Highlights of the day

  • 1825 Great Miramachi Fire breaks out after a hot, dry summer; kills over 500 people in New Brunswick.
  • 1862 William Macdougall negotiates Manitoulin Island Treaty with Ottawa and Chippewa nations.
  • 1970 Government of Canada refuses to meet conditions of FLQ for release of James Cross.
  • 1989 Ray Hnatyshyn named Canada’s 24th Governor General, replacing Jeanne Sauvé.

List of Facts for October 6

  • 1586 John Davis arrives back in England from his Arctic explorations and search for the North West Passage. Dartmouth, England
  • 1604 Pierre de Monts, Samuel de Champlain and party experience first snowfall at Ste-Croix, the prelude to a very early and hard winter during which 35 of the 79 French will die of scurvy. Dochet Island, Maine
  • 1818 Fort Astoria on the Columbia River is returned to the United States under the War of 1812 peace treaty; fort sold to the North West Company by starving Americans in 1813, then formally captured by a British warship; Britain loses the territories of the Pacific Northwest First explored by the Norwesters. Astoria, Oregon
  • 1825 Disaster - The “Great Miramachi Fire” breaks out after a hot, dry summer; the blaze will kill approximately 500 people. New Brunswick
  • 1862 Treaty - Indian Commissioner William Macdougall negotiates the Manitoulin Island Treaty with the Ottawa and Chippewa Ojibwa nations; Crown awards land grants and interest for aboriginal title over land. Manitouwaning, Ontario
  • 1890 Tariff - US President William McKinley brings in the protective McKinley Tariff; Canada applies counter-tariffs soon after; this punitive American measure stifles trade and leads to recession on both sides of the border. Washington, DC
  • 1897 Rail - Ottawa and the CPR sign agreement to build the British Columbia Southern Railway. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1911 Wilfrid Laurier resigns as Prime Minister following election upset by Robert Borden; Liberal Party leader since 1887; MP Québec East since 1877; Leader of the Opposition until his death in 1919. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1913 First convention of the Saskatchewan branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is held in Regina. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1915 First World War - Major Adolphe Roy the second Canadian to die at the front. France
  • 1917 First World War - Departure of 258th Montréal Battalion of Infantry for service in France. Montréal, Québec
  • 1923 Earthquake rattles windows and causes mud slides in Québec region. Québec, Québec
  • 1925 Media - RCCS Aklavik radio station opens; part of Northwest Territories and Yukon Radio System. Aklavik, NWT
  • 1926 Military - Opening of the First Royal Canadian Legion branch in Alberta, Coleman No. 9. Coleman, Alberta
  • 1927 Canadian born film producers, the Warner Brothers, premiere the world’s First talking film, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson; not a true talkie, with only 291 spoken words, but the First to integrate sound and dialogue into a story through the Vitaphone disk process. New York, New York
  • 1932 Opening of fourth session of 17th Parliament; meets until May 27, 1933. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1933 John Machray, lawyer, King’s Counsel, dies in prison while serving a seven-year sentence for theft. Manitoba
  • 1937 Ontario Election - Mitch Hepburn wins a second consecutive majority for the Liberals. Ontario
  • 1942 October 6 - Second World War - Last group of Japanese internees detained at Hastings Park internment camp leave for camps in the BC Interior. Vancouver, BC
  • 1942 Cora Hind dies; journalist, born at Toronto September 18, 1861; moved to Winnipeg, worked as a public stenographer when denied a job at the Free Press; set up a marketing service for the province’s dairy industries; in 1901 became agricultural editor of the paper and an expert on the western Canadian wheat crop yield; elected President of the Canadian Women’s Press Club in 1904; participated in Winnipeg’s famous Mock Parliament in 1914, which defeated a motion to give the vote to men; retired in 1935; author of Seeing for Myself (1937), about her round the world trip to observe farming methods. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1945 Second World War - Soldiers of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment (the Loyal Eddies) return to Edmonton from Europe. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1948 Confederation - Newfoundland delegates start meeting in the Senate chamber with their Canadian counterparts to discuss final arrangements for entry into Confederation; until October 27, 1948. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1950 Saskatchewan born entertainer Art Linkletter premieres his ‘Life With Linkletter’ TV Variety show on ABC. Los Angeles, California
  • 1954 Nova Scotia country singer Hank Snow has a #1 hit with his RCA single, ‘I Don’t Hurt Anymore’. New York, New York
  • 1959 Foreign Aid - John Diefenbaker announces $20,000 grant to Japanese Red Cross for relief of typhoon victims. Japan
  • 1960 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens retire Maurice Richard’s sweater, No. 9. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1961 Energy - Canadian Committee for Control of Radiation Hazards presents 141,000-name petition to Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1962 October 6 - Engineering - Work on the Greater Winnipeg Floodway begins; aka Duff’s Ditch. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1962 Canadian tenor Robert Goulet steps out of the role of Sir Lancelot, in Lerner & Loewe’s hit Broadway musical, Camelot. New York, New York
