Highlights of the day

  • 1653 Marguerite Bourgeoys lands at Quebec with Pierre de Maisonneuve and 100 soldiers.
  • 1877 Crowfoot signs Treaty #7 with Siksika, Piikani, Kainai, Tsuu T’ina and Nakoda (Stoney)
  • 1910 Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union founded; origin of CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders.
  • 1967 Expo 67 breaks attendance record of 42,973,561 set at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels.

List of Facts for September 22

  • 1538 Education - Jacques Cartier receives 50 écus d’or from the royal treasury for the instruction of Aboriginal youth. Paris, France
  • 1583 Gilbert Expedition - The ‘Golden Hind’ lands in England with sole survivors of Humphrey Gilbert’s expedition to Newfoundland; Gilbert drowned in a storm off the Azores when his 10-ton frigate Squirrel went down with all hands. Britain
  • 1653 Marguerite Bourgeoys lands at Quebec with Pierre de Maisonneuve and 100 soldiers to defend Ville-Marie against the Iroquois; Bourgeoys intends to start a school in Montréal, but finds not enough children of school age because of heavy infant mortality. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1731 The Marquis de Beauharnois starts building Fort St-Frédéric at Pointe la Chevelure (Crown Point) at the foot of Lake Champlain; a small stockade for a garrison of only 30 men; replaced in 1736 by a limestone fort for 120 men; by 1742 the largest French fortress outside Québec, and a centre for the Indian trade with the Abenakis of the Rivière St-François, the Arundacks of the Ottawa River, and the Wyandots (Hurons) of the west. Crown Point, New York
  • 1760 Lord Amherst divides Canada into the military districts of Québec, Montréal and Three Rivers; Thomas Gage named military governor of Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1836 Opening of 3rd session of 15th Parliament of Lower Canada; meets until October 4, 1836. Québec, Québec
  • 1851 Province of Canada capital moves in rotation to Québec City from Toronto. Québec, Québec
  • 1866 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia offer Prince Edward Island $800,000 support to join Confederation, but are unsuccessful. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1874 Charles de Boucherville sworn in as Conservative Premier of Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1874 George French breaks up his NWMP command, sending two divisions to Manitoba and encamping the rest on the Prairies while he, James Macleod and Éphrem Brisebois set out for Fort Benton, Montana to get supplies and a guide. Saskatchewan
  • 1874 North West Mounted Police estimate the Plains buffalo herd at one million animals; the last great herd moving south into the United States to be annihilated. Saskatchewan
  • 1877 Treaty - Chief Crowfoot (Isapo-Muxica) signs Treaty #7 with the Blackfoot-speaking chiefs - the Siksika (Blackfoot), Piikani (Peigan) and the Kainai (Blood), along with their allies the Tsuu T’ina (Sarcee) and their old adversaries the Nakoda (Stoney) - in a meeting with Commissioner David Laird and Lt-Col James MacLeod of the NWMP at So-yo-pow-ahx-ko (Ridge Under Water), today’s Blackfoot Crossing. Canada’s last major First Nations treaty sets aside reserves of 69,039 sq km in the land south of the Red Deer River and beside the Rocky Mountains; provides $12 per Indian; schools; farm instruction, social benefits. Blackfoot Crossing, Alberta
  • 1883 Grand Trunk Railway acquires the 452 mile Midland Railway to Collingwood, Ontario and points north. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1892 Thetford Mines incorporated as a town. Thetford-Mines, Québec
  • 1897 Fire - Portage la Prairie town council votes to buy a fire engine from Winnipeg manufacturer John McKechnie at a cost of $2,500. Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
  • 1902 Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway becomes part of the Ottawa, Northern and Western Railway. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1906 Strike - UMWA strikes CNP Coal at Fernie and Michel, BC over wages; coal miners out until November 13, 1906. Fernie, BC
  • 1910 Founding of the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union to play league rugby football; origin of CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1914 First World War - Canadian Army recruiters assemble band of 32,000 volunteers to fight in France. Montréal, Québec
  • 1927 Epidemic - Edmonton to reopen schools after closing them for three weeks owing to an outbreak of infantile paralysis (polio). Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1929 First vehicle traffic across the new Québec Bridge. Ste-Foy, Québec
  • 1930 Welfare - Bennett government passes Unemployment Relief Act at end of special parliamentary session; agrees to increase public works with emergency $20 million grant. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1931 Moose Jaw College closes its doors, joins Regina College. Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
  • 1939 Second World War - Government sets up censorship bureau under War Measures Act; to examine all political speeches. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1946 Crime - Evelyn Dick charged with the murder of her husband John Dick, a Hamilton streetcar conductor, whose chopped-up body, minus head and limbs was found, partly concealed by a rocky outcrop, by children playing on Hamilton Mountain. Evelyn, age 25, had deserted Dick because her parents did not approve of their marriage and because he could not support her expensive lifestyle; after her arrest, she will make statements implicating herself, her lover William Bohozuk and her father, Donald Maclean, in the murders. During her trial, she will testifiy she had slept with scores of men, including the son of the presiding judge. The evidence against her is overwhelming, with traces of human bones beneath her driveway and bloodstains in her car, and she is sentenced to be hanged on January 7, 1947, while Maclean is sentenced to 5 years and Bohozuk is acquitted. A young Toronto lawyer, J. J. Robinette, will win an appeal on the grounds that police failed to warn her against making self-incriminating statements, and at her second trial, the jury acquits her. But several weeks later, she will be charged with manslaughter when the body of her infant son is found in a suitcase encased in concrete; this time she will be sentenced to life imprisonment and serves 11 years in jail. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1952 New Brunswick Election - Hugh John Flemming leads Conservatives to win in provincial election. New Brunswick
