Highlights of the day

  • 1918 Billy Barker awarded Victoria Cross for downing 4 German planes while wounded.
  • 1941 Canada sends two battalions of 1,975 men to Hong Kong to reinforce imperial garrison.
  • 1982 Bill C-201 given Royal Assent; legally changes name of Dominion Day to Canada Day.

List of Facts for October 27

  • 1629 Jesuit and Recollet friars returned to France by the Kirke brothers, who occupy Québec until 1632. Québec, Québec
  • 1642 Jean Nicollet, interpreter, explorer, drowns in the St. Lawrence River opposite Sillery while returning to Trois-Rivières to save an Iroquois prisoner the Algonquins wanted to torture. Nicollet was sent by Champlain to live with the Indians and learn their languages, and spent two years with the Algonquins on Allumette Island, and with the Nipissing on the Upper Ottawa River and Lake Huron from 1620-1629; his search for the Western Sea for the Company of 100 Associates took him to Green Bay on Lake Michigan, and the Fox and Illinois rivers, where he made a treaty with the Winnebago people; First European to explore the American Northwest. Sillery, Québec
  • 1662 Pierre de Monts and Pierre Boucher arrive at Tadoussac with 100 soldiers. Tadoussac, Québec
  • 1667 Census - New France has 4,312 inhabitants. Québec
  • 1678 Religion - Founding of the Parish of Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1689 Count Frontenac returns to Québec; his second mandate as Governor of New France. Québec, Québec
  • 1807 North West Company traders complete stockade around Kootenae House. BC BC
  • 1812 Immigration - Second party of Selkirk settlers arrives in the Red River Settlement. Manitoba
  • 1822 Education - Lower Canada doctors petition Governor to establish a school of medicine. Québec, Québec
  • 1835 Opening of second session of 15th Parliament of Lower Canada; meets until March 21 1836; legislates on gas lighting in Montréal; the founding of normal schools (teachers colleges). Québec, Québec
  • 1851 Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine retires as Solicitor General of Canada East; will be appointed Chief Justice in 1853. Québec, Québec
  • 1853 Border - City of Sherbrooke donates a Canadian/American flag to be flown on the boundary; one side has the Stars and Stripes, the other the British Cross of St. George. Sherbrooke, Québec
  • 1854 Disaster - Great Western Railway express train hits a gravel train between Chatham, Ontario and Windsor, Ontario; 52 killed, 48 injured in Canada’s First major rail accident. Baptiste Creek, Ontario
  • 1856 Rail - First Grand Trunk Railway passenger train reaches Toronto from Montréal, Québec as final Brockville to Oshawa section complete. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1871 Strongman David MacDonald wins a competition by lifting 725 kilos (1,600 lbs), but the exertion kills him. Montréal, Québec
  • 1873 Alexander Mackenzie moves vote of extreme censure against government over the Pacific Scandal; after Royal Commission reports. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1874 Shipbuilding - Launching of the William D. Lawrence at Maitland; largest wooden ship ever built in Atlantic Canada. Maitland, Nova Scotia - NOva Scotia Museum
  • 1878 Wilfrid Laurier loses his seat in the House of Commons by 29 votes; later elected in a by-election in Québec East November 28, 1878. Drummondville, Québec
  • 1886 Immigration - First Icelandic families to move to Saskatchewan settle at Thingvalla, north of present-day Churchbridge, Saskatchewan. Thingvalla, Saskatchewan
  • 1887 Montreal bookseller/stationer J.-B. Rolland appointed to the Senate of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1887 Founding of the National Council of Women of Canada, as an advocacy group, to improve the status of women.
  • 1897 Alexander Warburton appointed Premier of Prince Edward Island when his predecessor resigns to move to British Columbia; serves for only eight months until resigning in June 1898 to accept a judicial appointment. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1918 First World War - Royal Flying Corps Major Billy Barker, from Dauphin, Manitoba, wins the Victoria Cross for stumbling into a single-handed battle with more than 60 Fokker aircraft, shooting down a German Rumpler two-seater and three Fokker D VII fighters though wounded three times and while fainting twice from the pain; crash-lands his Sopwith Snipe behind British lines in the Mormal forest. Foret du Mormal, France
  • 1919 Finance - Third Victory Loan a success. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1933 Emily Murphy dies; writer, journalist, magistrate, and political and legal reformer; First woman magistrate in the British Empire; leader of The Famous Five. Alberta
  • 1941 Second World War - Canadian Army sends two infantry battalions of 1,975 men to Hong Kong to reinforce the imperial garrison; will get their first taste of battle on December 8, 1941. Vancouver, BC
  • 1943 Second World War - Canadian troops brought in from Scotland raise Canadian Army in Italy to corps strength. Italy
  • 1947 Lucien Borne elected Mayor of Québec for the 5th time. Québec, Québec
  • 1949 Winnipeg, Manitoba born actress Deanna Durbin divorces Felix Jackson after four years of marriage and one daughter. Hollywood, California
  • 1951 Medicine - Radiation treatment for cancer used in Canada for the first time; the so-called Cobalt Bomb therapy. London, Ontario
