Highlights of the day

  • 1898 Canada’s First Christmas Stamp
  • 1950 Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, lands at Pusan; first Canadian troops in Korea.

List of Facts for December 18

  • 1603 Fur Trade - Pierre de Monts receives royal letters patent giving him trading rights in the territory north of peninsular Nova Scotia. Paris, France
  • 1792 Jean Panet elected First President of the Lower Canada Assembly, which met in the Bishop’s Palace at the top of Côte de la Montagne; already Speaker; after the First Lower Canada elections. Québec, Québec
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Generals Gordon Drummond and Phineas Riall send Col John Murray and 562 soldiers of the 100th and 41st Regiments, Royal Scots, Royal Artillery and Canadian Militia in a quiet night crossing of the Niagara River on the way to capture old Fort Niagara the following morning. With most American troops directed to the capture of Montreal, the Niagara frontier has been left defenceless. Lewiston, New York
  • 1846 Painting - Paul Kane arrives at Fort Vancouver having travelled overland via the Columbia River. Washington
  • 1854 Energy - Charles Tripp incorporates his Oil Springs firm, International Mining and Manufacturing Company to commercially produce oil products; North America’s first commercial oil company; James Miller Williams takes over Tripp’s company a year later, starts refining kerosene from tar and strikes an oil deposit in the summer of 1858, which was North America’s first commercial oil well. Lambton County, Ontario December 18 - Rail - Founding of the Québec & Saguenay Railway. Québec, Québec
  • 1856 Territory - Members of the Reform party in Canada West, led by George Brown, call for the annexation of Rupert’s Land. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1860 Lower Canada votes to abolish the seigneurial system and feudal rights over land in the province. LaFontaine presides over the court of indemnification, and $10 million is paid out of the Municipal Load Fund to buy out these rights.
  • 1869 Football –Hamilton Foot Ball Club plays its First game; rugby football. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1883 Strike- Locomotive Engineers’ strike ends with the arrival of 22 strike-breakers from Chicago. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1885 Health - First ordinance relating to medical practitioners in the Northwest Territories is passed. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1889 Communications - CPR Telegraph links up with the Atlantic Cable at Canso. Canso, Nova Scotia
  • 1889 Mining - Crow’s Nest Coal and Mineral Company purchases 960 acres in Elk River’s valley at mouth of Morrissey Creek. BC
  • 1892 Louis Taillon sworn in as Premier of Québec, replacing Charles-Eugène Boucher de Boucherville. Québec, Québec
  • 1893 Religion - Robert Machray elected First Anglican Primate of all Canada; he is Archbishop of Rupertsland. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1895 Rail - K&S Railway crews demolish the N&S railway station in Sandon, BC.
  • 1897 Mapping - Cabinet creates Geographic Board of Canada by order-in-council. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1899 Labour - District 6 of the Western Federation of Miners founded as an intermediary between the British Columbia locals and the Union executive in the U.S.A. Rossland, BC
  • 1901 William Motherwell founds the Territorial Grain Growers’ Association (later the Saskatchewan Grain Growers’ Association) at a meeting in the Indian Head Planing Mill; adopted resolutions dealing with such important matters as the appointment of a warehouse commissioner, loading platforms and car shortages; among those who attended that first convention were: Geo. Brown and G. Spring Rice, Regina; J. A. Brown, Spy Hill; Messrs. Barwell, Stevens, Invarson and McKinnon, Balcarres; H. Dorrell, Moose Jaw; George Lang, Indian Head; D. D. McFarlane, Welwyn; M. Snow, W. Gibson, J. Nix, Wolseley; R. J. Phin, Moosomin; Messrs. Wright and Fitzgerald, Grenfell; W. H. Ellis, J. B. Gordon and R. J. Campbell, Ellisboro; Robert Mills, W. P. Osler, I. Tinnel, Summerberry; Thomas Smith and E. Shaw, Kinlis; R. G. Ward, Firndale; W. M. Tate, Chickney; H. Oldors, Torlie; today a co-op of 75,000 farmers known as United Grain Growers (UGG). Indian Head, Saskatchewan
  • 1940 Second World War - Macleod air base officially opened for training British Commonwealth Air Training Program personnel. Fort Macleod, Alberta
  • 1940 Second World War - Munitions Minister C. D. Howe and 152 other survivors of the torpedoed liner Western Prince arrive safely in England. Britain
  • 1941 Second World War - Battle of Hong Kong - Japanese troops cross the Lye Mun Passage after dark, in assault boats, landing craft and small boats towed by ferry steamers, to attack Hong Kong island; two platoons of the Winnipeg Grenadiers are deployed to seize the hills known as Jardine’s Lookout and Mount Butler where they engaged in intense fighting; heavily outnumbered, they are cut to pieces and both platoon commanders killed; the following day Brigadier Lawson is killed when the Japanese surround his West Brigade headquarters. All British and Canadian forces in Hong Kong will surrender on Christmas Day; Canadians lose 290 dead in battle, with 493 wounded; a total of 557 were killed or later died in Japanese prison camps. Kowloon, Hong Kong
  • 1946 Daniel Johnson, père, elected MNA for Bagot; later Premier of Québec. Bagotville, Québec
  • 1946 Justice - Four German prisoners of war are hanged at the Lethbridge Provincial Jail for the murder of fellow prisoner Cpl. Karl Lehmann at the Medicine Hat POW camp in September, 1944. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1950 Korean War - 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, lands at Pusan; first Canadian troops in Korea. Pusan, Korea
  • 1954 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens star Maurice Richard gets his 400th career NHL goal in his 690th game. Montréal, Québec
