Highlights of the day

  • 1535 Domagaya and Taignoagny guide Jacques Cartier up “the great river of Hochelaga and the way to Kanata”.
  • 1941 National Defence establishes the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC).
  • 1992 Canada, US & Mexico negotiate North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); effective January 1, 1994

List of Facts for August 13

  • 1535 Iroquois guides Domagaya and Taignoagny show Jacques Cartier ‘the beginning of the great river of Hochelaga and the way to Kanata’; Cartier’s second voyage, on the Grande Ermine, Petite Ermine and the Émérillon. Gulf of St. Lawrence
  • 1642 Charles de Montmagny builds Fort Richelieu with 100 men; on present day site of Sorel; leaves garrison of 40 soldiers to protect habitants from Iroquois. Sorel, Québec
  • 1756 French and Indian War - Chaussegros de Léry storms old Fort Oswego after Marquis de Montcalm’s capture of Fort Ontario (Fort Chouaguen) across the river; Québec-born military engineer and artillery expert. Oswego, New York
  • 1764 First Meeting of the Legislative Council of Québec under English rule. Québec, Québec
  • 1812 War of 1812 - Isaac Brock reaches Amherstburg (Fort Malden) with 300 men from York and Niagara. Amherstburg, Ontario
  • 1830 Lord Aylmer appointed Administrator of Lower Canada; serves from October 20, 1830 to February 4, 1831. Québec
  • 1834 Peter Rindisbacher dies; he and his family came from Switzerland to Lord Selkirk’s Red River colony in 1821 believing that they were traveling to the French community of the Red River of Louisiana; helped his family by selling watercolours of daily life in the colony; family left Red River for Illinois in 1826, after floods and insects destroyed their crops; First European artist west of the Great Lakes. St. Louis, Missouri
  • 1852 English politician Benjamin Disraeli writes: These wretched colonies will all be independent in a short time, and are a millstone round our necks. London, England
  • 1858 Commissioners begin surveying the International Boundary from Robert’s Point, BC
  • 1860 First issue of The Daily Witness newspaper. Montréal, Québec
  • 1863 George-Êtienne Cartier’s Militia Act includes all male inhabitants between ages of 18 and 60. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1863 John Sandfield Macdonald becomes co-Premier of the Province of Canada with Antoine Dorion; until March 14, 1864. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1885 CPR buys Montréal to Québec line. Montréal, Québec
  • 1885 Trial - Cree rebel Kapeyakwaskonam (One Arrow) tried on a charge of treason and felony; sentenced to three years in jail. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1886 John A. MacDonald takes a silver hammer and drives the last spike of the Esquimault and Naniamo Railway at mile 25 near Shawnigan Lake; built by Robert Dunsmuir in return for cash and a land grant that amounted to 20% of the land on Vancouver Island, the 72 miles of track took 3 ½ years to build. At Cliffside, Sir John ceremoniously placed the last spike, a gold one, and drove it home with a silver hammer. A cairn was built at the site to commemorate the event. Shawnigan Lake, BC
  • 1898 First CPR train crosses the Upper Kootenay River at Wardner, BC.
  • 1901 Canadian Army opens new military shooting range in Pointe-aux-Trembles. Montréal, Québec
  • 1905 Japanese seize Canadian ship ‘Antiope’ out of Victoria, BC as a carrier of contraband; during Russo-Japanese War. Japan
  • 1906 Roald Amundsen reaches Nome in his ship ‘Gjoa’ after First east to west navigation of Northwest Passage. Nome, Alaska
  • 1913 Canadian Army troops called out at Nanaimo to stop rioting. Nanaimo, BC
  • 1920 Mining - Consolidated Mining and Smelting announces that D. W. Diamond has perfected a floatation method of separating ores. Vancouver, BC
  • 1921 Herbert Greenfield sworn in as Premier of Alberta, replacing Charles Stewart; serves to November 23, 1925. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1923 Norman Bethune marries Frances Penny. Montréal, Québec
  • 1930 Disaster - ‘Black Wednesday’ at Blakeburn mine near Coalmont, BC - 45 dead in mine explosion.
  • 1930 British airship R-100 leaves to return to England after visit to Montréal and Southern Ontario. St-Bruno, Québec
  • 1930 Guy Lombardo and his Orchestra record their hit, Go Home and Tell Your Mother, on Columbia Records; bandleader from London, Ontario. New York, New York
  • 1933 Founding of an Experimental School in the Arts Related to Theatre at Banff; present-day Banff School of Fine Arts. Banff, Alberta
  • 1941 Second World War - National Defence establishes the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, for women who wish to volunteer for official uniformed service; positions noncombatant and clerical at the start, but some technical trades will soon open up; by 1944 CWACs are filling clerical positions in 1st Canadian Army, 1st and 2nd Canadian Corps and the five combat divisional HQs in north-west Europe; over 21,000 women will serve as CWACs to 1946. Ottawa, Ontario August 13 - Second World War - The Royal Canadian Air Force establishes a Women’s Division (WD); some 17,000 Women will serve in the RCAF(WD). Ottawa, Ontario August 13 - Second World War - Wartime Prices and Trade Board moves from Department of Labour to the Department of Finance; according to Ilsley, so that ‘Finance would be held responsible for inflation’. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1944 Second World War - Canadian Army General Guy Simonds urges his commanders to show: more thrust, bypass minor opposition, and advance on a wider front in Operation Tractable to close the Falaise Gap; British General Bernard Montgomery says to Harry Crerar that Falaise is to be captured with the least possible delay by the 1st Canadian Army; this is not to interfere with the drive on Trun, but Montgomery offers no reinforcements, so most of the German forces escape to fight again in Holland. Falaise, France
