Highlights of the day

  • 1855 Halifax inventor Abraham Gesner patents kerosene, a new lamp fuel that will completely replace whale oil.
  • 1964 Tsunami generated by the 9.2 magnitude Good Friday earthquake in Alaska hits Port Alberni, BC.
  • 1975 First flight of the de Havilland Canada Dash 7 airliner.

List of Facts for March 27

  • 1613 Family - Wife of Nicholas Gure gives birth to Newfoundland’s First English child. Cupids, Newfoundland
  • 1614 Jean de Poutrincourt rescues starving survivors of Port Royal and takes them back to France; deeds property to son Charles de Poutrincourt, who remains with a few friends. Port Royal, Nova Scotia
  • 1632 Cardinal Richelieu appoints Isaac de Razilly to take over Port-Royal for the Company of New France; also gives preference to the better financed Jesuits in New France over the Récollet order. Paris, France
  • 1647 Charles de Montmagny sets up Council of New France to manage the fur trade; with Governor of Québec, Jesuit Superior and Governor of Montréal; First constitutional body in Canadian history. Québec, Québec
  • 1834 William Lyon Mackenzie elected Reform alderman in First Toronto civic elections; a month after expulsion from Upper Canada Assembly; will become First Mayor of Toronto. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1848 Fredericton incorporated as the ‘Celestial City’. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1855 Invention - Halifax inventor Abraham Gesner gets US patents for his kerosene distillation process; he and a group of investors set up the highly successful North American Kerosene Gas Light Company, to market the new lamp fuel that will completely replace whale oil. New York, New York
  • 1867 British Parliament passes the British North America Act; BNA Act provides for Senate of 72 life members; 24 each for Ontario and Québec; 12 each for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; date of Confederation to be announced shortly; Royal Assent March 29. London, England
  • 1883 Territorial Order-in-Council transfers capital of the Northwest Territories to the settlement of Pile-O’-Bones; soon renamed Regina to honour Queen Victoria; includes Alberta, Saskatchewan and the present-day Northwest Territories. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1885 Fort Carlton, after being evacuated by the NWMP, is burned down. Fort Carlton, Saskatchewan
  • 1908 Media - First issue of Keremeos Trumpet; closed December 31, 1909. Keremos, BC
  • 1913 media - Founding of French language newspaper Le Droit in Ottawa; to lead fight against Regulation #17 forbidding French schools. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1918 First World War - Fighter pilot Alan McLeod of Stonewall, Manitoba becomes the youngest man ever to win the Victoria Cross. France
  • 1920 Marriage - Cinema - Film star Mary Pickford, born Gladys Smith in Toronto, marries Douglas Fairbanks, her partner in United Artists with Charles Chaplin; the pair will divorce in 1936. Hollywood, California
  • 1924 External Affairs - Canada recognizes the U.S.S.R. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1924 Mining - New Dominion Copper Company, stricken from the British Columbia Register of Companies. Victoria, BC
  • 1930 Basketball - Percy Page’s Edmonton Grads basketball team defeats the Seattle Ferry Lines team by 59 points over a two-game series to win the womens international basketball championship and the Underwood Trophy. Victoria, BC
  • 1935 John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir, appointed Governor General of Canada; an author himself - (his novel The Thirty Nine Steps is regarded as the First modern thriller) - he will institute the Governor-General’s Literary Awards in 1937. London, England
  • 1942 Second World War - Parliament passes the War Appropriation (United Kingdom) Finance Act; $700 million British debt written off; the cost to each Canadian is $87. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1953 External Affairs - Canada presents gift of seven main doors for United Nations Building in New York. United Nations, New York
  • 1962 Hockey - Jacques Plante ties record winning 6th NHL Vezina trophy; Canadien goaltender. Montréal, Québec
  • 1964 Military - First Canadians start duties with UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus. Cyprus
  • 1964 Disaster - Tsunami generated by the 9.2 magnitude Good Friday earthquake in Alaska hits Port Alberni just before midnight; the two-storey wall of water uproots trees, throws cars into buildings and tears houses from their foundations, causing $10 million worth of property damage. The Alaska quake was the largest recorded in US history, killing 122 people and causing over $106 million in damage along the Pacific coast. Tsunami means harbour wave in Japanese. Port Alberni, BC
