Today’s Features

  • 1812 Battle of Frenchmans Creek - British & Canadian militia drive back 2nd US attack on Fort Erie.
  • 1838 John A. Macdonald acts as lawyer to Nils von Schoultz and his rebels after Battle of the Windmill,
  • 1885 Cabinet orders creation of Banff Hot Springs Reserve; Banff National Park is Canada’s first.
  • 2005 Stephen Harper’s motion of non-confidence briings down the Paul Martin’s Liberal government.

List of Facts for November 28

  • 1698 Count Frontenac dies in the Château St-Louis at Québec; soldier, Governor of New France, born at St-Germain, France May 22, 1622; 1672 obtained governorship of Canada; 1682 recalled to France after quarrel with Intendant Jacques Duchesneau over the fur trade; 1689 reinstated as governor when the Iroquois Confederacy were attacking New France; 1696 commanded punitive expedition to destroy Oneida and Onondaga villages and crops; replaced by Louis de Callières Québec, Québec
  • 1795 Theatre - Presentation of Molière’s play, Le Festin de Pierre, at Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1795 Theatre - Presentation of Molière’s play, Le Médecin malgré lui, at Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1797 Transport - North West Company starts to build the Sault Ste. Marie Canal; completed in 1801; destroyed by the Americans in 1812. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
  • 1812 War of 1812 - British and Canadian militia drive back a second American attempt to cross the Niagara River at Fort Erie. Fort Erie, Ontario
  • 1822 Treaty - Mississaugas cede 1,112,100 hectares in Hastings, Addington, Frontenac, Lanark, Carleton and Renfrew counties to the Crown; 2,748,000 acres Ontario
  • 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion - Êdouard Malhiot leads Patriote rebels in skirmish against George Wetherall’s British troops; two killed at Pointe-Olivier, Québec; most have fled on hearing of the defeat at St-Charles. St-Mathias, Québec
  • 1838 Lower Canada Rebellion - Justice - Court martial established at Montréal to try Patriote rebels and the Frères Chasseurs (Hunters Lodges). Montréal, Québec
  • 1838 Upper Canada Rebellion - Justice - John A. Macdonald acts as legal counsel to Nils von Schoultz and other republican rebel prisoners taken at Prescott after the Battle of the Windmill. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1844 Opening of the 1st session of the 2nd Parliament of United Canada. Montréal, Québec
  • 1852 Ludger Duvernay dies; founder of the Société St-Jean-Baptiste. Montréal, Québec
  • 1857 Dissolution of the 5th Parliament of United Canada. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1871 Communications - Opening of telegraph service from Winnipeg to the border to Pembina, North Dakota, and the outside world. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1877 Wilfrid Laurier First elected to the House of Commons as MP for the riding of Québec East. Québec, Québec
  • 1885 Environment - Cabinet orders creation of Banff Hot Springs Reserve, 110–180 kilometres (70–110 mi) west of Calgary; today’s Banff National Park, Canada’s first, consisted of 10 square miles on the northern slopes of Sulphur Mountain surrounding three hot springs; today, Banff National Park encompasses 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 sq mi) of mountainous terrain, with glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes. Banff, Alberta
  • 1885 Justice - Wandering Spirit, five of his Cree accomplices and two Stoneys are hanged at Battleford in Saskatchewan Territory. Battleford, Saskatchewan
  • 1887 Communications - Bell Telephone Company sells majority holdings in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Nova Scotia Telephone Company. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1888 Fishery - North Pacific Canning Company gets charter; builds salmon cannery in Port Edward, 740 km north of Vancouver, at the mouth of the Skeena River; operates until 1981; today a museum. Port Edward, BC
  • 1889 John A. Macdonald sworn in as Minister of Railways and Canals. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1900 Rail - St. Mary’s River Railway opens between Stirling and Spring Coulee, District of Alberta. Stirling, Alberta
  • 1902 Music - Québec Symphony Orchestra gives its First performance, in Tara Hall; under the baton of Joseph Vézina. Québec, Québec
  • 1906 Boxing - Canadian pugilist Tommy Burns fights to a grueling 20 round draw against Philadelphia Jack O’Brien in a world heavyweight boxing title bout in Los Angeles. Los Angeles, California
