Today is Canadian Forces Day.

  • 1668 Médart des Groseilliers sets sail on the ketch Nonsuch on a trade voyage to Hudson Bay.
  • 1885 The Battle of Loon Lake, last military engagement on Canadian soil.
  • 1887 Caucus chooses Wilfrid Laurier as leader of the Liberal Party, replacing Edward Blake.
  • 1987 Brian Mulroney and the 10 provincial premiers initial the Meech Lake Accord.
  • 1993 Canadiens win Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final on Marty McSorley’s illegal stick penalty.

List of Facts for June 3

  • 1608 Samuel de Champlain arrives at Tadoussac with Étienne Brulé his third voyage to New France. Tadoussac, Québec
  • 1613 Samuel de Champlain reaches site of Ottawa; names Rideau Falls. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1620 Récollets lay cornerstone of Notre-Dame-des-Anges; both a church and a monastery, it is today the oldest stone church in French North America. Québec, Québec
  • 1658 François de Laval appointed vicar apostolic in New France by the Pope. France
  • 1668 Médart des Groseilliers sets sail on the ketch Nonsuch on a trade voyage to Hudson Bay, after convincing a group of London merchants to back him; the trading voyage will be a success, leading to the founding of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1670. Gravesend, England
  • 1753 Louis La Corne sets out to command western fur trading posts; will build Fort St-Louis on the Saskatchewan River. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1753 Marie-Marguerite Youville gets the administration of l’Hôpital Général de Montréal transferred permanently to the Grey Nuns (Soeurs grises). Montréal, Québec
  • 1766 Captain John Hall brings eight families from Philadelphia to Moncton Township on a sloop; these First anglophone settlers are given grants of land totaling 7127 hectares (17,611 acres) near the mouth of Hall’s Creek. Moncton, New Brunswick
  • 1770 Captain William Owen arrives at Harbour de L’Outre in the Island of Passamaquoddy on the Snow Queen with 38 Lancashire indentured settlers and 15 crewmen. As Principal Proprietor, he names his island Campo Bello. Campobello Island, New Brunswick
  • 1778 First issue of the Literary Gazette (Gazette littéraire) published; will become the Montreal Gazette. Montréal, Québec
  • 1789 Alexander Mackenzie and a party of French-Canadian voyageurs set out from Fort Chipewyan down the Slave River; the Yellowknife Indians told him of a giant river flowing northwest from Great Slave Lake, and he wanted to establish whether it flowed west to the Pacific Ocean or north to the Arctic Ocean; also looking for a way to ship furs to the west coast; the party will find Great Slave Lake still frozen, but by the end of June they were able to continue their voyage down the Mackenzie River, Canada’s longest, reaching the marshes of the Arctic Delta on July 10, 1799; a North West Company partner. Fort Chipewyan, Alberta
  • 1799 Island of St. John officially proclaimed as Prince Edward Island; after the Assembly voted on Queen Victoria, then stationed with the army in Halifax, and to prevent confusion with Saint John, NB and St. John’s, Newfoundland. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1813 War of 1812 - James Yeo leaves for Niagara with reinforcements, stores and 300 soldiers. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1856 Nova Scotia government opens the Windsor Branch Railway from Windsor to Windsor Junction; oldest constituent of the Dominion Atlantic Railway. Windsor, Nova Scotia
  • 1866 Fenian raids - George Peacocke leads British regulars and Canadian militia to relieve Fort Erie; O’Neill’s Fenians escape across the border, meeting a heroes’ welcome. Fort Erie, Ontario
