June 11

Today’s Features for events::June 11:

1578 Elizabeth I grants Humphrey Gilbert a patent to explore and colonize the North America.
1847 Rear Admiral John Franklin dies aboard his ice-bound ship HMS Erebus in Victoria Strait
1944 Over 100 Canadians killed in tank battle with 12th Panzer SS at Le-Mesnil-Patry, Normandy.

List of Facts for June 11

1517 Thomas Pert reaches the entrance to Hudson Bay. Québec/Nunavut
1534 Jacques Cartier and his crew celebrate the First recorded Catholic mass in North America; Brest Harbour used by cod fishermen for wood and water; notes poverty of Labrador soil - not even a cartful of earth… this is the land that God gave to Cain. Bonne Esperance, Newfoundland and Labrador
1578 Queen Elizabeth I grants Humphrey Gilbert letters patent to explore and colonize the coast of North America; an experienced colonizer of Ireland, he was an early publicist for the idea of a North West Passage; this first attempt is frustrated by poor organization, desertion and bad weather. He will go on to found the Newfoundland colony in 1583. London, England
1583 Humphrey Gilbert leaves Plymouth on second voyage with five ships; Delight, Raleigh, Golden Hind, Swallow and Squirrel; chartered to search for the North West Passage, and a patent from the English crown to explore and colonize America. On August 5, 1583, at St. John’s, he will claim Newfoundland for Queen Elizabeth I of England, thus laying one of the foundations of the British Empire overseas. Plymouth, England
1603 Samuel de Champlain explores 56 km up Saguenay River; hears of salt sea to the north-west, but doesn’t believe it is the Pacific. Tadoussac, Québec
1611 Henry Hudson’s ship the Half Moon freed from the ice; he and his crew head north for home. Québec
1636 Charles de Montmagny arrives in Québec as Governor and Lieutenant General of New France; to 1648; First Governor in title; builds upper town; forbids French to sell firearms to Indians. Québec, Québec
1638 Jesuit Relations describe First recorded earthquake in Canada; tremors for six months, from Gaspé to Montréal, but no casualties reported. Trois-Rivières, Québec
1759 Royal Highland Regiment soldiers issued two quarts of spruce beer daily. Québec, Québec
1782 William Black preaches his First sermon in Canada, as First Canadian Methodist minister. Halifax, Nova Scotia
1790 Elias Hardy appointed clerk of the Saint John Common Council. Saint John, New Brunswick
1803 Martin Hunter promoted to brigadier-general; later commander of the New Brunswick Regiment. Saint John, New Brunswick
1834 Founding of New Brunswick’s First steam-powered carding mill, at St. Mary’s near Fredericton. St. Mary’s, New Brunswick
1843 Late snowfall reported along the Aroostock River and upper Saint John River valleyss; these summer snows were known as White Poultices and were thought to promote the growth of newly-risen grain. New Brunswick
1847 Rear Admiral John Franklin dies aboard his ice-bound ship HMS Erebus in Victoria Strait; command goes to Francis Crozier; James Fitzjames second-in-Command; 14 others already dead; remainder sick from eating tainted canned rations or from lead poisoning in the solder of the tin cans; his death was confirmed in 1859, when Francis McClintock discovered two brief written notes; the fate of the expedition was unknown until 1854, and Franklin himself was promoted to Rear-Admiral on October 26, 1852, over five years after his death.King William Island, Nunavut
1847 Alexander Murray sets out from Lapierre House on the Bell River to build Fort Yukon for the Hudson’s Bay Company. Lapierre House, Yukon
1885 William Whiteway lays the cornerstone of the First temple of the Masonic Society in St. John’s. St. John’s, Newfoundland
1888 Lord Stanley of Preston appointed Governor General of Canada. London, England
1889 D’Alton McCarthy founds Equal Rights Association in Toronto to argue for repeal of Québec’s Jesuits Estate Act, claims government let Roman Catholic Church control political decision-making; Conservative MP backed by Orange Order also agitated against Catholic separate schools in Manitoba and the Northwest. Toronto, Ontario
