Highlights of the day

  • 1936 Founding of the CBC/Radio-Canada.
  • 1936 Chair Leonard Brockington takes CBC to the airwaves.
  • 1971 Gerhard Herzberg wins Chemistry Nobel Prize for work in molecular spectroscopy.

List of Facts for November 2

  • 1671 Brewing - Intendant Jean Talon opens the King’s Brewery, Québec City’s First brewery. Québec, Québec
  • 1724 Henry Kelsey dies; explorer; First European to visit Southern Saskatchewan and Alberta in the years 1690-92. England
  • 1748 Aboriginal - Iroquois sign First Treaty of Neutrality at Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1765 Taxation - The Stamp Act goes into effect, covering printed material such as newspapers, pamphlets, even decks of cards; the First direct tax imposed by the British Parliament on the American colonies was passed to help pay the cost of maintaining British troops; it created tensions in the colonies, particularly the American democrats, who opposed the act because it violated the principle of No taxation without representation. London, England
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - American invaders capture Fort St. John on the Richelieu River. St-Jean, Québec
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837 - Assembly of the Permanent Committee of Québec declares solidarity with the Confederation of the Six Counties; prelude to rebellion. Québec, Québec
  • 1861 Lord Monck appointed Governor General of Canada; serves from November 28, 1861 to June 30, 1867. London, England
  • 1867 John Strachan dies; First Anglican Bishop of Toronto; founder of King’s College, which became the University of Toronto, as well as Trinity College. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1869 Red River Rebellion - Louis Riel takes over Hudson’s Bay Company headquarters in Fort Garry with a force of 120 armed men; three days after the National Committee of the Métis of Red River prevented Lieutenant Governor designate William McDougall from entering the territory. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1878 John McBeth dies at Kildonan; last surviving member of the First group of Selkirk settlers. Kildonan, Manitoba
  • 1885 Rail - First CPR transcontinental passenger train leaves Montréal on the 4,653 km trip west toward Winnipeg, Manitoba and Port Moody, BC. Montréal, Québec
  • 1887 Communications - First long distance telephone call made on the Prairies, from Battleford to Edmonton, Alberta, 500 km away. Battleford, Saskatchewan
  • 1889 Commissioner of Indian Affairs Hayter Reed announces policy of peasant farming for Indian reserves in Manitoba and the North West Territories; with individual land holdings small enough for one person to farm without mechanized equipment; communal reserve farming forbidden; disastrous policy abandoned and Reed fired in 1896. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1892 Edgar Dewdney commissioned Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. Victoria, BC
  • 1899 Boer War - Militia department organizes 1,281 more volunteers into two battalions of Mounted Rifles and an artillery brigade; the Second Canadian Contingent will depart for South Africa in January from Halifax. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1906 Rail - Nicola, Kamloops and Similkameen Railway completed to Nicola, BC.
  • 1907 Proclamation - Creation of the Ottawa Royal Mint is announced. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1916 Education - Judicial Committee of the Privy Council rules Regulation #17 valid; bans French language in Ontario schools past Grade 1. London, England
  • 1925 Rail - CPR sends First automated railcar to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Montréal, Québec
  • 1925 James Lougheed dies; lawyer and politician; Calgary’s First lawyer, Senator. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1933 British Columbia Election - Duff Pattullo leads Liberal Party to victory in provincial election; CCF form Opposition. BC
  • 1935 John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir, sworn in as Governor General of Canada; will hold the post until his death in Montréal in 1940; writer of The 39 Steps, one of the First modern thrillers; will institute the Governor General’s Awards for literature in 1937. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1936 Media - New Canadian Broadcasting Act creates the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a crown corporation along the same lines as the British one (BBC); the new CBC replaces the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC), which had taken over over CNR Radio, the radio network of government owned Canadian National Railways used to broadcast to train passengers. The CBC was Canada’s first network, since there were already private radio stations, and scores of US stations beamed into Canada; at the same time it was Canada’s regulator of broadcasting; Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1936 Media - First day of broadcast for the CBC.
  • 1936 Transport - Government establishes Department of Transport. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1944 Second World War - James Ralston resigns as Minister of National Defence over issue of conscription for overseas service; General Andy McNaughton takes over with promise to get enough volunteer reinforcements. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1944 Second World War - Canadian Army troops occupy Knokke. Knokke, Netherlands
