Highlights of the day

  • 1673 Huronia refugees found the Mission Huronne de l’Ancienne-Lorette, today’s Wendake.
  • 1813 Gen Phineas Riall crosses the Niagara River, burns Buffalo to avenge burning of Niagara.
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837: the burning of the Caroline.
  • 1921 Mackenzie King sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada on Commons defeat of Meighen government.

List of Facts for December 29

  • 1612 Marriage - Samuel de Champlain and Hélène Boullé given the right to consummate their union; marriage contract signed two years earlier, when Hélène was 12. La Rochelle, France
  • 1625 Samuel de Champlain leaves his property near La Rochelle; will be back in Québec by July next. La Rochelle, France
  • 1635 Religion - New France authorities publish official notices forbidding blasphemy. Québec, Québec
  • 1673 Aboriginal - Founding of the Mission Huronne de l’Ancienne-Lorette; many refugees from Huronia; today’s Wendake[. Loretteville, Québec
  • 1806 Women - Hudson’s Bay Company employee John Fubbister is discovered to be a woman, Isabel Gunn, when she goes into labour. Pembina, Manitoba
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Major General Phineas Riall crosses the Niagara River at midnight and attacks the villages of Black Rock and Buffalo with a party of Canadian militia and Mohawks; to avenge Willcocks’ burning of Niagara and Queenston on December 10, 1813. Queenston, Ontario
  • 1827 Media - Joseph Howe acquires the Novascotian newspaper from George Young; First published in 1824. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion - Royal Navy Commander Andrew Drew and seven boatloads of Canadian militiamen cross the Niagara River to Fort Schlosser at night, and capture the American supply steamer Caroline being used by William Lyon Mackenzie and his rebels on Navy Island; they set the ship ablaze, cut her adrift and send her toward Niagara Falls; one American is killed in the incident, and US General Winfield Scott will be sent to the area to prevent a violent American reprisal, and war between Britain and US. Buffalo, New York
  • 1854 Rail - Bytown and Prescott Railway starts service, linking Ottawa with the Grand Trunk Railway. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1862 Forestry - Alexander Gibson acquires a sawmill on the Nashwaak River and 7,000 acres of timberland from Robert Rankin; starts building a timber empire, centered in Marysville. Marysville, NB
  • 1868 Lord Lisgar appointed Governor General; serves from February 2, 1869 to June 21, 1872. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1877 Strike by Grand Trunk Railway workers; to support fired members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers; strike will be broken by use of militia and unorganized workers. Montréal, Québec
  • 1884 Rail - Kingston and Pembroke Railway opens line to Renfrew, Ontario. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1890 Urban - Town of Lethbridge is incorporated. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1894 Media - John Bengough stops publishing his satirical weekly Grip; in business since May 24, 1873. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1896 Media - First issue of Québec newspaper Le Soleil. Québec, Québec
  • 1901 Arthur Peters sworn in as Liberal Premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Donald Farquharson; serves until his death January 29, 1908. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1903 Crime - Montreal police arrest a dozen illegal lottery agents in nine gambling dens known as the policy shops. Montreal, Quebec.
  • 1906 Hockey - Montreal Wanderers beat New Glasgow, Nova Scotia for the Stanley Cup (2nd game of 1906). Montreal, Quebec
  • 1911 Coinage - Proclamation restores the words, Dei Gratia to Canada’s coins; means in Latin King (or Queen) by the grace of God. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1917 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens record their First road loss, losing to the Toronto Arenas 7-5. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1919 Medicine - Sir William Osler dies at age 70; born at Bond Head, Ontario. July 12, 1849; Osler was raised in Dundas, Ontario, trained in medicine at the University of Toronto and McGill University; MD McGill 1872; postgraduate training in England and Europe; taught medicine and pathology at McGill; first professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University Baltimore 1889; assisted in creation of Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York; held Regius Chair of Medicine at Oxford 1905; his textbook, The Principles and Practice of Medicine (1892) was considered authoritative for over 30 years; combined physiological and psychological treatment of patients and emphasized patient’s state of mind in achieving a cure; called the father of psychosomatic medicine; brother of Toronto banker Sir Edmund Osler and lawyer Britton Osler. Osler is known as The Father of Clinical Medicine, and has been called the most influential physician in history. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1921 Mackenzie King sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada on the defeat of Arthur Meighen in the House of Commons; he is Canada’s 10th Prime Minister; 12th Dominion Ministry, until June 28, 1929. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1921 Charles Stewart appointed Minister of the Interior and Superintendent General of Indian Affairs; W.C. Kennedy appointed Minister of Railways and Canals. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1929 Disaster - Nine people, including six children in the Racicot family, drown when their car breaks through the ice of Lake Temiskaming. Silver Center, Ontario
