Highlights of the day

  • 1897 Lady Aberdeen helps found the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON).
  • 1946 Nova Scotia racing schooner Bluenose sinks after striking a reef off Haiti

List of Facts for January 29

  • 1796 Road - Yonge Street officially opened, running from the town of York up to Lake Simcoe; built for military purposes and to serve the North West Company as a portage road. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1820 Royalty - King George III of England dies. London, England
  • 1820 Royalty - King George IV starts reign; to 1830; on death of King George III. London, England
  • 1829 Education - Opening of McGill University in Montréal; built with legacy and property from fur trader James McGill. Montréal, Québec
  • 1853 Education - Founding of the Bytown Mechanics Institute and Athenaeum; forerunner of the Ottawa Public Library. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1856 Military - Alexander Dunn awarded Victoria Cross for gallantry at the 1854 Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War; First Canadian; awarded by Queen Victoria, the VC is Britain’s highest military honour. London, England
  • 1879 Archbishop Alexandre Taché writes to the Deputy Minister of the Interior, describing the discontent caused in the NWT by the disappearance of the bison and the growth of settlement. St. Boniface, Manitoba
  • 1880 P.R. Neale and S.B. Steele register the First cattle brand in the NWT: the 71. Alberta
  • 1883 William Smithe sworn in as Conservative Premier of British Columbia, replacing Beaven. Victoria, BC
  • 1887 Honoré Mercier sworn in as Parti national Premier of Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1897 Medicine - Lady Aberdeen, wife of the Governor General, helps found the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) at the request of the National Council of Women; name chosen to recognize Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1914 Women - Premier Rodmond Roblin and the Manitoba legislature are parodied by a suffragist play, The Women’s Parliament, in Winnipeg. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1926 Constitution - Alberta Premier John Brownlee signs an agreement with the federal government for the transfer of control of natural resources to his province - the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement will also apply to Saskatchewan Crown lands. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1939 Disaster - Two die in Hedley after to rockfall from Stemwinder Mountain. Hedley, BC
  • 1946 Sailing - Racing schooner Bluenose sinks the day after striking a reef off Haiti; the crew of eight all escape the sinking; the news will reach Halifax on January 30, 1946 and will be first reported in the newspapers on the morning of January 31, 1946; built by Smith and Rhuland at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and launched March 26, 1921, the ship was invincible in races; she was sold as a Caribbean cargo ship in 1938. Ile à Vache, Haiti
  • 1964 Olympics - Canadian team attends the opening of the ninth Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck. Innsbruck, Austria
  • 1967 Terrorism - Terrorists bomb Yugoslav Embassy in Ottawa and Consulate in Toronto. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Riot - Protesting Canadian and West Indian students occupy computer centre of Sir George Williams University to protest alleged racism on campus; ends February 11, 1969. Montréal, Québec
  • 1969 Fire destroys old Granby Consolidated concentrator building. Allenby, BC
  • 1973 Peacekeeping - Canadian Ambassador to South Vietnam Michel Gauvin leads First 130 members of projected Canadian complement of 230 in ICCS on arrival at Saigon. Saigon, Vietnam
  • 1980 Labour - Canadian Union of Postal Workers president Jean-Claude Parrot starts serving a 3 month prison term for defying a back to work law making a CUPW strike illegal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1982 Aboriginal - British House of Lords refuses to hear case of Canadian Indians for entrenchment of rights. London, England
  • 1985 Hockey - Brian Trottier of the New York Islanders scores his 1,000th NHL point against Minnesota North Stars.
  • 1985 Hockey - Jari Kurri of the Edmonton Oilers scores his 100th NHL point of the season in game 39. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1985 Justice - New Brunswick Premier Richard Hatfield found not guilty of possession of marijuana; drug discovered in his bag during Royal Visit security search September 25, 1985; he claimed it was planted. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1988 CP acquires nine hotels from CN for $260 million. Montréal, Québec
  • 1988 Athletics -Ben Johnson breaks his own 50-yard dash world record of 5.15.
  • 1989 Boxing - Hobbema boxer Danny Stonewalker wins the Canadian Light-Heavyweight title. Hobbema, Alberta
  • 1990 Ray Hnatyshyn installed as 24th Governor General of Canada, succeeding Jeanne Sauvé; a lawyer, he was Progressive Conservative MP Saskatoon West 1974-88 and Minister of Justice; wife Gerda; son of John Hnatyshyn, Canada’s First Ukrainian-born Senator, and Helen Hnatyshyn, President of the National Council of Women; serves until February 6, 1995. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Language - Brian Mulroney deplores motion by Sault Ste. Marie Town Council declaring English official language of the municipality. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
  • 1991 Constitution - Montreal lawyer Jean Allaire submits findings on Canada’s constitution to the Quebec Liberal Party; Allaire Committee recommends abolishing the federal Senate and giving Quebec exclusive power over communications, energy, environment, agriculture and regional development; Allaire Report proposes sovereignty referendum by Fall of 1992; on March 9, 1991, his report is adopted by the Quebec Liberal party as policy, but it is later repudiated by Robert Bourassa; Allaire goes on to found a new political party, the Action Démocratique du Québec in 1992. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Lucien Bouchard sworn in as 32nd Premier of Québec; former Bloc Québecois leader replaces Jacques Parizeau; will serve unti 2001; Michel Gauthier takes over as interim leader of the BQ. Québec, Québec
  • 1996 Music - Timmins, Ontario’s Shania Twain named best new country artist at the American Music Awards. Los Angeles, California
  • 1996 Government - Queen’s Park passes Bill giving the province sweeping powers to overhaul fiscal policy and social services. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1997 Lise Thibault installed as Lieutenant Governor of Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 2001 Peter Milliken elected new Speaker of the House of Commons after five rounds of voting. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2001 Finance - Toronto Stock Exchange allows stocks greater than $5 in value to trade at 1-cent increments instead of at 5-cent increments. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2004 Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League jointly announce Vancouver will host the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Vancouver, BC
  • 2004 Military - North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer requests that Canada continue to support a NATO presence in Afghanistan after the scheduled return of troops in August, 2004. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2009 Labour - End of 2008-09 York University Strike by CUPE Local 3903, the union representing contract professors, teaching assistants, and graduate assistants; members vote 42-8 to end the strike. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2010 Politics - PM Stephen Harper fills five vacancies in the Senate of Canada with appointments of new Conservative senators, Rose-May Poirier, of New Brunswick; gives the Conservative party a Majority in the Red Chamber, which had been dominated by Liberals, to 51 Conservatives, 49 Liberals, and five others. Ottawa, Ontario