May 27

Highlights of the day

1813 War of 1812 - US General Dearborn captures Fort George and Niagara from the British.
1846 John A. Macdonald make first speech in Parliament; advocates repeal of usury laws.
1949 Joey Smallwood wins Liberal majority in first Newfoundland election as a Canadian province.
1999 Julie Payette joins Shuttle mission; first Canadian to board the Intl. Space Station.

List of Facts for May 27

1534 Jacques Cartier enters the Baie des Châteaux - the Strait of Belle Isle - then follows the south coast of Labrador; may have been there already with Verrazano; his second voyage to Canada. Belle Isle, Newfoundland
1613 Samuel de Champlain sets out with de Vignau up the Ottawa River. Montréal, Québec
1763 Pontiac’s Rising - After failing to capture Detroit, and besieging it instead, Pontiac meets with western tribes and persuades them to join the uprising. Pontiac’s allies will capture all other trading posts to the west; the so-called ‘Conspiracy of Pontiac’ uprising lasts until August 1765. See May 7 and May 9. Sandusky, Ohio
1798 David Thompson reaches Turtle Lake; thinks it is the source of the Mississippi River. Turtle Lake, Minnesota
1813 War of 1812 - American General Henry Dearborn orders an attack on the British garrison at Fort George after two days of bombardment with fire shells (red-hot cannon balls) destroyed almost all the buildings in the fort. On this foggy morning, Winfield Scott and Benjamin Forsyth secure a beachead on Lake Ontario. Brigadier General John Vincent immediately orders the Glengarry Light Infantry, the 8th King’s Regiment of Foot and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Fencible Infantry to the beach to meet the Americans with a bayonet charge as they disembark. But they are quickly outnumbered, as wave after wave of 7,000 US regulars land, driving back the Canadian troops to a position held by the 8th Regiment. When the 49th Regiment and militia fail to halt further American advance, Vincent knows he can be outflanked, and orders Fort George abandoned. Under constant bombardment from Fort Niagara across the river, many women and children of the 49th and other corps are left behind in the casements of the fort. Vincent rapidly retreats up the Niagara river to Queenston then cuts north with detachments from Fort Erie and Queenston towards Burlington Heights north of Hamilton with the rest of his 1,400 British and Canadian militia and their families. The Americans had failed in their intent to destroy Vincent’s small army, but the Niagara peninsula is now firmly under US control.Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario May 27 - War of 1812 - British abandon Fort Erie and General John Vincent retreats to Burlington Heights with Colonel John Harvey. Ontario
1818 British government declares Saint John, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, to be free ports in order to avoid trade restrictions with the United States; Shelburne, Nova Scotia, and St. Andrews, New Brunswick, are also given free trade status. London, England
1827 Opening of the St. John’s Orphan Asylum. St. John’s, Newfoundland
1838 Lord Durham lands at Québec; appointed Governor of BNA by British Prime Minister Lord Melbourne to investigate colonial grievances after the Rebellion of 1837; has a mandate to examine and recommend the form and future government of the provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Québec, Québec
1846 John A. Macdonald makes First speech in Parliament; advocates repeal of usury laws. Montréal, Québec
1863 Sailing ship Anglo Saxon wrecked near Clam Cove, off Cape Race - 238 drowned. Cape Race, Newfoundland
1865 Edgar Dewdney, George Turner and crew arrive at Fort Shepherd to begin building the Wild Horse extention of Dewdney’s original trail. Fort Shepherd, BC
1873 Prince Edward Island votes for union with Canada; the province is bankrupt due to railway speculation. PEI
1885 North West Rebellion - Big Bear and his Cree warriors escape north after artillery attack by General Thomas Strange, who then retreats to Fort Pitt; last native battle in Canada. Frenchman Butte, Saskatchewan
1891 Prime Minister John A. Macdonald sufferes a stroke. Ottawa, Ontario
1893 Environment - Ontario government creates Algonquin Park, to protect the water source of many Ontario rivers; Canada’s first provincial park. Toronto, Ontario
1898 First edition of the Klondike Nugget, the Yukon’s First regular newspaper. Dawson, Yukon
1904 Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Incorporation Bill passed; incorporated federally to build western leg of the National Transcontinental Railway, to be finished by December 1, 1911. Ottawa, Ontario
1910 International Navigation and Trading Company’s Steamboat Kaslo runs aground at Ainsworth and never repaired. Ainsworth. BC
1911 GN sells the K&S Railway for $25,000 to interests headed by James Anderson and J.L. Retallack of Kaslo, BC.
1931 Fire destroys the First Norwegian Lutheran Church built in Canada near Wetaskiwin. Wetaskiwin, Alberta
