Highlights of the day

  • 1795 Governor Simcoe starts building Yonge St., a 48 km road from York to Holland Landing.
  • 1906 Toronto Ices First Professional Hockey Team
  • 1929 Wop May flies First official air mail north to Aklavik, NWT.
  • 1962 Jean Lesage says Hydro-Quebec will acquire eleven power utilities for $604 million.

List of Facts for December 28

  • 1720 Acadia - The Lords of Trade propose to deport the Acadians from Nova Scotia; the expulsion does not begin until 35 years later, from 1755-63. London, England
  • 1795 Road - Upper Canada Governor John Graves Simcoe orders the Royal Engineers to start building a 48 km highway from the town of York to Holland Landing on Lake Simcoe; to be used as a portage road for the North West Company, and as a military route to protect upper Lake Huron; completed in April, 1796, and named for Sir George Yonge, then British Secretary of State for War, a friend of Simcoe and MP for Honiton, near Simcoe’s family estate in Devonshire; will be extended in the 1800s to Georgian Bay and into Northern Ontario. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1814 Gordon Drummond appointed Administrator of Lower Canada; serves from May 4, 1815 to May 21, 1816. Québec
  • 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion - Upper Canada Governor Francis Bond Head approves raising of six regiments of incorporated militia to head off further rebellion. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion - The New Brunswick 43rd Regiment arrives at Québec after 12 days of an overland winter march from Fredericton, NB. Québec, Québec
  • 1857 Mining - Governor James Douglas issues proclamation regulating new gold mines in Kamloops, BC, Ashcroft, BC and Vernon, BC areas; proclaims Crown’s control of mineral rights; requires BC mining licenses. Kamloops, BC
  • 1857 Politics - D’Arcy McGee elected MLA for Montréal West. Montréal, Québec
  • 1859 Media - William Coldwell and William Buckingham publish First issue of The Nor’Wester at Fort Garry; First newspaper in Red River Settlement; the former reporters on the Toronto Globe bought a hand press in St. Paul, Minnesota, which they transported to Red River by ox cart. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1876 Labour - Grand Trunk Railway engine drivers go on strike for the First time. Montréal, Québec
  • 1891 Rail - Ottawa and Gatineau Valley Railway opens a line to LaPeche, Québec (Wakefield, Québec); CPR will complete the line to Maniwaki, Québec on January 8, 1904. Gatineau, Québec
  • 1895 Urban - Founding of the settlement of St. Paul des Métis is founded. St. Paul, Alberta
  • 1906 Hockey - The Toronto Hockey Club make their debut as Toronto’s first professional club; also known as the “Toronto Professionals” or more simply the “Torontos,” they were set up to play exhibition matches against the best clubs in Canada and the US. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1926 Prohibition - Federal Customs and Excise inspector D. J. Kearney discovers an illegal distillery on Mullins Street in Montréal, capable of producing 2,000 gallons per week. Mntreal, Quebec
  • 1928 Hugh McLean, of Rothesay, is installed as Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. Fredericton, NB
  • 1929 Aviation - Wop May flies First official air mail north to Aklavik. Aklavik, NWT
  • 1933 Labour - First meeting of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Alliance, the Saskatchewan Education Association, and the Rural Teachers’ Federation marks the beginning of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation. Saskatchewan
  • 1943 Second World War - Canadian troops enter the medieval town of Ortona after a week of battling enemy paratroopers in house to house fighting; Germans moved out quickly the night before when they were in danger of being cut off. Ortona, Italy
  • 1944 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens’ right winger Maurice Richard the First player in NHL history to score eight points in one game, with 5 goals and 3 assists in a 9-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings; Toronto Maple Leafs’ Darryl Sittler will break Rocket’s record with 10 points on February 7, 1976. Montréal, Québec
  • 1947 Energy - Canadian Gulf Oil’s Pincher Creek No.1 well blows in. Pincher Creek, Alberta
  • 1955 Aviation - BOAC Comet III flies from London, England in a record time of six hours and 18 minutes. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1961 Military - Canada’s first BOMARC Missile squadron is formed for defence against Soviet ICBMs. North Bay, Ontario
  • 1962 Energy - Quebec Premier Jean Lesage announces that Hydro-Quebec will spend $604 million to nationalize eleven power utilities - Shawinigan Water & Power, Ontario Power, Southern Power Canada, Saint-Maurice Power, Gatineau Power Company, Lower St. Lawrence Power Company, Saguenay Power, Northern Quebec Power, the electric company in Mont-Laurier, the electric company of Ferme-Neuve and Saarland Power. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1964 Music - Canadian composers Marion Grudeff and Ray Jessel premiere their Sherlock Holmes musical Baker Street in the US after revisions and two week run in Toronto; opens on Broadway Feb. 1965. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1967 Architecture - Reopening of Toronto’s 116-year old St. Lawrence Hall, renovated as a Centennial project. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1970 October Crisis - Three members of the “Chenier” cell of the Front de Libération du Québec - Paul Rose, his brother Jacques Rose, and Francis Simard - are captured at 4:30 am in a tunnel under a farmhouse near Montréal; suspected FLQ terrorists, kidnappers and murderers of Québec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte. Montréal, Québec
  • 1977 Military - Pierre Trudeau tours headquarters of NORAD, the North American Air Defence Command. Colorado Springs, Colorado
  • 1978 Energy - Crows Nest Industries and Crow’s Nest Pass Oil and Gas Company amalgamate. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1980 Constitution - Pierre Trudeau gives year-end interview on CTV; says if Canada breaks up as a result of his constitutional proposals, it’s not worth holding together. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1982 Energy - Crows Nest Industries (formerly Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company) is dissolved. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1992 Fine Arts - Pudlo Pudlat dies at Cape Dorset at age 76; Inuit artist. Cape Dorset, Nunavut
  • 1993 Marriage - Timmins, Ontario country singer Shania Twain marries her producer Mutt Lang. Nashville, Tennessee
  • 1995 Politics - Clyde Wells announces his resignation as Premier of Newfoundland; will be replaced by Brian Tobin. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1995 Speedskating - Susan Auch named Athlete of the Year by the Canadian Press. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1996 Media - Newspaper Le Soleil de Québec celebrates its 100th anniversary. Quebec, Quebec
  • 2005 Health - Australian investment bank Macquarie Bank Ltd. acquires an 81% interest in two Canadian healthcare projects, nine months after acquiring a Canadian aged care housing provider. Toronto, Ontario