  • 1945 First International Conference on Civil Aviation held in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1946 Opening of new maritime service from Quebec City to Baie Comeau, Québec; journey along the north shore takes 7 days. Québec, Québec
  • 1955 Opening of the Canso Causeway, linking Cape Breton Island to the Nova Scotia mainland. Canso, Nova Scotia
  • 1958 Ottawa reforms Indian Act to say that a person who had taken Métis or half-breed lands or scrip, who was registered as an Indian on or before this cut-off date, as well as his/her descendants, would remain registered. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1960 Record - Eleanor Haslam of Saskatoon breaks the Canadian Women’s records in the 200m and 800m at the Saskatchewan Track and Field Championships. Saskatchewan
  • 1960 Pecekeeping - First group of Canadian Army signallers assigned to UN peacekeeping force leave Canada for Leopoldville, Congo. Trenton, Ontario
  • 1966 Sport - Eighth British Commonwealth Games close in Jamaica; Canadians take home 14 gold medals, 20 silver, and 23 bronze; and Canada’s Elaine Tanner - known as ‘Mighty Mouse’ - has won an unprecedented four gold and three silver medals in swimming, and is voted the Athlete of the Games. Kingston, Jamaica
  • 1970 Manitoba takes over provincial car insurance; additional coverage can be sold by private companies; Autopak program. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1971 Crown suspends charges laid under War Measures Act against 32 Québeckers; including labour leader Michel Chartrand and lawyer Robert Lemieux. Montréal, Québec
  • 1971 Environment - Ottawa and Ontario start $262 million 4-year pollution cleanup program; to clean up pollution in lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1977 Rock group Bachman-Turner Overdrive disbands after leader Randy Bachman decides to quit touring. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1980 Joseph MacInnis oceanographer discovers sunken barque HMS Breadalbane, crushed by ice and sunk at Beechey Island August 21, 1853; Scottish ship well preserved by extreme cold; sonar shows some sails and rigging intact; world’s northernmost found shipwreck. Beechey Island, Nunavut
  • 1987 Bank of Montréal buys 75% of the Nesbitt Thomson brokerage house. Montréal, Québec
  • 1988 Record - Ronald Dossenbach sets record for cycling across Canada from Vancouver to Halifax in 13 days 15 hr 4 minutes. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1990 Gilles Duceppe wins Laurier-Ste-Marie riding for Bloc Québecois by 16,818 to 4,802 for Liberal Denis Coderre; East End riding held by Liberal Jean-Claude Malepart, who died last November; Duceppe a labor negotiator; First MP elected for Bloc Québecois group of independent MPs committed to Québec sovereignty. Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Michael Breaugh wins Oshawa riding for NDP by 12,046 to 9,000 for Liberal Cathy Flynn; was formerly MLA for past 15 years; replacing Ed Broadbent, who retired. Oshawa, Ontario
  • 1992 CRTC head Gérard Veilleux announces approval to start Northstar satellite TV service to US cable subscribers; joint venture between CBC and Power Broadcasting. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench rules unconstitutional a section of the Manitoba Public Schools Act that made Christian prayer in schools mandatory. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1992 Premier Donald Cameron announces Nova Scotia Power is now fully privatized with $850 million share offering; $232 million bought by Nova Scotians on installment plan. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1992 The United States, Mexico and Canada announce they have negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), after 14 months of meetings; will create the world’s largest trading block, effective January 1, 1994. Washington, DC
  • 1993 New Toronto Blue Jays player Rickey Henderson pays Turner Ward $25,000 for his sweater #24. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1993 Valery Fabrikant sentenced to life in prison for his murder August 24, 1992 of four fellow Concordia University professors, Matthew Douglass, Michael Hogden, Jaan Saber, and Phoivos Ziogas; Fabrikant was angry at the corruption that he perceived to be in the Engineering department. Montréal, Québec
  • 1993 Negotiators for the US, Canada and Mexico announce they have resolved side issues concerning the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Washington, DC
  • 1994 Thunder Bay, Ontario born actor, TV host Alan Thicke marries Gina Marie Tolleson. Los Angeles, California
  • 2003 Ontario health officials report that a family doctor had become the 44th person to die from SARS in Toronto. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2005 Smokey Smith, Canada’s last VC winner, receives a full military funeral. Vancouver, BC