1935 North America’s First co-operative oil refinery goes into production at Regina. Regina, Saskatchewan
1938 Government nationalizes the Bank of Canada three years after opening. Ottawa, Ontario
1947 First plane lands on Nelson’s lakefront airfield. Nelson, BC
1949 Newfoundland Election - Joey Smallwood wins Liberal majority in First Newfoundland provincial election as a Canadian province; First Premier; will govern until January, 1972, and stay in the legislature until retiring in 1977. Newfoundland
1949 Federal Election - Louis St. Laurent wins federal election with 49.5% of popular vote; takes 193 seats to 41 for George Drew’s Conservatives; 13 CCF; 10 Social Credit; 5 others.
1957 Media - Toronto’s CHUM-AM (1050 kHz) becomes Canada’s first radio station to broadcast only top 40 Rock n’ Roll music. Toronto, Ontario
1957 Construction begins on a replica of the original NWMP fort. Fort Macleod, Alberta
1963 Closing of Her Majesty’s Theatre; open since 1898. Montréal, Québec
1963 Opening of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton. Edmonton, Alberta
1964 Prime Minister Lester Pearson unveils the Pearson Pennant, his preferred, but ultimately unsuccessful, design for a new national flag. Ottawa, Ontario
1965 Ontario and Québec plan $10 million Voyageur Provincial Park along Ottawa River from Carillon to Hull, Québec; federal-provincial Centennial project. Carillon, Ontario
1967 Egypt demands immediate withdrawal of Canadian peace keeping troops; Canadians airlifted out within 48 hours. Egypt
1968 Montréal Expos awarded a National League baseball franchise, after several years of promotion from Montréal city councilor Gerry Snyder and a near loss of the team when Blue Bonnets owner Jean-Louis Lévesque withdrew, but distillery magnate Charles Bronfman agrees to back the team, with fellow investors Paul Beaudry and Charlemagne Beaudry, Lorne Webster, Hugh Hallward and Sydney Maislin. The Expos are major league baseball’s First expansion outside the US, and it causes an outcry in the US Congress; under First manager Gene Mauch, the Expos will play their First home game at Jarry Park on April 14, 1969; the San Diego Padres will be the other new NL team to play. Montréal, Québec
1968 Pierre Trudeau promises in an election speech to introduce a bill to make French an official language in federal courts and departments. Ottawa, Ontario
1974 Ottawa to acquire DeHavilland Aircraft of Canada and Canadair, then find Canadian investors for shares; both foreign-owned companies. Ottawa, Ontario
1975 Hockey - Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres 4 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1977 Monique Mercure named co-winner of the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival; for her role in J A. Martin, Photographe, produced by the National Film Board. Cannes, France
1977 Pierre Trudeau agrees to separation with wife Margaret Trudeau; retains custody of three children. Ottawa, Ontario
1980 Summer in the Arctic by Frederick Varley sells for $170,000; record for a Canadian painting; $1,1 million in sales and 10 price records broken at Sotheby Parke Bernet auction. Toronto, Ontario
1987 Pierre Trudeau attacks Meech Lake Accord in the media; abandons low profile he has kept since leaving public office. Montréal, Québec
1992 Leneen Forde appointed Governor of Queensland; First woman governor of an Australian state; born in Ottawa in 1935. Queensland, Australia
1993 House of Commons passes legislation bringing Canada into the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Ottawa, Ontario
1999 Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette takes part in Shuttle mission and is the first Canadian to board the International Space Station; with co-worker repairs faulty parts in the Russian space station Zarya’s battery pack. Space
2000 Montréal Canadiens forward and Hockey Hall of Famer Rocket Richard dies at age 79; born in Montréal, Québec August 4, 1921; Richard scored 544 regular season goals and 82 playoff goals, 18 of them winners. He was the First to score more than 50 goals in a season (1944-45), and First to score 500 career goals. He led the League in goals 5 times, was an 8-time NHL First team All-Star; MVP in 1947, and played on 8 Stanley Cup winners in Montréal. In March 1955, Richard struck Boston’s Hal Laycoe with a stick and wrestled off a linesman who tried to intervene. When League President Clarence Campbell suspended Richard for the rest of the season, including the playoffs, Campbell was attacked in the Montréal Forum, and fans rioted through the streets of Montréal. Montréal, Québec
2000 See: CBC Archives: Maurice Richard, 1921 - 23-Jun-09
2004 Conservative Party of Canada official languages critic Scott Reid resigns after making comments suggesting reduction of French language access. Ottawa, Ontario
2004 Farmers’ income hits 25-year-low in 2003 from drought and mad cow crisis.
2004 Former Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano launches $4.5 million lawsuit against Prime Minister Paul Martin and the federal government. Montréal, Québec