Highlights of the day

  • 1812 De Salaberry drives back Americans at first Battle of Lacolle Mills.
  • 1917 Canadian Cavalry Brigade and Newfoundland Regiment active in first effective tank attack in history at Cambrai.

List of Facts for November 20

  • 1613 King Louis XIII gives position of Lieutenant-General of New France to Henri de Bourbon, Prince de Condé; after the sudden death of the Comte de Soissons; Samuel de Champlain appointed to govern the Royal Colony. Paris, France
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - Trois-Rivières falls to Richard Montgomery’s American invaders the day after Guy Carleton reaches Québec. Trois-Rivières, Québec
  • 1812 War of 1812 - US Col. Zebulon Pike crosses the Lower Canada border at Odelltown in the early morning with 650 troops; the advance guard surround the blockhouse at Lacolle Mills, but find it undefended as the small British garrison had pulled out the night before. At the same time another party of American militia is nearing the blockhouse from a different route, and the 2 groups of American forces mistakenly fired on each other in the dark. Charles de Salaberry then counterattacks with 100 Canadian Voltigeurs and 230 Kahnawake Mohawk warriors; after three days of skirmishing toward Odelltown, Pike retreats back across the border. General Dearborn then withdraws his whole force to Plattsburgh and orders the troops into winter quarters.
  • 1871 Communications - First telegraph lines link Winnipeg and eastern Canada via Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1871 John McDougall and David McDougall arrive in the Northwest Territories to farm; Alberta’s First farmers. Alberta
  • 1871 Politics - Wilfrid Laurier First elected to Québec Assembly; later MP for Québec East and Canada’s 7th Prime Minister. Arthabaska, Québec
  • 1874 Education - Manitoba College offers evening classes for young men in French, shorthand, bookkeeping, penmanship, grammar, and arithmetic. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1877 Communications - Opening of First telegraph service to Edmonton via Calgary, Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1889 Smelting - Kootenay Smelting and Trading Syndicate accepts First load of ore at new Revelstoke smelter site. Revelstoke, BC
  • 1893 Boundary - US Supreme Court rules that the Great Lakes and their connecting waters constitute the high seas. The US and Canada will sign a treaty in 1909 giving both countries free and open access to all waters on equal terms. Washington, DC
  • 1903 Urban - Moose Jaw incorporated; second city in Saskatchewan. Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
  • 1909 Football - Jack Williams of the Ottawa Rough Riders kicks 9 singles in a rugby football game. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1913 Religion - Dedication of St. John the Evangelist Anglican church in Fruitvale. Fruitvale, BC
  • 1915 Football - Hamilton Tigers beat Toronto Rowing Club (later the Toronto Argonauts) 13-7, in 7th Grey Cup game, before 2,828 fans. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1915 Library - Mayor lays of cornerstone of Montréal Free Municipal Library. Montréal, Québec
  • 1917 First World War - Canadian Cavalry Brigade and Newfoundland Regiment fight with Julian Byng’s British 3rd Army in the first effective tank attack in history, the taking of the important French town of Cambrai.
  • 1919 Police - The official formation of the new RCMP is announced; alamgamating the RNWMP and Doninion Polics. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1920 Education - McGill University raises $4 million from alumni and Montréal citizens; added to $1 million grants from Québec and the Rockefeller Foundation. Montréal, Québec
  • 1926 Religion - Dedication of St. Stanislas Kotska’s Church in Burmis; demolished in 1970. Burmis, Alberta
  • 1928 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins, 1-0, in the First NHL game played in the Boston Gardens. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1934 Hockey - Toronto Maple Leafs Busher Jackson is the First NHLer to score 4 goals in one period, as his third period goals lead the Leafs to a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Eagles. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1942 Second World War - US Army Corps of Engineers cut the ribbon on the Alcan Highway; the highway runs from Dawson Creek, B.C., through the Yukon and on to Fairbanks, Alaska. Lake Kluane, Yukon - See CBC Archives
  • 1943 Second World War - HMCS Calgary helps sink the German submarine U-536 northeast of the Azores. Atlantic Ocean
  • 1945 Second World War - Canadian lawyers attend war crimes trial of 20 top-ranking Nazi leaders at Nuremberg. Nuremberg, Germany
  • 1946 Energy - Vern Hunter starts drilling a wlldcat well, Leduc #1, southeast of Edmonton, Alberta, for Imperial Oil; starts producing February 14, 1947; by late 1947, there are 30 oil wells operating at the Leduc field, pumping over 3,500 barrels a day. Leduc, Alberta
  • 1956 Robert Stanfield sworn in as Premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Henry Hicks. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1962 United Nations approves Canadian proposal for monitoring atomic radiation. New York, New York
  • 1964 Place Name - Mt. Kennedy named in memory of late U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy; unnamed mountain on Alaska-Yukon border. Yukon
  • 1969 Terrorism - FLQ terrorists set off bomb in Montréal’s Loyola College. Montréal, Québec
  • 1969 Aboriginal - Joseph Drybones’ conviction for being intoxicated off the reserve overturned by Supreme Court of Canada, who rule he was denied his rights; Drybones Case affects Treaty rights and off-reserve law. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1976 Gordon Lightfoot’s single, The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald, peaks at #2 on the Billboard pop chart. New York, New York
  • 1978 Yukon Election - Progressive Conservatives win 11 of 16 seats in First territorial election contested by political parties. Yukon
  • 1979 Politics - Pierre Trudeau announces he will resign as Liberal leader after leadership convention in March selects his successor. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Weather - Wind storm tears the fabric roof of Montréal’s Olympic Stadium. Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Justice - Bertha Wilson retires from the Supreme Court of Canada; spent 9 years as the First woman on the Court. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Auto - Korean auto company Hyundai opens car body plant at Bromont in the Eastern Townships. Bromont, Québec
  • 1991 Kingston, Ontario’s Bryan Adams has a #1 Billboard hit with his single, Can’t Stop This Thing We Started. New York, New York
  • 1992 John Piper resigns as advisor to Premier Bob Rae; Toronto Sun says he offered them criminal record of a woman; allegations force Energy Minister Will Ferguson to resign in February. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Medicine - Queen’s Park passes bill creating a College of Midwives in Ontario; First province to regulate and recognize the profession of midwifery. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1993 Kingston, Ontario’s Bryan Adams’ single Please Forgive Me peaks at #7 on the Billboard pop charts. New York, New York
  • 1995 Airbus Affair - Brian Mulroney files $50-million lawsuit against the federal Department of Justice and the RCMP for falsely accusing him of taking bribes; claims reputation hurt by letter sent by investigating police to Swiss banking authorities alleging a kickback in the sale of 34 Airbus jets to Air Canada in 1988. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Rail - CP Rail says it will move Head Office to Calgary, Alberta from Montréal, cutting 1,450 management and support jobs, moving 730 positions to Calgary; to be closer to bulk of business. Montréal, Québec
  • 1996 Lucien Bouchard government to reduce the expenses related to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Québec, including sale of the official residence (1010, chemin St-Louis); passes a motion that Ottawa nominate only persons approved by the deputies of the National Assembly. Québec, Québec
  • 2000 Crime - Samer Jaber, age 17, a student at Lester B. Pierson High School, is stabbed to death over a $30 debt. Calgary, Alberta
  • 2002 Politics - Françoise Ducros, an aide to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, is taped calling US President George W. Bush a moron during a private conversation; she will resign November 26, 2002. Prague, Czech Republic
  • 2003 Business - Newspaper magnate Conrad Black steps down as CEO of Hollinger International after reports that he and other top officials received unauthorized payments of some $32.2 million. Toronto, Ontario