Highlights of the day

  • 1497 John Cabot From Bristol Claims America for England
  • 1834 Founding Banquet of the St-Jean-Baptiste Society.
  • 1813 Iroquois Victory at Battle of Beaver Dams. Read: Thomas Ridout’s Account of the Battle of Beaver Dams.
  • 1880 O Canada First Performed; Calixa Lavallée Conducting.

List of Facts for June 24

  • 1497 A hired Genoese seaman, John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto Montecataluna) reaches Newfoundland (some argue Cape Breton) on the Matthew with his sons after a 35 day voyage; his second voyage; underwritten by Bristol merchants and backed by King Henry VII; claims the region for England; First discovery since Vikings; legend says he called the region St. John’s Isle and entered the harbour of St. John’s on the feast day of John the Baptist. Today is Discovery Day in Newfoundland and Labrador. November 29, 1798, the members of the Legislature of the Island of St. John vote to change name to Prince Edward Island in honour of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George III, and father of Queen Victoria, then stationed with the army in Halifax. St. Peter’s Bay, PEI
  • 1604 Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain cross the Bay of Fundy on St. John the Baptist’s Day and skirt the New Brunswick shore; they discover and name the Saint John River, and continue on to Passamaquoddy Bay. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1610 Henry Hudson enters the strait now named after him. - Hudson Bay, NWT
  • 1610 Micmac chief Membertou and 20 family members baptized by Jesse La Fleche at Port Royal; First Roman Catholic missionary in Canada; First Christian converts in New France. - Annapolis, Nova Scotia
  • 1611 Mutineers from Henry Hudson expedition sail for England; only eight survive; not punished for actions. - Hudson Bay, NWT
  • 1615 Religion - Recollet fathers Joseph Le Caron and Denis Jamet celebrate first mass ever said on Montreal Island. Rivière des Prairies, Québec
  • 1747 William Moor and Francis Smith discover Chesterfield Inlet; reach Douglas Harbour in Wager Bay and find no northwest passage. - Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut
  • 1782 Henry Hamilton appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Canada; serves until August 13, 1785. - London, England
  • 1812 War of 1812 - A courier from New York reaches Montreal bearing the news that the United States had declared war on Great Britain seven days earlier. Montreal, Quebec Historica Minute
  • 1834 Ludger Duvernay hosts founding banquet of the St-Jean-Baptiste Society. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1837 Steamboat St. Peter’s arrives at Fort Union on the Missouri River carrying smallpox. The Mandans are quickly infected and soon the horror spreads north and west through surrounding tribes killing between two-thirds to three-quarters of the native population of the northern Prairies. - Montana
  • 1848 Incorporation of the Woodstock & Lake Erie Railroad. - Toronto, Ontario
  • 1856 Legislative Council of Canada West becomes elective. - Kingston, Ontario
  • 1878 Canada’s First recorded tennis tournament held at Montréal Lacrosse Club. - Montréal, Québec Calixa Lavallée first conducts his O Canada, called le Chant nationale, at a St-Jean Baptiste Day banquet at the Skaters’ Pavilion in Quebec City attended by the Governor General, Lord Lorne and Princess Louise; three massed bands play the song; the lyrics, by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, are at the time only in French. Québec, Québec
  • 1894 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council rules Manitoba Roman Catholics have grounds for appeal of Manitoba acts; overturns February 20, 1894 decision of Supreme Court. London, England
  • 1897 Frederick Haultain elected Premier of the Northwest Territories; gets responsible government for the territory. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1897 Wardner International newspaper begins weekly publication: publishers Fred. E. Simpson and Horace T. Brown. Wardner, BC -
  • 1904 King Edward VII confers the right to use the prefix ‘Royal’ on the North-West Mounted Police, in recognition of 30 years of loyal service; become the Royal North West Mounted Police. -
  • 1914 CP’s Natural Resources Department announced the impending closure of its Hosmer mines. Hosmer, BC -
  • 1916 Toronto-born Mary Pickford the First film star to get a million dollar deal, and produce her own movies; Adolph Zukor at Paramount Pictures signs her for $250,000 per film with a guaranteed minimum of $10,000 a week against half of the profits, including bonuses and the right of approval of all creative aspects of her films. Pickford got $275 a week as early as 1911, and $500 a week in 1913 when producer B.P. Schulberg dubbed her ‘America’s Sweetheart’. -
  • 1918 Royal Flying Corps Captain Brian Peck inaugurates first airmail service in Canada, piloting a biplane loaded with mail sacks from Montreal to Toronto, Ontario. Montréal, Queebec -
  • 1923 Richard Gough, one of the directors of Canadian National Railways, arrives at Jasper Park with Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. - Jasper, Alberta
