May 17

Highlights of the day

1642 Paul de Maisonneuve founds Ville-Marie de Montréal.
1878 Thomas Edison demos his new invention, the phonograph, to Governor-General Lord Dufferin at Rideau Hall.
1919 Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand organized to counteract Winnipeg General Strike.
1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth start first royal visit by a reigning monarch.

List of Facts for May 17

1642 Governor Montmagny escorts Paul de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance to Montréal Island with Mme de La Peltrie, Charlotte Barré and other colonists backed by La Société Notre-Dame; after Reverend Father Vimont SJ says a thanksgiving mass they start building a fort on the site of Place Royale; found a settlement they call Ville Marie de Montréal. Montréal, Québec
1656 Zacharie Dupuy leaves with a group of French to establish a settlement among the Onondagas; military commander of Québec. Québec, Québec
1657 Gabriel de Queylus leaves from France with Sulpician priests Gabriel Souart, Dominique Galinier, and Antoine d’Allet; appointed Vicar-General by la Societé des Prêtres de St-Sulpice, the seigneurs of Montréal. France
1673 Fathers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet leave the Straits of Mackinac and paddle south down Lake Michigan to rediscover and claim the Mississippi River for King Louis XlV; they will reach south as far as the Arkansas River, and show that the Mississippi must run to the Gulf of Mexico. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
1686 Bishop de Saint-Vallier, Bishop of New France, arrives at Grand Falls as part of a five-month visit to Acadia; account of journey later published in Paris; one of the First written records of inland travel in the Maritimes. Grand Falls, New Brunswick
1689 Beginning of King William’s War with France; to September 20, 1697. Europe
1733 England passes the Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum and molasses imported by the colonies from countries that were not British possessions. London, England
1756 Britain declares war on France, beginning of the Seven Years War or French and Indian War in North America. London, England
1757 French and Indian War - War speculators raise the prices of bread and meat by 1000%; 4 oz. of bread the daily ration in Québec. Québec, Québec
1775 American Revolutionary War - US Continental Congress bans trade with Canada. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1790 Government bans export of wheat, oats, and flour to cut high prices. Québec, Québec
1793 Alexander Mackenzie sights the Rocky Mountains. Alberta
1841 Rock slide from Citadel Rock onto Champlain Street/Cap Diamant area of Lower Québec City. Québec, Québec - 32 killed
1849 Métis leaders James Sinclair and Louis Riel Senior intimidate the General Quarterly Court of Assiniboia during the trial of Guillaume Sayer for unlicensed fur trading; Sayer found guilty, but the court rules for mercy, saying that Sayer did not know that the Métis were not permitted to trade freely; illegal trading continues in Red River and the territory, threatening the monopoly of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Winnipeg, Manitoba
1851 James Smith holds first sea trials of his square-rigged clipper ship Marco Polo, named for its full-length figurehead of the famous Venetian traveller; built with the body of a cargo ship above the water line and the configuration of a much-faster clipper ship below; soon sets a record for the passage from Saint John to Liverpool at 15 days; 1852 the Fastest Ship in the World sets a new speed record circumnavigating the globe from Liverpool to Australia and around in only five months and 21 days. Saint John, New Brunswick
1855 Charlottetown incorporated as a city. Charlottetown, PEI
1871 Common Schools Act sets up free schools through public funding and a non-denominational curriculum; abolition of separate NB Roman Catholic schools causes much controversy. Fredericton, New Brunswick
1871 Town of St. Stephen incorporated. St. Stephen, New Brunswick
1872 Signal Hill Barracks opened as a hospital. St. John’s, Newfoundland
1873 Samuel Tilley moves resolution to bring Prince Edward Island into Confederation. Ottawa, Ontario
1878 Thomas Edison demonstrates his new invention, the phonograph, to Governor-General Lord Dufferin and Lady Dufferin at Rideau Hall. Lady Dufferin writes in her diary that “we were so amazed when we heard this bit of iron speak.” Edison’s First phonograph recorded and played back reproductions of the human voice on a tin-foil covered cylinder, and could not yet be used for recording music. Ottawa, Ontario
1882 Queen’s College in Kingston given university powers; now Queen’s University. Kingston, Ontario
1910 Canada sets the new designs for its 1 cent to fifty cent coinage. Ottawa, Ontario
1911 University of Alberta awards its first earned degrees. Edmonton, Alberta
1915 First World War - German U-boat sinks the Cunard Lines ocean-liner Lusitania.
1918 First World War - NB Government disallows home-made candy from cane sugar in the province, to conserve sugar for the war effort; people limited to only a 15 day supply in their homes. Fredericton, New Brunswick
1919 Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand organized to counteract Winnipeg General Strike; provide essential public services. Winnipeg, Manitoba
1919 Winnipeg General Strike - Strike Committee allows shipments of bread and milk to resume. Winnipeg, Manitoba
1927 Saskatoon Smithy Workers’ strike begins. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1928 Canadian athletes join 44 other nations and a total of 3,014 competitors at the opening of the Amsterdam Olympic games. Canada will win four gold medals at the IX Olympiad, two by Percy Williams (100m and 200m dash) and two by Ethel Catherwood (high jump and 4x100m relay). Amsterdam, Netherlands
1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth disembark at Wolfe’s Cove from the CP ship Empress of Australia to start a month-long royal visit to Canada; the first by a reigning British monarch; addresses citizens of Québec in fluent French. The tour is designed to repair and enhance British-Canadian relations, as war clouds again gather in Europe. Québec, Québec
