Highlights of the day

  • 1832 Champlain & St. Lawrence Railroad investors get a charter; first railway incorporation in Canada.
  • 1942 Second World War - Beginning of the Japanese Canadian Internment

List of Facts for February 25

  • 1610 Jean de Biencourt, Baron de Poutrincourt 1557-1615 sets sail from Dieppe to recolonize Port Royal; with son Charles de Biencourt and Claude de La Tour. Dieppe, France
  • 1620 Henri, Duc de Montmorency appointed Viceroy of New France; with Champlain as Lieutenant. Paris, France
  • 1651 Charles de St-Etienne de La Tour 1593-1666 commissioned as Governor of Acadia after d’Aulnay’s drowning. Paris, France
  • 1832 The Company of Proprietors of the Champlain & St. Lawrence Railroad get a charter; First railway incorporation in Canada; work not begun until 1835; First train July 21, 1836. Montréal, Québec
  • 1838 Canadian militia routs American republican sympathizers on Fighting Island, in the Detroit River. Amherstburg, Ontario
  • 1880 Fire destroys Parliament Buildings at Fredericton. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1894 Kaslo business district razed by fire.
  • 1904 Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Toronto Marlboroughs in 2 games for hockey’s Stanley Cup. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1907 constitution of the Historical Society of Alberta is drafted. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1908 St. Boniface incorporated as a city. St. Boniface, Manitoba
  • 1909 An Act to Incorporate the Kootenay and Alberta Railway Company receives federal assent.
  • 1918 Carnegie Corporation donates $1 million to McGill University; to recognize the university’s wartime services. New York, New York
  • 1930 Annual convention of the United Farmers of Canada at Saskatoon declares itself in favor of a compulsory wheat pool. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1940 Montréal Canadiens lose 6-2 to the New York Rangers in Madison Square Gardens in the world’s First televised hockey game; on Westinghouse station W2XBS-TV. New York, New York
  • 1942 Second World War - Prime Minister Mackenzie King announces in the House of Commons that, under Order in Council PC 1486, all Japanese Canadians living within a hundred miles of the Pacific coast will be forcibly removed inland to safeguard the defences of the Pacific Coast of Canada. On February 26, the Government starts evacuating 21,000 Japanese Canadians from coastal regions of British Columbia to interior work camps; under the War Measures Act. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1945 Broadcasting - Official opening of CBC’s international short wave service, Radio Canada International. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1945 Military - Sergeant Aubrey Cosens posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
  • 1945 Hockey - Maurice “Rocket” Richard scores his 45th goal, setting a new record for the most goals in a single season, and breaking Joe Malone’s record 44 set in 1918. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1951 Canadian team attends opening of the First Pan American Games, in Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 1952 Closing of the VI Winter Olympic games at Oslo; the Edmonton Mercurys take home Canada’s only Gold Medal, in Ice Hockey, and Gord Audley wins the Bronze in 500 metre Speedskating. Oslo, Norway
  • 1965 Commons receives preliminary report of Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson 1897-1972 cuts a ribbon opening the 13 km long $200 million east-west Toronto subway. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1971 Boston Bruins left-winger Johnny Bucyk, center Ed Westfall and defenseman Ted Green scored 3 goals in 20 seconds against the Vancouver Canucks; an NHL record. Vancouver, BC
  • 1971 Chapin Scott Paterson, an American citizen, hijacks a US Boeing 747 en route to Vancouver; turned over to FBI same day. Vancouver, BC
  • 1972 Energy - Ontario Hydro opens $75 million Pickering Nuclear Generating Station; first commercial nuclear power station in Canada; has been the largest single producer of electricity in the world. Pickering, Ontario
  • 1981 Hockey - Calgary Flames score 11 goals against New York Islanders. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1982 House of Commons starts inquiry into bank profits, in wake of record interest rates. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1982 Ottawa and Newfoundland governments start joint inquiry into Ocean Ranger disaster. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1988 Osler Inc investment dealers ‘deemed to be insolvent as of the opening of business’ today. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1989 Rob Boyd wins a World Cup downhill race in home town of Whistler; First Canadian to win a FIS World Cup Ski race in Canada. Whistler, BC
  • 1990 Québec Premier Robert Bourassa 1933-1997 sets up provincial study group to examine Meech Lake Accord; says Québec will not return to constitutional negotiations if Meech Lake fails. Québec, Québec
  • 1991 Silver speculator Bruce McNall, hockey star Wayne Gretzky and entertainer John Candy jointly buy CFL Toronto Argonauts; Gretzky and Candy are later financially embarrassed by the bankruptcy of McNall. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1997 Francis Joubin dies at age 85; geologist, discoverer of the Blind River-Elliot Lake uranium deposits in 1953, on which Denison Mines Ltd. was built; one of the first members of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1998 Halifax-born singer Sarah McLachlan wins Grammy Award for best female pop vocal for her song, Building a Mystery. Los Angeles, California
  • 2004 Vancouver International Airport (YVR) announces $1.4 million expansion. , 2004
  • 2005 Literature - Frank Parker Day’s novel Rockbound is named the winner of Canada Reads 2005.
  • 2005 Religion - Worldwide Anglican Consultative Council asks the Anglican Church of Canada to voluntarily withdraw temporarily on account of the blessing of same-sex unions at six parishes in the Diocese of New Westminster.
  • 2006 Olympics - François-Louis Tremblay wins a silver medal in short track speed skating’s men’s 500m. Turin, Italy
  • 2006 Olympics - Canadian Cindy Klassen wins bronze in the Ladies 5000m in speed skating, giving her a total of 5 medals making her the best Canadian Olympian ever. Turin, Italy
  • 2006 Olympics - Canadian Clara Hughes wins gold in the Ladies 5000m in speed skating. Turin, Italy
  • 2006 Olympics - Canada’s men’s speed skating team wins silver in short track speed skating’s men’s 5000m relay. Turin, Italy
  • 2010 Olympics - Figure skater Joannie Rochette earns a bronze medal in Figure Skating and becomes Canada’s heroine of the Games; Rochette’s mother, Thérèse Rochette, died of a heart attack at age 55 at Vancouver General Hospital after arriving to watch her daughter compete; on February 23, she chooses to continue competing in her mother’s honour, skating a clean short program and recording a new personal best of 71.36, the third highest score of the night; two days later, she holds on to her third place position after the long program, and becomes the fifth Canadian to win a medal in ladies’ figure skating at the Olympics. During her mother’s funeral, she places her Olympic bronze medal on the casket. Rochette is chosen as Canada’s flag-bearer for the Closing Ceremonies. Vancouver, BC February 25 - Olympics - Canadian women defeat the United States 2-0 in the Gold Medal Game in Ice hockey; Canada’s 3rd women’s gold. Vancouver, BC