Highlights of the day

  • 1868 Patrick Whelan arrested and charged with murder of D’Arcy McGee on April 7.
  • 1880 Father of Confederation George Brown dies from wounds suffered in shooting.
  • 1885 Middleton Engages Gabriel Dumont’s Métis at Batoche.
  • 1946 Mackenzie King declines to act on a Senate/Commons flag proposal.

List of Facts for May 9

  • 1641 Jeanne Mance and Paul de Maisonneuve leave France with settlers bound for Montreal in two ships with the main portion of the Montreal settlers. Maisonneuve’s ship carries 25 men and a secular priest intended for the Ursulines; in the other were Jeanne Mance, the nurse and bursar of the contingent, the Jesuit Father Jacques de La Place, and 12 men. La Rochelle France See August 8 and September 20.
  • 1677 King Louis XIV sets up La Prévote de Québec, a tribunal consisting of the Lieutenant-Governor and the King’s Attorney. Paris, France
  • 1749 Edward Cornwallis appointed Governor of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia
  • 1760 François de Lévis retreats upriver, abandoning Québec when the frigate Lowestoft arrives to relieve James Murray and the British; rest of British fleet appears later that day. Québec, Québec
  • 1763 Pontiac’s Rising - Pontiac returns to Detroit with 65 canoes to make a second attempt to capture the Fort. This time Major Henry Gladwin did not open the gates, so Pontiac decided to besiege the fort and ambush local farmers and soldier approaching the fort.” The siege against Detroit will last for six months. Pontiac’s allies will capture all other trading posts to the west; the so-called ‘Conspiracy of Pontiac’ uprising lasts until August 1765. See May 1 and May 7. Detroit Michigan
  • 1790 Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatamies, and Hurons cede two million acres in Ontario. Ontario
  • 1793 Alexander Mackenzie leaves Fort York at the forks of the Peace River and Smoky River; heads west towards Pacific with party of nine, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean via the Bella Coola River, becoming the First European to cross North America using a route north of Mexico. Peace River, Alberta
  • 1804 Joseph DesBarres appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island; serves from July 1805 to August 4, 1812. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Major General Henry Proctor and his Shawnee ally Tecumseh forced to end 10 day siege of General William Henry Harrison at the American Fort Meigs on the Maumee River above Toledo; due to his militiamen deserting. Toledo, Ohio
  • 1853 British Parliament approves of Canada’s right to dispose of clergy reserves. London, England
  • 1868 Fenian sympathizer Patrick Whelan is arrested and charged with the murder of D’Arcy McGee, who was shot in the head and killed outside his Sparks Street lodging house on April 7, Whelan will be hanged for the murder on February 11, 1869. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1880 Globe publisher and Father of Confederation George Brown dies from wounds suffered in shooting March 25; his assailant Gordon Bennett is later hanged for murder. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - Major-General Frederick Middleton and more than 800 soldiers of the North-West Field Force attack Gabriel Dumont and his Métis and Cree warriors at Batoche, capital of Louis Riel’s provisional government. When some troops try to move upstream behind the town on the HBC streamer Northcote, the Metis lower Dumont’s steel ferry cable across the river and slice off the Northcote’s masts and smokestacks, taking it out of the equation. The Battle of Batoche will rage for four days, until May 12, when the Métis run out of ammunition. Batoche, Saskatchewan
  • 1886 Over 127 mm of rain falls on Halifax; one of its greatest May rainfalls. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1896 C&KSN launches the steamboat Trail (663 tons); burned in 1900. Nakusp, BC
  • 1903 The Barr Colonists, the largest single group migration in the history of Western Canada, arrive at Lloydminster. Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
  • 1906 Alberta implements The Coal Mines Act, 1906 regulating sex and age of Labour and instituting basic safety requirements. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1915 First World War - First Canadian Division sees action at Festubert. Festubert, France
  • 1916 First World War - General Julian Byng appointed commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Europe; succeeding General Alderson; takes post May 28; Byng will work closely with Canadian commander Arthur Currie. Britain
  • 1926 US Navy aviators Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett leave Spitsbergen Island in three-engined Fokker monoplane; become the First to fly over the North Pole, at 9:04 am. Spitsbergen, Norway
  • 1929 Airfield at Grand Forks granted the First federal licence in British Columbia. Grand Forks, BC
  • 1937 The Canadian Coronation contingent are the First Dominion troops to stand sentry duty at St. James and Buckingham palaces. London, England
  • 1939 The Roman Catholic Church beatifies the First Native American, Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk from Kanawake. Vatican City, Italy
  • 1946 Symbols - Mackenzie King government declines to act on a recommendation from a joint committee of the Senate and House of Commons regarding the committee’s choice of a new Canadian national flag; 2,695 designs had been submitted and the committee chose “the Canadian red ensign with a maple leaf in autumn golden colours in a bordered background of white”. However, the Legislative Assembly of Quebec had urged the committee not to include any “foreign symbols”, including the red ensign. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1950 Music - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra has a #1 Billboard hit with The Third Man Theme. New York, New York
