Highlights of the day

  • 1637 Duchesse d’Aiguillon donates 22,400 Livres to found l’Hôtel-Dieu; First hospital in North America outside Mexico.
  • 1812 Isaac Brock captures Fort Detroit with 400 regulars, 300 militia and Tecumseh’s 600 native warriors.
  • 1896 George Washington Cormack discovers placer gold in Bonanza Creek tributary of the Klondike.
  • 1947 First flight of de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver bush plane; total of 1600 made.

List of Facts for August 16

  • 1634 Father Le Jeune baptizes the Huron child, Akhikouch, age 12. Québec, Québec
  • 1636 The Jesuits become the First seigneurs of l’Île Jésus north of Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1637 Duchesse d’Aiguillon donates 22,400 Livres to establish l’Hôtel-Dieu, the First hospital in North America outside Mexico; Cardinal Richelieu’s niece. Québec, Québec
  • 1654 Captain John Leverett left at Port Royal by Robert Sedgwick as governor and commander of the forts of St. John, Port Royal and Penobscot; this English possession lasts from 1654 to 1667. Annapolis, Nova Scotia
  • 1654 Robert Sedgwick leads New England expedition to capture Fort La Tour, but driven back; in reprisal for French attacks. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1665 Arrival of 12 mares and 2 stallions in New France; gift of King Louis XlV to start a new breed of Canadian horse. Québec, Québec
  • 1756 French and Indian War - Marquis de Montcalm orders soldiers to demolish Fort Chouaguen (the English Fort Ontario). Oswego, New York
  • 1777 American Revolutionary War - John Stark American Brigadier General and local militia forces defeat British General John Burgoyne at the Battle of Bennington; Burgoyne had sent a detachment to Bennington to forage for much needed supplies; the Americans kill or capture nearly 1,000 of Burgoyne’s 7,000 troop invading army, further slowing British invasion plans. Bennington, Vermont
  • 1780 American Revolutionary War - Lord Cornwallis decisively defeats Horatio Gates and his American revolutionaries at the Battle of Camden. Camden, New Jersey
  • 1784 Thomas Carleton appointed Governor of new province of New Brunswick; serves from November 22, 1784 to October 29, 1786; now separate colony, with nominated council and elected assembly. London, England
  • 1807 Militia captains enroll 1,200 militiamen in Lower Canada to meet American threats. Québec
  • 1812 War of 1812 - General Isaac Brock captures Fort Detroit and the Michigan territory with 400 troops and 300 militia from York and Niagara, and with the aid of Tecumseh and 600 Indians; American General William Hull and his more than 2,000 troops had retired to Fort Detroit after Tecumseh’s attacks caused him to abort his invasion of Upper Canada; Brock will be knighted for this victory, but news will not reach him before his death October 13, 1812 at the Battle of Queenston Heights. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1827 John Franklin lays First stone of Thomas Mackay’s Rideau Canal locks; on his return down the Ottawa River from the Arctic. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1838 British Parliament passes a Bill of indemnity disavowing the policies of Lord Durham in suggesting assimilation of the French Canadians. London, England
  • 1846 Founding of the Provincial Agricultural Association and the Board of Agriculture for Canada West; precursor of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) board. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1847 Arsonist sets fire to the old Hotel Donegana in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1847 Responsible Government - Salaries of all government employees, even the Governor, now fully under the control of elected Assembly; Act of June 9, 1846 gives responsible government. Montréal, Québec
