Highlights of the day

  • 1535 Jacques Cartier reaches the Iroquois village of Canata on his second voyage.
  • 1629 The Kirke brothers capture Québec from Samuel de Champlain.
  • 1811 George Prevost appointed Administrator of Lower Canada; serves until July 15, 1812.
  • 1759 Marquis de Montcalm dies of wounds at 5 am after Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

List of Facts for September 14

  • 1535 Jacques Cartier reaches the Iroquois village of Canata at [Kebec] on his second voyage; meets Donnacona again; greeted with Iroquois word ‘Kanata’ or ‘Cantha;’ meaning ‘settlement of huts’. Québec, Québec
  • 1629 David Kirke, Louis Kirke and Thomas Kirke raise the English flag over Québec and take possession of Fort St-Louis and Samuel de Champlain’s Habitation; a year earlier, the Kirke brothers had demanded the surrender of the fort, but Champlain drove them off; this year Champlain surrenders, and is sent to France in chains; four years later, the colony will revert to France, and he returns. Québec, Québec
  • 1666 French-Iroquois War - The Marquis de Tracy sets out with 1,500 men from Québec to mount another attack against the Mohawks; with Daniel de Courcelles. Québec, Québec
  • 1699 Louis de Callières becomes Governor of New France on Count Frontenac’s death; serves until May 26, 1703. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1752 Calendar - The British Empire and its American colonies replace the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar. The error between it and the Julian calendar was rectified by eliminating 11 days, yesterday being September 2; ten days are ‘lost’ when the new calendar which had been adopted by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 made adjustments to keep it accurate to within about 25 seconds a year. London, England
  • 1758 French and Indian War - James Grant defeated by French at Grant’s Hill near Fort Duquesne, with 800 men. Fort Duquesne, Pennsylvania
  • 1759 French and Indian War - The Marquis de Montcalm dies of wounds at 5 am the morning after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, at age 47. When informed he is dying, Montcalm supposedly replied, So much the better. I shall not live to see the English masters of Québec. An elderly servant nicknamed Bonhomme Michel fashions a makeshift coffin out of a few boards. At 9:00 that evening, the general’s body, preceded by a soldier carrying a cross and two militia men lighting the way with lanterns, is borne quietly down Rue Saint-Louis to the chapel of the Ursuline convent. The procession turns left onto Rue du Parloir, a tiny street dominated by the convent. After a funeral mass, Montcalm’s body is laid in a crater that a British shell had carved out under the altar. Bonhomme Michel then repairs the floor as best he can. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1811 George Prevost appointed Administrator of Lower Canada, replacing Thomas Dunn; serves until July 15, 1812. Québec, Québec
  • 1814 War of 1812 - British troops end three day attack on Baltimore and Fort McHenry to retaliate for American burning of York, Upper Canada (Toronto, Ontario) and Newark, Upper Canada (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario); Francis Scott Key, captured on a British ship, writes the Star Spangled Banner during the bombardment. Baltimore, Maryland
  • 1853 Construction starts on the European & North American Railroad; crossing New Brunswick from Maine to Nova Scotia. New Brunswick
  • 1868 Amor de Cosmos calls meeting of the Confederation League at Yale; votes for immediate admission into Canada; founder of Victoria, BC’s newspaper, the ‘British Colonist’. Yale, BC
  • 1872 Politics - George-Etienne Cartier wins the Provencher seat in the federal election when Riel withdraws his candidacy as a favour to Cartier; Cartier had lost his own seat in Montreal East. Provencher, Manitoba
  • 1890 Strike by Ottawa lumber mill workers. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1890 Energy - Geological Survey of Canada geologists start surveying petroleum seepages along the Athabasca River; discover bitumen deposits and oil sands. Fort McMurray, Alberta
  • 1893 CPR inaugurates service between Montréal, Minneapolis and Vancouver on Canadian Pacific Railway rails and over and the Soo Line (Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway). Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
  • 1897 Winnipeg Daily Tribune warns that the combine harvester had been invented to keep the price of grain low. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1898 BC Southern Railway lays track over the Goatfell Hill between Curzon, BC and Kitchener, BC.
  • 1899 Contractors deliver the Castlegar to Grand Forks portion of the Columbia and Western railway to the CPR. Castlegar, BC
  • 1907 Jasper Forest Reserve is established in the Rockies west of Edmonton; named after Jasper Hawes, who operated a trading post in the region for the North West Company; 1911 the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway arrives; 1912 Great Northern Railway arrives; 1921 Jasper Park Lodge opens to rival the CPR’s Banff Springs Hotel; 1922 Athabasca Hotel opens; 1930 granted national park status as [Jasper National Park, the largest in the Canadian Rockies, containing 10,878 km² (4200 mi²), and including the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, hot springs, lakes, waterfalls and mountains; 1984 declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the other national and provincial parks that form the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks. Jasper, Alberta
  • 1916 British Columbia Election - H.C. Brewster elected Liberal Premier of British Columbia in the provincial election; serves to March 1, 1918. BC
