Highlights of the day

  • 1833 Hamilton Incorporated as a City, the Oldest in Ontario
  • 1841 Meeting of the First Parliament of the Province of Canada.
  • 1947 Vern Hunter Strikes Oil at Leduc
  • 1988 Calgary hosts 15th Winter Olympics, welcoming 1,800 athletes from 57 countries.

List of Facts for February 13

  • 1641 Fur Trade - Charles de La Tour ordered to return to France due to pressure from Menou d’Aulnay; his commission revoked ten days later; he disobeys and stays in Acadia. Port Royal, Nova Scotia
  • 1641 Aboriginal - Iroquois Confederacy of the Long House formally declares war against New France; still resent Samuel de Champlain’s treaty with the Hurons and Algonquins. New York
  • 1759 Nova Scotia Election - First use of secret ballot in Canada in Nova Scotia Assembly; First legislature in British territory to permit secret voting. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1833 Engineering - Steamship Royal William, launched at Québec April 27, 1831, completes its crossing of the Atlantic from Pictou, Nova Scotia; First ship to cross the Atlantic under steam power. Gravesend, England
  • 1833 Finance - British American Assurance Company incorporated at York; First insurance company in Ontario. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1833 Urban - Hamilton incorporated as a city; oldest in Ontario. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1841 Politics - Meeting of the first Parliament of the Province of Canada in a converted hospital in Kingston; the members of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly are sworn in, after which the House of Assembly elects Austin Cuvillier as speaker; William Draper & Charles Odgen form the Draper-Ogden Ministry (in power until September, 1842); two Attorneys General; Robert Baldwin accepts a seat on the Executive Council. Parliament will be officially opened June 15. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1861 Media - First issue of the British Columbian newspaper published. New Westminster, BC
  • 1868 Province - New Brunswick provincial legislature opens First session under Confederation. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1879 Parliament - Joseph Godéric Blanchet sworn in as Speaker of the House of Commons; term ends February 7, 1883; Conservative
  • 1884 First CPR train arrives at 13:30 in Port Moody, BC.
  • 1900 Women - Founding of First chapter of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE); women’s patriotic and philanthropic organization. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1907 Urban - Portage la Prairie incorporated as a city. Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
  • 1912 Rail - Board of Railway Commissioners approves Kettle Valley Railway’s plan to build down Coquihalla to Hope, BC.
  • 1917 First World War - Body of 470 men of the Canadian 10th Brigade attack the German line near Lens. They return across No Man’s Land having inflicted 160 casualties, including the capture of 50 prisoners, and destroyed many dug-outs and tunnelling shafts; 150 Canadian casualties. Lens, Belgium
  • 1921 Religion - Judge Edward Brown prohibits the public exhibition of moving pictures on Sundays. Manitoba
  • 1937 Media - Halifax native Harold Foster publishes his First Prince Valiant comic strip, calling his original creation ‘an illustrated historical novel.’ Famed for its superb medieval detail, the strip was Foster’s masterpiece, and he would write and illustrate it for the next 42 years; he had already drawn the Tarzan strip from 1929-1937. New York, New York
  • 1944 Hockey - Toronto Maple Leaf Walter “Babe” Pratt scores his 45th point of the year; new NHL record for a defenseman. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1945 Second World War - Canadian troops capture the town of Cleve, Germany.
  • 1947 Energy - Vern Hunter strikes oil, as Imperial Oil’s Leduc No.1 well blows in at 4:10 pm, and starts producing 155 cubic meters of oil a day; the find sparks a new Alberta oil boom; the Toronto Stock Exchange soon lists 40 new Western Canadian oil and gas companies. Leduc, Alberta
  • 1949 Labour - Unions call a strike against Johns-Manville at Asbestos. Asbestos, Québec
  • 1954 Agnes Macphail dies at age 63. A former country school teacher in Grey County, she became Canada’s First woman MP in the 1921 federal election, and held her seat until she was defeated in 1940, and became an Ontario MPP. She was a champion of the rights of farmers, women and prisoners and was Canada’s First woman delegate to the League of Nations. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1956 Rail - Three CPR freight trains collide at Pense, killing one man is killed and injuring four others . Pense, Saskatchewan
  • 1963 Education - John Robarts government charters Brock University in St. Catharines; scheduled to open in 1964 St. Catharines, Ontario
