Highlights of the day

  • 1837 Grand Assembly of the Six Counties adopts Thirteen Resolutions based on the Rights of Man of the French Revolution.
  • 1935 Mackenzie King sworn in as Prime Minister succeeding R. B. Bennett; until November 15, 1948.
  • 1958 Springhill Mining Disaster III - 74 die in the deepest coal mine in North America.
  • 1993 Toronto Blue Jays win second World Series on Joe Carter’s three-run homer in the bottom of the 9th.

List of Facts for October 23

  • 1672 Count Frontenac installed as Governor of New France. Québec, Québec
  • 1672 Opening of First States General of New France. Québec, Québec
  • 1690 Count Frontenac seizes the flagship of Sir William Phips after the guns of Québec severely damge the vessel. The following day, October 24, 1690, the American colonial forces from Boston weigh anchor, and sail away downstream, their attempt to seize Québec a failure. Québec, Québec
  • 1697 Religion - Arrival of the First Ursulines (Soeurs grises) at Trois-Rivières. Trois-Rivières, Québec
  • 1735 Smelting - Founding of new company to operate the Forges de St-Maurice iron smelter. Trois-Rivières, Québec
  • 1786 Capital of New Brunswick moves from Saint John, New Brunswick to Anne’s Point (Fredericton). Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1805 Disaster - Sailing ship Aeneus sinks off Newfoundland, drowning 340. Newfoundland
  • 1812 War of 1812 - American invaders win skirmish at St. Regis. St-Régis, Québec
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837 - Wolfred Nelson leads 5,000 Patriotes in the two-day Grande Assemblée des Six-Comtés (Grand Assembly of the Six Counties) - Richelieu, Saint-Hyacinthe, Rouville, Chambly, Verchères and L’Acadie - at St-Charles in the Richelieu Valley; claims that “the time has come to melt our spoons into bullets”; at the instigation of their leader, Louis-Joseph Papineau, the conference delegates approve Thirteen Resolutions based on the Rights of Man adopted during the French Revolution; the young Fils de la Liberté (Sons of Liberty) erect a Column of Liberty in the square. St-Charles, Québec
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837 - Mgr. Jean-Jacques Lartigue issues a pastoral letter condemning the reformist goals of the Patriotes, and asking the people of Lower Canada to obey the lawful authority. Several priests will disobey, and declare themselves Patriotes, including Curé Blanchet of St-Charles, and Curé Demers of St-Denis. Montreal, Québec
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837 - Loyalist assembly take place in Montreal; opposing the demands of the Patriotes. Montreal, Québec
  • 1839 John Colborne, Lord Seaton leaves Québec after being replaced by Lord Sydenham as Governor. Québec, Québec
  • 1847 Epidemic - Grosse-Île records show 65 more immigrants die of cholera and typhus in one week; almost 10,000 during whole of 1847. Grosse-Île, Québec
  • 1847 Rail - Construction of the Great Western Railway begins in London. London, Ontario
  • 1847 Communications - Opening of First telegraph service from Montréal to New York via Albany. Montréal, Québec
  • 1857 Palliser Expedition - John Palliser and his party reach Fort Carlton; expedition uses fort as a base for the winter before pushing on to the Rocky Mountains the following year. Fort Carlton, Saskatchewan
  • 1864 St. Albans Raid - Canadian militia and police arrest 14 escaped Confederate Civil War fugitives four days after they robbed three banks in St. Albans, Vermont, killed one person and got away with $200,000, before heading back to Montréal, where they had been hiding out; brought before a Montréal Police magistrate, they are released on a technicality; only $19,000 of the stolen money is ever recovered. Montréal, Québec
  • 1873 Second session of the 2nd Parliament of Canada opens; receives Report of the special Enquiry on the Pacific Scandal; meets until November 7, 1873. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1874 Sport - Harvard beats McGill University in the First intercollegiate football game in Canada; the teams were using a variation of the McGill rules. Montréal, Québec
  • 1874 Sport - Oyster opening contest held in Montréal; winner shucks 300 in 30 minutes. Montréal, Québec
