Highlights of the day

1859- John Brown brings first black slaves escaping to Canada on the Underground Railroad

  • 1928 Eileen Vollick the first Canadian woman awarded a pilot’s licensed pilot.

List of Facts for March 13

  • 1521 Joao Alvarez Fagundes records his discoveries made the previous year at Chedabucto Bay and south coast of Newfoundland; with Lisbon notary. Lisbon, Portugal
  • 1660 Religion - Bishop Laval ordains Henri de Bernières as a priest; first Roman Catholic curé to be ordained in Canada; will later serve as the first superior of the Séminaire de Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1859 John Brown 1800-1859 brings first black slaves to Canada from the US via the Underground Railroad; he is later made famous in a song, John Brown’s Body, about a raid he made on a federal armoury in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, and his subsequent hanging. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1885 British Columbia Legislature passes Chinese Restriction; bans entry of Chinese immigrants; later ruled unconstitutional. Victoria, BC
  • 1900 James William Tyrrell 1863-1945 starts 2, 782 km survey trek from Great Slave Lake to Chesterfield Inlet. Fort Chipewyan, NWT
  • 1902 Kettle River Valley Railway opened between Grand Forks and Pelham, Washington.
  • 1909 Donald Alexander Smith, Lord Strathcona 1820-1914 sets up Strathcona Trust, a fund for military training and cadet corps in schools. Montréal, Québec
  • 1912 Québec Bulldogs sweep Moncton, NB, in 2 games for the Stanley Cup. Québec, Québec
  • 1916 Manitobans vote 50,484 to 26,052 for prohibition; First province to adopt prohibition of alcoholic beverages. Manitoba
  • 1919 Western International Labour Conference delegates vote to form ‘One Big Union’ (OBU); from four western provinces; meet to March 15. OBU leads the Winnipeg General Strike and the Drumheller strike. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1924 CPR’s Tie and Timber Branch planer mill at Bull River, BC, burns.
  • 1927 Canada’s old-age pension bill gets Royal Assent. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1928 Eileen Vollick 1899-1972 gets pilot’s licence; First Canadian woman to be a licensed pilot. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1940 John McNair sworn in as Liberal Premier of New Brunswick, replacing succeeds Allison Dysart. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1943 Second World War - Canadian corvettes HMCS Prescott and HMCS Napanee sink German submarine U-163 while defending a convoy off Spain. North Atlantic
  • 1953 USSR vetoes UN Security Council recommendation that Canada’s Lester Pearson be named Secretary General. United Nations, New York
  • 1961 Major-General Allard the First Canadian to command a British army division.. Aldershot, England
  • 1964 Military - Canada agrees to contribute to UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus; beginning of a decades-long mission. United Nations, New York
  • 1967 Public Service Staff Relations Act provides new bargaining rights for over 20, 000 public employees; civil servants win right to strike; Treasury Board now central management body Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1971 FLQ terrorist Paul Rose given a life sentence for the non-capital murder of Québec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte during the October Crisis of 1970. His brother Jacques Rose, Francis Simard and Bernard Lortie also sentenced. In November, Rose also gets additional life term for kidnapping Laporte; granted full parole in 1982. Montréal, Québec
  • 1974 Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Jean Chrétien bans off-shore drilling in Beaufort Sea until summer of 1976; to conduct environmental studies. Beaufort Sea, NWT
  • 1978 CRTC rejects introduction of pay TV in Canada. Gatineau, Québec
  • 1987 Washington Capitols score 5 goals against NHL Toronto Maple Leafs in 3 minutes, 3 seconds. Washington, DC
  • 1989 Deborah Grey elected First Reform Party Member of Parliament in a by-election in Beaver River. Beaver River, Alberta
  • 1990 Federal Court of Appeal rules Oldman Dam review mandatory; $353 million dam 70% complete. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1991 Lloyd Eisler & Isabelle Brasseur again win silver medal for Pairs at World Figure Skating Championships. Munich, Germany
  • 1991 Environment - US President George Bush meets PM Brian Mulroney; signs Air Quality Agreement, committing both countries to curb emissions, pledging to end acid rain within 10 years; 150, 000 Canadian lakes damaged; 15, 000 considered dead. Ottawa, Ontario 2006, March 13 - Military - Stephen Harper pays his first surprise visit to Kandahar, Afghanistan.