Today is National Peacekeepers Day:

  • 1902 King Edward VII crowned King of the United Kingdom and of Canada, after the death of his mother Queen Victoria.
  • 1945 Robert Hampton Gray killed in dive bombing raid over Honshu; last Canadian to die in Second World War.
  • 1988 Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington deals his superstar Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings.

List of Facts for August 9

  • 1534 Jacques Cartier sails west into St. Lawrence River; believing it to be bay, turns east along coast, round Anticosti; forced by storm to shelter in bay north of Anticosti Island. Anticosti Island, Québec
  • 1757 French and Indian war - Marquis de Montcalm leads 6,200 troops and 1,800 Indians in capture of Fort William Henry; takes 2,200 British prisoners; stops murder of prisoners by Native allies. New York
  • 1782 Hudson’s Bay Company Chief Factor Samuel Hearne surrenders Prince of Wales Fort to French force led by Count de Lapérouse and his 3 ships and 300 soldiers; the massive stone fort was built to protect the HBC fur trade on the Churchill River; it was defended by only 39 fur traders and labourers. Lapérouse was sent by the French government to attack English forts in Hudson Bay during the American Revolution; he damaged Prince of Wales Fort and burned York Factory; the fort was returned to Britain in 1783. Churchill, Manitoba
  • 1836 Chippewas cede 600,000 hectares in Bruce County, Grey County, Huron County, and Wellington County to the Crown; 1,500,000 acres. Ontario
  • 1838 Thomas Simpson & Peter Dease reach Cape Flinders near Point Turnagain; Simpson goes a further 160 km; names Victoria Island & Cape Pelly. Victoria Island, Nunavut
  • 1840 Britain allows Canada to sell clergy reserves and give proceeds to Church of England and Church of Scotland; public lands formerly set aside for use of Church. London, England
  • 1842 US Secretary of State Daniel Webster & Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton sign Treaty settling Maine/New Brunswick boundary dispute; also deals with extradition questions; Webster-Ashburton Treaty also fixes the border from the headwaters of the Ste. Croix River to the Eastern Townships and from Lake Huron to the Lake of the Woods; also provided for the surveying, mapping and marking of the agreed New Brunswick-Maine boundary, completed June 1847. Washington, DC
  • 1870 George-Étienne Cartier negotiates Imperial Loan Act for Canadian Defences and to build fortifications; Minister of Militia. London, England
  • 1878 British Columbia legislature votes to secede from Canada; gives impetus to financing of CPR and Imperial loan guarantees. Victoria, BC
  • 1881 Start of construction of railway from St. John’s to Hall Bay, Newfoundland; First railway in Newfoundland. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1883 CPR steel reaches Fort Calgary, NWT. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1902 King Edward VII crowned King of the United Kingdom and of Canada, after the death of his mother Queen Victoria. London, England
  • 1913 Weather - Heavy rain in Edmonton results in large numbers of earthworms emerging on city streets. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1917 Fire destroys large section of downtown Trail, BC.
  • 1918 First World War - Alexander Brereton of Oak River, BC wins the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Amiens. Amiens, France
  • 1930 Record - Canada’s Percy Williams establishes a world record of 10:03 seconds in the 100 metres. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1941 Second World War - British PM Winston Churchill meets US President Franklin Roosevelt at sea off Newfoundland. Argentia Bay, Newfoundland
  • 1944 Disaster - Three people are killed when a tornado devastates Kamsack. Kamsack, Saskatchewan
  • 1945 Second World War - Robert Hampton Gray shot down and killed in a dive bombing raid at Onagawa Wan as he sinks Japanese destroyer; Royal Navy pilot Gray was the last Canadian known to have died In Second World War; he was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. In 1989, in Sakiyami Park, Japan, Gray became the First member of the Allied Forces honored by the Japanese with a memorial. Honshu Island, Japan
  • 1948 Paul-Émile Borduas publishes Refus globale pamphlet; Automatist manifesto urges liberation from controlling forces of society; removed from post at L’Ecole du Meuble; leaves Canada for Paris in 1953. Montréal, Québec
  • 1950 Korean War - John Rockingham appointed commander of the Canadian brigade in Korea. Korea
  • 1962 Strike - Federal conciliation board recommends pay rise for 100,000 non-operating railway employees; plus job security fund. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1969 Opening of Kejimkujik National Park in south-west Nova Scotia. Kejimkujik, Nova Scotia
  • 1974 Peacekeeping - Nine Canadian peacekeepers are killed when a Syrian anti-aircraft missile shoots down a UN deHavilland Buffalo
  • 1974 See: restoration of a similar plane at the CWHM in Hamilton
  • 1977 The NHL refuses a merger with 6 WHA clubs; later absorbes the teams into the League. New York, New York
  • 1978 Edmonton swimmer Graham Smith wins Canada’s 26th gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, a record; a few hours later, he is a winner in the 400 Metre Medley, becoming the First athlete to win 6 golds at a single Games. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1981 Montreal Expos Gary Carter named MVP of baseball’s All Star Game. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1988 Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington deals his superstar Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings, with Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley; Oilers get Jimmy Carson, top draft choice Martin Gélinas, 3 other first-round draft choices (1989, 1991, 1993) and a reputed $15-20 million. Edmonton, Alberta ((1988) CBC Archives)
  • 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics - Canada completes competition at XXV Olympiad; wins 6 golds, 5 silver, 7 bronze; better than 10 medal total at Korea. Medal tally: - Silken Laumann wins bronze medal in rowing; in spite of injured leg. - Angela Chalmers wins bronze medal in track and field - Sylvie Fréchette wins silver medal in synchronized swimming; misses gold due to a judge’s error; initial appeal fails to overturn result. - Nicholas Gill wins bronze medal in judo. - Curt Harnett wins bronze medal in cycling. - Chris Johnson wins bronze medal in boxing. - Guillaume Leblanc wins silver medal in track and field. - Mark Leduc wins silver medal in boxing. - Ross MacDonald & Eric Jesperson win bronze medal in sailing. - Marnie McBean & Kathleen Heddle win gold medal in rowing. - Mark McKoy wins gold medal in 110-metre hurdles; Canada’s first gold in track since 1928. - Mark Tewksbury wins gold medal in 100 Metre Backstroke swimming. - Jeff Thue wins silver medal in wrestling. - Penny & Vicky Vilagos win silver medal in pairs synchronized swimming. - Women’s Eight win gold medal in rowing. - Women’s Four win gold medal in rowing. - Mens Eight win gold medal in rowing. - Mens 4 x 100 metre relay team win bronze medal in swimming. Barcelona, Spain
  • 1995 Ted Rogers announces that Rogers Communications Inc. is taking a $99-million (Canadian) writedown to bring the carrying value of its investment in Unitel Communications Inc. to zero. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2003 United States eases its ban on Canadian beef imports resulting from discovery of BST - Mad Cow Disease
  • 2004 Lethbridge city councillor Dar Heatherington resigns after being convicted of public mischief, in faking her own disappearance. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 2005 Smokey Smith’s remains lie in state in the foyer of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill, with the Canadian flag draped across his coffin. Ottawa, Ontario