Highlights of the day

  • 1865 Lord Monck opens the Confederation Debates of the Province of Canada.
  • 1870 Red River Rebellion - Louis Riel proposes a convention of forty Scotch and Métis representatives to discuss negotiating with Ottawa and setting up an elected Assembly
  • 1950 Inaugural flight of the Avro Canada CF-100 military jet.

List of Facts for January 19

  • 1649 Crime - Canada’s first executioner in Canada, a pardoned criminal, performs his First assignment in New France on a 16 year old girl found guilty of theft. Québec, Québec
  • 1685 Colonization - Robert de La Salle misses Mississippi, lands in Texas. Matagorda Bay, Texas
  • 1824 Transport - William Hamilton Merritt gets Act of Incorporation for the Welland Canal Company; President Samuel Keefer. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1843 Education - Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy opens at Sackville as a boys school; named to honour Sackville merchant Charles Allison, who promoted the project; it eventually divides into a Boy’s Academy and a Ladies College; now Mount Allison University. Sackville, New Brunswick
  • 1857 Disaster - Vessel Lord Ashburton wrecked on Grand Manan Island en route from France to Saint John, New Brunswick; loss of 21 lives. Grand Manan, New Brunswick
  • 1865 Confederation - Lord Monck opens a new session of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. In his speech from the Throne, he states that “A careful consideration of the general position of British North America induced the conviction that the circumstances of the times afforded the opportunity not merely for the settlement of a question of Provincial politics, but also for the simultaneous creation of a new Nationality…. With the public men of British North America it now rests to decide whether the vast tract of country which they inhabit shall be consolidated into a State, combining within its area all the elements of national greatness.” Québec, Québec
  • 1870 Red River Rebellion - Donald Smith meets Métis and Scottish settlers at two day meeting at Fort Garry to give them Canada’s position on the transfer of Hudson’s Bay Company territory to Dominion ownership; assures them of the Canadian government’s goodwill, intention to grant representative government, and willingness to concede Métis land claims. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1870 Red River Rebellion - Louis Riel proposes a convention of forty representatives, split evenly between French- and English-speaking settlers, to consider Smith’s instructions. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1874 Urban - First meeting of the Winnipeg City Council is held. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1901 Environment - Government of Canada purchases the Plains of Abraham battlefield; to be maintained as a national park. Québec, Québec
  • 1905 Media - Hedley Gazette begins publication; ends August 16, 1917. Hedley, BC
  • 1919 Military - Canadian troops take part in the Battle of Shenkursk; a military intervention in the Russian Civil War; some Hudson’s Bay Company property was threatened in Northern Russia; the Bay also helped evacuate White Russian refugees.
  • 1930 Religion - United Church building in Okanagan Falls rededicated; moved down from Fairview Camp the previous year. Okanagan Falls, BC
  • 1942 Second World War - German submarine torpedoes Canadian ship Lady Hawkins, as U-boats ravage unprotected shipping along the Atlantic coast. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1943 Royalty - Princess Margriet born to Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands in a room in the Ottawa Civic Hospital declared to be Dutch territory. The Dutch royal family live in Ottawa as exiles during Second World War; Juliana will become Queen of the Netherlands in 1948. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1950 Aviation - Inaugural flight of the Avro Canada CF-100 military jet. Malton, Ontario
  • 1950 Farming - Herb Millar dies; cattleman who worked at the Bar U Ranch for fifty-two years. Alberta
  • 1958 Football - Canadian Football Council renamed the Canadian Football League (CFL). Toronto, Ontario
  • 1960 Energy - AECL to build Canada’s second Nuclear Research Establishment at Whiteshell on the Winnipeg River, 100 km from Winnipeg. Whiteshell, Manitoba
  • 1960 Foreign Aid - Canada meets India’s request for $25 million in aid under Colombo Plan. India
  • 1972 Public Archives of Canada releases minutes and documents of Canadian Cabinet War Committee of Second World War. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1982 Currency - Statistics Canada announces 1981 inflation rate of 12.5%; a 33-year high. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1985 Sovereignty - Parti Québecois votes to drop sovereignty association from its platform. Québec, Québec
  • 1987 Politics - Erik Nielsen resigns as MP for the Yukon after 30 years in politics; former Deputy Prime Minister in Joe Clark Government; brother of actor Leslie Nielsen. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Aviation - Canadian Airlines International acquires Wardair, Canada’s third largest carrier, for $250 million. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1994 Politics - Bloc Québecois leader Lucien Bouchard delivers maiden speech as Commons Opposition leader. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Hockey - NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announces that the League has approved the sale of the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix, Arizona investors. Miami, Florida
  • 2000 Stephen Kakfwi sworn in as Premier of the Northwest Territories, replacing James Antoine.
  • 2004 Human Rights - Government challenges Department of Justice against decision for repayment of benefits to same-sex couples dating back to 1985. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Québec Provincial Police announce a new Sûreté du Québec police task force to fight organized crime. Québec, Québec
  • 2005 Disaster - Mudslide caused by heavy rains causes two houses in North Vancouver to sweep down a hillside; at least three people are missing. Vancouver, BC
  • 2005 Music - Kate McGarrigle dies in Montreal. (CBC Archives - 1977 profile of her and sister Anna)