Highlights of the day

  • 1791 Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester appointed Governor-in-Chief of Canada.
  • 1846 John Franklin’s ships Erebus and Terror get firmly locked into the ice north of King William Island.
  • 1957 Canada and US form North American Air Defence Command - NORAD - to coordinate air defence of the Continent.
  • 1972 Founding of Heritage Canada as a national trust, to preserve historic buildings, scenic landscapes and natural areas.

List of Facts for September 12

  • 1609 Explorer Henry Hudson sails into the river that now bears his name; working for the Dutch East India Company, he is searching for the Northwest Passage, a water route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Dutch will later claim the area, set up a colony as New Amsterdam, and a fur trade entrepot at Albany, which will compete with New France. New York, New York
  • 1621 Samuel de Champlain issues the First ordinances in New France. Québec, Québec
  • 1646 Huron traders arrive in New France with 32,000 lbs of beaver pelts. Montréal, Québec
  • 1657 Thomas Temple agrees to divide Acadia with William Crowne; takes area from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to St. George River, Maine. Nova Scotia New Brunswick
  • 1665 Governor Daniel de Courcelle arrives at Québec with Intendant Jean Talon; succeeds Saffray de Mézy as Governor, with a mandate to subdue the Iroqouis. Québec, Québec
  • 1672 Count Frontenac convenes a meeting of the Sovereign Council of New France. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1696 Pierre d’Iberville arrives at Plaisance with Simon de Bonaventure to begin campaign to drive English out of Newfoundland. Placentia, Newfoundland
  • 1696 Fur Trade - Count Frontenac tries to stop free trade in furs by shutting down western posts, banning travel outside New France, stopping western trading licenses. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1733 Pierre Dosquet appointed Bishop of Québec; serves until 1739. Québec, Québec
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - Benedict Arnold starts move down the Chaudière River toward Québec. Québec
  • 1789 Alexander Mackenzie arrives back at Fort Chipewyan from his trip to the Arctic Ocean. Fort Chipewyan, NWT
  • 1791 Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester appointed Governor-in-Chief of Canada; serves from December 26, 1791 to December 15, 1796. London, England
  • 1814 War of 1812 - British fleet under Sir Alexander Cochrane starts bombarding Fort McHenry, the last American defense before Baltimore. Lawyer Francis Scott Key had approached the British attackers seeking the release of a friend who was being held for unfriendly acts toward the British. Key himself was detained overnight on September 13 and witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry from a British ship. As the sun rose, Key was amazed to see the American flag still flying over the battered fort. This experience inspired Key to write the lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner and adapt them to the tune of a well-known British drinking song. The Star-Spangled Banner was officially recognized as the US national anthem in 1931. Baltimore, Maryland
  • 1840 John Sexton appointed First city clerk of Montreal. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1846 Franklin Expedition - John Franklin steams through Barrow Strait and Peel Sound into Franklin Strait, north of King William Island; he is only 160 km NE of charted coast and North West Passage to the Pacific but fails to enter the North West Passage because of an error on his chart; on this day his ships Erebus and Terror get firmly locked into the ice off King William Island; they never sail again. King William Island, Nunavut
  • 1850 Aviation - First hot air balloon flight over Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1856 British Columbia legislature meets for the First time. Victoria, BC
  • 1857 Captain John Palliser and his party are the First Europeans to visit Pile of Bones (Regina). Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1858 Captain Champagn L’Estrange of the Royal Artillery, out for a day of moose hunting with a Mi’kmaq guide named Joe Paul, finds traces of gold along the Tangier River at Mooseland, Halifax County; triggers a rush two years later. Mooseland, Nova Scotia
  • 1864 Halifax Conference - Confederation conference reconvenes at Province House in Halifax; delegates agree to meet at Québec October 10, 1864 to work out final details. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1892 Marc Girard dies; notary and politician; a protege of George-Étienne Cartier, he was First French-Canadian Premier of Manitoba, serving in 1871-1872 and 1874. Manitoba
  • 1895 Thomas Ellis buys the debt of the Haynes estate and forecloses on the Okanagan property. BC
  • 1904 Boston banker Charles Glidden drives his dark-green Napier car into Calgary on the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks, using flanged steel wheels; will continue on to Vancouver. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1912 CPR leases the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway for 99 years. Montréal, Québec
  • 1914 First World War - First Battle of the Marne ends in an Allied victory against Germany. France
  • 1915 Library - Opening of the Bibliothèque St-Sulpice. Montréal, Québec
