Highlights of the day

  • 1826 Colonel By Starts Building the Rideau Canal

List of Facts for February 14

  • 1663 Canada becomes a Royal Province of France. Paris, France
  • 1690 Military - Nicolas D’Ailleboust and Jacques Le Moyne attack the fortified Iroquois village of Schenectady. New York
  • 1761 British troops occupy Fort Michilimackinac. Mackinac, Michigan
  • 1826 Lt. Colonel John By 1781-1836 of the Royal Engineers arrives in Hull to plan construction of the Rideau Canal from Ottawa River to Lake Ontario. Gatineau, Quebec
  • 1859 Governor James Douglas proclaims the capital of the new Crown Colony of British Columbia to be at New Westminster; wanted it to be at Fort Langley, but bows to commercial pressure. Victoria, BC
  • 1859 Oregon becomes a State. Oregon
  • 1880 Princess Louise, wife of Governor General Lord Lorne, is seriously injured in a sleigh accident in Ottawa; recovers fully after recuperating in England. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1889 Invention - James Lipsett patents the Rotary Ventilator; uses wind power to boost the updraft in chimneys or roof vents; still popular today for rooftop air exchange systems. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1889 British Columbia Smelting Company on Powell St. in Vancouver blows in its first furnace to treat ore from Monarch mine near Field, British Columbia Couldn’t handle sulphur contamination and furnace shut down on February 25th.
  • 1890 Fire partly destroys main building of the University of Toronto; $500, 000 in damage. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1891 Silver spikes driven at Blaine to open both the New Westminster Southern Railway from the Boundary to Liverpool (Brownsville) on the Fraser River’s south shore opposite New Westminster, and the Fairhaven and Southern Railway from the Boundary to Bellingham.
  • 1896 Winnipeg Victorias win the Stanley Cup by shutting out the Montréal Victorias 2-0; first successful challenge in Cup history. Montréal, Québec
  • 1900 Bulldog tunnel opened at Farron Hill; C&W complete.
  • 1914 Last run of CP’s Spokane Flyer, Spokane, WA, to Minneapolis, MN.
  • 1915 First Canadian Division arrives in France from England, and moves into Flanders. France
  • 1918 Fire at Grey Nuns Orphanage kills 64 children. Montréal, Québec
  • 1920 Education - Incorporation of the University of Montréal as a public institution; formerly a branch of Laval University. Montréal, Québec
  • 1920 Coinage - Royal Canadian Mint authorizes 5 cent coin made of silver. The majority of this 1921 mint run will be melted down, when the Mint authorizes a larger nickel coin that May. One specimen of the 1921 5¢ piece, known as known as “The Prince of Canadian Coins,” sold for US$115,000 in a Heritage auction in January 2010. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1927 Conn Smythe takes over the Toronto St. Patricks team and renames them the Maple Leafs. For the next 4 years the team plays out of the old Mutual Street Arena, also known as the ` Arena Gardens ‘, until Smythe’s ice palace on Carlton Street, Maple Leaf Gardens, is finished in 1931. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1930 Politics - Cairine Wilson appointed to the Senate by Mackenzie King; Canada’s first woman Senator. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1940 Second World War - No. 110 (Army Co-Operation) Squadron sails from Halifax; first RCAF squadron to reach Britain.
  • 1945 Second World War - Five RCN motor torpedo boats of the Canadian 29th Flotilla - MTBs 459, 461, 462, 465 and 466 - are lost in a fire and explosion while docked at Ostend; 26 Canadian lives are lost. Ostend, Belgium
  • 1945 Second World War - 1945:  Canadian and British bombers target the German city of Dresden in a raid to destroy German factories; over 60,000 casualties.
  • 1949 Start of illegal Asbestos strike against major asbestos mines in Québec, the majority of which were US-owned, by 5000 workers affiliated with the CCCL (later CNTU); closes mines for the next 4 months; CCCL joined by the Fédération provinciale du travail du Québec (FPTQ, later part of QFL) and unions affiliated with the Canadian Conference of Labour and CIO; the Roman Catholic Church also backs the strikers against Premier Maurice Duplessis and his tougher labout laws. Asbestos, Québec
  • 1950 Military - RCAF aircraft start intense Search and Rescue operation around Queen Charlotte Sound for a missing US B-36 bomber, lost during a flight from Alaska to Texas; with USAF planes, they rescue the American aircrew on Princess Royal Island February 15. BC
  • 1952 Canadian team attends opening of the sixth Olympic winter games at Oslo; Canada will win men’s hockey gold; to February 25, 1952. Oslo, Norway
  • 1953 Lethbridge mayor A.W. Shackleford is frozen to two microphones by a 50-volt shock caused by improper grounding. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1954 Industry - Canadian Cottons announces it will shut down operations at its cotton mill in Marysville. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1956 17, 000 General Motors employees end 148-day strike. Oshawa, Ontario
  • 1956 Aylesworth Bowen Perry dies; NWM Police officer, Commissioner of the NWMP 1900-1923. Saskatchewan
  • 1964 Oceanographic research vessel Hudson commissioned at Halifax. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1968 Education - Almost 400 students from l’Université de Moncton march to City Hall shouting “En français! En français!” – to protest the town’s lack of bilingual services. Moncton, New Brunswick
  • 1970 Ottawa’s Betsy Clifford wins the Gold Medal in Giant Slalom at the FIS World Alpine Ski Championship. Europe
  • 1973 Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1919-2000 agrees to set up committee to negotiate Native land claims in the Yukon. Yukon
  • 1974 Bob Dylan/The Band tour comes to an end at the LA Forum after 39 shows in 21 cities, in the audience are Neil Young, Carole King, Ringo Starr, Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson; says Ringo, It was bloody fantastic. The best concert I’ve ever been to . Los Angeles, California
  • 1974 Ottawa announces $50 million project to extend CBC radio and television service to northern regions. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Unity Bank of Canada and Provincial Bank of Canada merge; number of chartered banks reduced from 12 to 11 Montréal, Québec
  • 1979 North York officially becomes a city; part of Metropolitan Toronto. North York, Ontario
  • 1980 Toronto skier Steve Podborski wins the bronze medal in the Men’s Downhill at the Winter Olympic games in Lake Placid. Lake Placid, New York
  • 1982 Disaster - 84 are killed when the Ocean Ranger oil platform capsizes. Newfoundland
  • 1984 Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1919-2000 attends funeral of Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov; has discussions with Soviet leaders on peace. Moscow, Russia
  • 1996 Ernie Coombs, CBC TV’s Mr Dressup finishes his last children’s show, after 31 years on the air. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1997 Abitibi-Price and Stone-Consolidated announce a $2.3 billion merger, creating the world’s largest newsprint maker. Montréal, Québec
  • 2006 Olympics - Sara Renner and Beckie Scott win silver medals in Ladies’ team sprint in Cross-Country Skiing. Turin, Italy
  • 2005 Canadian government signs a multi-billion dollar deal with Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia for offshore natural resource revenues.
  • 2008 The Senate passes a motion by Hon. Donald Oliver to recognize February as Black History Month. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2010 Olympics - Alex Bilodeau makes Canadian Olympic history in Men’s Moguls with first Olympic gold medal on Canadian Soil. After his run, he celebrated with his brother Frederic – the skier’s inspiration – who suffers from cerebral palsy. Vancouver, BC (YouTube) February 14 - Olympics - Kristina Groves wins a bronze medal in Women’s 3000 metres Speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Vancouver, BC