Highlights of the day

  • 1843 John A. Macdonald wins his first election, elected an alderman for Kingston
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - General Frederick Dobson Middleton leaves for the west in command of 5,000 troops
  • 1957 Parliament establishes The Canada Council for the Arts

List of Facts for March 28

  • 1636 François de La Haye arrives in Huron country to interpret language; he adapts well to Huron customs and they call him ‘the double man’. Huronia, Ontario
  • 1768 Michael Francklin appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia; serves until Feb. 16, 1776. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1795 Spanish evacuate trading post at Friendly Cove to British. Nootka Sound, BC
  • 1843 John A. Macdonald elected an alderman for Kingston; Canada’s first prime minister. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1851 New Brunswick agrees to give financial support to European & North American Railroad. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1864 Nova Scotia Legislature appoints delegates to Charlottetown conference on Maritime Union. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1865 Legislative Council of British Columbia passes An Ordinance to Amend and Consolidate Gold Mining Laws. New Westminster, BC
  • 1884 Decision in Ainsworths’ Bluebell appeal handed down.
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - General Frederick Dobson Middleton leaves for the west in command of 5,000 troops; reaches the end of the CPR on April 2, and splits up; Middleton goes to Batoche, Otter sent to Battleford, Strange goes after Big Bear. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - Acheson Gosford Irvine withdraws NWMP force from Fort Carlton to Prince Albert; had arrived with reinforcements. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
  • 1912 Election - McBride and Conservatives returned to power in British Columbia on the strength of the Pacific Great Eastern railway proposal.
  • 1918 First World War - Anti-conscription riots break out in Québec City; four civilians killed in shooting match with soldiers over Easter weekend. Québec, Québec
  • 1918 Government abolishes offices of Yukon Commissioner and Administrator; all powers vested in the Gold Commissioner. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1920 Mary Pickford, actress, born Gladys Smith in Toronto, marries Douglas Fairbanks. Hollywood, California
  • 1922 Calgary Herald reporter Buffalo Child Long Lance stages The Great City Hall Bomb Threat hoax. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1922 Hockey - Toronto St Pats beat Vancouver Millionaires 3 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1928 Ottawa’s first automatic street light system goes into operation. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1935 Canadian Radio Commission prohibits ‘sales talks or spot advertising’ on Sundays. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1940 Alexander Augustus Frederick, Earl of Athlone approved by Cabinet as next Governor-General. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1944 Urban - Kimberley incorporated as a City. Kimberley, BC
  • 1944 Stephen Leacock dies at age 74; comic author, McGill University political economist (1908-36); author of Literary Lapses (1910), Nonsense Novels (1911) Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912), Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (1914), Frenzied Fiction (1918) and many others, he died leaving his autobiography, The Boy I Left Behind Me, still unfinished (published in 1946). Toronto, Ontario
  • 1945 Energy - Drillers strike oil four miles south of Lloydminster; first commercial oil well in Saskatchewan. Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
  • 1950 Music - Country singer Hank Snow, from Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, records his hit single I’m Movin’ On; #1 on the country chart for 29 consecutive weeks, and stays on the charts for a full 14 months; Snow’s other hits include The Golden Rocket, The Rhumba Boogie, (Now And Then There’s) A Fool Such As I, I Don’t Hurt Anymore, I’ve Been Everywhere; Snow had more than 85 singles on the Billboard best seller list and sold nearly 90 million records. Nashville, Tennessee
  • 1957 Arts - Parliament establishes The Canada Council for the Arts as a funding agency to encourage the arts and social sciences in Canada; after recommendations by the 1951 Massey Commission report; with funding from the estates of James Dunn and Isaac Killam. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1960 Education - Ontario charters Laurentian University in Sudbury as a bilingual institution. Sudbury, Ontario
  • 1967 Vancouver born actor Raymond Burr stars in a TV movie titled Ironside, about a wheelchair-bound detective; will become a weekly series in the spring of 1967; former Perry Mason star. Los Angeles, California
  • 1969 Education - Crowd of 6,000 students demand that McGill University be turned into a French institution. Montréal, Québec
  • 1975 Labour Standards Act is amended to provide maternity leave to female employees. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1978 Heritage Canada incorporated as a national trust to promote preservation of scenic and historic sites. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1982 Mark Messier and Dave Lumley, both of the Edmonton Oilers, each score a goal before the 24 second mark of a hockey game against the LA Kings, to record the fastest two goals by one team, at the beginning of a game, in NHL history. Los Angeles, California
  • 1983 Andreas Papandreou Greek Prime Minister, starts state visit to Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 LAbour - Eaton’s store in Brampton gets union certification; first union in company’s history. Brampton, Ontario
  • 1991 Joe Clark says Department of External Affairs will operate Radio Canada International after CBC drops funding; 50% cut in service. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1993 Hockey - Pat LaFontaine of the Buffalo Sabres scores his 50th goal of the season against the Ottawa Senators.
  • 1996 Hockey - Jaromir Jagr scores his 60th goal of the season as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Florida Panthers 3-2. He and Mario Lemieux, with 64 goals, are the first teammates to score 60 or more goals in a season since Wayne Gretzky (73) and Jari Kurri (71) of the Edmonton Oilers in 1984-85. Jagr also sets record for most points by a European player in one NHL season with 140. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 2001 Music - Moe Koffman dies; flautist, saxophonist, born at Toronto, Ontario, December 28, 1928; 1957-58 had an international hit with his Swinging Shepherd Blues. Orangeville, Ontario