Highlights of the day

  • 1813 Colonel John Murray leads 550 regulars and Canadian Militia in pre-dawn capture of Fort Niagara.
  • 1917 NHL Starts Inaugural Season with games in Toronto and Montréal.
  • 1941 John Osborn killed leading a bayonet charge against the Japanese at Hong Kong; awarded VC.

List of Facts for December 19

  • 1813 War of 1812 - Before dawn, Col John Murray leads 562 soldiers of the 100th and 41st Regiments, Royal Scots, Royal Artillery and Canadian Militia in a surprise attack on old Fort Niagara from upriver; they take almost 400 American prisoners, and capture a large quantity of booty. General Phineas Riall then takes a party of soldiers and Mohawks, destroys the town of Lewiston and over the next 2 weeks, raids the American settlements of Manchester, Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Buffalo, to retaliate for burning of Niagara on December 10, which left 400 civilians homeless in the winter. Fort Niagara will stay in British hands throughout the remainder of the War of 1812, but is restored with the 1814 Treaty of Ghent. Youngstown, New York
  • 1813 Education - James McGill dies, leaving £10,000 to found what becomes McGill University; merchant, land dealer and former North West Company partner. Montréal, Québec
  • 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion - John Colborne frees 64 of the 120 Patriote prisoners taken at St-Eustache, then returns to Montréal. St-Eustache, Quebec
  • 1838 Lower Canada Rebellion - Governor Sir John Colborne announces that the government has 753 Patriotes in custody, captured during the recent rebellions. Montréal, Québec
  • 1846 Communications - The mayors of Toronto and Hamilton exchange greetings to open Canada’s First telegraph service; the line runs between Toronto and Hamilton over lines of the Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara, & St. Catharines Telegraph Company, founded October 22, 1846. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1865 Politics - George Brown resigns from the coalition cabinet after clashing with Conservative members. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1883 Rail - British Columbia passes the Railway Belt Act. Victoria, BC
  • 1887 Health - Fort Macleod General Hospital incorporated. Fort Macleod, Alberta
  • 1893 Rail - Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway opens for business. Nelson, BC
  • 1904 Hockey - Dawson City hockey team starts a nine day walk to get a boat to Seattle to catch a train to Ottawa to play in the Stanley Cup on January 13, 1905. Dawson City, Yukon
  • 1908 Rail - CPR begins shipping coal from Hosmer, BC.
  • 1911 Skiing - Edmonton Ski Club is founded. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1915 First World War - Canadian pilot Malcolm Bell-Irving the First Canadian to shoot down a German aircraft during the war; flying with the Royal Flying Corps’ No. 1 Squadron between Ypres and Lille, he drives off two other Germans and suvives an attack by three other planes; wounded during the engagement, he later receives the DSO for valour. France
  • 1917 Hockey - The National Hockey League starts its inaugural season; the original members of the NHL are the Montreal Canadiens, the Montreal Wanderers, Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators and Quebec Bulldogs. Joe Malone scores five goals, including likely the first goal ever scored in the NHL, as Montreal beats Ottawa 9-4. In the game in Toronto, Montreal Wanderers Dave Ritchie also scores what may have been the first NHL goal in a 10-9 victory over the Toronto Arenas. Montréal, QuébecToronto, Ontario
  • 1917 Quebec Bulldogs play their First professional hockey game; will not play with other NHL teams until 1919. Québec, Québec
  • 1918 Media - Robert Ripley starts his Believe It or Not column in The New York Globe; the franchise is currently owned by Vancouver entrepreneur Jimmy Pattison. New York, New York
  • 1927 Boxing - Frenchy Belanger beats England’s Ernie Jarvis over 12 rounds to win the World Flyweight Championship by decision; 112 lb boxer from Toronto’s Cabbagetown retired in 1930 after six years and 61 pro bouts which included 13 KO’s, 24 decisions, 7 draws and 17 losses. Britain
  • 1927 Religion - Mgr. Raymond Rouleau named a Cardinal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1940 Second World War - Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Saguenay torpedoed 500 km west of Ireland by the Italian submarine Argo while escorting Convoy HG-47; she managed to return to Barrow-in-Furness largely under her own power, but with 21 dead and without most of her bow. After repairs at Greenock, she returned to sea on May 22, 1941. Atlantic Ocean
  • 1941 Second World War - Company Sergeant Major John Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, leading a bayonet charge against the Japanese on Mount Butler; throws himself on a Japanese grenade to save his comrades’ lives; posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Hong Kong, China
