Highlights of the day

  • 1534 Jacques Cartier sights Cape Bonavista on his first voyage in the King’s service. .
  • 1905 King Edward VII grants Manitoba’s Coat-of-Arms (right).
  • 1991 Inderjit Singh Reyat convicted in Narita Airport bombing linked to Air India disaster.

List of Facts for May 10

  • 1534 Jacques Cartier sights Cape Bonavista after three week crossing from France; stopped ten days by ice; then skirts east coast of Newfoundland; his first voyage to Canada under a commission from king François I, “to discover certain islands and lands where it is said that a great quantity of gold and other precious things are to be found”; he had previously sailed with Verrazano to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in 1524. Bonavista, Newfoundland
  • 1632 Isaac de Razilly takes possession of Acadia for the Company of One Hundred Associates; on the orders of Cardinal Richelieu he builds a good working relationship with Charles de La Tour. Port Royal, Nova Scotia
  • 1652 Jacques Butem murdered by Iroquois north of Trois-Rivières. Trois-Rivières, Québec
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British with the help of Benedict Arnold. Ticonderoga, New York
  • 1790 Spanish captain Francisco de Eliza y Reventa takes possession of Nootka and builds a fur fort. Nootka Sound, BC
  • 1794 Edward, Duke of Kent, commands British troops stationed at Halifax. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1799 Peter Hunter appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada; serves from August 17, 1799 to August 21, 1805. Ontario
  • 1807 David Thompson and family and assistants depart Rocky Mountain House to cross the Great Divide. Alberta
  • 1809 First session of Fifth Parliament of Lower Canada meets until May 15, 1809. Québec, Québec
  • 1812 War of 1812 - US calls out militia forces to prepare for war against Canada that will be declared May 28
  • 1823 Louis-Joseph Papineau and John Neilson present a petition opposing the proposed Union of Upper and Lower Canada. London, England
  • 1828 James Kempt appointed Administrator of Lower Canada; serves from September 8, 1828 to October 20, 1830. Québec, Québec
  • 1832 Bank of Nova Scotia, incorporated August 29. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1840 William Lyon Mackenzie released from jail in New York State; had been arrested for violation of US neutrality regulations. Canandaigua, New York
  • 1841 Halifax incorporates as a city. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1844 Capital of Canada moves to Montréal from Kingston after years of petitions; until November 14, 1849. Montréal, Québec
  • 1853 Hugh Allan’s Genova the First steamer of the Allan Line to arrive at Québec; starts 14-day Montréal-Liverpool mail run; steamers Sarah Sands and Lady Eglinton will follow later in the year. Québec, Québec
  • 1853 Gerard Osborn sails the Pioneer along east coast of Bathurst Island; until July 15, 1853; forced to winter in Wellington Channel. Bathurst Island, Nunavut
  • 1865 Charles Tupper advocates Maritime Union rather than Confederation. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1869 First North American transcontinental railroad completed when Central Pacific and Union Pacific officals drive golden spike at Promontory, Utah; for years, the line is the fastest way to get to British Columbia.
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - Major-General Frederick Middleton and more than 800 soldiers of the North-West Field Force continue to battle Gabriel Dumont and his Métis and Cree warriors at Batoche, capital of Louis Riel’s provisional government; battle rages until May 12, when some troops disobey Middleton, storm the trenches and slaughter the Metis defenders, who had run out of ammunition and were firing stones and nails before giving up the fight; Dumont flees to the US. Batoche, Saskatchewan
  • 1893 Opening of the Imperial Institute in London. London, England
  • 1896 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council upholds right of Ontario to enforce local prohibition; denies right to stop imports or distilling in the province. London, England
  • 1903 Ottawa hit by another major fire that leaves about 600 families homeless; three years after the terrible conflagration of April 26, 1900. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1905 King Edward VII grants Manitoba’s Coat-of-Arms. London, England
  • 1905 Tom Ellis sells his spread for $400,000 to the Southern Okanagan Land Company. BC
  • 1906 CPR announces that it is moving its divisional point from Macleod to Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1912 Direct Legislation League is organized in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan
  • 1917 First World War - Atlantic supply ships get destroyer escorts to stop German attacks; after sinking of Lusitania off Ireland. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1920 Ottawa to send its own ambassador to Washington, not the British ambassador, to represent the country. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1921 Canada and British West Indies come to tariff arrangement. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1924 Alberta Legislature votes to end prohibition in the province; new Alberta Liquor Act is proclaimed. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1947 Energy - Leduc No. 2 hits the much bigger Devonian Reef, and Imperial Oil starts building the town of Devon for its employees. That December 28, 1947, Canadian Gulf Oil’s Pincher Creek No. 1 blew in. By the end of 1947, Imperial Oil and a group of small companies had drilled 147 more wells in the rich Leduc-Woodbend oilfield. Only 11 were dry. Alberta