  • 1956 Canadian Sunset, by the Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra & Eddie Heywood, is #1 on the Billboard charts. New York, New York
  • 1959 Wilder Penfield made member of Soviet Academy of Sciences; director of Montréal Neurological Institute; with Edgar Steacie, chairman of Canada’s National Research Council. Moscow, Russia
  • 1961 Founding of the Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO); a Canadian version of the US Peace Corps. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1961 Saskatchewan becomes the second province in Canada to adopt an official tartan. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1962 M.D. McEachern School opens in Bellevue, Alberta.
  • 1966 Crime - Cuban nationalists hit Cuban Embassy in Ottawa with bazooka shots. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1967 Record - Expo 67 breaks attendance record of 42,973,561 set at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. Montréal, Québec
  • 1968 Auto racing - Running of the First Player’s Grand Prix at Mont Tremblant. St-Jovite, Québec
  • 1969 Geography - Canadian anthropologist Marius Barbeau honoured by naming highest mountain in the Canadian Arctic Mt. Barbeau. Ellesmere Island, Nunavut
  • 1970 Creation of the Parc de la Mauricie. Shawinigan, Québec
  • 1972 Canada-USSR Series - USSR beats Team Canada 5-4 in Game 5 of the super series before 15,000 fans, including 3,500 noisy Canadians; 13 days since game 4 in Vancouver; Phil Esposito slips on the ice, gets up and bows to the crowd with a big smile on his face during the player introductions; Paul Henderson suffers a mild concussion, but scores on his next shift; leading 3-0 after two periods, Team Canada gives up 5 third period goals on 11 shots, giving the Soviets a 3-1-1 lead in the series. Moscow, Russia
  • 1976 Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed opens the new Glenbow Centre, housing the Glenbow Museum, Art Gallery, Library, and Archives; $9 million facility opens with exhibit of western Canadian contemporary art, displays of First Nations cultures, pioneer artifacts, and military history. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1982 Mountaineering - Canadian Mount Everest Expedition establishes Camp 2; will make their final climb October 5, 1982. Nepal
  • 1982 Vancouver actor Michael J. Fox debuts in the NBC comedy, Family Ties. Los Angeles, California
  • 1985 Toronto-born rocker Neil Young joins Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp in the First Farm Aid concert; the three started the foundation to help financially troubled rural families buffeted by changing farm conditions, and to educate the American public about the importance of family farmers in preserving our food supply, protecting our natural resources and creating the economic foundation of rural America. The two day concert will raise $10 million, and has become an annual event, with funds going to farm organizations, churches, and service agencies in 44 states, to provide emergency assistance, financial counseling, and legal support to farm families struggling to stay on the land. Champaign, Illinois
  • 1987 Lauren Forgie gives birth to quintuplets; Canada’s First quints since the Dionnes of 1934. Orleans, Ontario
  • 1988 Brian Mulroney makes an official apology in the name of the Government of Canada for the Second First World Warnternment of Japanese-Canadians, and announces a $300 million compensation package. Ottawa, Ontario -
  • 1988 Currency - Royal Canadian Mint starts production of a $5 silver Maple Leaf bullion coin. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1990 Baseball - Montréal Expos Andre Dawson steals his 300th base, making him the only player other than Willie Mays to have 300 home runs, 300 steals & 2,000 hits. Montréal, Québec
  • 1991 Canadian rocker Bryan Adams’ hit ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’ stays at the #1 spot on the UK pop singles chart for the 12th straight week. Britain
  • 1992 Brian Mulroney signs land claim deal with Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians; bands to acquire up to 670,000 hectares in lands entitled under treaties. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1992 Canada Committee formed to support Charlottetown Accord referendum; led by Yves Fortier, June Callwood, Marc Garneau, Robert Stanfield; Ed Broadbent, Bill Davis, Peter Lougheed, Iona Campagnolo. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Environment - Ontario’s Provincial Round Table on the Environment shows true hidden pollution costs of tap water, energy; wants ban on release of persistent toxic chemicals by year 2000. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Environment - World Wildlife Fund says Canada losing 1 sq km of wilderness every hour, due to city sprawl, farming, roads, mining, hydro development; urges setting aside more parkland. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1994 Ottawa actor Matthew Perry appears in premiere of TV Comedy Friends on NBC-TV. Hollywood, California
  • 1995 Disaster - AWACS plane with US and Canadian military personnel crashes on takeoff from Elmendorf Air Force Base, killing all 24 people aboard. Anchorage, Alaska
  • 1995 Burlington Northern and Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads merge to become the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation; some operations in Canada.
  • 1996 Opening of First Montréal Chamber Music Festival. Montréal, Québec
  • 1998 Firearms Registry - 20,000 protest Canada’s new gun registry on Parliament Hill. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1998 Auto Racing - Jacques Villeneuve wins the Formula One Grand Prix of Portugal. Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2004 Canadian Fairuz Yamucky, who was held captive in Iraq for 16 days, is returned home. Montréal, Queebec
  • 2004 Foreign Aid - Ottawa forgives debts of Senegal, Ghana and Ethiopia. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2005 Awards - The Giller Prize wins an endorsement deal with Scotiabank, increasing the prize package for the award to $50,000, of which $40,000 will be presented to the winning author and $2,500 each to the other four shortlisted nominees; the official name is also changed to the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Toronto, Ontario