  • 1940 Second World War - C.D. Howe sets up Wartime Industries Control Board. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1940 Second World War - Finance Minister James Ralston notes that $700 million war appropriation may be inadequate, since ‘events are moving with lighting speed;’ his budget imposes 10% war exchange tax on ‘non-empire’ imports. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1940 Second World War - Mackenzie King tells Parliament that ‘The government I lead will not bring in measures for conscription of Canadians for service overseas’. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1944 RCAF Flight Lieutenant David Hornell and crew on anti-submarine patrol in amphibious plane when they tangle with a German U-Boat; sink it with depth charges, but have to ditch their plane in rough seas; crew take turns in life raft, and rescued the next day, but Hornell dies from hypothermia; awarded Victoria Cross posthumously. - Shetland Islands, Scotland
  • 1948 Saskatchewan Election - Tommy Douglas’s Co-operative Commonwealth Federation wins a second consecutive majority. Saskatchewan
  • 1957 Fred Davis hosts Front Page Challenge as it debuts on CBC as a 13-week summer replacement program; will become North America’s longest-running game-interview TV show. - Toronto, Ontario
  • 1961 Upper Canada Village opens near the site of the Battle of Crysler’s Farm; a living museum containing significant buildings from villages permanently submerged by the St. Lawrence Power Project and St. Lawrence Seaway between Iroquois and Cornwall. - Morrisburg, Ontario
  • 1968 Pierre Trudeau showered with rocks and bottles on reviewing stand during St-Jean Baptiste Day riot; so-called ‘Lundi de la matraque’ - Nightstick Monday - as police arrest 290; 130 people injured. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1968 Sandra Post wins the US Ladies’ PGA Championship; the Oakville, Ontario golfer is the First rookie and First foreign player to take the title. Sutton, Massachusetts -
  • 1971 Ottawa brings in $1.5 million compensation program for losses due to mercury contamination. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 André Fortin killed when his car plunges into a river; national leader of the Social Credit/Créditiste party. - Drummondville, Québec
  • 1980 Birth of the NHL Calgary Flames, as the Atlanta franchise is acquired by Calgary interests. - Calgary, Alberta
  • 1984 Clarence Campbell dies at age 78; National Hockey League President for 31 years, from 1946 to 1977; born July 9, 1905 in Fleming, Saskatchewan; a Rhodes Scholar who captained the hockey team while at Oxford, Campbell refereed at the 1928 Olympics lacrosse final and officiated in the NHL for 155 scheduled games and 12 play off matches before joining the Canadian Army; in 1944 became a major and led the 4th Canadian Armoured Division. In March 1955, his suspension of Maurice Richard in the playoffs led to a riot in Montréal. Campbell was responsible for bringing in the All-Star game in 1947, the NHL Pension Fund in 1948 and establishing the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1984 Ex Montréal Alouettes star David Overstreet killed when his car crashes into two gasoline pumps and explodes. - Winona, Texas
  • 1989 The Who start North American tour at same venue they played their farewell performance in 1982. - Toronto, Ontario
  • 1990 Crowd of 200,000 march in First St-Jean-Baptiste Day parade since 1969, when there was serious rioting; chant ‘Le Québec aux Québecois.’ - Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Montréal AIouettes football club folds on eve of Canadian Football League season opener; lost $17 million in previous four CFL seasons; fan support dropped to 11,000 a game in 1986; will be resuscitated. - Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney says there will be no more conferences on Canadian unity without Québec participation; after failure of Meech Lake Accord. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 John Hoyles shows higher price rises than expected in furniture and publishing industries since start of GST; Executive Director of the GST Consumer Information Office. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 NHL governors adopt the instant replay and the tenth of a second clock in the final minute of play. - New York, New York
  • 1991 Senator Michel Cogger to be reimbursed for legal fees from court inquiry into RCMP investigation of his business. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Statistics Canada reports government payrolls up by 1.6%, while payrolls in the entire Canadian workforce down 2.2% in First quarter. - Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 New Jersey Devils beat Detroit Red Wings 5-2 to win their First Stanley Cup in a four game sweep. - East Rutherford, New Jersey
  • 1996 Riot by about 2,000 people in Quebec City after a rock concert; rioters loot shops and throw rocks at the National Assembly building; agitators from Toronto blamed; causes a million dollars in damage. Québec, Québec
  • 1998 Macmillan Bloedel says that it will end clear cutting of old growth forests. Vancouver, BC