On This Day In Canadian History....
1534 - Jacques Cartier sets sail on first voyage with two ships; commissioned by François I to find passage to Asia and 'lands where there is a great quantity of gold'; makes crossing to Newfoundland in just 20 days; explores Strait of Belle Isle, which he hoped was the beginning of a river leading to China; says of the coast, 'I believe that this was the land God gave to Cain'; returns Sept. 5.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1907 - Six Nations Onondaga marathon runner Tom Longboat wins the Boston marathon in a time of 2:24:24
On This Day In Canadian History....
1763 - Marie-Josephte Corriveau hanged near the Plains of Abraham for murdering her 2nd husband Louis Dodier, who apparently beat her; the corpse of the celebrated murderess is hung for a month in an iron cage at Lauzon by the Pointe-Levy for passers-by to see.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1967 - Lester Pearson announces creation of the Order of Canada, effective July 1; to honour outstanding citizens for service to Canada or humanity at large. The honour will be granted by the Governor General, and new Governor General Roland Michener will be first to hold the Order.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1542 - Jean-François de La Roque de Roberval sets sail with three ships and 200 convicts to found a colony on the St. Lawrence. Appointed France's first viceroy in Canada, Sieur de Roberval explores upriver as far as Montreal, searching for the legendary kingdom of the Saguenay; the expedition is a failure and the survivors return home in 1543.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1984 - Montreal fans welcome Pete Rose in his first game as an Expo; he hits a double - his 4,000th career hit - against his former teammates, the Philadelphia Phillies; only National League player to reach this milestone since Ty Cobb got 4,109 total hits with American League teams Detroit and Philadelphia.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1876 - Government creates the new District of Keewatin out of northern Manitoba and north-western Ontario.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1785 - John Johnson helps draw up a petition for the United Empire Loyalists, asking for a separate province, with freehold land tenure and British Common Law; origin of Upper Canada and the Province of Ontario.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1947 - Montreal Royals of the International League sell their star player Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers; appears in uniform for the Dodgers the next day, the first black player to break the colour barrier in major league baseball.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1869 - HBC shareholders accept terms of Rupert's Land Act of 1868; Hudson Bay Company cedes its territory to Canada.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1965 - Leonard S. Marchand appointed Special Assistant to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration; first aboriginal Canadian appointed to Cabinet staff; he became a senator in 1984
On This Day In Canadian History....
1971 - Gentilly Nuclear Power Station starts service near Trois-Rivières, Quebec; world's first reactor fueled by natural uranium, cooled by ordinary water.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1893 - Opening of the new Ontario Legislature in Queen's Park; built on the site of a lunatic asylum.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1669 - Louis XIV orders permanent militia established in New France.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1968 - Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau creates Canada's first modern lottery, to help pay $250 million deficit from Expo '67; first such lottery in Canada.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1630 - England and France sign Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye; returns Quebec and Acadia holdings, captured in 1628-29, to the Company of New France and de Caen's United Company; gives firmer land title to the Quebec colonists.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1978 - Heritage Canada incorporated as a national trust to promote preservation of scenic and historic sites.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1855 - Halifax inventor Abraham Gesner gets US patents for kerosene distillation process; he and a group of investors set up the highly successful North American Kerosene Gas Light Company, to market the new lamp fuel that will completely replace whale oil.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1959 - Parliamentary Press Gallery President James McCcok says radio and TV broadcasters can now apply for membership.
On This Day In Canadian History....
1921 - Mary Ellen Smith sworn in as Minister without Portfolio in the British Columbia government; first female cabinet minister in the British Empire