  • 1907 Communications - Dial telephones First used at Sydney Mines; possibly First dial telephones in Canada. Sydney, Nova Scotia
  • 1916 First World War - George Perley appointed Minister of Overseas Military Forces for Canada; High Commissioner in London London, England
  • 1925 Hockey - NHL goalie Georges Vézina collapses in a game; dies of tuberculosis 4 months later; tended goal for the Montréal Canadiens 1910-25 without missing a game; Canadiens donated the Vezina Trophy to the National Hockey League in his honour. Montréal, Québec
  • 1925 Western Coal Operators Association disbands. BC
  • 1934 Music - Montréal Symphony Orchestra (MSO) gives its First performance. Montréal, Québec
  • 1935 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings skate to a 0-0 tie. Montréal, Québec
  • 1939 Basketball - James Naismith dies at age 78; physical education director, inventor, born November 6, 1861 near Almonte, Ontario. Naismith studied at McGill University and Presbyterian College in Montréal, where he starred in football and lacrosse; 1887-90 taught physical education at McGill, then 1890-95 at the International YMCA Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. On December 15, 1891, at Springfield College, Naismith devised thirteen rules for the game of basketball - see James Naismith, The Rules of Basketball - as an indoor activity for his students during the harsh winter months, in between football and baseball. The game was an immediate success and in 1936 was accepted as an Olympic sport. In 1895, appointed director of physical education at the YMCA in Denver; 1898 MD Colorado University; 1898-1937 professor, physician and director of physical education at the University of Kansas. Lawrence, Kansas
  • 1942 Second World War - First Axis prisoners of war are brought to Internment Camp No. 133, near Lethbridge. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1942 Second World War - German submarine U-177 torpedoes RMS Nova Scotia, serving as a troopship, off the coast of Africa, en route to Durban. The U-Boat commander, thinking she was freighter, hit her with three torpedoes at 7:15 hrs; on board were 780 Italian civilian internees, and a total of 1050 passengers. Only 194 survived. British Master Alfred Hender and ninety-six of his ships crew, ten gunners, eighty-eight South African Guards, five ordinary passengers and seven hundred and eighty of the Italian internees were lost in the shark infested seas.
  • 1944 Second World War - First Canadian convoy reaches newly opened port of Antwerp after the channel is cleared of mines, and after capture of the island of Walcheren at the mouth; Canadians First attacked the causeway on October 31, 1944. Antwerp, Netherlands
  • 1945 Road - Manitoulin Island gets permanent highway bridge linking it with the rest of Ontario; end of ferry service except from Tobermory, Ontario on the Bruce Peninsula. Manitoulin Island, Ontario
  • 1948 Strike by 2,000 workers at Johns-Manville plant in Asbestos starts this day;; will last two years, to 1950; joined by 2,500 workers from Thetford Mines, Québec. Asbestos, Québec
  • 1950 Foreign Aid - Canada to join other Commonwealth nations in Columbo Plan; to aid newly-independent India, Pakistan, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Columbo, Sri Lanka
  • 1953 Football - Hamilton Tiger Cats beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers 12-6 to win 41st CFL Grey Cup game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1956 Immigration - Canada grants $1 million and free passage to Canada to refugees from Hungarian Revolution against Communist rule. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1958 Hockey - Punch Imlach appointed coach of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1959 Football - Bud Grant’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat Hamilton Tiger Cats 21-7 to win 47th CFL Grey Cup game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1964 Football - Dave Skrien’s British Columbia Lions beat Hamilton Tiger Cats 34-24 to win 52nd CFL Grey Cup game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1970 October Crisis - FLQ terrorists Jacques Cossette, Jacques Lanctôt, Marc Charbonneau and Pierre Séguin allowed to leave for Cuba after they hand over British Trade Commissioner James Cross. Montréal, Québec
  • 1970 Football - Sam Etcheverr’s Montréal Alouettes defeat Calgary Stampeders 23-10 to win 58th CFL Grey Cup game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1971 Football - Jim Duncan’s Calgary Stampeders defeat Toronto Argonauts 14-11 to win 59th CFL Grey Cup game. Vancouver, BC