  • 1918 First World War - Government sets up Department of Public Instruction to give the public war information. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1919 Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) visits Edmonton. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1919 Diplomacy - Parliament ratifies Canada’s signing of the Treaty of Versailles, ending First World War. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1920 Olympics - Seventh Olympiad closes in Antwerp. Canada takes home three gold medals, in Ice Hockey: The Winnipeg Falcons, in Boxing - 66.68-kg: Albert Schneider and in Track and Field - 110m hurdles: Earl Thomson; three silver medals, in Boxing - 53.53 kg: Chris Graham, in Boxing - 72.57 kg: Georges Prud’homme, and in Swimming - 1,500 freestyle: George Vernot; and three bronze medals, in Boxing - 72.57 kg: Moe Herscovitch, in Boxing - 61.24 kg: Chris Newton, and in Swimming - 400m freestyle: George Vernot. Antwerp, Belgium
  • 1921 Québec City votes against prohibition. Québec, Québec
  • 1929 Football - First legal forward pass in Canadian football is completed.
  • 1932 Opening of Boulevard Taschereau. Montréal, Québec
  • 1944 Second World War - Canadians help clear Channel ports of Dieppe, Calais and Dover. France
  • 1944 Second World War - Second Québec Conference opens deliberations in the Chateau Frontenac; Mackenzie King hosts with US President Frankklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Québec, Québec
  • 1945 Strike - Ford Motor Company employees go on strike. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1957 Military - Canada and US form North American Air Defence Command - NORAD - to coordinate air defence of the Continent. Colorado
  • 1959 Toronto actor Lorne Greene stars as Pa Cartwright in new NBC-TV western drama Bonanza; with Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, and Pernell Roberts; First Western broadcast in colour, will last fourteen seasons. Hollywood, California
  • 1960 British Columbia Election - W. A. C. Bennett and Social Credit re-elected in British Columbia BC
  • 1966 British Columbia Election - W. A. C. Bennett and Social Credit re-elected in British Columbia BC
  • 1968 Strike - Lake Superior grain handlers end 8-week strike. Thunder Bay, Ontario
  • 1968 Opening of First session of the 28th Parliament; sits until October 22, 1969. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1972 Heritage - Ottawa helps establish Heritage Canada as a national trust, to preserve historic buildings, scenic landscapes and natural areas. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1974 Canadian Egg Marketing Agency orders 28 million eggs destroyed; rotted due to improper storage. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1983 Espionage - Canada expels 2 Soviet diplomats for trying to obtain prohibited high technology equipment. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1983 Canada Pension Appeals Board rules that divorced women are not entitled to the Canada Pension of their ex-husband if they have already given up all rights to his support or property. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1987 Fraggle Rock cartoon show debuts on NBC; partly produced in Toronto by Jim Henson Associates, and input from Canadian children’s poet Dennis Lee. New York, New York
  • 1987 John Qualen dies at age 87; born John Oleson in Nova Scotia December 8, 1899; best known for work in The Grapes of Wrath, The Searchers. Los Angeles, California
  • 1990 Roger Bacon sworn in as interim Premier of Nova Scotia; replacing John Buchanan, who resigned on being appointed to Senate post; facing investigation by RCMP for corruption; Bacon was Minister of Housing and Deputy Premier. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1990 Energy - Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board allows $565 million project in Cohasset field & Panukle field south of Sable Island to go ahead; estimated 6 million barrels. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1991 Trial - Bill Vander Zalm changed with breach of trust in connection with sale of theme park Fantasy Gardens; former Premier of British Columbia. Victoria, BC
  • 1991 Trial - Michel Cogger charged with accepting illegal benefits from industrialist Guy Montpetit and Japanese investors; Montpetit charged September 17, 1991 with giving $212,000 payment. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1991 Record - World’s largest tepee is erected at Medicine Hat. Medicine Hat, Alberta
  • 1993 Vancouver, BC born actor Raymond Burr dies at age 76; known for his roles as star of Perry Mason, and Ironside’s Robert Ironside; also in Centennial, 79 Park Avenue, Unsolved Mysteries. Hollywood, California
  • 1993 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays Paul Molitor at 37 is the oldest major leaguer to reach 100 RBIs for the First time in his career. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1994 Québec Election - Jacques Parizeau wins provincial election for Parti Québecois, defeating Daniel Johnson’s Parti libéral du Québec, who had been in power for nine years; the PQ get only a slightly higher margin of the popular vote than the Liberals but take 77 of the 125 seats, up from 33; Liberals drop from 78 to 47 seats; sworn in as Premier of Québec September 26, 1994; promises to hold a referendum on sovereignty within a year. Québec
  • 1994 Toronto actress Neve Campbell stars in new Party of Five drama show, making its debut on Fox. Hollywood, California
  • 1996 Record - Rocky Mountain Railtours runs the longest passenger train in Canadian history, hauling 34 cars to Kamloops, BC using three GP40 locomotives. Vancouver, BC
  • 1997 Judith Merrill dies in Toronto at age 74; born Judith Grossman in New York, she made her home in Toronto; leaves her extensive science fiction collection to the Toronto Public Library. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1998 Trial scheduled in wrongful-death lawsuit against Canadian born talk show host Jenny Jones. Pontiac, Michigan
  • 2005 Peter C. Newman releases controversial book The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister. Toronto, Ontario