  • 1883 Lord Lansdowne takes office as Governor General of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1884 Industry - Moosomin newspaper reports First shipment of four railroad cars of buffalo bones to the US; used as fertilizer, and burned to make carbon black; 20,000 tons of this prairie cash crop will be shipped out before 1897. Moosomin, Saskatchewan
  • 1890 Rail - Last spike of the Qu’Appelle, Long Lake, and Saskatchewan Railway is driven. Saskatchewan
  • 1917 Canadian Railway War Board holds its First meeting in the Canadian Pacific Railway boardroom in Windsor Station, Montréal; origin of the Railway Association of Canada, founded in 1919. Montréal, Québec
  • 1918 Disaster - CPR steamer Princess Sophia hits submerged rock; bound from Skagway, Alaska to Vancouver, BC; sinks the following day with great loss of life. Juneau, Alaska
  • 1924 Prohibition - Ontarians vote, by a narrow margin, to maintain prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the province; law lasts from 1916 until 1927. Ontario
  • 1925 Poet Émile Nelligan interned in l’Hôpital St-Jean-de-Dieu after a breakdown. Montréal, Québec
  • 1928 Aviation - First crash of an airmail plane occurs, shortly after takeoff near Calgary. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1929 Finance - New York Stock Exchange crash spreads to the Toronto Stock Exchange and Montreal Stock Exchange; Montreal Exchange trades record 400,000 shares. Canada
  • 1935 Mackenzie King sworn in as Prime Minister succeeding R. B. Bennett; until November 15, 1948; Bennett PM since August 7, 1930; appoints his chief Québec lieutenant Ernest Lapointe as Justice Minister. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1935 Charles Dunning becomes Minister of Finance replacing Edgar Rhodes; until September 5, 1939; replaced by James Ralston. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1938 Media - Canadian singers and orchestras produce A Musical Portrait of Canada; First major Canadian broadcast heard round the world. Canada
  • 1940 Second World War - Canadian destroyer HMCS Margaree sunk in a collision during convoy duty. Atlantic Ocean
  • 1942 Mining - Prospectors discover a valuable molybdenum deposit at Preissac; used in steel alloy. Preissac, Québec
  • 1945 Sport - Black baseball star Jackie Robinson signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers to play for their farm club, the Montréal Royals; First black baseball player hired by a major league team. Brooklyn, New York
  • 1946 Ernest Thompson Seton dies at age 86; the author, naturalist was born Ernest Seton Thompson at Shields, England, Aug 14, 1860, and grew up in Toronto; homesteaded in Manitoba and, in 1892, was appointed naturalist for the Manitoba government; in 1902, organized the Woodcraft Indians (later the Woodcraft League), and helped found the Boy Scouts of America; wrote and illustrated over 40 children’s books on nature and woodcraft, including Wild Animals I Have Known (1898), and his autobiography, The Trail of an Artist-Naturalist (1940). Santa Fe, New Mexico
  • 1947 Price Controls - Government ends wartime control of meat prices. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1947 Strike - End of strike at Canada Packers meat curing plant in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1949 State Visit - Indian Prime Minister Jahwharlal Nehru starts visit to Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1952 Korean War - Canadian troops fight in Battle of Little Gibraltar Hill; their heaviest engagement of the Korean conflict. Korea
  • 1958 Springhill Mining Disaster III - Underground coal gas explosion and rock surge in the Number Two Cumberland Mine collapses a tunnel and traps 174 miners; rescue workers bring 81 men out this first day, they find 12 more alive on October 30, 1958, and 7 more on November 1, 1958; 74 die in the deepest coal mine in North America; last body recovered November 6, 1958 from the 3,960 metre depth. From 1881 to 1969, 424 miners lose their lives at Springhill. Springhill, Nova Scotia
  • 1961 Opening of five-day Resources for Tomorrow Conference; discusses use of forest, water, fisheries. Montréal, Québec