1891 C&KSN launches the steamboat Nelson (496 tons) at Stanley/Nelson. Burned as climax to the Chahko Mika celebration in 1914. Nelson, BC
1894 Matthew Begbie dies; born at the Cape of Good Hope May 9, 1819; 1858 Nov. arrives at New Westminster from England to be sworn in as Judge for the infant colony of British Columbia, as gold seekers flooded to the Fraser River district; 1858 Nov. 19 Fort Langley swears in James Douglas as Governor of the Crown Colony of British Columbia, the last British colony established in North America; 1859 Feb. starts to walk about 500 km up the Fraser River to Lillooet and back; later developed a circuit and will hold court in every settlement of his district; 1865 rides over 5000 km, sleeping in a tent and eating what he could shoot or fish; 1870 appointed First Chief Justice of the united colony of British Columbia. Victoria, BC
1896 First train of Rossland, BC, ore shipped to Trail Creek Landing smelter on the Columbia and Western Railway’s Trail Creek Tramway. Trail, BC
1909 New Dominion Copper Company formed. BC
1915 William Buckingham dies; journalist, editor, proprietor of Winnipeg’s First newspaper, The Nor’wester. Stratford, Ontario
1917 Robert Borden’s Union government introduces the Conscription Act in the Commons, then calls an election to get a mandate; election that followed passage of the bill one of the most divisive in Canadian history. Ottawa, Ontario
1917 Robert Borden’s Union government creates the Canadian Board of Grain Commissioners, to be established in Regina, Saskatchewan. Ottawa, Ontario
1919 Registrar of Vital Statistics announces that 4,322 Saskatchewanians have died in the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 (more than in the First World War). Regina, Saskatchewan
1925 British Empire Steel Corporation police kill coal miner William Davis in a bloody labour battle at Waterford Lake; in 1922, the company brought in a one-third reduction in wages, and the UMWA coal miners responded by cutting production by one-third. The 1925 strike started when the company cut off credit at the company stores. Sydney, Nova Scotia
1931 Parliament votes to proclaim Remembrance Day, November 11, as a general holiday. Ottawa, Ontario
1932 British Columbia Registrar of Companies, H.G. Garrett, sends Notice of Intent to Dissolve to the British Columbia Copper Mining Company, Limited. Victoria, BC
1934 Miners in Flin Flon go on strike until July 14, 1934. Flin Flon, Manitoba
1936 Adélard Godbout becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
1940 Princess Juliana of the Netherlands arrives in Canada to seek refuge during the Second World War; will settle in Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
1941 Alexander Rutherford dies; lawyer and politician; Alberta’s First premier, 1905-1910. Alberta
1941 Dominion Bureau of Statistics (DBS) issues census results, showing Canada’s population has reached 11,506,655. Ottawa, Ontario
1943 Canada signs international agreement on post-war relief; origin of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Hot Springs, Georgia
1944 Second World War - D-Day +5; 6th Canadian Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars) and Queens Own try to outflank Carpiquet by moving from Norrey-en-Bessin through Le-Mesnil-Patry towards Cheux, but they meet heavy mortar, machine-gun and 88mm anti-tank gun fire from the 12th Panzer SS, slowing the Sherman tanks; only 2 that enter the town survive; 59 men are killed, 21 wounded; the Queen’s Own also loses 55 killed and 44 wounded; in the 6 days of June 6-11, 1017 Canadians are killed in action and 1814 more are wounded. Le-Mesnil-Patry, France
1945 Federal Election - Mackenzie King wins Canada’s 20th federal general election with a reduced majority, 125 seats to 67 for John Bracken’s Conservatives; CCF 28; Social Credit 13; Independents 12; defeats Bracken with 40.9% of popular vote.