  • 1876 Montréal team introduces the sport of lacrosse into Britain. London, England
  • 1885 North West Rebellion - Sam Steele leads his NWMP detachment against a group of Big Bear’s Crees at Loon Lake in northwest Saskatchewan; the Cree band had taken prisoners, and were fleeing with them from the police and military forces; the police scouts try to convince the Cree that the Rebellion is over, but shots are fired and three of the Cree are killed; Big Bear continues his retreat but will surrender several days later. The Battle of Loon Lake was the last battle of the North West Rebellion and the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil. Steele Narrows, Saskatchewan
  • 1887 Liberal caucus chooses Wilfrid Laurier as Leader of the Liberal Party, replacing Edward Blake; ratified at party convention June 7. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1889 First CPR train beyond Montréal arrives in the ice-free port of Saint John, marking the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway as a coast to coast all weather railway. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1894 Cyclone on Kootenay Lake at around 4:00 p.m. wrecks Kaslo and destroys Boswell’s new wharf. Much of Alberta and British Columbia Exploration dyking on what is now Creston Flats is destroyed. Kaslo, BC
  • 1897 CPR and Ottawa reach accord on Crow’s Nest Pass railroad. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1899 First miners’ strike at CNP Coal. Hours of work and tonnages. BC
  • 1901 Ottawa carpenters go on strike for higher wages and union certification. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1902 Vital-Justin Grandin dies at St. Albert; Roman Catholic bishop. St. Albert, Alberta
  • 1903 West Canadian Collieries incorporated in Great Britain. London, England
  • 1907 Riot in the small town of Olds, north of Calgary, after the Calgary and Edmonton Railway claimed that a railway crossing in Olds was dangerous and not a legal right-of-way. Town officials objected, but the railway brought in a construction crew to fence off the crossing, and a detachment of mounted police to enforce its closure. Town police arrested and jailed some of the Mounties and railway foreman, then the NWMP superintendent arrested the town police officers and municipal officials and held them in a railway car until the town ordered their release. Olds, Alberta
  • 1909 Mackenzie King sworn in as Canada’s First Deputy Minister of Labour. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1913 Corbin C&C seals mine No.1 at Coal Mountain, BC due to fire.
  • 1916 War Cabinet sets up Board of Pension Commissioners to administer naval and military pensions. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1918 Canadian Post office starts new airmail service linking Montréal and Québec City with Boston and New York. Québec
  • 1922 Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Harold Cockshutt unveils the Memorial Tower, designed by architect Charles Wilmott, to honor Niagara residents killed during First World War. Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • 1929 Ottawa announces that the Dominion will buy enough Crow’s Nest Pass coal to keep Coal Creek, BC, mines working.
  • 1934 Dr. Frederick Banting, co-discoverer of insulin, knighted by King George V. London, England
  • 1935 On to Ottawa Trek - Over 1,000 unemployed men, frustrated by the government’s inability to provide work programmes, decided to take the strike to Ottawa. On June 5, 1935, they boarded freight trains headed east. Vancouver, BC
  • 1935 See: Relief Camp Workers Start On to Ottawa Trek
  • 1939 Minister of Agriculture Jimmy Gardiner passes Prairie Farm Assistance Act; crop insurance.