  • 1925 John Baxter sworn in as Premier of New Brunswick, replacing Peter Veniot. [Fredericton, NB
  • 1926 Federal Election - Mackenzie King defeats Arthur Meighen in the general election, winning Liberal absolute majority; takes 128 seats to the Conservatives’ 91, with 46.1% of the popular vote. The Progressives win 20 seats; 6 other. Canada September 14 - Arthur Meighen resigns as Conservative leader on defeat in the general election; calls leadership convention; PM since July 7, 1926. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1933 Strike by furniture workers and meat packers in Stratford; troops and armoured cars move in; strike settled peacefully November 4, 1933. Stratford, Ontario
  • 1936 Dorothea Palmer arrested for distributing birth control information; a nurse; acquitted at subsequent trial which made distribution legal. Vanier, Ontario
  • 1960 Antonio Barrette resigns as leader of Union Nationale party. Québec
  • 1967 Vancouver actor Raymond Burr stars in Ironside crime drama, making its debut on NBC. Hollywood, California
  • 1968 Blood, Sweat & Tears play a concert for 40 overseas officials of the United States Information Agency; part of the USIA’s program to acquaint its overseas staff with cultural developments in the homeland. The group is led by Canadian David Clayton-Thomas. Washington, DC
  • 1970 Premiers Conference - First Ministers start 2-day Conference; discuss amendment of BNA Act and state of economy. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1974 Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s Not Fragile album enters the Billboard album chart, where it goes straight to #1; features the #1 single, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet. New York, New York
  • 1977 Queen Elizabeth II starts 5-day trip to Canada for Silver Jubilee ceremonies. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1979 Trade - Canada sells China 2 million tonnes of wheat, worth $400 million. China
  • 1980 Maxwell Bates dies; artist, architect, author, and poet; helped design Calgary’s St. Mary’s Cathedral. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1984 Kingston’s Dan Aykroyd with Bette Midler host the first annual MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall. The Cars won Best Video honors for You Might Think and Michael Jackson won Best Overall Performance and Choreography for his Thriller video. New York, New York
  • 1986 Football - Saskatchewan Roughriders & Hamilton Tiger Cats play First CFL regular-season overtime game. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1987 Record - Toronto Blue Jays hit 10 home runs as they bomb the Baltimore Orioles, 18-3, to set a major league baseball record for most homers in a 9 inning game. Ernie Whitt cracks three homers, Rance Mulliniks and George Bell hit two each and Lloyd Moseby, Rob Ducey and Fred McGriff add one apiece for a club record. The 11 home runs by both teams also sets a record. In the game, O’s shortstop Cal Ripken leaves in the eighth, ending his 908 game consecutive inning streak at 8,243. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1989 Calgary Flames the First NHL team to play in the USSR; defeat Soviet team 4-2. Moscow, Russia
  • 1990 Gulf War - Brian Mulroney sends squadron of Canadian Forces F-18 fighter jets, with 450 pilots and flight crew, to Persian Gulf; raises to $74 million Canadian aid to Kuwaiti refugees. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Energy - Minister Jake Epp approves $5.2 billion Hibernia offshore oil project; led by Mobil Oil; 6,000 construction jobs. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1990 Maniac Mansion comedy show debuts on Family Channel; filmed in Toronto and starring SCTV regular Joe Flaherty. New York, New York
  • 1990 Spar Aerospace buys defense contracts of bankrupt Leigh Instruments for $10 million. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Aboriginal - Saskatchewan Premier Grant Devine grants $431 million to Saskatchewan Indian bands for land entitled under treaty but never handed over; signs deal with Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1992 Bruce Hutchison dies at age 91; journalist for 74 years; wrote 16 books, won 3 Governor General’s Awards. Victoria, BC
  • 1992 Paul Martin, Senior dies at age 89; First elected 1935; Liberal MP 33 years; Senator, High Commissioner in London; last surviving cabinet minister from Mackenzie King era. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1993 CPR runs last train on Slocan Branch line; branch formally closed. Slocan, BC
  • 1994 Strike - Montreal Expos badly hit by baseball lockout as all 28 owners vote to cancel rest of the 1994 season, including the World Series, as a result of ongoing labour problems and a players’ strike; the Montréal Expos are having their best season ever. New York, New York
  • 1996 Hockey - Team Canada loses the hockey finals of an 8-nation tournament for the First World Cup of Hockey; US national team beats Team Canada 5-2 to take the best of three series, two games to one. Montréal, Québec
  • 1998 Strike - Air Canada pilots end their 13-day strike with a 9% salary increase over 2 years. Montréal, Québec
  • 2001 Terrorism - Canadians hold vigil on Parliament Hill three days after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington; largest single vigil ever seen in the nation’s capital. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2003 Cinema - Denys Arcand’s The Barbarian Invasions takes the top award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), along with Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano’s Zatoichi, the story of a mythical blind swordsman. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2004 Team Canada wins the World Cup of Hockey.