Highlights of the day

  • 1673 La Salle builds Fort Cataraqui at today’s Kingston, Ontario
  • 1886 Fire razes Vancouver in a half hour blaze; 1,000 buildings torched, up to 50 die.
  • 1898 Birth of the Yukon as Royal Assent given to the Yukon Territory Act
  • 1993 Kim Campbell chosen to succeed Brian Mulroney as PC Party leader.

List of Facts for June 13

  • 1611 Étienne Brûlé returns to Québec after living for a year with the Hurons; Samuel de Champlain is delighted: “I also saw my French boy who came dressed like an Indian. He was well pleased with the treatment received from the Indians, according to the customs of their country, and explained to me all that he had seen during the winter, and what he had learned from the Indians….My lad had learned their language very well’; The following year, Brûlé will guide Champlain to Huronia. Québec, Québec
  • 1673 René-Robert de La Salle builds Fort Cataraqui at the mouth of the Cataraqui River on the orders of Count Frontenac; succeeded by Fort Frontenac; five years later La Salle will use the fort as a staging base for his explorations down the Mississippi River. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Philip Broke, commanding HMS Shannon, with 38 guns, defeats US warship Cheseapeake, commanded by James Lawrence, off Boston Harbour; tows her to Halifax as a prize. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1818 Richard Talbot sails for Canada with 200 Irish settlers who will found St. Thomas, Ontario. Dublin, Ireland
  • 1829 John Ross sets sail aboard the Victory on Arctic expedition lasting four years; with nephew, James Ross. London, England
  • 1833 John Wilson kills Robert Lyon in the last fatal duel in Ontario; the two law students and former friends quarrelled over remarks made by Lyon about a local teacher, Elizabeth Hughes; Wilson will be acquitted of murder; later marries Hughes and becomes an MP and judge. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1851 John Rae crosses Dease Strait from Cape Alexander looking for Franklin Expedition survivors; explores Victoria Island from Cambridge Bay to Pelly Point; after return to Kendall River June 10, 1851. Victoria Island, Nunavut
  • 1853 Northern Railroad reaches Bradford. Bradford, Ontario
  • 1854 Construction starts on Nova Scotia Railroad at Richmond, near Halifax. Richmond, Nova Scotia
  • 1871 Hurricane kills 300 on Labrador coast. Newfoundland
  • 1882 Robert Beaven becomes Conservative Premier of British Columbia, until January 27, 1883; replacing George Walkem (since June 25, 1878). Victoria, BC
  • 1886 Fire starting in bush west of the city razes much of Vancouver in less than an hour, destroying nearly 1,000 buildings; up to 50 people are killed, and only 4 houses are left standing; according to a witness, “The city did not burn, it was consumed by flame.” Rebuilding will begin within days, helped by the recent arrival in the city of the CPR, which brings in emergency supplies and lumber. Vancouver, BC
  • 1890 British Columbia Election - John Robson returned as the Premier of British Columbia. BC
  • 1895 Manitoba School question - Manitoba ignores federal order of March 21, 1895 to restore rights of Roman Catholics to denominational schools. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1898 Royal Assent given to the Yukon Territory Act; The Yukon Judicial District becomes a distinct territory from the North-West Territories, two years after the Klondike gold discovery; William Ogilvie appointed first Commissioner of the Yukon Territory; serves until 1901; with a Legislative Council partly elected, partly appointed by the Governor General. Capital placed at Dawson City, then the largest community north of Seattle and west of Winnipeg, with about 30,000 people. Dawson, Yukon
  • 1898 Parliament passes law permitting Calgary and Edmonton Railway to be extended to the Crow’s Nest Line near the Town of Macleod, NWT. (61 Victoria chapter 57) Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1898 Parliament passes law putting the Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railway to federal regulation. (61 Victoria chapter 89) Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1899 Wardner de-certified as a Port of Entry, the offices being transferred to Fernie, BC. Wardner, BC
  • 1908 Canadian boxer Tommy Burns knocks out Bill Squires in the 8th round to win the world heavyweight boxing championship. Paris, France
  • 1916 Emily Murphy of Edmonton appointed First woman police magistrate In the British Empire. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1930 Dirty rain falls in Provost, a combination of wind blown dirt and precipitation. Provost, Alberta
  • 1931 Dust storms in one week deposit at least 6,000 tons of topsoil blown in from drought-stricken Saskatchewan farms. Manitoba
  • 1931 Soldiers of Lord Strathcona’s Horse are brought to Edmonton to reinforce the police and control unemployed protesters. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1940 Second World War - Canadian brigade lands in Brest to form defence line across Brittany peninsula; a failure; Paris falls to Germans the next day, and the Canadian troops are force to evacuate . Brest, France
  • 1940 James Ralston becomes Defence Minister on Norman Rogers’ death in a plane crash. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1941 Second World War - Len Murray heads new Royal Canadian Navy convoy escort force based on Newfoundland; Northwest Atlantic Canada’s responsibility. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1944 Second World War - Winnipeg-born Andrew Mynarski is Flight Sergeant on Lancaster bomber A for Able in No. 419 Squadron over Cambrai on the night of June 12-13, their 13th mission, when it is attacked by a Junkers night fighter and set on fire. Mynarski tries to rescue crewmate Pat Brophy, the trapped rear gunner, but his clothes and parachute catch fire; by the time he jumps he is badly burned, and later dies of his burns; Brophy survives, carrying a four leaf clover Mynarski gave him just before takeoff; valor wins him a posthumous Victoria Cross. Cambrai, France
  • 1950 Two women are selected to serve on a jury in Prince Albert, one of the First times women did jury duty in Saskatchewan. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
  • 1961 National Capital Commission (NCC) completes study, expropriates 16,590 hectare Green Belt surrounding Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1968 La Haye Commission on urbanization recommends reorganizing Quebec Municipal Affairs Department. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1983 U.S. asks Canada for formal authority to test the cruise missile in Canada; approval granted July 15, 1983. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1985 Supreme Court of Canada rules that almost all unilingual laws in Manitoba are constitutionally invalid as they are written only in English and not in French as well. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Hit musical Les Miserables opens in the Southern Alberta Jubilee Centre in Calgary. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1991 Brian Mulroney meets Chancellor Helmut Kohl and urges financial aid for Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms in the Soviet Union. Bonn, Germany
  • 1993 Kim Campbell, native of Port Alberni, BC, chosen to succeed Brian Mulroney as Progressive Conservative Party leader, defeating Jean Charest; rookie MP held Justice and Defence portfolios; First woman Prime Minister of Canada June 25, 1993 to November 4, 1993; will lose election on October 25, 1993, winning just two seats in the Commons; resigns as leader December 13, 1993. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 House of Commons passes Alan Rock’s Gun Control Act by a vote of 192-63; controversial gun-control legislation bans most handguns and forces all rifles to be registered; calls for eventual registration of all firearms; implementation costs will skyrocket to over $1 billion by year 2002. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1996 Governor General Roméo LeBlanc declares June 21 as National Aboriginal Day after consulting with various aboriginal groups. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Michael Schumacher wins the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix Formula One race held in Montréal, Québec.
  • 2006 Nova Scotia Election - Rodney MacDonald wins a minority government for the Conservatives, taking 23 of the province’s 52 seats, down from the 25 John Hamm captured in the last election. The NDP official opposition under Darrell Dexter wins 20 seats, an historic high, while the Liberals win only nine seats. Nova Scotia