List of Facts for January 11

  • 1726 Charles de Beauharnois named Governor of Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1747 Nicolas-Antoine Coulon de Villiers 1708-1750 leads 240 Canadians and 60 Indians from Chebucto against on the Chignecto; 2nd-in-command of French forces under Ramezay. Minas, Nova Scotia
  • 1794 Second Nootka Convention ends the dispute over Nootka Sound, as England and Spain recognize each other’s rights of trade. London, England
  • 1815 Sir John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada, is born in the middle of the night of January 10-11, 1815, the son of Hugh Macdonald and Helen Shaw. It is likely he was born just across the Clyde ferry on Duke Street in Lauriestown. (Macdonnell) Glasgow, Scotland.
  • 1864 Frederick Seymour 1820-1869 appointed First Governor of the united province of British Columbia and Vancouver Island; from May 21, 1864 to June 10, 1869. New Westminster, BC
  • 1865 Joseph Howe 1804-1873 publishes the First of his Botheration Letters in the Halifax Morning Chronicle; his series attacking Confederation continues until March 2. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1892 Honourable J.G. Haggart appointed Minister of Railways and Canals.
  • 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty signed by the U.S. & Britain to regulate the diversion and impounding of cross-Boundary streams. An International Joint Commision is set up to review all projects; immediately affected are the St. Mary River and Milk River irrigation schemes in southern Alberta.
  • 1909 The US and Canada (with the British in attendance) set up the International Joint Commission under the Boundary Waters Treaty; agree to submit major fishery and boundary disputes to World Court; also agree to work to prevent pollution of the Great Lakes. Washington, DC
  • 1910 Military - Canada’s first naval college opens in the Halifax Dockyard. Nova Scotia
  • 1911 Protesting western farmers occupy the House of Commons; one sits in Laurier’s seat and demands free trade with the US. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1911 Record Alberta low temperature of -61.1C recorded at Fort Vermilion. Fort Vermilion, Alberta
  • 1913 An Act to provide for the Initiation or Approval of Legislation by the Electors the First of its kind in Canada, is passed by the Saskatchewan Legislature. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1914 Captain Robert Abram Bartlett 1875-1946 sees his Canadian Arctic Expedition ship Karluk crushed by ice near Herald Island, north of Siberia, 300 km short of his destination of Herschel Island; one of three ships of Stefansson expedition; many of the survivors will die before they reach Wrangel Island, 100 km away, where they wait until September before being rescued. Herald Island, Nunavut
  • 1922 Leonard Thompson, a 14 year old Canadian, is the First person to have his diabetes successfully treated, with Banting and Best’s new discovery, insulin, at Toronto General Hospital. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1922 Québec Catholic bishops pronounce themselves opposed to votes for women. Québec, Québec
  • 1922 Medicine - World’s first insulin treatment is performed at the Toronto General Hospital on Leonard Thompson, age 14. Insulin was then called isletin. The successful technique will later win a Nobel Prize for its creators Frederick Banting and Charles Best. See January 23
  • 1947 Government lifts some price controls, but food, clothing, fuel and rent still stay under the control of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1952 British Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill starts four-day visit to Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1957 Canadian aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent arrives in Egypt with men and supplies for the UN emergency force; Canadian strength in Egypt now about 1000 men. Port Said, Egypt
  • 1967 CP Hotels opens 38-story Chateau Champlain in Montréal; Canada’s tallest hotel. Montréal, Québec
  • 1971 Trial begins for 11 FLQ terrorists. Montréal, Québec
  • 1972 Herb Gardiner of Winnipeg dies; hockey player, played eight professional seasons 1921-1929. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1974 Celia Franca retires after 23 years as Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada; succeeded on July 1 by David Haber. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1975 Eric Harvie dies; lawyer, oilman, philanthropist, founding officer of the Canada Council; founder of the Glenbow Museum; born in Orillia, Ontario; 1911 studied law at the University of Alberta; 1915 served with the 103rd Calgary Rifles and the Royal Flying Corps during First World War; practiced law corporate law in Calgary; 1944 acquired land and mineral rights to part of what became the Leduc oil field discovery in 1947; established Devonian and Glenbow Foundations. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1979 Hudson’s Bay Company acquires the Robert Simpson Company. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1980 Thomson Newspapers Ltd. of Toronto acquires control of FP Publications Ltd., owner of 8 papers; including Toronto Globe & Mail. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1981 Georges-Charles-Jules Bugnet dies in St. Albert; founder and president of the Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta. St. Albert, Alberta
  • 1982 CBC moves national news to 10 pm and introduces a new public affairs program The Journal, hosted by Barbara Frum, which will last for a decade. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1983 Québec singer Robert Charlebois gives a triumphal concert at the Olympia de Paris. Paris, France
  • 1993 Henry Birks and Sons jewelry chain files for bankruptcy protection; closes 34 of its 112 stores, then sells another 39 stores to an Italian jewellery group. Montréal, Québec
  • 1994 A wall falls over at the Olympic Stadium in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1994 Daniel Johnson, Jr. sworn in as 30th Premier of Québec; Robert Bourassa retires due to melanoma. Québec, Québec
  • 1995 Dylex Ltd., Canada’s largest clothing retailer seeks court protection from its creditors and says it will shut 200 stores, eliminating 1, 800 jobs. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1995 NHL Players Association comes to agreement with owners to end 103-day National Hockey League lockout. North America
  • 1996 Bloc Québecois Leader Lucien Bouchard chosen as the 4th President of the Parti Québecois, and Premier designate of Québec; will resign on this date five years later. Québec, Québec
  • 2001 Québec Premier Lucien Bouchard resigns as Premier of Québec and Parti Québecois leader on the fifth anniversary of his leadership; cites failure to advance the cause of sovereignty as the reason. Québec, Québec
  • 2002 Manufacturing - Ford Motor Co. announces the closing of the truck assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario
  • 2004 Retired M.V. Anscomb, awaiting conversion to an excursion craft at Woodbury Marina near Ainsworth Hot Springs on Kootenay Lake, capsizes and sinks at 11:15 hours.
  • 2005 Agriculture - Canadian officials discover a third case of mad cow disease; the 7-year-old beef cow was probably infected from use of banned contaminated feed. Alberta
  • 2006 Terrorism - Algerian-born Samir Ait Mohamed, accused of helping the plot to bomb the Los Angeles airport on the millennium, is deported from Canada to an unknown destination after failing to win refugee status. Vancouver, BC
  • 2007 Weather - Major winter blizzard rips through central Saskatchewan.