  • 1974 Energy - Ottawa to fund $3 million feasibility study of harnessing Bay of Fundy tides for tidal-electric power. Annapolis, Nova Scotia
  • 1975 Aviation - Ottawa nationalizes Canadair, acquiring the assets of the Montréal aircraft manufacturer. Montréal, Québec
  • 1976 Football - George Brancato’s Ottawa Rough Riders beat Saskatchewan Roughriders 23-20 to win 64th CFL Grey Cup game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1976 Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald stays at #1 on the Billboard charts. New York, New York
  • 1978 Education - Bill 101 declared Ultra Vires. Québec, Québec
  • 1979 Hockey - New York Islanders’ Billy Smith the First NHL goaltender credited with scoring a goal, in a 4-3 loss to Colorado Rockies; at 4:50 of the third period, Rockies’ defenceman Rob Ramage accidentally sent a pass the length of the ice into his own empty net, vacated for an extra attacker; since Smith was the last Islander to touch the puck, he was awarded the goal. Uniondale, New York
  • 1982 Football - Hugh Campbell’s Edmonton Eskimos beat Toronto Argonauts 32-16 to win 70th CFL Grey Cup game, and their record fifth title in a row. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1983 Military - Federal Court of Appeal rules Cabinet decision to allow US cruise missile testing in Canada did not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1983 State Visit - Pierre Trudeau visits Beijing for 2 day meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang and Chairman Deng Xiaoping. Beijing, China
  • 1988 Hockey - NHL Québec Nordiques sold to local interests. Québec, Québec
  • 1992 Media - CBC wins International Documentary of the Year Emmy Award for Fifth Estate show, To Sell A War; plus International Emmy Award in Performing Arts category for dance special Pictures on the Edge; co-produced with Rhombus Media of Toronto. New York, New York
  • 1993 Football - Ron Lancaster’s Edmonton Eskimos beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers 33-23 to win 81st CFL Grey Cup game. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1995 Rail - Ottawa announces privatization and stock offering of the publicly owned Canadian National Railways (CN); Canada’s largest Crown corporation and one of the largest state-run enterprises in the industrialized world; issue will earn $2.6 billion. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Swimming - Synchro swimmer Sylvie Fréchette joins the Cirque du Soleil as an artist-trainer; Barcelona Olympics gold medal winner; only athlete to receive seven perfect 10s in solo at the 1991 World Aquatic Championships. Montréal, Québec
  • 2002 Health - The Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada delivers its Final Report to Canadians, with 47 recommendations, including creation of a Health Council of Canada and updating the Health Care Act; the commissioner, Roy Romanow urges a $15-billion infusion into the health care system; the (Romanow Commission) was established in April, 2001, with a mandate to study ways to ensure the long-term sustainability of a universally accessible publicly administered health-care system; Romanow looked at Aboriginal health, wait times, rural access and electronic health records. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2003 Politics - Former Liberal Cabinet minister John Manley announces his retirement from politics. (CBC Story}
  • 2003 Disease - Type A influenza kills a boy in southern Ontario, the third Ontario victim killed by the same strain of the virus. (CBC story)
  • 2005 Environment - Opening of the Montreal Climate Change Conference 2005, a UN meeting to discuss how to slow the effects of greenhouses gases and global warming; the US defends its decision not to sign the Kyoto Protocol, saying that it is doing more than most countries to protect the earth’s atmosphere. Montréal, Québec
  • 2005 Politics - House of Commons passes a motion of no confidence in the government of Paul Martin; Stephen Harper leads the opposition in bringing down Martin’s minority government, teaming up with the New Democratic Party and Bloc Québecois. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2010 Football - East Division champions Montreal Alouettes defeat Western Division champion Saskatchewan Roughriders 21-18 in the 98th Grey Cup at Commonwealth Stadium; Als win Canadian Football League (CFL) championship for the second year in a row; QB Anthony Calvillo wins his third Grey Cup; Montreal wide receiver Jamel Richardson, who made eight catches and had a game-high 109 yards, named Grey Cup MVP; Saskatchewan defensive lineman Keith Shologan named the Grey Cup’s Most Valuable Canadian. Edmonton, Alberta