  • 1948 Penticton, BC, incorporated as a city.
  • 1955 Tommy Burns dies at 73; born Noah Brusso June 17, 1881 in Hanover, Ontario; world heavyweight boxing champion 1906-08. Vancouver, BC
  • 1958 Saskatchewan Cancer and Medical Research Institute is opened. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1963 Prime Minister Lester Pearson starts two-day visit to Hyannisport for talks with US President John F. Kennedy; Canada to get nuclear warheads; Roosevelt home on Campobello Island, New Brunswick to be international park. Hyannisport, Massachusetts
  • 1966 Prime Minister Lester Pearson gives a speech in New York, suggesting an end to the isolation of communist China. New York City
  • 1968 Habib Bourguiba President of Tunisia starts visit to Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Music - Canadian composer Galt McDermott has two of his songs from Hair at #1 on the Billboard hit list - Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In (by The 5th Dimension) and Hair (by The Cowsills). New York, New York
  • 1970 Pierre Trudeau takes part in Expo 70’s Canada Day ceremonies in Osaka during three-week visit to Asia. Osaka, Japan
  • 1970 Hockey - Bruins’ Bobby Orr scores the game winner to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3, for a four game sweep and the Stanley Cup; First for Boston since 1941; will repeat cup win in 1972. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1970 Burton Cummings and The Guess Who’s American Woman/No Sugar Tonight stays at # 1 on the Billboard pop chart; Winnipeg-based band. New York, New York
  • 1972 Labour - Workers in Sept-Îles occupy a radio station; 35 people injured during riot to protest the jailing of three Québec labor leaders: Louis Laberge, of the Federation des travailleurs du Québec, Yvon Charbonneau, of the Federation of Quebec Teachers, and Marcel Pepin, of the Confederation of National Trade Unions. Demonstrations, occupations and road blockades will be held for two weeks. Sept-Îles, Québec
  • 1973 Hockey - Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks 4 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1975 Ella Fitzgerald performs as guest artist at the 25th anniversary benefit concert of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1976 Olympic Lottery to continue until 1979, to cut deficit for 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1976 Windsor high schools open for first time since end of March after Ontario legislates teachers back to work. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1977 Military - Two soldiers killed and 11 wounded when a shell accidentally explodes at the Valcartier base. Valcartier, Québec.
  • 1979 Hockey - In Game 7 in the Stanley Cup semifinal, the Boston Bruins, coached by Don Cherry, are penalized for having too many men on the ice; Guy Lafleur scores in the ensuing power play, sending the game into overtime. Habs forward Yvon Lambert scores midway through the first overtime period, sending his team to the Stanley Cup final. Montreal, Quebec May 10 - Bill Bennett and Social Credit returned to office in British Columbia election. BC
  • 1980 Ottawa gives financially strapped Chrysler Canada $20 million in loan guarantees, and Ontario provides a $10 million grant; the US also provided $1.5 billion in loans and subsidies to bail out Chrysler Corp, the parent company. Under the leadership of Lee Iacocca, the company will return to health and pay back the loans. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1980 Music - Canadian folk rocker Bruce Cockburn performs his hit, Wonderin’ Where the Lions Are, on the Saturday Night Live comedy show. New York, New York
  • 1981 Hockey - Cornwall Royals, champions of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, win the Memorial Cup for the second consecutive year by defeating the Kitchener Rangers by a score of 5 to 2.
  • 1981 Baseball - Montreal Expos’ Charlie Lea pitches a no-hitter in a 4-0 victory over San Francisco Giants in the second game of a doubleheader. Montréal, Québec
  • 1982 Energy and Northern Affairs announces $600 million oil and gas exploration program in Beaufort Sea, NWT. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers 1, New York Islanders 0
  • 1984 Ministry of Transport to deregulate air traffic within 2 years, airlines can offer lower rates, more routes. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Baseball - Mark Langston no-hits Toronto for 8 innings before Tom Lawless singles and the Toronto Blue Jays rally for 3 runs to beat Seattle 3-2; third time this season that the Blue Jays have broken up a no-hit bid in the ninth inning. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1990 Hockey - Chicago Blackhawks 3, Edmonton Oilers 4
  • 1991 Inderjit Singh Reyat convicted of bombing death of two baggage handlers at Narita Airport in Tokyo June 23, 1985, to protest Indian government’s treatment of Sikhs; later sentenced to 10 years in jail; also linked to Air India disaster. Vancouver, BC
  • 1995 Ontario Court judge’s ruling gives lesbian couples the right to legally adopt children in the province. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1996 Jan Brown resigns from the Reform Party. Calgary, Alberta
  • 2004 Sponsorship Scandal - Jean Brault, president of Groupaction, and Charles Guité arrested by the RCMP for fraud. Montréal, Québec
  • 2005 The House passes a procedural motion, which the opposition says should topple the government. The governing Liberal Party refuses to resign following this by claiming that this is a procedural matter and not a vote of no confidence. Ottawa, Ontario