Highlights of the day

  • 1984 Speedskater Gaetan Boucher wins 2 Gold and a Bronze medal at the Sarajevo Olympics.
  • 1996 The Birth of the Toonie - Royal Canadian Mint puts $2 bimetallic Polar Bear into circulation.

List of Facts for February 19

  • 1631 First Lutheran baptism in Canada. Québec, Québec
  • 1732 Religious houses and convents in New France forbidden to shelter army deserters and fugitives from justice. Québec, Québec
  • 1814 War of 1812 - Joseph Willcocks posthumously ejected as a member of the Parliament of Upper Canada because he turned traitor and led American raids against the Province. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1860 Steamship ‘Hungarian’ wrecked off Cape Sable; 205 lives lost Cape Sable, Nova Scotia
  • 1868 Religion - First contingent of several hundred volunteers leave Canada to serve in the Pontifical Zouave Regiment in Rome. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1889 Gabriel Dumont 1838-1906 pardoned by the Crown for role in 1885 Rebellion; Saskatchewan Métis leader was Louis Riel’s adjutant-general. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1897 Adelaide Hunter Hoodless 1857-1910 founds the Federation of Women’s Institutes of Canada; motto ‘For Home and Country’; promotes pasteurization of milk as one of its main projects (her infant son died after drinking impure milk); also helps found the National Council of Women, the Victorian Order of Nurses and the YWCA in Canada. Stoney Creek, Ontario
  • 1901 CNP Coal recapitalized to $3.5 million: J.J. Hill now owns 30%.
  • 1908 Frederick Albert Cook 1865-1940 sets out for North Pole in steamer John R. Bradley; US explorer New York, New York
  • 1920 Shareholders of the Grand Trunk Railway ratify sale to federal government, to become part of the Canadian National Railway system. Montréal, Québec
  • 1928 Second Winter Olympic games close at St Moritz; the University of Toronto Grads take home Canada’s third consecutive Gold Medal in Ice Hockey; no other medals. St. Moritz, Switzerland
  • 1930 Québec legislature rejects bill to admit women to the practice of law. Québec, Québec
  • 1942 Fake Nazi invasion of Manitoba is staged on If Day. Manitoba
  • 1951 Military - Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry moved to the line north of Yuju under the command of the 27th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade; first Canadian unit sent to the front during the Korean War. Korea
  • 1951 Canada agrees to provide $25 million for First year of six-year Colombo plan aid scheme. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1955 Bernard Geoffrion of the Montréal Canadiens scores 5 goals against the New York Rangers.
  • 1955 Bernie Geoffrion of the Montréal Canadiens scores 5 goals in a 10-2 rout of the New York Rangers. Montréal, Québec
  • 1967 Construction of the Calgary Tower begins; aka the Husky Tower. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1968 Lester B. Pearson’s minority government loses a tax bill vote in the Commons, but win a vote of confidence Feb. 28th, after the Opposition demands that the government resign. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Education - Montréal judge Rene Lippe appointed mediator ends 18-months of rotating strikes of 70, 000 Québec teachers. Québec
  • 1970 Canada claims jurisdiction over waters of Northwest Passage, and between islands of Arctic archipelago. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1973 Trans Canada Telephone System introduces Dataroute, the world’s First national digital data system. Montréal, Québec
  • 1979 Media - Canadian Actors’ Equity Association opens its western office at 111 Dunsmuir Avenue in Vancouver, BC.
  • 1983 Joe Clark resigns as Progressive Conservative leader, but vows to fight for leadership at upcoming convention. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 Brian Orser wins silver medal in figure skating at Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo. Sarajevo, Bosnia
  • 1984 Gaetan Boucher wins 2 Gold (1000m & 1500m) and a Bronze medal in Speedskating at Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo. Sarajevo, Bosnia
  • 1990 Vaclav Havel visits Canada; asks for aid in rebuilding country; President of Czechoslovakia. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Ernest C. Manning 1908-96 dies; politician, Christian layman, Alberta Premier 1943-68; born Sep. 20, 1908 at Carnduff, Saskatchewan; 1927 inspired by William Bible Bill Aberhart’s radio broadcasts, was the First to enrol at Aberhart’s Prophetic Bible Institute in Calgary; worked with Aberhart to develop the Social Credit movement as a response to the Depression; 1935 served in First Aberhart cabinet as Provincial Secretary; 1943 Premier on Aberhart’s death; re-elected 7 consecutive times until 1968; 1970-83 served in the Canadian Senate; author of In Political Realignment: A Challenge to Thoughtful Canadians (1967). His son Preston founded the Reform Party. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1996 Patrick Roy reaches 300 victories as the NHL Avalanche beat Edmonton Oilers 7-5; second youngest goaltender and 12th overall to reach the mark. Denver, Colorado
  • 1996 Royal Canadian Mint puts new $2 coin design into circulation; bimetallic Polar Bear replaces the $2 bill. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1998 Andrew Thompson suspended from the Senate without pay for delinquency; the former head of the Ontario Liberal Party had attended only 12 sessions since 1990, and was living in Mexico. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Police - Cross-border police pursuit starting in Buffalo, New York and ending in Niagara Falls, Ontario, results in the death of a Canadian woman.
  • 2006 Olympics - Cindy Klassen wins silver in the ladie’s 1000m for speed skating. Turin, Italy
  • 2006 Olympics - Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown win silver for two-man competition in bobsleigh. Turin, Italy
  • 2009 Foreign Affairs - U.S. President Barack Obama visits Canada to meet with Prime Minister Harper; discuss energy and security issues. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2009 Olympics - Jon Montgomery wins the Gold Medal for Canada in the men’s skeleton event at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Vancouver, BC (Skeleton, he says, “makes more sense than going down feet first.” CBC Archives)