Highlights of the day

  • 1620 Samuel de Champlain returns to Québec with his wife Hélène de Champlain.
  • 1816 Lord Selkirk captures Fort William; arrests Norwesters for Seven Oaks Massacre. Vicki Keith the first person to swim across Lake Superior.

List of Facts for August 15

  • 1534 Jacques Cartier sets sail for France from the Gulf of St. Lawrence after his First voyage to Canada. Québec
  • 1535 Jacques Cartier rounds what he calls l’Île de l’Assomption; second voyage to Canada. Anticosti Island, Québec
  • 1587 John Davis sails down coast of Labrador; fishes in Chateau Bay before returning to England. Chateau Bay, Newfoundland
  • 1612 Thomas Button reaches Port Nelson; winters at York Factory site in Nelson River estuary; First British flag in Manitoba. Churchill, Manitoba
  • 1620 Samuel de Champlain returns to Québec with his wife Hélène de Champlain, daughter of Henri IV’s secretary; the ship carries the First donkeys seen in New France. Québec, Québec
  • 1624 Samuel de Champlain sails from Québec with his wife Hélène de Champlain. Québec, Québec
  • 1633 Samuel de Champlain writes a report to Cardinal Richelieu. Québec, Québec
  • 1641 Charles Le Moyne arrives at Québec at age 15; works as an interpreter, then a land speculator; acquires the seigneuries of Beauharnois and Châteauguay; in 1654 marries Catherine Thierry-Primot; they have a large family, including 11 sons - the best known are Charles, Baron de Longeueil; François, Sieur de Bienville; and Pierre d’Iberville. Québec, Québec
  • 1646 Abraham Martin named Pilote Royal of New France; will train other pilots to guide ships up the St. Lawrence River. Québec, Québec
  • 1670 François-Marie Perrot arrives in New France with Intendant Jean Talon, his wife’s uncle, to serve as Governor of Montréal for the Sulpicians; he will be later arrested for illegal brandy trading from his fort on Île Perrot, north of Montréal. Québec, Québec
  • 1688 François de Laval returns to Québec to live in the Seminary he founded, and to die there. Québec, Québec
  • 1696 Pierre d’Iberville takes Fort Pemaquid with Bonaventure after unsuccessful attempt in 1692; destroys the Fort and sails off to Newfoundland. Fort Pemaquid, Maine
  • 1807 David Thompson party completes Kootenai House on Canterbury Point on Lake Windermere in the Rocky Mountain Trench. BC
  • 1812 War of 1812 - British Indians massacre entire American garrison at Fort Dearborn. Chicago, Illinois
  • 1814 War of 1812 - Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond defeated by Americans in costly counter-attack on Fort Erie; British have 900 casualties. Fort Erie, Ontario
  • 1816 Lord Selkirk captures Fort William with private army of discharged veterans; arrests William McGillivray and other Norwesters for Seven Oaks Massacre, and sends them to trial in Montréal, Québec. Thunder Bay, Ontario
  • 1818 Trial - Robert Gourlay tried for sedition and libel; challenged authorities on land grants; acquitted, but ordered to leave; under Alien Act of 1804; also tried at Brockville, Ontario on August 31, 1818. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1822 Census shows Upper Canada has 120,000 inhabitants, Lower Canada 500,000. Québec, Québec
  • 1822 Proposal for the Union of Upper and Lower Canada presented to the Assembly of Lower Canada. Québec, Québec
  • 1824 HBC Chief Factor George Simpson departs York Factory on Hudson Bay for a year-long tour to the Columbia Department.
  • 1864 Chilcotin War - BC Gold Commissioner Cox, responding to the Chilcotin Uprising of April 29-30, takes 7 Tsilhqot’in men into custody for the murder of 19 of Alfred Waddington’s road builders, packers and farmers on the Homathco River. See October 26. Quesnel, BC
  • 1866 Education - University of Ottawa granted university status by Parliament; founded by the Oblates in 1848 as the College of Bytown; renamed the College of Ottawa in 1861; largest bilingual university in North America. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1881 Rat Portage War - Macdonald Government’s “Act to provide for the extension of the boundaries of the Province of Manitoba” (44 V, c14); goes into effect; extended the eastern boundary of Manitoba to a “line drawn due north from where the westerly boundary of the province of Ontario intersects the boundary dividing Canada from the United States”. The Governments of Manitoba and the Dominion understood that Manitoba’s eastern boundary lay near Port Arthur (Thunder Bay). The Government of Ontario, on the other hand, felt that her boundary did not end until the western most reaches of the Lake of the Woods, near Rat Portage (Kenora). A war over control of the territory will last until August 11, 1884, when the Queen’s Privy Council awards the entire parcel of land to Ontario.
  • 1898 Charles Semlin sworn in as Premier of British Columbia; leads new pan-party provincial government. Victoria, BC
  • 1898 New Charles Semlin government annuls subsidy to the Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railway. Victoria, BC
  • 1909 Irish-Canadian societies erect a celtic cross monument at Grosse-Île quarantine station to commemorate those who died in cholera ships while immigrating to Canada in the 1840s. Grosse-Île, Québec
  • 1914 Panama Canal officially opens; competitor to CPR for trans Pacific trade. Panama
  • 1916 First World War - Embarkation of the 117th Sherbrooke Infantry Battalion for service in France. Québec, Québec
  • 1917 First World War - Canadian Army troops gain victory at Hill 70 near Lens. Lens, France
  • 1930 Laying of the cornerstone of the Oratoire St-Joseph. Montréal, Québec
  • 1935 Walter Lea sworn in as Premier of Prince Edward Island for the second time, replacing W. J. P. MacMillan . Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1936 Québec Election - Maurice Duplessis wins majority in provincial election with 77 seats against 13 for the Liberals. Québec
  • 1937 Rowell-Sirois Commission - Mackenzie King appoints Newton Wesley Rowell as Chairman of the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations, to examine the amendment of the BNA Act, and the relationship of the federal and provincial governments in Confederation; from 1938 with Joseph Sirois. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1940 Bank of Canada Governor Graham Towers urges King to proceed with Rowell-Sirois Commission recommendations. Ottawa, Ontario August 15 - Second World War - Canada now guarding 8,000 German prisoners of war in various POWcamps across the country. August 15 - Second World War - Squadron Leader Ernest McNab scores First RCAF kill in Battle of Britain; German Luftwaffe suffers its greatest losses for a single day during the Battle of Britain, losing 75 out of 1000 aircraft, versus 35 lost by the Allies. Britain
