, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver and Ottawa-Hull. Ste-Foy, Québec
  • 1988 David Lam sworn in as Lieutenant-governor of British Columbia; the Hong Kong immigrant is the First Chinese-Canadian to hold that position. Victoria, BC
  • 1991 Labour - Over 70,000 members of PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada) walk off the job; grain handling at a standstill in Vancouver, BC and Thunder Bay, Ontario; called off nine days later when PSAC and Treasury Board return to the bargaining table. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Bryan Adams’ (Everything I Do) I Do It for You stays at #1 on the Billboard pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1991 CEO Fred Richardson announces Crown Life Insurance has sold 42% of shares to Haro Financial Corp of Saskatchewan; head office will move to Regina from Toronto by 1993. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1992 Don Getty announces he will resign as Premier of Alberta after 25 years in politics; polls show he faces uphill battle to keep power in another election; leadership convention will choose Ralph Klein, a former mayor of Calgary, as his replacement. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1996 NHL superstar Mario Lemieux signs a 12 month contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins worth $10 million; he will later acquire the team. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1999 Immigration - Canadian Navy seizes fourth ship of illegal Chinese migrants in Nootka Sound. Nootka Sound, BC
  • 2005 Halifax International Airport renamed to honour former Premier of Nova Scotia Robert Stanfield. Halifax, Nova Scotia