1952 Saskatchewan Election - Tommy Douglas’s Co-operative Commonwealth Federation wins a third consecutive majority. Saskatchewan
1959 Ontario Election - Leslie Frost’s PCs win a fifth consecutive majority. Ontario
1962 Start of preliminary hearing against 72 Sons of Freedom Doukhobors for violent incidents between 1958 and 1961; conspiracy charges will be dismissed August 7, 1962. Nelson, BC
1964 Canada and Hungarian People’s Republic sign three-year trade pact; First between two countries in postwar era. Hungary
1966 Torontonian David Bailey First Canadian to break four-minute mile (3:59.1). San Diego, California
1967 Music - Bob Dylan and The Band start recording long un-released sessions that will become known as the basement tapes. Woodstock, New York
1971 Canada and US agree to pollution control program in the Great Lakes. Washington, DC
1971 Jack Davis becomes Canada’s first Minister of the Environment, heading the new department of Environment Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
1974 Ottawa grants $55 million in aid to flood victims on the Ottawa River and Gatineau River. Ottawa, Ontario
1974 Hockey - Birth of the NHL Washington Capitals. Washington, DC
1975 Saskatchewan Election - Allan Blakeney’s NDP win a second consecutive majority. Saskatchewan
1976 National Energy Board cuts oil exports to the US by 12%. Ottawa, Ontario
1976 United Nations Habitat conference on human settlements ends in Vancouver. Vancouver, BC
1977 Electoral boundary changes increase number of seats in House of Commons by 18 to 282; at next general election. Ottawa, Ontario
1978 High waves swamp canoeing expedition from St. John’s School in Claremont, Ontario; 12 students and a teacher drowned in Lake Temiskaming on the Ontario-Québec border. Temiskaming, Ontario
1983 Brian Mulroney chosen as party leader by Progressive Conservative delegates in the Ottawa Civic Centre; gets 1,584 votes to Joe Clark’s 1,325 on the 4th ballot; First PC leader from Québec since John Abbott, who succeeded John A. Macdonald in 1891; replaces interim leader Erik Neilsen. Ottawa, Ontario
1988 Canadian rocker Bryan Adams performs before 70,000 fans at the Freedomfest charity rock concert in Wembley Stadium, to protest South African apartheid, honour Nelson Mandela and give to childrens charities in South Africa; joining other performers such as Sting, Stevie Wonder, George Michael, Whitney Houston and Dire Straits; an estimated 750 million viewers watched on TV in 60 countries. London, England
1989 Folk music stars Ian and Sylvia, Gordon Lightfoot and Murray McLauchlan give a free concert before 8,000 people protesting the building of a dam on the Oldman River in Alberta. Oldman River, Alberta
1990 Brian Mulroney tells Globe & Mail interviewers he intended to stall the First ministers talks until the last minute; says it is important to know ‘when to roll all the dice’. Toronto, Ontario
1990 Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells, who promised only to seek the judgment of the people of Newfoundland on the Meech Lake Accord, says there isn’t time to arrange a referendum by June 23, 1990; told by Ottawa the deadline can’t be extended, he opts for a free vote in the House of Assembly. St. John’s, Newfoundland
1990 Stanley Waters named to Senate by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; after Alberta Premier Don Getty promised no further elections until studies done; Getty held Canada’s First Senate election in October 1989 to push reform. Ottawa, Ontario
1992 Joe Clark closes 3 months of constitutional talks; says all except Newfoundland like Senate reform ideas; suggests possible referendum. Ottawa, Ontario
1992 Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops calls for change to prevent sexual abuse by priests; says dioceses should check allegations, support victims. Ottawa, Ontario
1992 Police charge couple Ron and Linda Sterling and son Travis, 6 others with 170 counts of sexual assault, forcibly confining children; operators of unlicensed babysitting service; most charges quashed. Martensville, Saskatchewan
1993 John Savage becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Donald Cameron. Halifax, Nova Scotia
1997 Paul Martin reappointed Minister of Finance; his 1998 budget will declare victory over the deficit, a balanced budget for the fiscal year 1997-98, and a reduction of the national debt. Ottawa, Ontario
1998 Eleven are killed in a plane crash at Mirabel Airport. Mirabel, Québec
2005 Heatwave hits Central Canada, producing temperatures of about 31°C with a humidex of 41.
2008 Aboriginal - Stephen Harper issues apology to residential school survivors. Ottawa, Ontario