  • 1933 Weather - Record cold in parts of southern Quebec and Eastern Ontario; in Montreal, the minimum falls to -34 degrees Celsius; in Ottawa, the mercury plunges to -39 degrees Celsius.
  • 1942 Weather - Ice storm rages for two days in southern Quebec, causing power outages and disruptions in transportation; 30 to 50 millimeters of freezing rain fall, and winds reach 60 km per hour. Quebec
  • 1944 Second World War - RCAF Flight Lt. Dick Audet destroys five German planes in ten minutes, becoming an instant ace. France
  • 1944 Rail - The Kettle Valley Railway opens from Oliver, BC, to Osoyoos, BC.
  • 1945 Second World War - Department of National Defence (DND) releases the war’s casualty statistics; 41,371 Canadians in service killed, 43,178 wounded, 10,844 made prisoners of war, 32 missing in action. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1945 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens’ right winger Maurice Richard scores his 100th NHL goal in his 134th game. Montréal, Québec
  • 1945 Labour - End of bitter UAW strike against Ford of Canada; started September 12, 1945 when 17,000 workers walked off the job; both sides agree to binding arbitration by Justice Ivan Rand. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1946 Politics - James Anderson dies; educator and author; Premier of Saskatchewan 1929-34. Saskatchewan
  • 1947 Byron Johnson sworn in as coalition Premier of British Columbia, replacing John Hart, in office since December 9, 1941; serves to August 1, 1952. Victoria, BC
  • 1948 External Affairs - Canada recognizes the new state of Israel. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1950 Transit - Last streetcar run in Calgary is made. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1952 Espionage - Alan Nunn May released after six years and eight months in a British prison; convicted in 1945 of having delivered atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. He had worked at the Atomic Research Centre in Montreal.
  • 1958 Media - Radio-Canada’s 75 producers go on strike; will last for three months; considered “a taste of the quiet revolution”, the strike heralds the advent of “French Power” at the network. Montréal, Québec
  • 1960 Quebec writer Philippe Panneton. Canada’s ambassador to Portugal, dies in Lisbon; wrote under the pseudonym Ringuet.
  • 1967 Opening of Ottawa Civic Centre; exhibition hall and arena attached to Lansdowne Park. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1967 Justice - Parliament drops death penalty for murder, except policemen or prison guards; for five-year trial period. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Music - First Canadian production of the rock musical Hair opens at the Royal Alexandra Theatre; cast includes Terrence Black, Gale Garnett, Tobi Lark and Lucy Sweeny; closes January 3, 1971. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1973 Police - Maurice Nadon appointed 16th Commissioner of the RCMP; serves to December 31, 1973.
  • 1977 Women - Sandra Lovelace, of Tobique First Nation, presents her case to the UN Human Rights Commission; says the Canadian Indian Act discriminates against Native women by depriving them of their status as “Indian” when they marry a non-Native. United Nations, New York
  • 1978 Fire destroys hospital in Michel, BC
  • 1989 Health - Aviation - Canada the First country in the world to ban smoking on domestic airline flights. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Hockey - NHL star Wayne Gretzky named Male Athlete of the Decade by the Associated Press; Martina Navratilova the Woman Athlete. New York, New York
  • 1989 Crime - Two gunmen rob the Birks atore at 1500 McGill College Ave., in downtown Montreal; seize jewelry worth about $700,000. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1991 Theatre - Susan Wright dies at age 44 in house fire that kills parents as well; actress at Stratford Festival and Shaw Festival; winner of Dora Mavor Moore awards. Stratford, Ontario
  • 1992 Fishery - Minister John Crosbie bans capture of beluga whales for export; after pair die in a Chicago aquarium. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Hockey - Washington Capitals’ goaltender Don Beaupré plays his 500th game, in a 4-3 overtime home win over the New York Rangers. New York, New York
  • 1992 Supreme Court of British Columbia denies doctor assisted suicide to terminally ill patient Sue Rodriguez. Vancouver, BC
  • 1995 Skiing - Canadian Edi Podivinsky wins bronze in the FIS World Cup Bormio downhill race. Bormio, Italy
  • 1995 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings’ Scotty Bowman coaches his 1,607th career game, beating the Dallas Stars 2-1; becomes the NHL’s all-time leader in games coached, passing former St. Louis and NY Islanders Al Arbour. Dallas, Texas
  • 1997 Auto Racing - Jacques Villeneuve voted Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year; winner of Formula 1 Grand Prix driving championship. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1997 Retail - Kmart announces the closure of 10 stores across Canada; finding it difficult to compete against WalMart. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2001 Crime - Magloire Poissant kills his ex-wife, Colette Harnois, her two sons Michael MacDonald, age 15 and Mathieu MacDonald, age 18 and their friend Francis Mongrain, age 17, at Harnois’ home in Lavaltrie; in 2004 Poissant will be sentenced to life in prison. Lavaltrie, Québec
  • 2004 Farming - United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says the US will reopen its border to Canadian beef effective March 7, 2005, after banning beef imports when mad cow disease was found in one Alberta cow. Washington, DC