Highlights of the day

  • 1844 John A. Macdonald first elected to Upper Canada Assembly to represent Kingston.
  • 1864 Grand ball held to fete delegates at Québec Conference; 800 persons attend.
  • 1926 A.A. Milne publishes Winnie-the-Pooh; inspired by Harry Colebourne’s bear Winnipeg.
  • 1935 Mackenzie King defeats R. B. Bennett in the 18th general election; 171 of 245 seats; PM until 1948.
  • 1957 Lester Pearson wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in defusing the Suez crisis.

List of Facts for October 14

  • 1598 Census - Three Rivers numbers 358 inhabitants. Trois-Rivières, Québec
  • 1641 Governor Charles de Montmagny takes formal possession of Montréal Island for Paul de Maisonneuve’s colonizing company. Montréal, Québec
  • 1652 Major Lambert Closse mobilizes inhabitants of Montréal, alerted by barking dogs, against a force of invading Iroquois; will beat back the Iroquois in a two day battle near Montreal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1654 Hospital - Start of construction of a new Hôtel Dieu in Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1690 Count Frontenac reaches Québec with 3,000 men two days before arrival of William Phips invading fleet from Massachusetts. Québec, Québec
  • 1698 Census - New France census shows the following tallies: 32,524 arpents under cultivation, with 994 sheep, 5,147 pigs, 684 horses, 10,209 cattle; 2,310 houses (211 in Trois-Rivières, 1,460 in Québec, 639 in Montreal); population includes 7,391 males, 6,424 females; settlements include Batiscan with 422 inhabitants, Beauport with 444, Château-Richer with 373, L’Ancienne-Lorette with 68, L’Ile d’Orléans with 1,472, Longueuil with 223, Montréal with 1,185, Québec with 1,988, Rivière-du-Loup with 22, Sorel with 59, Ste-Anne de Beaupré with 222. Québec, Québec
  • 1752 Justice - Pierre Reverd hanged at Québec for counterfeiting. Québec, Québec
  • 1754 Anthony Henday shares a pipe and a meal with a Blackfoot chief on the Prairies south of Battle River; fails to persuade him to send his young men to York Factory on Hudson Bay to trade for guns, blankets and beads directly instead of through Cree middlemen; the chief says his young men cannot leave their horses, and have no experience with boats and paddles; besides, the Blackfoot get all they need from the buffalo. Red Deer, Alberta
  • 1815 Theatre - First presentation of a Molière play, ‘Les Fourberies de Scapin’ in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1838 Religion - Blanchet and Demers celebrate mass at the Big Bend of the Columbia River. BC
  • 1841 Education - Royal charter awarded to Queen’s College at Kingston as a Presbyterian institution; today’s Queen’s University. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1844 John A. Macdonald elected to Upper Canada Assembly to represent Kingston; re-elected in 1848, 1851, 1854, 1857, 1861, 1863. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1864 Quebec Conference - Grand ball held to fete the delegates at the Québec Conference; 800 persons attend. Québec, Québec
  • 1866 Fire in St-Roch and St-Sauveur suburbs of Québec destroys over 2,000 homes. St-Roch, Québec St-Sauveur, Québec
  • 1873 Opening of the First Canadian YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) building in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1874 North West Mounted Police start building a post on the Old Man River named after Assistant NWMP Commissioner James Macleod; First police post in Alberta made of cottonwood logs plastered with clay; with barracks, stables, a hospital and a smithy. Fort Macleod, Alberta
  • 1885 Coal Banks is renamed Lethbridge. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1885 Religion - First Mormon settlers drive their wagon trains into Southern Alberta; they are skilled dry-land farmers.. Alberta
  • 1886 Québec Election - Provincial vote sees the election of 31 Liberals, 27 Conservatives and 6 Nationalists. Québec
  • 1887 Opening of the 9th and final session of the NWT Council, with six appointed and 14 elected members; sits until November 19, 1887. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1903 Disaster - Four miners die in outburst in Morrissey No.1 mine. BC
  • 1909 Empress of Ireland liner punctures her hull after hitting submerged object on the St. Lawrence River; able to reach port safely. On May 29, 1914, the ship will collide with a Norwegian freighter off Ste-Luce-Sur-Mer, and sink with the loss of 1,014 lives. Québec, Québec
  • 1910 George William Brown installed as second Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1912 Thomas Wilby & Jack Haney] reach salt water at New Westminister from Chilliwack after 48 days from Halifax on the First cross-Canada motor trip to establish the All Red Route. New Westminister, BC
  • 1914 First World War - First Canadian Contingent arrives at Plymouth with 33,000 men, 7,000 horses and 144 pieces of artillery travelling in 32 ships; convoy escorted by 10 British warships was the largest armed force ever to cross the Atlantic by that date; troops soon move to camps on Salisbury Plain before seeing action in France. Plymouth, England
  • 1919 Simon Holmes dies; lawyer, newspaper editor, politician; 1878-1882 Conservative Premier of Nova Scotia; born July 30, 1831, at East River, Pictou County, Nova Scotia; modernized municipal government, but failed in attempt to abolish the Legislative Council (provincial equivalent of the federal Senate; 1882 May 23 retired and replaced temporarily by John Thompson; last Conservative Premier of Nova Scotia for 43 years. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1924 Energy - Royalite No. 4 drill rig strikes oil and catches fire. Royalite, Alberta