  • 1955 Music - Edith Piaf and her Continental Review starts a series of performances at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Montreal. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1957 Hockey - Conn Smyth hands over the management of the Toronto Maple Leafs to a committee headed by his son Stafford. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1957 Hockey - The Quebec Aces win the trophy Edinburgh Trophy. Quebec City
  • 1958 Energy - Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis approves a contract to build the second stage of the Bersimis hydroelectric plant. Quebec City
  • 1961 The Union national government says it will charge journalist René Lévesque with contempt of the Salvas Commission. Quebec City May 9 - Memorial University of Newfoundland raises over $4 million through its National Fund. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1962 Producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Salzman, a Canadian from Saint John, New Brunswick, premiere their First James Bond film, Dr. No, based on Ian Fleming’s novels; it stars Sean Connery as Bond, and Montréal-born actor Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No. The Broccoli-Saltzman partnership will dissolve in 1976. New York, New York
  • 1966 Strike by 1,600 Québec civil servants for better pay; until July 29, 1966. Québec, Québec
  • 1968 Lester Pearson appointed Professor of International Affairs at Carleton University. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Toronto rocker Neil Young and his group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young see their song Woodstock peak at #11 on the pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1973 Parc Viau in Montreal to be transformed into the Olympic Stadium in time for the 1976 Olympics. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1974 Pierre Trudeau’s minority government is defeated in the House of Commons by a vote of 137-123, forcing a federal election July 8, 1974, where he will win a majority. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1975 Labour - The Fédération des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ) resists the trusteeship imposed by the government in the wake of Cliche Commission’s report on James Bay construction violence. Quebec City
  • 1977 Aboriginal - Justice Thomas Berger releases final report of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry; recommends 10 year delay in Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, to allow time to settle native land claims; Berger Commission also suggests permanent ban on pipelines from Alaska across the northern Yukon because of social and environmental hazards. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Bank of Canada cuts lending rate from 8% to 7.5%. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Fire in the downtown core destroys a building under demolition and damages the Eaton Centre. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1979 Pierre Trudeau gives a passionate election speech on national unity to 18,000 screaming Liberal supporters in Maple Leaf Gardens; largest political rally in Canadian history; will lose the May 22, 1979 election to Joe Clark. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1983 Dr. Henry Morgentaler opens an abortion clinic in Winnipeg. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1985 The Supreme Court of Canada rules that Orders-in-Council are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1985 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 2, Chicago Blackhawks 5
  • 1987 Constitution - Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the premiers of the provinces begin discussions aimed at consensus respecting the five minimum conditions of Quebec. These negotiations will lead to the Meech Lake Accord. Gatineau, Quebec
  • 1987 Constitution - Québec Minister Gil Rémillard suggests five fundamental conditions for Québec to sign the Constitution: 1. Recognition of Québec as a distinct society; 2. Right of veto on any change to the Constitution; 3. One third of judges on the Supreme Court of Canada to be from Québec; 4. Opting out guarantees for provinces refusing to participate in federal programs; 5. Complete control of immigration to Québec territory. Québec, Québec
  • 1987 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 2, Detroit Red Wings 1
  • 1987 Pope John Paul II beatifies Louis-Zéphirin Morreau, bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe from 1875 until his death in 1901. Rome, Italy
  • 1988 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 4, Detroit Red Wings 3 (OT)
  • 1991 National Energy Board gives TransCanada Pipelines the green light for a $2.6 billion line into the US; plus 15 export licenses for 1.6 trillion cubic feet of gas. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Ottawa and the provinces unveil a 5 year $100 million plan to combat ground-level ozone, a harmful component of city smog. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Curragh President Clifford Frame closes the Westray Mine after methane gas/coal dust explosion kills 26 men underground; modern $140 million coal mine built in Premier Cameron’s riding; bodies of 11 men recovered immediately; unsuccessful search for survivors continues for six days. Plymouth, Nova Scotia
  • 1992 Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa announces the end of some free health care services as part of an austerity policy to redress the situation of public finances. Eye examinations are to be paid by users aged 18 to 40 years; those aged 10 and older must pay for dental care. Quebec City
  • 1995 Ontario Supreme Court Judge David Nevins strikes down a provincial law preventing homosexual couples from adopting children. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1996 Dorothy Joudrie acquitted of charges of attempted murder of her estranged husband, businessman Earl Joudrie, after jury finds she was suffering from a mental disorder. Calgary, Alberta
  • 2004 Hockey - Canadian national men’s hockey team wins the Men’s World Ice Hockey Championships 5-3 over Sweden.