  • 1946 Basketball - In their First basketball game, the New York Knicks beat the Toronto Huskies 68-66. New York, New York
  • 1947 Price Controls - Government drops price controls on sugar and molasses, ending over five years of wartime food rationing; items rationed included butter, meat, tea, coffee, preserves, nylon and gasoline. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1949 Road - BC Premier Byron Johnson, and his Minister of Public Works, E.C. Carson officially open the Crowsnest Highway. BC
  • 1952 Korean War - Chinese launch two-day offensive against Royal Canadian Regiment in Korea. Korea
  • 1957 Martha Black dies at age 91; born Martha Louise Munger at Chicago, Illinois February 24, 1866; Black (then Martha Purdy, pregnant with her third child and abandoned by her husband) crossed the Chilkoot Pass in 1898; settled in Dawson with her brother, mined several claims and started a lumber mill; 1904 married lawyer George Black, later member of the Yukon Council, Commissioner of the Yukon Territory (1912-1918) and Conservative MP for the Yukon; to England during First World War; awarded OBE for aid to Yukon servicemen; elected fellow of Royal Geographical Society for work on Yukon flora; 1935 ran for Parliament at age 70 when husband too ill to run, becoming the second woman to sit in the House of Commons; served for five years until George recovered. Whitehorse, Yukon
  • 1959 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante the First NHL goalie to wear a mask on a permanent basis; after getting hit by shot from Rangers’ Andy Bathgate, he left the ice to have seven more stitches added to his face, then returned wearing a plastic face mask he had made out of fiberglass and resin; First NHL goalie to use face protection regularly. New York, New York
  • 1960 Theatre - Tom Patterson founds the National Theatre School in Montréal; Canada’s First. Montréal, Québec
  • 1964 Military - Group of 23 nations attend four-day conference at Ottawa to review UN peacekeeping operations. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Boxing - Ernie Terrel beats Toronto boxer George Chuvalo in 15 rounds to retain his heavyweight boxing championship. Las Vegas, Nevada
  • 1970 October Crisis - Ottawa and Québec offer rewards of $75,000 for information leading to arrest of FLQ kidnappers. Montréal, Québec
  • 1970 Diplomacy - Canada announces further bans on sale of weapons to South Africa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1971 Science - National Research Council scientist Gerhard Herzberg wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in molecular spectroscopy. Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1971 Military - Ottawa mothballs experimental hydrofoil antisubmarine naval vessel Bras d’Or for at least five years; due to high costs. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1973 Military - Canada agrees to share support role with Poland on UN Middle East peacekeeping force. United Nations, New York
  • 1974 Music - George Harrison holds a concert in Vancouver; becomes the first Beatle to tour solo. Vancouver, BC
  • 1977 Rail - VIA Rail orders 22 locomotives and 50 coaches of Canadian-designed LRC train from Bombardier-MLW Ltd. Montréal, Québec
  • 1982 Alberta Election - Peter Lougheed wins increased majority in provincial election; Conservatives take 75 of 79 seats. Alberta
  • 1982 Mining - Iron Ore company of Canada forced to close its mine at Schefferville; due to cheaper open pit deposits elsewhere in the world. Schefferville, Québec
  • 1984 Hockey - Despite Montréal native Mike Bossy’s 4 goals, his New York Islanders lose 5-6 to the Montréal Canadiens. Montréal, Québec
  • 1985 Vancouver rocker Corey Hart’s Boy In The Box peaks at #26 on the Billboard pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1991 Winnipeg rock group Crash Test Dummies’ Superman’s Song peaks at #56 on the Billboard pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1992 Media - CBC-TV scraps its flagship newscast The National and The Journal, starts new 9 pm newscast, Prime Time News; after a ratings lag, the show moves back to a 10 pm time slot in the Autumn of 1994. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Farming - Nanny goat in St-Isidore has record six kids, makes it into the Guinness Book of Records. St-Isidore, Québec
  • 1994 Literature - M. G. Vassanji wins first Giller Prize, for English fiction; gets the $25,000 prize for his third novel, The Book of Secrets, about a community of Indian emigrants living in East Africa. Toronto, Ontario See: First Giller Prize Announced
  • 1995 US Jury hits Loewen Group Inc. with extraordinary US$500 million in damages in nuisance civil dispute; Burnaby, BC, funeral services giant foudned by Ray Loewen depicted as The Ugly Canadian; leads to near collapse of firm. Mississippi
  • 1999 Human Rights - Alberta government says it will compensate 247 people who had been sterilized against their will; part of a provincial policy of sterilizing mentally handicapped children from 1929-72. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 2010 CBC launches logo and theme for 75th anniversary in 2011. Toronto, Ontario