  • 1965 Strike - Québec Liquor Board (SAQ) employees end 70-day strike. Québec, Québec
  • 1969 Terrorism - FLQ terrorists explode a bomb on the floor of the Montréal Stock Exchange, injuring 27. Montréal, Québec
  • 1971 Province - William Davis chosen Ontario Progressive Conservative leader, succeeding John Robarts. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1972 Politics - Camil Samson resigns as Leader of the Ralliement Créditiste. Montréal, Québec
  • 1972 Olympics - 11th Winter Olympics close at Sapporo; Canada fails to take home a Gold Medal, but Karen Magnussen wins the Silver Medal in Figure Skating. Sapporo, Japan
  • 1973 Language - Gendron Royal Commission on the French Language recommends making French official language of Québec; Gendron Report. Québec, Québec
  • 1974 Aboriginal - Energy - Québec Court of Appeals denies Indian-Inuit coalition permanent injunction against James Bay power; courts awaiting the outcome of earlier appeal Québec
  • 1980 Opening of the 13th Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.
  • 1981 Constitution - Parliamentary committee recommends 65 amendments to original constitutional package. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1982 Hockey - Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders scores 5 goals against Philadelphia Flyers.
  • 1985 Justice - Denis Lortie found guilty of First-degree murder of 3 Québec National Assembly workers in his machine gun attack of May, 1984; the Canadian Armed Forces corporal sprayed the chamber with bullets before being calmed. Montréal, Québec
  • 1985 Military - Joe Clark appointed (acting) Minister of National Defence; to February 26. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1985 Music - Canadian folk-rock singer Bruce Cockburn gives a concert in East Berlin after performing the previous night in West Berlin; will do eight shows in East Bloc countries. Berlin, Germany
  • 1988 Olympics - Governor General Jeanne Sauvé declares the 15th Calgary Winter Olympics open in a ceremony in Olympic Plaza; Calgary plays host to over 1,800 athletes from 57 countries. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1990 Rail - Bombardier proposes $5.3 billion high speed rail link between Québec, Montréal, Ottawa and Toronto; based on French TGF (Très Grande Vitesse) train. Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Hockey - Brian Trottier of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores his 500th goal against Calgary Flames.
  • 1990 Health - Minister Perrin Beatty announces $75-100, 000 in compensation for each victim of the drug thalidomide born between 1959 and 1961. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1993 Myriam Bédard from Loretteville, Québec wins the biathlon gold medal and the world championship; the following year she will win two gold medals at the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Europe
  • 1995 Exploration - Richard Weber of Chelsea, Québec and Russian MD Mikhail Mlakhov start 1500 km ski trek from Canada’s northernmost point of land to the North Pole; bid to become the First to ski to the Pole and back without support teams or outside help. Ward Hunt Island, Nunavut
  • 1995 Politics - Lucienne Robillard elected for the Liberals as the Party wins 3 bye-elections, keeping two seats in Ottawa and Montréal, winning one from the Bloc Québecois. The new standings: Liberal 177, BQ 53, Reform 52, NDP 9, PC 2, Ind 2. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Military - Chief of Defence Staff General John de Chastelain directs that Maj Gen Brian Vernon be relieved of command of Land Force Central Area for his actions regarding the passage of erroneous information to the CDS about an initiation video showing members of 1 Commando, the Canadian Airborne Regiment. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1998 Justice - Three girls, ages 14, 15, and 16, found guilty of the murder of 14 year old schoolmate Reena Virk; three others pleaded guilty to assault charges. Victoria, BC
  • 1999 Hockey - Toronto Maple Leafs play their last game in Maple Leaf Gardens before moving to the new Air Canada Centre. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2001 Roger Grimes sworn in as Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, replacing Beaton Tulk. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 2004 Jane Stewart, former Minister of Human Resources Development Canada, retires from politics to work for the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO).
  • 2005 Energy - Ottawa signs multi-billion dollar deal with Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia to deal with offshore natural resource revenues.
  • 2010 Olympics - Defending champion Jennifer Heil of Canada wins silver in women’s moguls event, coming second to Hannah Kearney of the United States. Vancouver, BC