  • 1966 Space - Canada launches 158 kg. instrument package into upper atmosphere; to study aurora borealis; First all-Canadian space project, using Black Brant rocket. Churchill, Manitoba
  • 1967 Hockey - Soviet Union defeats Canada 2-1 to win World Hockey Championship.
  • 1968 Music - Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra perform opening concert at the Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg; new home for the MSO, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Manitoba Opera Association. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1969 Aviation - Ottawa to build new international airport at Mirabel, near St-Jerôme, 42 km north of Montréal. St-Jérôme, Québec
  • 1972 Fishery - France, Britain, Portugal, and Denmark agree with Canada to gradually eliminate fishing rights. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1974 Energy - Ottawa and provinces agree that the price of domestic crude oil will rise from $4 to $6.50 a barrel. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1975 Aviation - First flight of the de Havilland Canada Dash 7 airliner. The first production Dash 7 flew on March 3 1977, and the plane entered service with Rocky Mountain Airways on February 3 1978. Production of the Dash 7 ended in 1988, after Boeing’s takeover of de Havilland Canada. Malton, Ontario
  • 1980 Finance - TSE Index drops 5.3%, biggest one day loss since 1940; after attempt by Hunt Brothers of Texas to corner silver market. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1982 Music - Sing Take Off, by Bob & Doug McKenzie (Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas from SCTV) with Geddy Lee of Rush on vocals, peaks at #16 on the pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1990 Taxation - Provincial finance ministers decline to help Ottawa collect GST. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Svereignty - Bélanger-Campeau Commission issues report recommending that a referendum on Québec sovereignty be held by October if the province did not receive a suitable offer from the rest of Canada; suggests keeping Canadian dollar, Crown Corporations. Montréal, Québec
  • 1991 Hockey - Coach Scotty Bowman and former Maple Leaf captain George Armstrong elected to the NHL Hall of Fame. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Energy - New York State decides not to sign $17 billion contract with Quebec Hydro; QH to go ahead with $12.6 billion Great Whale Project. Albany, New York
  • 1994 Figure Skating - Elvis Stojko wins the Men’s gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championship; Ice Dance won by Gritschuk & Platov of Russia; Ice Pairs by Shishkova/Vadim Naumov of Russia, and the Ladies by Yuka Sato of Japan. Chib, Japan
  • 1995 Labour - Bell Canada says it will slash some 10,000 jobs, 22% of its total workforce, over three years while spending $1.7-billion on its Sympatico service to remake Canada’s largest phone company into an Internet company as well. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Fire - Rialto Hotel in Osoyoos burns down; built in 1938. Osoyoos, BC
  • 1995 Labour - Parliament passes back-to-work legislation, forcing some 30,000 rail workers to return to their jobs after a strike that started March 18 was having serious economic repercussions. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 Music - The Tragically Hip win Juno Awards for entertainer and group of the year. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1996 Hockey - Larry Murphy gets a goal and an assist in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 6-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks; with points 1,000 and 1,001, Murphy joins Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque and Denis Potvin as the fourth defensemen in NHL history to reach 1,000 points. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1996 Quebec budget proposes sweeping cuts in government spending. Québec, Québec
  • 1997 Music - Mob of 5,000 screaming fans pack the Rideau Centre to get into an autograph session with the Backstreet Boys; police move the event to the Congress Centre where 2,000 get to shake hands with the five-member group. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1998 Jean Charest announces that he will seek the leadership of the Québec Liberal Party. Québec
  • 1998 Health - Federal government agrees to compensate Hepatitis C victims of tainted blood. Ottawa, Ontario