Highlights of the day

  • 1807 Founding of the Montréal Curling Club, Canada’s First.

List of Facts for January 22

  • 1658 Education - Marguerite Bourgeois starts a school in Montréal. Montréal, Quebéc
  • 1679 Fur Trade - Robert de La Salle arrives above Niagara intending to build a trading vessel to navigate the Upper Lakes. Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • 1690 Aboriginal - Iroquois sign treaty of peace with British and Great Lakes tribes allied against the French. Onondaga, New York
  • 1699 Education - Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Vallier founds the First elementary school in New France; opens following year. Québec, Québec
  • 1806 Francis Gore appointed Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada; serves from August 25, 1806 to January 1, 1818. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1807 Curling - Founding of the Montréal Curling Club, Canada’s First. Montréal, Québec
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Major General Henry Procter leads 500 soldiers and militia, with Tecumseh’s 800 Indians from Amherstburg, Ontario, in a surprise counterattack across the frozen Detroit River after his defeat 4 days earlier. He recaptures the River Raison post, and defeats 900 US troops led by Brig. Gen. James Winchester, capturing Winchester and 550 Americans, who were imprisoned in Quebec for 15 months. Frenchtown, Michigan
  • 1864 First session of the Legislative Council of British Columbia opens at Sapperton. Sapperton, BC
  • 1867 First meeting of the Peel County Council, after split from York County. Brampton, Ontario
  • 1874 Federal Election - Alexander Mackenzie wins the second Canadian general election for the Liberals, defeating John A. Macdonald; takes 138 seats to 67; of a total 206 seats; First secret balloting and simultaneous voting in Canada; Macdonald suffered from the Pacific Scandal revelations. Canada
  • 1874 Louis Riel elected as the member of Parliament for Provencher in Manitoba. He will be prevented from taking his seat by a warrant for his arrest sworn in Ontario. Provencher, Manitoba
  • 1874 Wilfrid Laurier First elected to the House of Commons as Liberal MP for Drummond. Drummondville, Québec
  • 1878 External Affairs - Canada wins right to decide whether or not to be included in British trade treaties. London, England
  • 1884 Rail - Andrew Onderdonk completes the Yale-Port Moody, BC section of the CPR. Yale, BC
  • 1896 Hockey - First women’s hockey team in the North West Territories is organized at Regina. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1901 Queen Victoria dies at age 82, ending her 64-year reign - the longest in British history. Windsor, England
  • 1902 Hockey - Winnipeg Victorias sweep Toronto Wellingtons in 2 games for the Stanley Cup. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1906 Disaster - US steamer Valencia sinks off Vancouver Island; 126 drown. Pacific Ocean
  • 1913 Hospitality - Grand opening of the Tourist Hotel at Bull River, BC.
  • 1918 Women - Mary Ellen Smith the First woman elected to the BC legislature. BC
  • 1931 Media - Tyrone Guthrie broadcasts the First episode of The Romance of Canada; First series of radio dramas produced in Canada. Montréal, Québec
  • 1935 Strike - Coal miners walk off the job at Corbin, BC.
  • 1943 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings score NHL record 8 goals in 1 period. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1944 Second World War - Allies establish Anzio beachhead south of Rome; Canadians man static front on Adriatic coast. Anzio, Italy
  • 1944 Hockey - Detroit Red Wings score 15 goals against the New York Rangers and set an NHL record 37 points; also record for the most consecutive goals the most lopsided game - 15-0. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1951 Korean War - Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Huron put under United Nations command. Korea
  • 1955 Arts - Moira O’Neill dies; Irish poet lived near High River, Alberta for more than six years, from 1895-1902. Ireland
  • 1956 Football - Founding of the Canadian Football Council, a forerunner of the CFL. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1962 Education - John Diefenbaker raises federal grants to universities by 33%. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Constitution - Guy Favreau, President of the Privy Council, defers the Fulton-Favreau Formula of 1964 for repatriating constitution, because of Québec opposition. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 External Affairs - Ottawa to discuss exchange of ambassadors with People’s Republic of China. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1973 Immigration - Istvan Meszaros granted landed immigrant status; refused twice before as security risk; Marxist scholar and former Hungarian Culture Minister. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1974 Energy - Ottawa and the provinces start the two-day National Energy Conference in Ottawa; agree to subsidize Eastern prices and stabilize those in rest of country. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1975 Pierre Trudeau declares International Women’s Year. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1979 Ed Schreyer installed as Governor General of Canada; the former Premier of Manitoba serves until 1984. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1981 Hockey - New York Islanders Mike Bossy becomes the First NHL rookie to score 50 goals in 50 games. Uniondale, New York
  • 1985 Helen Hunley installed as Lieutenant Governor of Alberta; serves to March 11, 1991. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1986 Terrorism - Investigation determines that a bomb caused the crash of Air India Flight 182, that originated in Vancouver, BC. Cork, Ireland
  • 1991 Gulf War - House of Commons votes 217-47 to endorse UN resolution on military action against Iraq; most NDP members vote against the bill. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Arts - Northrop Frye dies at age 78; former Master of Victoria College, literary scholar Frye wrote over 20 books, including The Great Code, and Northrop Frye on Shakespeare (Governor General’s Award 1986). Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Space - Roberta Bondar, a Canadian Space Agency Mission Specialist born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, blasts into Space from the Kennedy Space Center on an eight-day flight aboard the shuttle Discovery with six other astronauts; performs life and material-science experiments; NASA Shuttle flight STS-42 to January 30, 1992; an MD in Neurology and a PhD in Astrophysics, she is Canada’s First woman astronaut. Cape Canaveral, Florida
  • 1992 Aviation - Boeing Canada sells 51% of financially-troubled de Havilland Aircraft to Montréal-based Bombardier, with Ontario acquiring the remaining shares; after 8 years of ownership of the former Crown corporation. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1993 Yvon Dumont installed as Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba; President of the Manitoba Métis Federation. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1996 Brewing - Molson Inc. announces sale of its money-losing chemical unit, Diversity Corp, to Unilever for $780 million; Canada’s largest brewery undoing diversification. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1997 Sovereignty - Québec Lieutenant Governor Lise Thibault says on the Radio-Canada public affairs show Le Point that in the event of a Yes vote in a future referendum, she would have to sanction a declaration of independence as respecting the will of the people, but that the Governor General could disallow this sanction. Montréal, Québec
  • 1997 External Affairs - Canada and Cuba announce a 14-point agreement to consult on human rights issues and shield foreign investors targeted for punishment by Washington under the Cuba trade embargo policy. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Politics - New Conservative Party of Canada holds its First caucus meeting under interim leadership of Grant Hill. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Medicine - Ste-Justine Children’s Hospital sends a letter warning that a former surgeon may have infected 2,600 patients with HIV. Montréal, Québec