  • 1926 A.A. Milne publishes Winnie-the-Pooh; tales about his little son, Christopher Robin, and Christopher’s stuffed animals, Pooh Bear, Eeyore (the donkey), Piglet and Tigger; the bear is named after Winnie (short for Winnipeg), a pet bear cub given to the London Zoo by a Canadian soldier. London, England See: Winnipeg Bear
  • 1932 W. J. P. MacMillan sworn in as Premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing James D. Stewart Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1935 Federal Election - Mackenzie King defeats R. B. Bennett in the 18th general election; wins 171 of the 245 Commons seats, to 40 Conservatives, 17 Social Credit; 7 CCF, 1 Independent; takes 44.8% of the popular vote for the largest majority since Confederation. King will remain prime minister until 1948. Arthur Meighen becomes Senate Opposition leader on King’s victory; only person to lead government and opposition in both houses. In other results, Henri Bourassa loses his Labelle seat. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1941 Second World War - Cabinet decides on complete freeze of wages and prices as of December 1, 1941; under Wartime Prices and Trade Board. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1942 Second World War - German U-boat torpedoes Newfoundland Railway Fleet steamship Caribou in the Cabot Strait on the North Sydney, Nova Scotia-Port-au-Basques route; 137 lives lost. In spite of this the Battle of the St. Lawrence is rapidly ending after taking 700 lives, 23 ships. Port-au-Basques, Newfoundland See: The Battle of the St. Lawrence
  • October 14 - Second World War - RCAF ace Buzz Beurling wounded and shot down over Malta. Valetta, Malta
  • 1943 Second World War - First Canadian Brigade push north to Potenza; occupy Campobasso, turning it into a Canada Town recreation centre. Campobasso, Italy
  • 1943 King George VI approves the Canada Medal on recommendation of Canadian Cabinet; First distinctly Canadian decoration; medal never awarded. London, England
  • 1944 Second World War - C. D. Howe becomes Minister of Reconstruction as well as Munitions and Supply; lures away Mackintosh and a brain trust of economists from Finance to assist him. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1944 Second World War - Defence Minister James Ralston returns from Europe; makes speech urging conscription for service overseas. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1944 Second World War - RCAF’s No. 6 Group attacks Duisburg twice in 16 hours; total of 501 bombers. Duisburg, Germany
  • 1946 Finance - Canada Savings Bonds introduced for the first time. Canada
  • 1950 Education - Estevan school children attend the First bicycle safety lane in Canada. Estevan, Saskatchewan
  • 1952 Lester Pearson elected President at opening of 7th session of United Nations General Assembly. United Nations, New York
  • 1953 Military - National Defence reeactivates the First Canadian Infantry Brigade to replace the 27th Canadian Infantry Brigade Group as its NATO contingent; the battalions are redesignated as the Canadian Guards, the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada and the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario See May 4, 1951
  • 1957 Queen Elizabeth II opens First session of 23rd Parliament; First time opened by reigning monarch; meets until February 1, 1958. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1957 Lester Pearson wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in defusing the Suez crisis; former president of the UN General Assembly (1952-1953) and later Canadian PM (1963-1968). Oslo, Norway
  • 1960 Banking - Fidel Castro’s government nationalizes all foreign banks except the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) and the Royal Bank of Canada. Havana, Cuba
  • 1961 Military - Canada and US test North American air defence in a NORAD simulated nuclear attack. North America
  • 1964 Federal Provincial Conference - Start of federal-provincial conference on the Constitution; some agreement on an amending formula. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Politics - René Lévesque appointed Québec’s First Minister of Family and Social Services (Ministère de la Famille et du Bien-Etre Social). Québec, Québec
  • 1966 Transport - Montreal’s new Métro subway goes into operation; 26 stations operated by la Societé de Transport de la Communaute Urbaine de Montréal (STCUM). Montréal, Québec
  • 1967 Politics - René Lévesque announces he is resigning from the Québec Liberal Party; leaves to form the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association Montréal, Québec
  • 1968 René Lévesque elected leader of the Parti Québecois by 2,000 supporters; Jacques Parizeau a key strategist; Québec’s withdrawal from Confederation seen as the primary goal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1968 Air Canada presents CF-TCA No. 1112 to the National Aviation Museum; First aircraft owned by Trans-Canada Air Lines in 1937. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1968 Terrorism - FLQ terrorists explode two bombs in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1969 Strike - 14,500 Stelco workers end 75-day walkout. Ontario/Québec
