Highlights of the day

  • 1690 Henry Kelsey writes first account of Assiniboine buffalo hunt.
  • 1758 George Vancouver sails his ship Discovery into Burrard Inlet, today’s Vancouver Harbour.
  • 1811 Lord Selkirk Granted Land in Red River for a Colony Called Assiniboia.

List of Facts for June 12

  • 1611 Henry Hudson starts return voyage to England, but his ship Discovery is again locked in spring ice. Hudson Bay, Northwest Territories
  • 1647 Jesuits lay cornerstone of College at Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1670 Daniel de Courcelle gets Iroquois to stop war against Algonquins. Ontario
  • 1690 Henry Kelsey leaves York Fort with party of Stone and Assiniboine Indians on journey lasting two years to the country of the Assiniboines; Hudson’s Bay Company employee will record First European description of grizzly bears and buffalo; First European to see the Canadian Prairies. Churchill, Manitoba
  • 1758 French and Indian War - James Wolfe takes possession of the Light-House Point, destroyed and abandoned by Governor Drucour after the British landing on June 8; at 2 am, Major Scott marches with 500 Light Infantry and Rangers, making a sweep through the woods, in order to take the Light-House battery; Wolfe follows at 5 am, with four companies of Grenadiers, and 1200 men detached from the line; he will secure the area, bring in artillery by sea, and open fire on Louisbourg’s Island battery on the night of the 19th. Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
  • 1792 George Vancouver sails HMS Discovery into Vancouver harbour; he and Puget take two boats and set out on the survey that includes the inner waters of Burrard Inlet, which he names Burrard’s Channel after his friend Captain Henry Burrard. On June 13, 1792, they pass through the First Narrows and spend the rest of the day ascertaining the extent of the inlet. They camp for the night on the shore opposite the entrance to Indian Arm, and leave the next morning to survey as far north as Jervis Inlet and Texada Island. Vancouver, BC
  • 1793 Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Continental Divide at Portage Lake; his party First Europeans to cross Divide north of Spanish territories. Portage Lake, BC
  • 1799 Third session of second Parliament of Upper Canada meets until June 29, 1799; provisions for education and support of orphans. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1811 Lord Selkirk granted a leasehold of 300-thousand square km of Red River basin land from the Hudson’s Bay Company; at a price of 10 shillings a year rent on the land; five times bigger than his native Scotland. London, England
  • 1838 Elizabeth Lount, widow of hanged rebel Samuel Lount, writes an open letter to Chief Justice John Beverley Robinson. Pontiac Michigan
  • 1838 See: Elizabeth Lount’s Open Letter to John Beverley Robinson, Chief Justice of Upper Canada.
  • 1846 Fire in a Montréal theatre kills 200 people. Montréal, Québec
  • 1896 International Navigation and Trading Company incorporated in British Columbia to absorb assets of International Trading Company Limited. Victoria, BC
  • 1899 W illiam Van Horne resigns as president of CPR in favour of Thomas Shaughnessy. Van Horne continues to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Montréal, Québec
  • 1901 City of Montréal passes by-law making indoor toilets compulsory. Montréal, Québec
  • 1903 Coal cokers ends their strike against CNP Coal. BC
  • 1903 Niagara Falls incorporated as a city. Niagara Falls, Ontario
  • 1909 Bobtail Reserve is surrendered to the Crown. Bobtail Reserve, Alberta
  • 1927 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council dismisses appeal by Roman Catholics for separate schools in Ontario. London, England
  • 1935 On to Ottawa Trek - Relief camp strikers reach Swift Current. Swift Current, Saskatchewan
  • 1944 Second World War - D-DAY +6; Canadian 3rd Division is withdrawn from battle for three weeks, until July 4, after mauling in Normandy. France
  • 1944 Pilot officer Andrew Mynarski from Manitoba wins a posthumous Victoria Cross for his efforts to free a trapped crewmate from a burning plane. London, England
  • 1947 First broadcast of radio show Sergeant Preston of The Yukon; about a Canadian Mountie and his trusty dog, King; continued until 1955 (and on TV from 1955-1958); show created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, originators of The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. New York, New York
  • 1947 Placer Development Limited’s wholly-owned Canadian Exploration Company (Canex) subsidiary begins milling operations after acquiring the Emerald property earlier in the year for nearly $1,000,000. BC
  • 1950 Canada and the U.S. sign two agreements to avoid double taxation of their citizens and to prevent income tax evasion. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1952 BC Election - W. A. C. Bennett wins British Columbia provincial election; invited to form a Social Credit minority government; start of 20 years of power for the Socreds. BC