  • 1963 Labour - Parliament passes Maritime Transportation Unions Trustee Act; puts unions under control of 3 trustees. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1964 Government shows plans for new National Museum in Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Terrorism - FLQ terrorists break into the offices of the Parti National Démocratique de Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1966 Hockey - Boston Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr gets his First NHL goal, an unassisted score at 4:13 of the third period against Montréal Canadiens netminder Gump Worsley. Montréal wins the game 3-2. Montréal, Québec
  • 1966 Education - Prime Minister Lester Pearson says that Ottawa will pay 50% of the cost of higher education. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1967 Brenda Robertson First woman elected to New Brunswick legislature. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1968 Sport - Elaine Tanner wins a silver medal in the 100m backstroke at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, becoming the first Canadian to win an Olympic swimming medal in Canadian history. Mexico
  • 1969 Military - Faulty bearing causes explosion in engine room of destroyer HMCS Kootenay, kills two sailors. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1969 Opening of 2nd session of the 28th Parliament; until October 7, 1970. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Education - Québec Government brings in Bill 63, to promote the teaching of the French language in Québec; gives parents the choice of the language of instruction for their children, but requires some French language instruction for anglophones and immigrants. Québec, Québec
  • 1971 The Stampeders’ ‘Sweet City Woman’ peaks at #8 on the Billboard pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1975 Paul Lucier named to the Senate of Canada; former Mayor of Whitehorse the First Senator for the Yukon. Whitehorse, Yukon
  • 1978 Fire - Toronto rocker Neil Young’s beach house burns to the ground in a forest fire. Zuma Beach, California
  • 1980 Media - Anik-III satellite used by Globe & Mail to send computerized microwave signals of pages; from Toronto to Montréal; later to Calgary and Vancouver; Canada’s First newspaper to use satellite technology. Montréal, Québec
  • 1981 Pearl McGonigal takes office as First woman Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba; second in Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1985 Pierre-Marc Johnson sworn in as 24th Premier of Québec, replacing René Lévesque; calls election for December 2, 1985; son of former Union Nationale Premier Daniel Johnson Sr.. Québec, Québec
  • 1986 Education - Strike by students continues at Québec’s CÉGEPs and universities. Québec
  • 1987 Finance - New York Stock Exchange cuts trading day by two hours; restores order and rationality after crash; Toronto Stock Exchange and Montreal Stock Exchange follow for three weeks. New York, New York
  • 1988 Baseball - Montréal Expos sign Tim Raines to a three-year $6.3 million deal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Canadian heavy metal group Rush release their ‘Chronicles’ video. Hollywood, California
  • 1991 Energy - Bob Blair announces $325 million sale of Nova’s share of Husky Oil to Li Ka-shing and Hong Kong group; Li interest from 52 to 95% of Husky. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1993 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays slugger Joe Carter hits a three-run homer in the bottom of the 9th inning to give Toronto an 8-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series; defending champions take the Series 4-2; First team to win the World Series on Canadian soil. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1995 Québec Referendum - Advance poll for the Jacques Parizeau Referendum sees 320,954 voters turn out. Québec
  • 1995 Québec Referendum - Referendum jitters send Canadian dollar and country’s stock markets plunging. Canada
  • 1996 Police - Commission of Enquiry starts sitting to examine police practices in Montréal and Québec. Montréal, Québec
  • 2003 Dalton McGuinty sworn in as Premier of Ontario. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2003 Terrorism - El Al Jet is diverted twice, first to Montréal, Québec then to Hamilton, Ontario, after a threat is made against Toronto Pearson International Airport. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2006 Mining - Inco Limited shareholders accept a takeover offer by Brazilian mining corporation Companhia Vale do Rio Doce; new company known as Vale Inco. Toronto, Ontario