Highlights of the day

  • 1858 Britain passes An Act to create the Crown Colony of British Columbia.
  • 1921 Lord Byng of Vimy appointed Governor General of Canada.
  • 1932 Gimli, Manitoba, hosts first annual Icelandic Festival (Islendingadagurinn).

List of Facts for August 2

  • 1610 Exploration - Henry Hudson turns south into what is now Hudson Bay, exploring the eastern shore; will be forced to winter in the extreme south of James Bay; the crew will mutiny the following spring, and leave Hudson, his son and several ill crew members adrift in an open boat to die.
  • 1642 Jesuits Isaac Jogues & Rene Goupil kidnapped by Iroquois, travelling from Ste-Marie to Quebec; Goupil killed, Jogues escapes; later rescued by Dutch traders. Trois-Rivières, Québec
  • 1701 Death of Huron Grand Chief Kondiaronk (The Rat) at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Montréal; Kondiaronk had arrived to attend Louis de Callière’s peace conference with 38 Iroquois and Huron chiefs, and fell ill during the first of the public sessions on August 1, 1701. Montréal, Québec
  • 1786 James Strange claims Vancouver Island for Britain. BC
  • 1803 Fourth session of third Parliament of Lower Canada meets until August 11, 1803; renewal of Alien Act, due to war between Britain and France. Québec
  • 1812 War of 1812 - Shawnee Chief Tecumseh helps persuade Wyandots (Hurons) to switch allegiance to British. Amherstburg, Ontario
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837 - William Lyon Mackenzie publishes the ‘Declaration of the Reformers of Toronto’ in newspaper ‘The Constitution’. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1851 Education - John Strachan’s Trinity College established by a Special Act of the Province of Canada; defined the Corporation of Trinity College as “consisting of the Lord Bishop of Toronto and the Bishops of any dioceses into which the Diocese of Toronto might in future be divided, the members of a College Council appointed as might be directed by the Statutes of the College, and a number of Trustees appointed in like manner”; now affiliated with the University of Toronto. Toronto, Ontario See July 16, 1852.
  • 1851 Education - Opening of St. Mary’s College at Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1858 British government passes An Act to provide for the Government of British Columbia, 1858 (21 Vict., c.99), creating the separate Crown Colony of British Columbia ruled by Governor James Douglas; resolution will be published and proclaimed on November 3, 1858; New Westminster named as the capital; includes the mainland (named New Caledonia by Simon Fraser) and the Queen Charlotte Islands; the Hudson’s Bay Company monopoly in New Caledonia is cancelled. Douglas is simultaneously Governor of Vancouver Island, granted to the HBC in 1849 for colonization; the two jurisdictions will unite in 1866, and in 1868 the capital will move to Victoria. London, England
  • 1858 George Brown & Antoine Dorion take office; coalition of True Grits and Dorion’s Parti Rouge; the so-called ‘Short Ministry’ only lasts four days, the shortest Canadian Ministry on record. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1862 Victoria incorporated as a City. Thomas Harris will be elected (by acclamation) as Victoria’s first Mayor on August 16, 1862, and he presides at the City Council’s first meeting held on August 25, 1862. Victoria, BC
  • 1865 Trans Atlantic Cable being laid by the SS Great Eastern snaps and is lost; will later be recovered. Atlantic Ocean
  • 1870 Great Seal of Manitoba is approved by the federal government. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1877 James Douglas dies; former Governor of Vancouver Island and the founder of British Columbia. Victoria, BC
  • 1878 John McDougall appointed First Auditor-General of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1889 John Robson succeeds Alexander Davie as Premier of British Columbia; dies in office June 29, 1892. Victoria, BC
  • 1892 Riot - Anti-Chinese riot breaks out in Calgary. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1902 Rossland Power Company incorporated. Rossland, BC
  • 1908 Fire in the Kootenay region kills 70. BC
  • 1909 First passenger flight in Canada made in the Silver Dart at Camp Petawawa in an evaluation by the Canadian Army; original plane built by the Aerial Experiment Association formed by Alexander Graham Bell; made First controlled powered flight in Canada February 23, 1909 off the ice at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, by designer J. A. D. McCurdy; apparently the plane had poor control characteristics compared to the models designed by Glen Curtiss. Pembroke, Ontario
  • 1920 Crime - George Arkoff, Ausby Auloff and Tom Bassoff hold up CPR train No. 63 in the Crowsnest Pass at Sentinel, Alberta.
  • 1921 General Julian Hedworth George Byng, Lord Byng of Vimy appointed Governor General of Canada, will serve from August 11, 1921 to September 29, 1926. London, England
  • 1922 Alexander Graham Bell dies at his Beinn Bhreagh home on Cape Breton Island; audiologist known as the inventor of the telephone (1876); to mark his death, all telephone service in Canada is halted for 80 seconds on August 4, 1922, starting at 6:25 pm Baddeck, Nova Scotia