  • 1958 Harold Macmillan British Prime Minister addresses Parliament during visit to Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1961 DND buys 66 F-101 Voodoos in exchange for US control of Pinetree Line, plus a Mutual Air Program for purchase of 200 Canadian-built F-104 Starfighters. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1968 E. M. Hall & L. A. Dennis issue their Living and Learning - the report of the provincial committee on aims and objectives of education in the schools of Ontario; suggest abolishing grades, percentage marks, corporal punishment and homework; committee to examine Ontario educational system. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1968 Founding of the Atlantic Symphony with the support of committees in Sydney, Halifax, Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton; based in Halifax, the ASO is Canada’s First full time regional orchestra. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1969 Canadian Progress Club sponsors 2-day Canadian Special Olympics for handicapped athletes. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1978 Ottawa starts constitutional program entitled ‘A Time For Action’; proposes charter of rights; plus repatriation of the constitution and an amending formula. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1979 Bobby Orr, Harry Howell and Henri Richard named to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1983 Norma Shearer dies at age 80; movie actress, model, born Edith Shearer at Montréal August 10, 1902. Shearer’s major role was in The Divorcee; she was the wife of studio executive Irving Thalberg. Hollywood, California
  • 1984 Premier William Davis says Ontario to give Roman Catholic separate schools the same status and funding as Ontario’s public education system to Grade 13; previously only to Grade 10. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1985 National Hockey League Celebration of Excellence awards Wayne Gretzky his sixth Hart Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Montreal, Quebec
  • 1986 Ontario MDs strike to protest a government ban on extra-billing. Ontario
  • 1988 Performing Rights Organization of Canada honours Canada’s top songwriters, those who have written songs played on Canadian radio at least 100,000 times since 1965; Gene MacLellan wins three of the awards, for Snowbird, Put Your Hand in the Hand and The Call; Burton Cummings is also a triple award winner, for Stand Tall, Break It to Them Gently and These Eyes. Vancouver, BC
  • 1990 Elijah Harper, holding an eagle feather for strength, votes no to the Meech Lake Accord; uses rules of procedure to block the introduction of the resolution ratifying the Meech Lake Accord in the Manitoba legislature; a Cree and NDP MLA, Harper forces the legislature to delay opening debate on the constitutional agreement, which eventually dies. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1990 Journalist Lise Bissonnette named Director (editor) of the Montreal daily Le Devoir. Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Patricia Starr charged along with the National Council of Jewish Women (Toronto section) of 71 counts of violating Ontario’s election spending law; exceeding maximum allowed; former Liberal Party fund-raiser. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1991 Cree lawyer Ovide Mercredi beats Phil Fontaine, leader of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, on the fourth ballot, to become the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations , representing Canada’s 500,000 status Indians; replaces George Erasmus in $85,000-a-year AFN post; member of First Nations Circle on the Constitution; Manitoba vice-chief since 1989. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1991 Monique Landry announces $3 million bailout of World University Service of Canada; partly a CIDA loan; WUSC founded 1939 to send teachers to third world. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 US Trade Representative Carla Hills opens trilateral talks for North American Free Trade zone; Michael Wilson says culture will not be on the table. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Country singer k.d. lang cancels her planned show in Owen Sound after local beef farmers threaten to blockade the concert parking lot with tractors and farm rigs; the vegetarian singer had already angered Alberta farmers by appearing in a Meat Stinks ad campaign. Owen Sound, Ontario
  • 1992 Keith Spicer and his CRTC rule 4-1 to let Unitel, BCRL compete in $7.5 billion long-distance market with phone companies; Chairman of Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1994 Rolling Stones arrive in Toronto to start rehearsals for their Voodoo Lounge world tour, slated to begin Aug. 1 in Washington, DC; hold sessions in an empty hangar at Pearson International Airport; will later stage a surprise gig at the Horseshoe Tavern. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1995 Jacques Parizeau sets up Common Front for the Referendum with Lucien Bouchard of the Bloc Québecois and Mario Dumont of the Liberal splinter group Parti de l’Action Démocratique; Québec Premier wants another sovereignty referendum in the Autumn; Bouchard insists on having a political and economic partnership with Canada as part of the question. Québec, Québec
  • 2001 House of Commons approves motion bestowing honourary Canadian citizenship on Nelson Mandela, only the second person after Raoul Wallenberg so honoured; Alliance MP Rob Anders casts the only dissenting vote, citing Mandela’s espousal of terrorism in the past. Ottawa, Ontario