Highlights of the day

  • 1794 Jay Treaty signed between the US and Britiain.
  • 1858 James Douglas reads proclamation creating the Crown Colony of British Columbia.
  • 1926 Imperial Conference - Dominions adopt Balfour Report; become autonomous and politically equal to Britain.

List of Facts for November 19

  • 1578 Exploration - Humphrey Gilbert leaves Plymouth for America with ten ships; commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I to find new lands and start colony; three ships desert to piracy; rest are scattered by storms and forced back to port some 6 months later; the only vessel to have penetrated the Atlantic to any great distance was the Falcon under Walter Raleigh’s command. Plymouth, England
  • 1663 Marquis de Tracy appointed Lieutenant General of French territories in North America. Paris, France
  • 1686 Diplomacy - England and France sign Neutrality Pact to settle Hudson Bay dispute and decide on boundary. Europe
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - Benedict Arnold retreats up river from Québec to avoid a clash with Guy Carleton and await arrival of Richard Montgomery coming down river from Montréal. Point-aux-Trembles, Québec
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - Guy Carleton reaches Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1794 Boundary - American Chief Justice John Jay and British foreign secretary Lord Grenville sign the February 29, 1796. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1804 Theatre - Mr. Ormsby, a Scottish actor, opens Canada’s First English language theatre with two plays, The Busy Body and Sultan. Montréal, Québec
  • 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion - Crowd of 1000 gathers at the Marché St-Paul to support those Patriotes put in jail; after rioting breaks out with loyalists, military authorities lock the gates of the city at 8 pm. Québec, Québec
  • 1858 Governor James Douglas of Vancouver Island arrives at the HBC trading post of Fort Langley, 48 km up the Fraser River from the coast, on the SS Beaver; reads the English Law Act proclamation creating the Crown Colony of British Columbia, and revoking the Hudson’s Bay Company’s exclusive privilege to trade in New Caledonia; sworn in by Judge Matthew Begbie, Judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, as First Governor; to take up the new post, he resigns as Hudson’s Bay Company Governor of Vancouver Island. Britain conferred colonial status on BC to hold off US annexationists, and to bring the law to the gold miners swarming into the territory, formerly controlled by the HBC. Langley, BC
  • 1859 Hudson’s Bay Company signs Deed of Surrender turning rights to Rupert’s Land over to the Crown. London, England
  • 1866 Union of the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island proclaimed. London, England
  • 1866 Vancouver Island becomes part of British Columbia; due to financial crisis; new capital to be at Victoria, BC; then the largest settlement; VI formerly a separate colony. New Westminster, BC
  • 1867 British government rejects request to allow British Columbia to join Confederation immediately. London, England
  • 1869 Territory - The Hudson’s Bay Company owners approve the Deed of Surrender of their Rupert’s Land territory to Canada. The terms are £300,000 cash, land around HBC posts and 1/20th of the Prairie fertile belt (some 2.8 million hectares of farmland); to come into effect December 1, 1869. London, England
  • 1883 John Calgary Costello is the First non-aboriginal child to be born in Calgary. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1887 Democracy - Dominion Parliament is asked to amend the constitution of the Northwest Territory Council to make it consist completely of elected members. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1896 Manitoba Schools Crisis - Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier and Manitoba Premier Thomas Greenway reach agreement on the divisive Manitoba Schools Question. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1918 Rail - Cabinet passes order to amalgamate all government-owned railroads; origin of CNR. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1926 Imperial Conference - British dominions adopt the Balfour Report: Dominions become autonomous and politically equal to Britain.
  • 1941 Second World War - Donald Gordon appointed new Chairman of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board on Hector McKinnon’s resignation; was head of Foreign Exchange Control Board. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1948 Communications - Opening of the First microwave link from Prince Edward Island to the mainland; world’s First microwave for commercial and voice transmission. PEI
