Highlights of the day

  • 1645 Mme. La Tour surrenders Fort La Tour to Charles d’Aulnay after three day seige.
  • 1885 William Otter leads 550 men from Swift Current toward Battleford in the North West Rebellion.
  • 2000 Nisga’a Treaty gets Royal Assent; gives Nisga’a $200 million fund, self-government

List of Facts for April 13

  • 1608 Samuel de Champlain leaves for New France for a third time aboard the Don-de-Dieu as Lieutenant of de Monts’ new company; with orders to set up a trading post at Québec; arrives at Tadoussac June 3. St-Malo, France
  • 1645 Françoise-Marie de La Tour surrenders Fort La Tour to Charles d’Aulnay after holding out for three days; she dies after being forced to watch the hanging of those men who had fought for her (in the picture, by A. S. Scott ); La Tour still in Boston; Fort La Tour is sacked. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1844 Founding of Victoria County, New Brunswick, out of Carleton County, with Colebrooke (Grand Falls) as the Shire Town. Grand Falls, NB
  • 1858 John Quinn’s Peninsula Hotel destroyed when storm cuts channel through peninsula, creating Toronto Island. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1859 Music - Handel’s Judas Maccabeus performed in Québec City on the centenary of the composer’s death; conducted by William Carter. Québec, Québec
  • 1859 Education - King’s College transformed into the University of New Brunswick by an Act of the Legislature; its new charter guarantees a non-denominational provincial institution open to all students regardless of religious persuasion.. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1860 Invention - Prince Edward Island inventor William McKenzie says his newly patented potato digger can dig 500-600 bushels a day. PEI
  • 1866 Military - Two boatloads of Fenian raiders land on the outskirts of St. Stephen; they flee when “Old Joe” Young rides through the town shouting “Arm yourselves! The Fenians are upon you!” St. Stephen, New Brunswick
  • 1868 D’Arcy McGee is given a State Funeral, attended by thousands, on what would have been his 43rd birthday. McGee shot in the head and killed by an assassin outside his Sparks Street lodging house on May 9. Montreal, Quebec.
  • 1870 Donald Smith, Lord Strathcona reports to Militia Minister George-Etienne Cartier on the situation in Red River. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1876 Shire Town for Victoria County, New Brunswick changed from Colebrooke to Andover. Andover, NB
  • 1877 A US newspaper, the Fort Benton Record, coins a slogan for the NWMP - ‘They always get their man.’ Fort Benton, Montana
  • 1885 An Act to Restrict and Regulate Chinese Immigration introduced in federal Parliament. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1885 William Otter leads 550 men from Swift Current toward Battleford in the North West Rebellion. Here are the troops marching along newly strung telegraph poles. Swift Current, Saskatchewan
  • 1886 Canadian North-West Territories Stock Association organized at Fort Macleod, NWT.
  • 1887 First session of sixth Parliament meets until June 23; sets up Department of Trade and Commerce; employee pension funds. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1891 Kootenay Smelting and Trading Syndicate) smelter begins First ore roast. Later BC Smelting. Revelstoke, BC
  • 1900 The Bell company installs a common battery system in Ottawa; no batteries needed in home telephones; Ottawa the first Canadian city to such a service. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1912 Ontario Premier James Whitney announces Ontario to restrict use of French in schools; English only language of instruction; after Merchant Report deplores state of bilingual schools. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1921 Hen belonging to a Calgary woman is reported to have produced a record-breaking egg, weighing over 5 ounces and measuring 8 inches in circumferences around the tips. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1925 Women in Newfoundland granted the right to vote in provincial elections. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1927 Ottawa Senators beat the Boston Bruins 3-1, taking the championship with 2 wins and 2 ties; the original Senators’ last Stanley Cup. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1929 Ten burned in explosion at Coal Creek, British Columbia.