  • 1932 Icelanders at Gimli host First annual Icelandic Festival (Islendingadagurinn) to celebrate their culture and honour their pioneers; settlement of New Iceland formed in 1875; became part of Manitoba in 1881. Gimli, Manitoba
  • 1935 Regina Hebrew Savings and Credit Union becomes the First to be chartered under the Credit Union Act. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1940 Second World War - Montréal Mayor Camillien Houde attacks national registration for home defence; advises Québec men not to take part in national registration; arrested for sedition August 5, 1940. Montréal, Québec
  • 1944 Parliament passes the Family Allowance Act. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1958 Princess Margaret cuts ribbon to open the Ottawa City Hall on Green Island at the mouth of the Rideau River. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1959 BC and Ottawa suspend policy of capturing and incarcerating Doukhobor Freedomite children. Victoria, BC
  • 1961 Ontario Premier Leslie Frost retires. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1962 Saskatchewan passes final amendments satisfactory to both sides in Medicare plan. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1963 China makes second $300 million wheat purchase from Canada. Beijing, China
  • 1963 Engineers make start on twinning of locks of Welland Canal; to be completed by 1968. Welland, Ontario
  • 1963 John Deutsch chairs new Economic Council of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Mrs. Frank Walton Killam leaves estate to University of Alberta ($6 million), Dalhousie University ($10 million), UBC ($4 million); also Halifax Children’s Hospital and Montréal Neurological Institute. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1968 Ministry of Transport announces new international airport near Montréal (Mirabel), and expansion of Toronto International Airport. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 BC ferry ‘Queen of Victoria’ and Soviet freighter ‘Sergey Yesinen’ collide in the Active Pass; three Canadians killed. BC
  • 1970 Start of disastrous three-day Manseau Pop Festival, held on a farm 80 km southwest of Québec City; only 10,000 fans turned out in the torrential rain; New Orleans rocker Dr. John shows up; Jimi Hendrix, Allman Brothers and Little Richard stay away because they are not paid in advance. Woodstock producer Michael Lang, technical adviser to the Manseau promoters called it the most screwed-up mess I have ever seen. Manseau, Québec
  • 1972 Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act makes ship and cargo owners fully liable for pollution. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1974 Alberta acquires control of Pacific Western Airlines . Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1985 Reichmann brothers acquire control of Gulf Canada for $2.8 billion. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1987 Germany beats USA 2-1 in 25th Tennis Fed Cup. Vancouver, BC
  • 1988 External Affairs Minister Joe Clark joins six other Commonwealth foreign ministers in lighting a 1 1/2-metre candle for the Rekindle the Light Festival to protest against South African apartheid; Canadian musician David Foster plays to an audience of more than 8,000. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1990 Lotta Hitschmanova dies at age 80; founder of Unitarian Service Committee in 1945 to help European refugees; fled her native Czechoslovakia in 1938. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Viking replica ‘Gaia’ reaches Norse settlement site for 1,000th anniversary of Leif Eriksson’s landing; Vinland Revisited expedition left Norway May 17, 1991. L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland
  • 1992 French composer Michel Berger dies of a heart attack while playing tennis at age 44; best known for his rock operas Starmania and La Legende de Jimmy, written in collaboration with Québec lyricist Luc Plamondon, and starring Fabienne Thibeault, Diane Dufresne and Berger’s wife, France Gall. Ramatuelle, France
  • 1995 Government announces it will close 150 Canada Employment Centres. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1995 Louise Beaudoin named Québec’s Minister of Culture. Québec, Québec
  • 1995 Ottawa sportscaster Brian Smith died from wounds suffered when he was shot August 1, 1995 outside CJOH TV station by a deranged Jeffrey Arenburgh; cited anger against the media as his motive. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2003 Fire - Canadian Forces personnel joined nearly 2,000 civilian firefighters battling three large British Columbia fires, in Kamloops, BC, Barriere, BC and Falkland, BC; estimated 8,500 people evacuated as 16,500 acres burned. BC
  • 2005 Air France Flight 358 skids off a runway at Pearson International Airport and bursts into flames, prompting 309 passengers and crew to slide down escape chutes; everyone on board survives. Toronto Ontario
  • 2005 Prime Minister Paul Martin appoints five new Senators: Andrée Champagne and Dennis Dawson of Quebec, Hugh Segal of Ontario, Larry Campbell of British Columbia, and Rod Zimmer of Manitoba.