  • 1850 First English Catholic newspaper published in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1853 Ontario Simcoe and Huron Railroad Union Company changes its name to the Northern Railway of Canada; will become part of the Northern and Northwestern Railway June 6, 1879; now part of the Canadian National system. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1858 Queen Victoria sends US President James Buchanan the First Atlantic Cable dispatch, from Newfoundland to Britain via Valencia, Ireland; Cyrus W. Field’s cable laid by USS Niagara and HMS Agamemnon, and landed on second attempt at Trinity Bay, but the cable will fail in October. Heart’s Content, Newfoundland August 16 - Assembly of the Province of Canada charters a Bank of Canada. Kingston, Ontario August 16 - Assembly of the Province of Canada abolishes imprisonment for debt. Kingston, Ontario
  • August 16 - Town of Marieville incorporated. Marieville, Québec
  • August 16 - Town of Arthabaska incorporated. Arthabaska, Québec
  • 1862 Gold discovered in Grasshopper Creek on the southern fringes of the Blackfoot reservation in what is now Montana. Montana
  • 1869 Red River Insurrection - Governor William Mactavish writes to the Government of Canada, warning that a survey of Red River will cause trouble. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1882 Peter Redpath opens the Redpath Museum at McGill University. Montréal, Québec
  • 1896 George Washington Cormack and his Indian wife Kate, acting on a tip from Canadian prospector Robert Henderson, discover placer gold in Rabbit Creek tributary of the Klondike River; with Patsy Henderson and Kate’s brothers Tagish Charlie Mason and Skookum Jim Mason. They stake their claims the following day, renaming Rabbit Creek Bonanza Creek. Carmack will later say that the gold veins were thick between the flaky slabs, like cheese sandwiches. Bonanza Creek, Yukon
  • 1897 NWMP Superintendent James Walsh appointed Commissioner of the Yukon by the new Yukon Administration responsible for law and order headed by a commission of six; creation of Yukon Judicial District. Dawson, Yukon
  • 1897 Kootenai River Transportation Company incorporated in State of Washington. $50,000 in capital, headquarters in Spokane, John D. Farrell, Captain M.L. McCormack and W.J.C. Wakefield, trustees. August 16 - Maria Armstrong purchases Fenwick’s Lot 1901 for one dollar. Wardner, BC
  • 1905 Village of Coleman, District of Alberta, NWT, holds its First village council meeting. Coleman, Alberta
  • 1906 Order-in-Council incorporates Cowley as a Village. Cowley, Alberta
  • 1913 Wilfrid Laurier opens the first annual Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) Industrial Exhibition in Hastings Park. Vancouver, BC
  • 1913 Federal Election - crowd of 10,000 welcomes Wilfrid Laurier to St-Hyacinthe. St-Hyacinthe, Québec
  • 1917 First World War - Private Harry Brown, 10th Bn. Québec Regiment dies of wounds near Hill 70, near Loos; after his company is surrounded, and the signal lines cut, he delivers a message across no-man’s land while severely wounded; awarded Victoria Cross October 17, 1917. Loos, France
  • 1930 First British Empire Games open at Hamilton; now called the Commonwealth Games. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1930 Six hour riot breaks out at Christie Pits baseball park between the Anglo-Canadian Pit Gang (also called the Swastika-Club) and the a group of young men and boys, who were mostly Jewish with some Italians and Ukrainians after the Pit Gang displays a Nazi swastika. The Jewish youths at the game tried to capture the the display, violence broke out and scores were injured. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1934 Post Office issues 2 cent stamp to commemorate 150th anniversary of founding of New Brunswick. New Brunswick
  • 1936 Olympics - Closing of 11th Summer Olympics in Berlin. Canadians take home one gold medal (Canoe C-1 1,000 m: Francis Amyot), 3 silver (Basketball Team: Gord Aitchison, Ian Allison, Art Chapman, Charles Chapman, Edward Dawson, Irving Meretsky, Doug Peden, James Stewart, Malcolm Wiseman; Canoeing C-2 10,000 m: Harvey Charters, Frank Saker; Track and Field 400-metre hurdles: John Loaring) and 5 bronze (Canoeing C-2 1,000 m: Harvey Charters, Frank Saker; Track and Field 80-m hurdles: Betty Taylor; 800 m: Philip Edwards; 4x100-metre relay: Dorothy Brookshaw, Hilda Cameron, Jeanette Dolson, Aileen Meagher; Wrestling 72-kg freestyle: Joseph Schleimer). Berlin, Germany
  • 1943 Second World War - Allies complete conquest of Sicily. Sicily, Italy
  • 1943 Strike ends at three aircraft plants in Toronto and Montréal.