1941 Second World War - HMCS Dauphin is commissioned for service in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Esquimalt, BC
1943 Second World War - Only 8 of the 17 British and Canadian Lancasters of the Dambusters Squadron return from breaching the Mohne dam and the Eder dam in Germany’s industrial Ruhr basin; 30 RCAF airmen part of the Squadron; 13 of the 53 dead are Canadians. Britain
1949 Canadian government grants full diplomatic recognition to the State of Israel, founded May 14, 1948. Ottawa, Ontario
1957 Canadian National Railways opens a 40 mile diversion of its Montréal to Toronto main line to avoid construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Cornwall, Ontario
1963 Canadian Army engineer Sergeant-Major Walter Leja is seriously injured when bomb he is trying to dismantle blows up in his hands; one of a series of six FLQ terrorist bombs that explode in Westmount mailboxes starting at 3 am (five more are disarmed, another 5 are carried away and blown up safely). Three days later, police arrest 20 members of the Front de libération Québecois; 21 year old Mario Bachand will be sentenced to four years in jail for planting bombs. Montréal, Québec
1963 Construction begins on the National Library and Public Archives of Canada Building on Wellington Street in Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
1968 Opening of the Man and his World fair on the former Expo ‘67 site on Île Ste-Hélène and Île Notre-Dame. Montréal, Québec
1968 Mike McIntosh appointed to the Board of Governors of St. Francis Xavier University; First undergraduate on a Canadian university Board. Antigonish, Nova Scotia
1971 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks 4 games to 3 for the Stanley Cup. Montréal, Québec
1971 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau starts ten-day trip to Soviet Union. Moscow, Russia
1972 Gerald LeDain issues his LeDain Commission Report Part Two, recommending abolition of criminal penalties for possession of cannabis. Ottawa, Ontario
1974 Joe Morris elected president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) at Vancouver convention. Vancouver, BC
1975 Ten policewomen start training to be OPP constables at the Ontario Police College, ending 65 years of male-only service in the Ontario Provincial Police. Aylmer, Ontario
1978 Robert Bryce sees no need to screen mergers, in his report of the Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration. Ottawa, Ontario
1983 Hockey - New York Islanders win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup, sweeping the Edmonton Oilers 4- 2 in game 4 of the final. Edmonton, Alberta
1984 Gordon Sinclair dies after a heart attack; former CFRB journalist, broadcaster and Front Page Challenge regular. Toronto, Ontario
1984 Hockey - New York Islanders 2, Edmonton Oilers 7
1987 Hockey - Philadelphia Flyers 2, Edmonton Oilers 4
1990 Jean Charest’s Commons committee unanimously recommends approving Meech Lake by June 23; says Ottawa should promote the two official languages, recognize the distinct society clause, and reform the Senate. Ottawa, Ontario
1990 Star-Kist Canada to close down tuna plant, throwing 250 people out of work; slumping prices to blame; plant closed due to tainted tuna scandal from 1985-88. St. Andrews, New Brunswick
1991 Department of National Defence says it is canceling orders for $900 million worth of military equipment and cutting almost 1,000 jobs at Ottawa NDHQ; due to the easing of Cold War tensions. Ottawa, Ontario
1991 Rogers Communications Inc. to acquire Skyline Cablevision Ltd. of Ottawa for $70 million; plus $5 million for French language community channel. Ottawa, Ontario
1992 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays pass the one million attendance mark in only 21 dates, earlier than any team in major league baseball history; also shared the record with the LA Dodgers in 1991. Toronto, Ontario
1992 Baseball - Montréal Expos Gary Carter catches his 2,000th game, making him third in the major leagues after Bob Boone & Carleton Fisk. Montréal, Québec
1993 Country singer Stompin’ Tom Connors awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St. Thomas University. Born in Saint John, New Brunswick February 3, 1936, he moved to PEI as a boy and only reached Grade 9 in school. The writer of Bud the Spud and other ditties, Connors started singing for a living in 1964, when he found himself broke at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, Ontario. Fredericton, New Brunswick
1995 Hockey legend Toe Blake dies at 82; born at Victoria Mines, Nova Scotia, on August 21, 1912; played left wing for the Montréal Canadiens, and was the Hart Trophy regular season MVP in 1939. He led the team to 2 Stanley Cups as a player and 8 more as coach; his eight Stanley Cup championships in 13 seasons as coach of the Canadiens is an NHL record. Montréal, Québec
1996 Toronto director David Cronenberg’s film Crash has its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival; audiences are scandalized by the portrayal of characters sexually aroused by traffic accidents. Cannes, France
1999 David Milgaard awarded $10 million by Saskatchewan government to compensate him for his wrongful conviction for murder and 23 years in prison; Milgaard cleared by DNA evidence in 1997; jailed for 23 years for a murder he did not commit. Regina, Saskatchewan
2004 Ken Dryden announces his candidacy in the 2004 Canadian election representing the Liberal Party in the Canadian electoral district of York Centre, Ontario.
2005 Belinda Stronach crosses the floor of the House of Commons to the Liberal Party and becomes Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development; formerly ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Ottawa, Ontario
2005 Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Canada for a nine-day visit to celebrate the centennial of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Ottawa, Ontario
2005 British Columbia voters go to the pollis in the general election and electoral reform referendum; re-elect Gordon Campbell, say no to electoral reform. BC