Highlights of the day

  • 1843 Official founding of the town of Victoria, British Columbia.
  • 1976 Canada declares a 370 km (200 nautical miles) offshore fisheries jurisdiction zone.
  • 1979 Joe Clark takes office as Canada’s 16th Prime Minister.
  • 1980 Hockey - Gordie Howe, playing for the Hartford Whalers, finally hangs up his skates at age 52.

List of Facts for June 4

  • 1534 Prince Edward Island sighted by Jacques Cartier. PEI
  • 1671 Simon de Saint-Lusson takes possession of lands around Sault Ste. Marie and claims Lake Huron and Lake Superior areas for France; sent by Jean Talon to do a survey of the area. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
  • 1742 Le Canada launched; First French warship built in Canada sails for Rochefort, France. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1760 Twenty-two ships carrying New England planters arrive in Nova Scotia to take land forcibly vacated by the Acadians. Nova Scotia
  • 1763 Pontiac’s Resistance - Chippewa warriors capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison’s attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort. Mackinaw, Michigan
  • 1765 Alexander Henry appointed Captain of western trading posts, with headquarters at Fort Michilimackinac. Mackinaw, Michigan
  • 1792 George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for Britain. Washington
  • 1812 US Congress votes for war against Britain; the War of 1812 will begin June 18, 1812, when President James Madison officially proclaims the United States to be at war. Washington, DC
  • 1843 Founding of the town of Victoria, British Columbia. Victoria will be incorporated as a City on August 2, 1862. Victoria, BC
  • 1851 William Kennedy and Joseph-René Bellot sail the Prince Regent to Prince Regent’s Inlet to search for Franklin Expedition; Bellot a French naval officer. Prince Regent’s Inlet, Nunavut
  • 1862 James Isbister becomes the First European settler in the Prince Albert district. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
  • 1868 British government tells Canada it will not let Nova Scotia withdraw from Confederation. London, England
  • 1897 Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace open their new Mater Miseracordia Hospital in Rossland, BC.
  • 1906 Charles Fitzpatrick appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1907 Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Sir William Mortimer Clark opens the Memorial Hall at Niagara; First building in Ontario constructed for use solely as an historical museum. Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
  • 1919 Mayor of Winnipeg mobilizes protest against Winnipeg General Strike. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1919 Winnipeg General Strike - Central Strike Committee again suspends deliveries of milk, bread, and ice in Winnipeg. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1940 Second World War - Dunkirk evacuation completed, as the German army completed its conquest of France; about 337,000 Allied troops get safely to Britain; Canadians recross Channel with only six men missing. Dunkirk, France June 4 - Second World War - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill says that after Dunkirk, Britain will ‘fight on alone’ if necessary; with the Commonwealth. London, England June 4 - Second World War - RAF’s 242 ‘Canadian’ Squadron posted to France. France
  • 1944 Second World War - Bomber Command starts operations against railheads and coastal batteries as a prelude to D-Day. France
  • 1945 Ontario Election: George Drew’s Progressive Conservatives win a majority. Ontario
  • 1956 Pipeline Debate - CCF leader M.J. Coldwell says, “Mr. Speaker, I wish to say that’ never in my life, anywhere, at any time, in any place, have I used those words, ‘You bloody fool’, to anyone. Earlier above the din I had sought to be heard on privilege. I advanced toward the table and I said: ‘You are a dictator, Mr. Speaker,’ and I repeated ‘dictator’ several times. Again, let me say that I have never in my life used the foul language attributed to me.” Ottawa Ontario
  • 1956 Achmed Sukarno President of Indonesia, starts two-day visit to Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1956 Crestbrook Lumber Company loses new Parson mill to fire. Crestbrook, BC
  • 1958 H.G.R. Mews elected president of the Canadian Federation of Mayors and Municipalities; then Mayor of St. John’s. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1962 Energy - First Canadian homes powered by Candu nuclear reactor; at 1:31 p.m, Ontario Hydro engineers turn on a switch to deliver first power from the 20-megawatt reactor near Rolphton into the local grid. Rolphton, Ontario
  • 1965 Claude Wagner Attorney General sworn in as Québec’s First Minister of Justice. Québec, Québec
  • 1969 Ontario and Québec form permanent Commission for Ontario-Québec Co-operation. Québec City/Toronto
  • 1975 New Brunswick Supreme Court overturns monopoly convictions against K. C. Irving Ltd. and others. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1976 Canada declares it is extending its 12-nautical-mile coastal fishing zone to 370 km (200 nautical miles) offshore fisheries jurisdiction zone, effective January 1, 1977; mature northern cod were estimated at 75 million, down from 900 million in 1962; Canada to set numbers of fish harvested and quotas for foreign fleets, because fish stocks are being depleted by new technologies such as sonar and freezing facilities which let the ships stay at sea longer. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1979 Joe Clark takes office as Canada’s 16th Prime Minister one day before his 40th birthday; succeeds Pierre Trudeau, PM since April 20, 1968. Canada’s youngest PM, and the First native westerner to serve as Prime Minister, Clark includes in his cabinet the First black minister (Lincoln Alexander) and the youngest cabinet minister (Perrin Beatty, 29). Ottawa, Ontario June 4 - Labour - 12,000 Inco workers at Sudbury end 12month strike; accept threeyear contract. Sudbury, Ontario -
  • 1980 Hockey - Gordie Howe, playing for the Hartford Whalers, announces his retirement as a player at age 52. Hartford, Connecticut
  • 1983 Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers one of 19 Canadians killed as Air Canada DC-9, flying from Texas to Toronto, catches fire and has an emergency landing; 23 of 46 passengers and crew die of smoke and flames due to a fire caused by smoking in a washroom. Cincinnati, Ohio
  • 1984 Honda Canada Inc. starts building $100 million factory in Alliston; to produce 40,000 cars annually. Alliston, Ontario
  • 1986 Bryan Adams performs before a crowd of 14,000 at the First of six Amnesty International concerts held in San Francisco; with Sting, U2 and Peter Gabriel. San Francisco, California
  • 1988 Prince Edward arrives in Canada for a week-long visit. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1988 Start of week-long, record-breaking heatwave on the Prairies. Saskatchewan/Manitoba
  • 1989 Red Sox leading Toronto Blue Jays 10-0 in the seventh inning, Jays take the game 12-11 in the 12th; their 12th consecutive victory at Fenway Park. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1990 Brian Mulroney calls First ministers conference in final push to get unanimous support for Meech Lake Accord before June 23, 1990 deadline for ratification. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Daniel Maston charged with spiking a lunch room cooler with radioactive heavy water; exposing 8 co-workers to high radiation when they drank the water. Moncton, New Brunswick
  • 1991 Diane Francis appointed Editor of the Financial Post, replacing John Godfrey. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Joe Clark’s Referendum Bill passed by the Commons; most NDP and Bloc Québecois opposed; says he will prefer to get provincial agreement instead. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 Garth Drabinsky’s production of Show Boat, which opened in Toronto in 1993, wins five Tony Awards, including best musical revival of the year; Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard takes seven Tonys, including best musical. New York, New York
  • 1999 Canada and US sign trade deal letting US magazines issuing split-run Canadian editions to sell a restricted amount of advertising to Canadian advertisers; agreement holds off trade war. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2005 Bernard Landry resigns as leader of the Parti Québecois after getting an approval rating below 80% at the party’s annual policy convention; will be succeeded by André Boisclair. Québec, Québec
  • 2007 Hockey - Ottawa’s Alanis Morissette sings the national anthems at the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks. Ottawa, Ontario (YouTube)