  • 1943 Second World War - Invasion force of 34,426 Canadian and US troops land on Alaska’s Kiska Island; Japanese troops have fled. Kiska, Alaska
  • 1944 Second World War - In Operation Tractable, the 2nd Canadian Division enters Falaise, but the gap between them and Patton’s Americans is still 18 km wide and the Germans are pouring through. Falaise, France August 15 - Second World War - US and Canadian First Special Service Force joins Allied invasion of southern France; Canadian landing ships used on several beaches between Nice and Marseilles. Provence, France
  • August 15 - Parliament passes Agricultural Prices Support Act; sets up board with $200 million revolving fund; all but wheat. Ottawa, Ontario
  • August 15 - Parliament passes Farm Improvement Loans Act, guaranteeing bank loans to farmers; up to $3,000 for equipment, stock, electric, drainage, fencing, etc. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1945 Second World War - Today proclaimed VJ Day by the Allies, a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally; marks the end of the Second World War; over a million Canadians fought in the conflict and 42,000 were killed. Global
  • 1946 Second World War - Cabinet Order in Council ends conscription for national service; also proclaims amnesty for all those who had gone AWOL from the armed services the previous New Years Day or who had not given themselves up or been arrested before this date. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1947 Roman Catholic Church abolishes meatless Tuesdays and Fridays. Canada
  • 1950 Canada signs agreement with New Zealand for direct air service between two countries. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1950 Royal Canadian Mounted Police absorb British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP); RCMP assumes policing of British Columbia. BC
  • 1953 Riot by inmates at Kingston Penitentiary; burn three buildings; do $2 million damage. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1960 Chicago Bears beat the New York Giants 16-7 in an NFL summer exhibition game in Toronto. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1964 Kootenay Skyway portion of the Crowsnest Highway opened; sections of the Crowsnest Highway in the West Kootenays renumbered. BC
  • 1966 The Lovin’ Spoonful, with Toronto native Zal Yanovsky, lead singer John Sebastian, Joe Butler, and Steve Boone, have a #1 Billboard hit with Summer in the City. Yanovsky had previously been a member of the Mugwumps, whose other two members were Halifax native Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot, later of the Mamas and the Papas. New York, New York
  • 1967 Malcolm Lindsay appointed 14th Commissioner of the RCMP; serves to September 30, 1969. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1968 Charles Bronfman elected Chairman of the Board of the Club de hockey Canadien. Montréal, Québec
  • 1971 Opening of First Banff Festival of the Arts; six days long this first year. Banff, Alberta
  • 1971 Weather - Hurricane Beth drops 296 mm of rain on Halifax and washes out highways and bridges in Nova Scotia. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1972 Crime - Harold Ballard, President of Maple Leaf Gardens and owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is convicted of 47 charges of fraud, tax evasion and theft of $205,000 from the Gardens to pay for personal expenses; sentenced to three years in Kingston Penitentiary on October 20, 1972; will later pay back all funds to the public company. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1973 French Navy sailors board and seize Canadian yacht Greenpeace II, protesting French nuclear tests in the Pacific; ship had entered security zone around test site. Mururoa
  • 1974 Official opening of the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo; one of the largest public zoos in the world. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1982 Canadian Mount Everest Expedition sets up base camp at the foot of the climb; on October 5, 1982, Laurie Skreslet and two Sherpas will leave camp at 4 a.m.; by 9:15 a.m. they will be standing on the summit of the world’s highest mountain. Nepal
  • 1984 National Action Committee on the Status of Women hosts 3-party TV debate on women’s issues. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1988 Marathon swimmer Vicki Keith becomes the first person to swim across Lake Superior. In less than two months, the 27-year-old swimming instructor from Kingston, will crossed lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior and Ontario, and raise over $200,000 for Variety Village during her Great Lakes Marathon.
  • 1991 Pat Marshall and Marthe Asselin Vaillancourt apppointed by Ottawa to lead 9 member panel to investigate violence against women. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Congress of the youth wing of the Québec Liberal Party refuses to recognize any understanding based on the Charlottetown Accord of July 7, 1992, and again demands another referendum on sovereignty. Sherbrooke, Québec
  • 1992 Peacekeeping - UN awards 226 Canadian peacekeepers with UN service medals; for work in Yugoslavia. New York, New York
  • 1995 Strike ends at Casino de Montréal as 1,300 employees return to work. Montréal, Québec
  • 2000 Michael Cowpland resigns from Corel, the company he founded in 1985; remains principal shareholder; will work with new companies developing programs to run on the Linux operating system. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2005 Strike - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation locks out 5,300 of its 9,000 employees following 15 months of unsuccessful talks with the Canadian Media Guild, a merger of 3 unions with CBC employees; affects programming on all radio and TV networks; only staff in Québec, Québec and Moncton, New Brunswick are unaffected, due to membership in a different union. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2005 Peacekeeping - Roadside bomb in the Sinai Peninsula blows up under a vehicle belonging to international peacekeepers, lightly wounding two Canadians. Egypt