Highlights of the day

  • 1679 La Salle launches his 46 ton trading vessel ‘Le Griffon,’ the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes.
  • 1803 Lord Selkirk sends first 800 Highland settlers from Scotland to Orwell Bay; begins colonizing efforts in PEI.
  • 1930 R. B. Bennett forms government on resignation of Mackenzie King; Canada’s 9th Prime Minister.

List of Facts for August 7

  • 1640 Pierre Chevrier, Baron de Fancamp organizes the Société de Notre Dame de Montréal, to buy Montréal Island from the Company of New France; with Jerome Le Rouer, Sieur de La Dauversière and Father Jean-Jacques Olier. Montréal, Québec
  • 1679 René de La Salle launches his 46 ton trading vessel ‘Le Griffon,’ the First ship to sail the upper Great Lakes; on La Salle-Griffon Project
  • 1803 Lord Selkirk sends First of 800 Highland settlers from Scotland to Orwell Bay; begins colonizing efforts in PEI. Orwell Bay, PEI
  • 1839 St-Jean-Baptiste Society founder Ludger Duverney publishes the first edition of his Patriote newspaper, Le Patriote Canadien, in exile. Burlington, Vermont
  • 1858 George-Étienne Cartier adopts Confederation as major plank of Liberal-Conservative party platform. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1858 George-Étienne Cartier and John A. Macdonald let all ministers resume offices they held before July 29, 1858; procedure known as ‘Double-Shuffle’; under the rules, a Minister changing his portfolio within a month of appointment can avoid election. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1858 Ottawa officially becomes capital of the Province of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1865 Narcisse Belleau joins John A. Macdonald in the Ministry, as co-Premier. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1867 Federal Election - John A. Macdonald starts campaigning for First general elections following Confederation; election lasts until September 20, 1867.
  • 1876 NWMP Commissioner James Macleod and a large detachment of Mounted Police leave Fort Pelly for their new headquarters at Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills. Fort Pelly, Saskatchewan
  • 1888 Guided by Kootenai Brown, Sam Steele and NWMP Company D leave Fort Steele to return over the Crowsnest Pass to Fort MacLeod. Arrive on August 16, 1888. Fort Steele, BC
  • 1888 William Van Horne elected President of the CPR. Montréal, Québec
  • 1898 CPR blows in Trail smelter furnace after renovations complete. Trail, BC
  • 1903 Winnipeg, Manitoba judge Albert Killam is appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, First judge chosen from Western Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1913 Fire - Planer mill buildings burn down at Wardner, BC.
  • 1914 First World War - 9th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force is raised in Edmonton. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1914 Citizenship - Britain suggests Canada issue naturalization certificates to aliens; proof of five years residence to make them British subjects. Britain
  • 1917 First Chatauqua in Canada is held at Lethbridge. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1920 Crime - George Arkoff and Tom Bassoff cornered in the Boston Café by Alberta Provincial Police constables James Frewin and F.W.E. Bailey, and RCMP Constable Ernest Usher. Bailey, Arkoff and Usher killed. Bellevue, Alberta
  • 1927 Mackenzie King joins British PM Stanley Baldwin and Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and US Vice President Charles Dawes in dedicating the Peace Bridge to Buffalo, NY, one of the busiest border crossings between Canada and the US. Fort Erie, Ontario August 7, 1928 -
  • 1929 Immigration - Ottawa bans immigrants from entering Canada under labour contracts, except farm or domestic workers. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1930 R. B. Bennett asked to form government on resignation of Mackenzie King; Canada’s 9th Prime Minister; serves to October 23, 1935; King PM since August 7, 1930. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1940 Government introduces Unemployment Insurance program.
  • 1948 Louis St. Laurent chosen as party leader on first ballot by Liberal Party; 848 votes, to Jimmy Gardiner (323), Chubby Power (56).
  • 1950 Korean War - Cabinet decides to recruit and create a special Canadian armed force of 5,000 men for service with United Nations in Korea. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1954 Sh-Boom, a single by the Toronto group The Crew Cuts, makes it to the Billboard top ten in only three weeks, the fastest-moving record on the music charts until Elvis and The Beatles. New York, New York
  • 1959 Don Messer and the Islanders start their national TV career with The Don Messer Show, a summer replacement series on CBC; it proved so popular it was kept on for the next decade as Don Messer’s Jubilee; CBC’s cancellation of the show in 1969 sparked national protests and raised questions in the House of Commons; Messer’s agent put the show into syndication, and it continued until his death in 1973. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1960 Canadian composer Louis Applebaum hosts a week-long International Conference of Composers at Stratford; attracts composers of contemporary classical music from 20 countries. Stratford, Ontario
  • 1962 Immigration - Ottawa allows first 15 members of 100 refugee families into country from Hong Kong; special policy only. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1975 Pierre Trudeau announces that Canada will seek agreement to set up 370 km (200-mile) economic coastal zone. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1979 First day of trading in British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation (BCRIC) shares. Vancouver, BC
  • 1982 Reecord - Don Muir and André Daemen land at Dorval Airport after a record-breaking round-the-world propellor flight in a time of 6 days, 7 hours, 30 minutes; Muir, 26, is a bush pilot from Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Daemen, 22, is a Montréal flying instructor. Montréal, Québec
  • 1997 Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason flies aboard the NASA Space Shuttle. Cape Canaveral, Florida
  • 2002 Ford Motor Company and Canadian fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems jointly unveil a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine-driven generator they said could help pave the way toward the commercialization of fuel cell technology. Vancouver, BC
  • 2005 Peter Jennings dies of lung cancer at age 67; the Canadian-born ABC broadcaster had delivered the news to Americans each night in five separate decades. New York, New York