  • 1949 Military - Canada, Britain and the US agree to standardize military arms and fighting methods. Washington, DC
  • 1956 Military - Canadian and West Germany sign agreement to train 360 West German aircrew in Canada. Bonn, Germany
  • 1959 Percy Page installed as Lieutenant Governor of Alberta; serves to January 6, 1966. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1961 Communications - John Diefenbaker speaks to Queen Elizabeth II by the new CANTAT cable carrying voice, picture, and teletype messages; First link in new round-the-world Commonwealth communications system. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1964 Military - Royal Canadian Navy commissions HMCS Annapolis; 20th ship in destroyer escort program. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1969 Military - Ottawa announces plans to cut Canadian Armed Forces reserves and close 41 armories. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1973 Music - Montréal Symphony Orchestra able to keep operating with financial aid from citizens, businesses, and governments. Montréal, Quebec
  • 1975 Justice - Bertha Wilson appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal; First woman in Canada named to a provincial court of appeal; later the First woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1977 External Affairs - Ottawa ends commercial relations with South Africa, to protest Apartheid racial policies. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Mining - Ottawa resumes uranium shipments to European Economic Community; EEC agrees to follow 1974 Canadian nuclear safeguards. Europe
  • 1984 Hockey - Scotty Bowman becomes NHL’s all time winningest coach; holds record as most successful coach in any major league sport. Montréal, Québec
  • 1984 Hockey - Wayne Gretzky scores his career 1,000th point on an assist in a 7-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings; at age 23 the youngest and the 18th NHLer; reaches the mark in just his 424th regular-season game, the fewest by any player in League history; Guy Lafleur held the old record, reaching the 1000 point mark in 720 games, 296 more than Gretzky. Gretzky will go on to break Gordie Howe’s career record of 1,850 points in 1989. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1985 Health - Queen’s Park brings in a law to ban extra billing by doctors under OHIP. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1987 Hockey - Ken Linseman of the Boston Bruins and Doug Gilmore of the St. Louis Blues each score a goal, 2 seconds apart; may be an NHL record. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1987 Weather - Leader Post notes that there is no snow cover in the Regina area. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1988 Constitution - Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon withdraws his resolution to ratify the Meech Lake Accord from the Manitoba legislature; to protest Robert Bourassa’s passage of Bill 178 requiring French only on outside signs, but permitting bilingual signs inside; Ontario Premier David Peterson later says that Bourassa’s decision to use the notwithstanding clause drove a stake through the heart of the Meech Lake Accord. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1991 Labour - Bob White, Canadian Auto Workers President, announces merger with the Canadian Association of Industrial, Mechanical and Allied Workers; 6,500 aerospace and mining workers in Manitoba and BC. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1994 Media - CRTC approves $3.1 billion takeover of Maclean Hunter Inc. by Rogers Communications Inc. Gatineau, Québec
  • 1995 Farming - Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals honours chicken producer Rod Chernos for his statement that a happy chicken is a tasty one. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1997 Cinema - Canadian director James Cameron’s epic film, Titanic, opens in movie theatres; will become the highest grossing film ever made; with theme song by Céline Dion. Los Angeles, California
  • 1999 Crime - Seven Canadian and one American oil pipeline workers freed after 3 months captivity in Ecuador; abducted from their job site and ransomed for $5 million. Quito, Ecuador
  • 2003 Same Sex Marriage - Ontario court rules that the Canadian government discriminated against same-sex couples by denying pension benefits to survivors whose partners died before 1998; benefits made retroactive to April 17, 1985. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2004 State Visit - Paul Martin arrives in Libya for two-day visit with Moammar Gadhafi; after his renunciation of terrorism; Canadian construction company SNC-Lavalin has won a $1 billion contract to help build a major water distribution system in Libya. Libya