  • 1949 Currency - Devaluation - Canadian dollar devalued by 10%. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1950 Hank Snow has a #1 Billboard country hit with his single, I’m Moving On. New York, New York
  • 1952 Aviation - Scandinavian Airlines opens a commercial route from Canada to Europe. Montréal, Québec
  • 1954 Military - DEW Line - The US begins building the Distant Early Warning (DEW) radar defense line across arctic Canada. Canada
  • 1963 Hockey - Gordie Howe scores record-breaking 545th goal against Charlie Hodge of the Montréal Canadiens, breaking Maurice Richard’s mark. Olympia crowd give him 20 minute standing ovation. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1966 Pro Wrestling - Québec’s Mad Dog Vachon beats Dick The Bruiser in Omaha, to become NWA champ. Omaha, Nebraska
  • 1967 René Lévesque founds the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association; will later be folded into the Parti québécois. Montréal, Québec
  • 1969 Science - Oceanography - Canadian scientific vessel Hudson leaves for 11-month voyage of Atlantic, Antarctic, Pacific; to study ocean currents and resource potential. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1973 Energy - Shaheen Natural Resources and SNAW Progretti of Italy announce plans to build an oil refinery on the Canso Strait; capacity of 340 million Litres (200,000 barrels) a day. Canso, Nova Scotia
  • 1981 Aboriginal - 3,000 Indians march on Parliament Hill, and more in other sites across Canada, to protest exclusion of aboriginal rights from the new Constitution. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1983 Hockey - Bruce Hood officiates in his 1,000th National Hockey League game; First NHL referee to reach that mark. Montréal, Québec
  • 1983 Hockey - Jari Kurri of the Edmonton Oilers scores five goals and Wayne Gretzky adds three goals and five assists in a 13-4 Oilers rout of the New Jersey Devils. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1991 Environment - Canada signs UN sponsored agreement to cut emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds - solvents that kill plants, combine with nitrous oxides to form ozone. Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1994 Journée nationale des Patriotes held at St-Denis to honour the 1837 rebels. St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, Québec
  • 1995 Finance - Canadian National Railways shares begin to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1995 Football - CFL Baltimore Stallions beat Calgary Stampeders, 37-20 in 83rd [Grey Cup game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1997 Strike - 45,000 Canadian postal workers go on strike after Canada Post orders staffing levels cut. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1998 Football - Montréal Alouettes running back Mike Pringle chosen the CFL’s most outstanding player by a 28-0 vote over Kelvin Anderson of the Calgary Stampeders; carried the ball 347 times for 2,065 yards, breaking his own previous single-season rushing mark (1,972 yards with Baltimore in 1994). Most outstanding defensive player was Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive end Joe Montford over Calgary linebacker Alondra Johnson. Most outstanding Canadian was Hamilton receiver Mike Morreale over Calgary receiver Vince Danielsen. Most outstanding offensive lineman: was Calgary’s Fred Childress over Montréal’s Uzooma Okeke. Most outstanding rookie was B.C. Lions defensive back Steve Muhammad over Montréal defensive back Barron Miles. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 2002 Ken Thomson, billionaire media baron and Canada’s richest man, will donate his C$300 million ($190 million) art collection to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2003 Energy - US-Canadian investigation found that the August 14, 2003 blackout should have been contained by operators at Ohio’s FirstEnergy Corporation. Investigators also faulted Midwest regional monitors. Cleveland, Ohio
  • 2003 Crime - Justice Minister Martin Cauchon orders fugitive banker Rakesh Saxena to surrender to Thailand to face allegations that he looted a Bangkok bank. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Media - CRTC approves CHUM Limited’s purchase of Craig Media. Gatineau, Québec
  • 2006 Football - The CFL B.C. Lions beat the Montreal Alouettes 25–14 in the 94th Canadian Football League Grey Cup game. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 2010 Hockey - Pat Burns dies of cancer; born 1952; Junior and NHL coach (Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Bruins and Devils). Montreal, Quebec