  • 1952 Public Transport - Bus service replaces streetcars on Boulevard St-Laurent in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1957 Rail - CPR discontinues Kootenay Express and Kettle Valley Express on the Kettle Valley Line. BC
  • 1960 Road - Québec signs agreement with Ottawa to build Québec section of the Trans-Canada Highway. Québec, Québec
  • 1965 Foreign Aid - Canada increases grants to UN High Commission for Refugees to $350,000; Canada second largest contributor. United Nations, New York
  • 1967 Expo ‘67 world’s fair closes its doors after playing host to 40,300,000 visitors. Montréal, Québec
  • 1968 Olympics - Close of XIX Olympiad Mexico Summer Olympics; Canadians take home one gold medal (Equestrian - Team Jumping: Jim Day, Jim Elder, Tom Gayford), three silver medals (Elaine Tanner in 100 and 200m Backstroke and Ralph Hutton in 400m Freestyle), and one bronze medal (4x100m Freestyle: Angela Coughlan, Marilyn Corson, Marion Lay, Elaine Tanner). Mexico City, Mexico
  • 1971 Strike - Union walkout closes down Québec’s largest daily newspaper La Presse, circulation 225,000, owned since 1967 by Paul Desmarais, president of Power Corporation. At the end of July, after 6 months of negotiating, managers had locked out typesetters belonging to four Québec Federation of Labour (Fédération des travailleurs du Québec) unions, who refused to allow the loss of unionized jobs; two days later, more than 12 000 people clashed with 100 Montréal policemen, leading to 50 arrests. The paper will resume publication February 7, 1972. Montréal, Québec
  • 1972 Welfare - British Columbia to provide $200 per month to handicapped and old age pensioners. Victoria, BC
  • 1977 Crime - Charles Marion released by kidnappers after payment of $50,000 ransom; credit union loans manager held captive for 82 days; Canada’s longest kidnapping-for-ransom. Sherbrooke, Québec
  • 1979 Energy - Québec Premier René Lévesque flips a switch to start LG-227, the First generator of the LG-2 (La Grande River) second dam, now called the Barrage Robert-Bourassa; Hydro-Québec’s $15.1 billion James Bay power project is the world’s second largest power producer. La Grande, Québec
  • 1980 Energy - Second generator of Hydro-Québec’s LG-2 (La Grande River) Barrage Robert-Bourassa goes into operation. La Grande, Québec
  • 1980 Judy LaMarsh dies at age 55; born Julia Verlyn LaMarsh at Chatham, Ontario December 20, 1924; lawyer, politician, broadcaster, writer; 1960-68 Liberal MP for Niagara Falls; 1963-65 Minister of National Health and Welfare, and helped implement Medicare; 1965-68 Secretary of State, and brought in the Broadcasting Act, presided over the Centennial celebrations, and established the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada; 1968 published her Memoirs of a Bird in a Gilded Cage). Toronto, Ontario
  • 1982 Bill C-201 gets Royal Assent; legally changes the name Dominion Day to Canada Day; celebrates the founding of Canada on July 1, 1867. The first celebration was proclaimed on June 20, 1878 by Governor General Lord Monck , and held on July 1, 1868. The July 1 holiday was established by statute in 1879, under the name Dominion Day. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1983 State Visit - Pierre Trudeau leaves on a peace mission to other capitals. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1985 Céline Dion wins five FÉLIX awards at the 7th ADISQ gala. Montréal, Québec
  • 1985 Politics - Celebrations mark the 25th anniversary of Jean Drapeau’s Parti civique de Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1987 Frank McKenna sworn in as Premier of New Brunswick, replacing Richard Hatfield. Fredericton, NB
  • 1987 Baseball - Montréal Expos’ Buck Rodgers named baseball Manager of the year in the National League. Montréal, Québec
  • 1987 Toronto rock singer/composer Robbie Robertson, formerly of The Band, releases his solo album titled, Robbie Robertson. New York, New York
  • 1992 Military - Chief of Defence Staff John de Chastelain says the Canadian Forces will comply with Federal Court of Canada ruling that banning gays from military contravenes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1994 Space - Opening of the Institute for Aerospace Studies; l’École des Métiers de l’Aérospatiale. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Finance - Canadian banks all but shut down Canada’s $30-billion-a-day foreign exchange market as business dries up ahead of the 1995 Québec Referendum.
  • 1995 Jean Chrétien addresses over 40,000 people at Place du Canada in the biggest political rally in Canadian history 3 days before the 1995 Québec Referendum; many from across Canada had arrived by bus, train, plane and car for the Unity Rally, to urge Québec to stay in Canada. The Prime Minister had been criticized for doing nothing to stem the Oui tide after the entry of Lucien Bouchard into the fray; promises major changes to Canada. Montreal, Québec
  • 1995 Baseball - Jim Beattie named new General Manager of the Montréal Expos. Montreal, Québec
  • 1997 Strike - Education - Five unions representing 126,000 Ontario teachers go on strike to protest budget cuts and reforms put forward by the Mike Harris government; largest teacher strike ever in North America will be settled November 7, 1997 and teachers go back to work on November 10, 1997. Ontario
  • 1998 Media - Conrad Black’s National Post starts operating as a new national daily newspaper based in Toronto. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2000 Terrorism - RCMP officers arrest Ajaib Singh Bagri, a Sikh separatist, as a suspect in the March 16, 2005. Vancouver, BC