  • 1962 Toronto Maple Leafs beat the NHL All Stars 4-1 in the 16th National Hockey League All-Star Game, held in Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1964 October 6 - Mount St. Laurent in the Rocky Mountains named to honour former Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. BC
  • 1964 Village of Sparwood incorporated. Sparwood, BC
  • 1965 Education - Vincent Bladen issues his Bladen Commission report on Canadian universities; recommends higher university grants and aid to students; also creation of a federal minister of higher education. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Energy - Hydro-Québec and British Newfoundland Corporation sign a 40-year power deal; letting Québec buy power from Churchill Falls at what will turn out to be bargain rates. Churchill Falls, Labrador
  • 1967 October 6 - Weather - 489.2 mm (19.26 in) of rain falls at Brynnor Mines in a 24 hour period for a Canadian Record. Ucluelet, BC
  • 1967 Ombudsman - Ross Flemington, former president of Mount Allison University appointed New Brunswick’s First ombudsman. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1970 October 6 - Terrorism - External Affairs Minister Mitchell Sharp says the government of Canada refuses to meet conditions of FLQ given in a communiqué broadcast at 1:30 over CKAC for the release of British Trade Commissioner James Cross - publication of the FLQ Manifesto in newspapers, release of FLQ militants from jail, and rehiring of 400 ex-employees of the Lapalme transport company by the Post Office. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Montréal Canadiens defensive stalwart John Ferguson announces his retirement from hockey. Montréal, Québec
  • 1973 UFO sighted by 2 two people at St-Mathias. St-Mathias-de-Chambly, Québec
  • 1974 WHA Team Canada comprised of World Hockey Association players wins 1 game, ties 3 out of 8 with USSR. Moscow, Russia
  • 1976 Disaster - Cuban jet leased from Air Canada crashes near Barbados, killing 78. Barbados
  • 1977 Strike begins at Montréal daily newspapers La Presse and Montréal-Matin. Montréal, Québec
  • 1980 October 6 - Energy - Quebec and Newfoundland governments sign the Churchill Falls hydro agreement.
  • 1980 Constitution - Pierre Trudeau outlines his plan to patriate the Canadian constitution unilaterally
  • 1981 October 6 - Media - Canadian government sells Telidon two-way television system to Siemens AG of West Germany for $10 million; precursor to the internet let users retrieve graphical information from electronic libraries. Frankfurt, Germany
  • 1981 Energy - First Canadian natural gas reaches Los Angeles through Foothills Pipeline; ‘prebuilt’ western section of Alaska gas pipeline. Los Angeles, California
  • 1983 Politics - BC NDP Leader Dave Barrett ejected from the Legislature for defying a ruling by Speaker Walter Davidson over fiscal restraint bills; First leader of a Canadian political party to be forcefully ejected. Victoria, BC
  • 1984 Energy - Syncrude goes ahead with $600 million tar sands expansion. Fort McMurray, Alberta
  • 1985 Baseball - Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees blanks the Toronto Blue Jays 8-0 on the last day of the season, becoming the 18th pitcher in major-league history to win 300 games; at age 46, he also became the oldest pitcher to throw a shutout. New York, New York
  • 1986 October 6 - Energy - Explosion damages PetroCanada refinery in east end Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1986 Immigration - Canada receives a United Nations award for sheltering refugees. New York, New York
  • 1989 Ray Hnatyshyn named Canada’s 24th Governor General, replacing Jeanne Sauvé; Saskatoon native the son of a Senator and a former Conservative Energy and Justice Minister; sworn into office on January 29, 1990; 1992 instituted the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards; succeeded by Roméo LeBlanc in 1995. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s reunion album Ragged Glory peaks at #31 on the Billboard charts. New York, New York
  • 1992 October 6 - Space - Canadian built Ultra Violet Auroral Imager and Cold Plasma Analyzer instruments carried on board Swedish-German Freja satellite launched on a Chinese Long March IIC rocket. China
  • 1992 Ontario Consumer & Commercial Relations Minister Marilyn Churley announces the province has chosen Windsor as site of pilot casino; will supply badly needed revenue to border city, help control organized crime. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1992 Crime - Statistics Canada reports killings by handguns doubled to 136 in 1991 from 68 in 1990 and 45 in 1989; used in half of shooting homicides, up from 30% in 1991. 1991 homicides rose to a record 753, up 14.8% from 1990; BC and Manitoba highest; PEI lowest; 270 killed by firearms, up almost 40% since 1990. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1993 Oka Crisis - Non-natives erect barricade at Oka to protest actions of Kanesatake Mohawks. Oka, Québec
  • 1995 October 6 - Hockey - Former Québec Nordiques, now the Colorado Avalanche, play their First NHL game, beating Detroit. Denver, Colorado
  • 1995 Strike - Most Quebec CÉGEP junior college students walk out to protest tuition fee hikes. Quebec
  • 1996 Strike - General Motors’ 15,000 workers at Boisbriand walk off the job. Boisbriand, Québec
  • 1997 Sovereignty - Québec City lawyer Guy Bertrand asks the Québec Superior Court to recommend creation of a fund to hold tax revenues payable to the Québec government in the event of a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). Québec, Québec
  • 1999 Federalism - Over 600 delegates from 25 nations attend First International Conference on Federalism at Mont-Tremblant; noteworthy for Québec Premier Lucien Bouchard’s diatribe against the Canadian version of federalism. Mont-Tremblant, Québec
  • 2004 Marriage - Supreme Court of Canada begins three days of hearings to determine the legality of same-sex marriage in the Constitution. Ottawa, Ontario