  • 1933 Hockey - Bill Cook breaks a scoreless tie with a powerplay goal at 7:33 of OT to lead the New York Rangers to a 1-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs; take the Stanley Cup 3 games to 1. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1938 Grey Owl (Archibald Belaney) dies; writer and conservationist.
  • 1940 Hockey - Bryan Hextall scores at 2:07 of overtime as the NY Rangers beat Toronto 3-2 in Game Six of the Finals, to become the 1940 Stanley Cup Champions. New York Rangers beat Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1942 Second World War - RCAF’s No. 417 (Spitfire) Fighter Squadron heads for Egypt to join Desert Air Force and support the Allied operations in the Middle East. Britain
  • 1944 Hockey - Toe Blake scores the game winner at 9:12 of OT and adds four assists, as Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 in Game 4 of the Finals; sweep Chicago in four games for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1945 Second World War - Canadian Army liberates Teuge & Assen from the Nazi occupiers. Netherlands
  • 1954 Harold Connolly becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Angus Macdonald.
  • 1960 Music - Toronto’s Percy Faith has a #1 Bilboard hit with his Theme from A Summer Place, while Ottawa’s Paul Anka has a #1 rock hit with Puppy Love. New York, New York
  • 1961 Constantine Caramanlis Greek Prime Minister starts three-day visit to Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Government grants $3.3 million for nation-wide festival of performing arts during centennial year. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1966 Soviet Liner Alexandr Pushkin leaves Leningrad for Montréal as the USSR launches North Atlantic passenger service. St. Petersburg, Russia
  • 1972 US President Richard Nixon starts two-day visit to Canada; signs Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Statistics Canada reports March unemployment figures at 90,000, or 8.1% of the workforce; highest since figures First collected in 1953. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1981 Rene Levesque’s Parti Québecois re-elected with a large majority. Québec
  • 1982 Hockey - 1982 - Dale Hunter of the Québec Nordiques scores the winning goal at 0:22 of overtime to lead the Nordiques to a 3-2 win over Montréal Canadiens, in Game 5 of the Adams Division Semi-Finals; Quebec advances to the Adams Division Finals against Boston. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1984 Hockey - Calgary Flames 6, Edmonton Oilers 5 (OT)
  • 1984 Baseball - Montreal Expos fans welcome Pete Rose in his First game as an Expo; he hits a double - his 4,000th career hit - against his former teammates, the Philadelphia Phillies; only National League player to reach this milestone since Ty Cobb got 4,109 total hits with American League teams Detroit and Philadelphia. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1985 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 4, Los Angeles Kings 3 (OT); win Division Semi-Finals 3 games to 0.
  • 1991 Windspeaker columnist Richard Wagamese receives a national newspaper award. Alberta
  • 1993 British Columbia government allows limited logging of half of Clayoquot Sound; last major old-growth rainforest on Vancouver Island. Victoria, BC
  • 1993 Hockey - Ottawa Senators lose 6-2 loss to the Nordiques; their 40th road game loss of the season is an all-time NHL mark. Quebec, Québec
  • 1995 Media - CBC cancels the TV program Front Page Challenge; on the air since 1957; the first host was Win Barron, the voice of the Canadian newsreel; Fred Davis took over after 13 episodes. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1996 Hockey - Ottawa Senators beat New Jersey Devils 5-2, making the Devils the First Stanley Cup champions in 26 years to miss the playoffs; 1969-70 Montréal Canadiens (with current Devils coach Jacques Lemaire) the last to miss post season play. New Jersey
  • 1997 Hockey - Mario Lemieux of the Penguins plays his last NHL regular season game, before retiring. He will come back as owner in the 2000-2001 season. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 2000 Aboriginal - The August 4, 1998, it gives the Nisga’a people $200 million over a 15-year period), plus communal self-government, a 300,000 cubic decameter water reserve and control of natural resources in nearly 2,000 square kilometres of land in the Nass River Valley. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2005 Wolfgang Droege, leader of the Neo-Nazi Heritage Front, is found shot dead in his apartment. Toronto, Ontario