  • 1948 First Newfoundland referendum returns 69,000 votes for self-government, 64,000 for union with Canada; 22,000 for no change (colonial status). Newfoundland
  • 1950 First convocation of Memorial University of Newfoundland graduates held at St. John’s. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1953 Louis St. Laurent attends six-day meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers. London, England
  • 1954 Haile Selassie I Emperor of Ethiopia starts four-day visit to Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1955 CP Airlines starts First Vancouver-Amsterdam airline service over the North Pole. Vancouver, BC
  • 1959 New Brunswick provincial tartan, designed by Patricia Jenkins of Gagetown, New Brunswick, accepted and recorded by the Court of The Lord Lyon, King-of-Arms in Edinburgh, as the New Brunswick Tartan. Edinburgh, Scotland
  • 1959 US President Dwight Eisenhower bounces a message off the moon to Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Washington, DC
  • 1961 Temperatures soar above 32 degrees to start 10 day Prairie heat wave. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1963 Canada declares 12 Mile Limit; (19.3 km) exclusive fisheries zone off the Canadian coast; effective May, 1964. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1967 World’s only Unidentified Flying Object landing pad is completed at St. Paul as a Centennial Project. St. Paul, Alberta
  • 1968 Royal Canadian Mint to replace silver in coins with a nickel alloy, beginning in August, 1968. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Canada grants up to $7.5 million in relief assistance to flood victims in Romania. Romania
  • 1971 Ontario stops construction of controversial Spadina Expressway in Toronto, after strong civic opposition; construction started in 1964. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1972 The Rolling Stones began their Exile on Main Street tour before 17,000 fans in Vancouver; First North American appearance in three years; Stevie Wonder is the opening act; outside, a mob of 2,000 fans fail to crash the concert, but injure 31 policemen before dispersing. Vancouver, BC
  • 1972 Toronto rocker Neil Young’s Old Man peaks at #31 on the pop singles chart. New York, New York
  • 1973 Founding of the Société des Acadiens du Nouveau-Brunswick (SANB) at Shippegan; after recommendations made by the 1972 Congrès des francophones in Fredericton. Shippegan, New Brunswick
  • 1981 Ottawa raises Petroleum Compensation Charge by $1.25 per barrel; to offset drop in value of Canadian dollar; Lougheed levy raised $1.10. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1983 Dr. Henry Morgentaler and seven employees of his Winnipeg abortion clinic are charged with conspiracy. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1987 Brian Mulroney and the 10 provincial premiers initial the Meech Lake Accord constitutional deal after an all-night meeting in the Langevin Block; if approved by Parliament and all 10 provincial legislatures within three years, it will give Québec special status within Canada and increase the powers of the provinces. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Official opening of SkyDome, Toronto’s $500 million domed stadium; 50,000 baseball fans soaked by rain when retractable roof opens; now Rogers Centre. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1990 Brian Mulroney meets Premiers over dinner at the Canadian Museum of Civilization to discuss the Meech Lake Accord; meeting stretches to week long closed-door conference, but Newfoundland and Manitoba will be unable to keep their part of the bargain. Gatineau, Québec
  • 1992 Maurice Strong opens the United Nations’ Rio summit, the world’s largest environmental summit; 178 nations take part. Rio de Janiero, Brazil
  • 1993 Hockey - Canadiens coach Jacques Demers calls for a measurement of Kings enforcer Marty McSorley’s hockey stick in Game 2 of the 1993 Stanley Cup finals, with the Los Angeles Kings leading 2-1 late in the third period. Referee Kerry Fraser penalizes McSorley, Demers pulls Patrick Roy and the Habs tie the game on Eric Desjardin’s goal. Desjardin then scores to give Montreal the victory in OT. Montreal, Québec (June 9.
  • 1994 Queen Elizabeth II unveils war memorial in Green Park to honour Canadians who fought and died in both world wars. London, England
  • 1994 Rock star Bob McBride, former lead singer of Lighthouse, sentenced to 90 days in jail for twice robbing a drugstore to feed his heroin habit; also ordered to organize two benefit concerts to raise awareness of the dangers of drugs. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 Canadian rocker Bryan Adams has a #1 Billboard hit with his single, Have You Ever Loved A Woman? New York, New York
  • 1995 Montréal Expos pitcher Pedro Martinez has a perfect game going until the 10th inning, when San Diego’s Bip Roberts leads off with a double; Montréal wins the game 1-0. Montréal, Québec
  • 1999 Canada and the US sign treaty governing the conservation and sharing of the Pacific salmon that migrate between waters of the two nations. Washington, DC
  • 1999 Ontario Election - Premier Mike Harris leads Ontario Progressive Conservative Party to a reduced majority in the provincial election; First time a governing party had won re-election in Ontario since 1971. Ontario
  • 2004 Softwood Lumber Dispute - United States Commerce Department agrees to cut US tax on softwood lumber exports, effective 2005. Washington, DC