  • 1969 Ottawa and New Brunswick agree to establish Kouchibouguac National Park; new national park north of Moncton. Moncton, New Brunswick
  • 1970 October Crisis continues. Chronology of the day: 5:30 am - FLQ lawyer/spokesman Robert Lemieux issues a statement on the breakdown of talks to free Pierre Laporte and James Cross; 8:00 pm - Robert Bourassa replies to Lemieux; it is later revealed that the FLQ has 22 cells and 130 hard core members. Montréal, Québec
  • 1971 Taxation - Ottawa cuts personal income taxes 3%, and corporate taxes 7%, retroactive from July 1, 1971 to December 31, 1971; unemployment now at highest level in a decade. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1975 Federal government introduces wage and price controls to limit inflation; Jean-Luc Pépin chairs new Anti-lnflation Board to administer the program; assisted by Beryl Plumptre, the former Mayor of Rockcliffe. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1975 Strike by 3,500 asbestos workers ends. Asbestos, Québec
  • 1976 Strike - Over 1 million Canadian Labour Congress members participate in Day of Protest against federal wage and price controls, including a CLC march on Parliament Hill. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1976 James Jackson dies; historian and history teacher. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1977 Queen Elizabeth II starts her Silver Jubilee visit to Canada; will open a session of Parliament; see 1957. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1978 Cathy Sherk wins women’s world amateur golf championship in Fiji; native of Fonthill, Ontario. Fiji
  • 1978 Hockey - Darryl Stiller of the Toronto Maple Leafs notches seven assists in a 10-7 victory over the New York Islanders. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1978 Medicine - Hospital opened in Sparwood, BC
  • 1979 Wayne Gretzky scores his First NHL goal for the Edmonton Oilers; will eventually become the League’s greatest scorer. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1979 Hockey - Philadelphia Flyers start NHL Record 35 game unbeaten streak, beating Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3; streak will end on January 6, 1980. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1980 Premiers Conference - Provincial Premiers start conference on the Constitution; only Ontario and New Brunswick support Ottawa; rest to challenge Pierre Trudeau’s patriation proposals in court. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1982 Terrorism - Car-bomb explosion damages Litton Systems plant in Toronto; injures 7, including 3 police officers; plant produces guidance system for US cruise missiles. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Rudolph Marcus wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry for contributions to theory of electron transfer reactions; 69 year old Montréal-born scientist researching at Caltech. Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1992 Baseball - Juan Guzman pitches Toronto Blue Jays to 9-2 win in 6th game against Oakland Athletics; Joe Carter and Candy Maldonado hit homers; First American League pennant after attempts in 1985, 1989, 1991; First Canadian baseball team to reach the World Series; will meet the Atlanta Braves, who defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1993 Federal Election - Progressive Conservatives release an election ad that many see as mocking Jean Chrétien’s facial paralysis. Canada
  • 1995 Politics - Alexa McDonough wins the federal NDP leadership race, succeeding Audrey McLaughlin; former social worker headed the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party 1980-94; front-runner Svend Robinson drops out after leading on the First ballot. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Environment - First World Conservation Congress held in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1996 Homestake Canada pours its last bar of Nickel Plate gold. BC
  • 1998 Mining - Canada’s first diamond mine opens in the Northwest Territories. NWT
  • 1999 Robert Mundell wins Nobel Prize for Economics for his work on monetary dynamics and optimum currency areas; Kingston, Ontario-born economist and Professor of Economics at Columbia University played a major role in the establishment of the Euro currency unit. Oslo, Norway
  • 1999 Bill Bennett, former British Columbia Premier, signs $1 million settlement agreement with BC Securities Commission over insider trading offences committed in 1988, when he was tipped off about a failed Doman Industries takeover bid. Vancouver, BC
  • 2003 Ben Metcalfe dies; First chairman of the Greenpeace Foundation in 1970. BC
  • 2003 Puretracks officially launches; Canada’s first online music store. Canada
  • 2004 Disaster - Boeing 747-200 cargo jet owned by British-based MK Airlines crashes and burns on takeoff at Halifax International Airport; Ghana-registered plane heading for Spain with a cargo of seafood; all seven crew members killed. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 2007 Law enforcement - Polish immigrant Robert Dziekański dies after being stunned repeatedly by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) taser shots at the Vancouver Airport. The incident is videotaped and will be released to the public on YouTube. Vancouver, BC
  • 2008 Federal Election - Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party of Canada win the most seats in the 40th Canadian general election; third consecutive minority Parliament; Harper remains Prime Minister, with a strengthened mandate.