  • 1944 Second World War - From dawn until dusk, the RAF and RCAF bomb, and shoot up German transport, tanks, and guns, blocking the roads with wrecked equipment; the 2nd Canadian Division (6th Canadian Infantry Brigade, South Sasks, The Camerons and the Fusiliers Mont-Royal and Sherbrooke Fusilier tanks) finally enters Falaise that night through the woods to the north; Kurt Mayer’s 12 SS grenadiers fight to the death. The Falaise Gap between the Canadians and the Americans is still 18 km wide and the Germans are pouring through, with the 2 SS Panzer Corps holding open the road to Vimoutiers and Rouen. Montgomery has not ordered the Americans to move and it is too late to have them encircle the retreating Germans. Falaise, France
  • 1945 Second World War - War Measures Act canceled at war’s end. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1947 First flight of de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver bush plane; with high-lift wing and flap configuration, the all-metal Beaver has very good short take-off-and-landing capability even with heavy loads; US Army and US Air Force will buy 980 for use in Korea, where it was known as The General’s Jeep; total of 1600 made, a record number for an aircraft designed and built in Canada. Downsview, Ontario
  • 1956 Canadian actor Christopher Plummer marries musical star Tammy Grimes; their daughter, Amanda Plummer, is also an actress. New York, New York
  • 1960 Strike by 1,300 Dominion Bridge employees begins. Montréal, Québec
  • 1960 The CFL’s Calgary Stampeders move into their new home at McMahon Stadium. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1963 Military - Government announces Canadian-United States agreement on nuclear warhead storage. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Canadian jockey Johnny Longden wins his 6,000th race. Vancouver, BC
  • 1966 Brian Macdonald premieres his ballet Rose Latulipe at Stratford Festival; First full-length Canadian ballet; with music by Harry Freedman. Stratford, Ontario
  • 1966 George Chuvalo becomes Canadian heavyweight boxing champion. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1968 Air Canada acquires 40% of the stock of Air Jamaica. Kingston, Jamaica
  • 1969 Opening of two-week long Canada Summer Games in Halifax-Dartmouth; First Canada Summer Games. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1969 The towns of Jacques-Cartier and Longueuil amalgamate into the city of Longueuil. Longueuil, Québec
  • 1969 Winnipeg supergroup The Guess Who receive their First gold record for These Eyes. New York, New York
  • 1971 Weather - Hurricane Beth slams into coast of Nova Scotia, doing serious damage. Nova Scotia
  • 1972 Canadian National Exhibition opens in Toronto with display by the Peoples Republic of China; CNE’s display the First by Red China in the Western world. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1974 Record - Cindy Nicholas crosses Lake Ontario in 15 hours, 18 minutes, breaking the old record by nearly three hours; native of Scarborough, Ontario. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1979 John Diefenbaker dies in Ottawa at age 83; born September 18, 1895 in Neustadt, Ontario; Leader of the Opposition 1956-1957, 1963-1967; Prime Minister of Canada June 21, 1957 - April 22, 1963. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1980 Lois Wilson elected the First woman Moderator of the United Church of Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1980 Opening of First Session of the Youth Parliament of Canada/Parlement jeunesse du Canada held in the Senate chambers of the Parliament Buildings; to August 23, 1980. Ottawa, Ontario.
  • 1982 NASA launches Canadian communications satellite Anik D from Cape Canaveral. Cape Kennedy, Florida
  • 1985 Bernard Landry announces that he will not be a candidate for the leadership of the Parti Québecois. Québec, Québec
  • 1985 Ronald Corey appointed President of the Montréal Port Authority/Société du Port de Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1988 Hurricane hits St-Zotique region. St-Zotique, Québec
  • 1989 Tom Drees pitches his third no-hitter of the season for Vancouver Canadians AAA baseball team, as they beat Las Vegas 5-0 in a seven-inning, First game of a doubleheader in the Pacific Coast League. Drees became the First pitcher in the PCL of the majors with three no-hitters in a year. Vancouver, BC
  • 1990 Oka Crisis - Québec Superior Court Chief Justice Alan Gold gets talks with Mohawks to resume after breakdown on August 15, 1990. Montréal, Québec
  • 1991 Bryan Adams hit (Everything I Do) I Do It for You stays at #1 on the Billboard charts for the fifth straight week. New York, New York
  • 1992 Aboriginal - Wendake Huron nation elect Jocelyne Gros-Louis - Lahontiach - as Grand Chief over Max Gros-Louis, head of the Nation for 26 years; first woman to serve as First Nation leader in Canada; president of the Corporation du Festival du Cuir, and a fouding member of le Regroupement autochtone féminin en 1989. Lorrettville, Québec
  • 1996 Port of Lunenburg designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
  • 1997 The Stanley Cup goes on display in Moscow; only the second time the Cup has left North America. Moscow, Russia
  • 1999 John Hamm sworn in as Conservative Premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Russell MacLellan. Halifax, Nova Scotia