  • 1968 Education - Québec government founds the multi-campus Université du Québec; Québec’s First public university and its fourth French language institution; includes six constituent universities, in Montréal, Trois-Rivières, Chicoutimi, Rimouski, Hull and Rouyn; two research institutes - the Institut national de la recherche scientifique and the Institut Armand-Frapper in Laval; as well as two superior schools, l’École nationale d’administration publique in Québec City and l’École de technologie supérieure in Montréal; also Télé-université, which offers distance learning programs. Québec, Québec
  • 1968 Aboriginal - Akwesasne (St. Regis) Mohawks block the Seaway International Bridge to protest customs duties on their US purchases; claim exemption under Jay’s Treaty of 1794. Cornwall, Ontario
  • 1968 Sculpture - British sculptor Henry Moore donates 400 to 600 of his works to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1968 Government - Québec abolishes its Legislative Council. Québec, Québec
  • 1969 FLQ activist Pierre Vallières sentenced to 30 months in prison for terrorist activities. Montréal, Québec
  • 1969 Cinema - Québec actress Geneviève Bujold stars in Anne of the Thousand Days, with Richard Burton; making its debut at the Beverly Theater. New York, New York
  • 1971 Crime - Thieves steal over $1 million from Windsor branch of the Royal Bank of Canada; 6 arrested several days later. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1974 Justice - Peter Demeter sentenced to life imprisonment for hiring unknown person to kill wife Christine Demeter and collect $1 million insurance money. Mississauga, Ontario
  • 1975 Government - Ottawa abolishes Information Canada, the Company of Young Canadians, and Opportunities For Youth programs; due to cuts in government spending. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1979 Politics - Pierre Trudeau decides to postpone his retirement from politics; will lead his party back to power in majority win over Joe Clark’s Conservatives. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1980 Retail - Provigo acquires 87 grocery stores from Dominion Stores for $100 million. Montréal, Québec
  • 1983 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky scores his 100th point of the season in a 7-5 victory over the Winnipeg Jets; 34th game of the season. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1988 Language - Robert Bourassa passes Bill 178 requiring French only on outside signs in Québec; permits bilingual signs inside; exercises Québec’s constitutional right, Clause 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the notwithstanding clause, to override the December 15, 1988 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, that struck down sections of Québec’s Bill 101 requiring that commercial signs be in French only; a decision that called these sections an unreasonable violation of freedom of expression. Québec, Québec
  • 1991 Music - Céline Dion signs a $10 million contract with Sony Music. New York, New York
  • 1991 Law - Québec completes a major overhaul of the Civil Code, governing all non-criminal law; after 35 years of reform. Québec, Québec
  • 1992 Fishery - John Crosbie cuts groundfish quotas up to 70%; says there are ‘too many plants, too many boats, too many people chasing fish’; National Sea Products to close plants in North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1992 Environment - 410 people are evacuated from their homes in Oakville after a chemical spill. Oakville, Manitoba
  • 1992 Aviation - Hollis Harris Air Canada President says airline will post record loss of $300 million in 1992; will cut staff by 2,000. Montréal, Québec
  • 1993 Labour - Grace Hartman dies at age 75; former national president of CUPE, First woman in Canada to lead a major national union. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1997 Religion - Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte says in Le Devoir that it is up to the Québec people, not the Supreme Court of Canada, to choose their own future; in response to protest from English Catholics, he later says his remarks lacked ‘prudence’. Montréal, Québec
  • 1997 Mining - Nova Scotia government apologizes for 1992 Westray mine explosion that killed 26 miners. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1997 Constitution - Supreme Court of Canada hears arguments of amicus curiae André Joli-Coeur, since the Québec government had refused to comment on the legality of a unilateral declaration of sovereignty. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2000 State Visit - President Vladimir Putin of Russia meets with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien; they sign an agreement supporting existing nuclear arms accords; Chrétien did not join Putin’s opposition to a US missile defense plan. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2002 Former Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn dies at Ottawa; a lawyer, politician, born at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, March 16, 1934, the son of Senator John Hyatyshyn; 1956 graduated in law from the University of Saskatchewan; 1956-58 and 1960-74 practised law in Saskatoon; 1957 called to the Saskatchewan Bar; 1958-60 Executive Assistant to John Diefenbaker’s government leader in the Senate; 1960 marries Karen Andreasen; 1966-74 teaches in the Faculty of Law at the University of Saskatchewan; 1974 elected Conservative MP for Saskatoon; 1979-80 Minister of Energy in the Joe Clark government; 1984 PC House leader; 1984-86 Minister of Justice; 1988 defeated in the general election; 1989-90 practised trade and corporate law Gowling, Strathy & Henderson in Ottawa; 1989 Oct. appointed Canada’s 24th Governor General replacing Jeanne Sauvé; 1990 Jan. 29 sworn into office and became popular for re-opening the grounds of Rideau Hall to the public; 1992 instituted the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards; 1995 Feb. 6 succeeded by Senator Roméo Leblanc; acted as official host for 26 Heads of State, and made over 1,200 speeches. Ottawa, Ontario