Toay’s features:

  • 1884 Founding of the Calgary and District Agricultural Society; today’s Calgary Stampede.
  • 1935 William Aberhart wins Alberta election; world’s First Social Credit government.
  • 1949 Magnitude 8.1 earthquake hit the west coast of BC on the Queen Charlotte Fault.

List of Facts for August 22

  • 1660 Pierre Radisson & Médart des Groseilliers return to New France with big load of furs; they are later fined, and their furs confiscated, for trading without a license; they will decide to approach the English about forming a company to trade into Hudson Bay. Montréal, Québec
  • 1711 British Admiral Hovenden Walker’s assault on New France falters as 8 of his 15 warships and troop transports are wrecked in gales and heavy fog in the St. Lawrence; nearly 900 men drown; 25 ships remaining in fleet return to England. Ile-aux-Oeufs, Québec
  • 1760 French and Indian War - James Murray leads British troops in attacking and destroying Sorel. Sorel, Québec
  • 1777 American Revolutionary War - Barry St. Leger abandons siege of Fort Stanwix when Benedict Arnold and a force of 1,000 arrive and frighten off Indians; retreats to Fort Oswego. Fort Stanwix, New York
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837 - Founding of the Association of Patriotic Women (l’Association des dames patriotiques); urge the wearing of local clothing to avoid giving tax revenues to the government. Montréal, Québec
  • 1837 Lower Canada Governor Lord Gosford names 10 legislative councilors. Québec, Québec
  • 1872 Alfred Bessette takes vows; becomes Frère André. Montréal, Québec
  • 1884 Founding of the Calgary and District Agricultural Society; to promote the district’s crops and the promise of the Calgary region by means of an annual exhibition; the 1885 fair was disrupted by the North West Rebellion, but it was held successfully in 1886; forerunner of the Calgary Stampede. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1886 William Kendall successfully swims through the Niagara Rapids wearing a cork life jacket. Queenston, Ontario
  • 1898 Completion of the new Victoria Bridge. Montréal, Québec
  • 1901 Construction starts on Cape Breton Railroad. Sydney, Nova Scotia
  • 1903 Captain Robert Bartlett sails Neptune from Halifax under command of A. P. Low of the Geological Survey of Canada; to patrol, explore and establish Canadian authority in Hudson Bay and the Arctic. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1914 First World War - War Measures Act receives Royal Assent. The Finance Act, 1914, also becomes law, giving Ottawa the power to suspend payments in gold, and to make paper money legal tender. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1919 Edward Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII opens the Québec Bridge, redesigned and rebuilt since two disastrous crash, the first in 1910 that killed 75 workers, many from Caughnawaga, Québec, the second, the loss of the complete centre span in 1916. Québec, Québec
  • 1922 Princeton Coal and Land Company opens up its No.2 mine at Princeton, BC.
  • 1933 Nova Scotia Election - Angus Macdonald leads Liberals to power in provincial election. Nova Scotia
  • 1935 Alberta Election - William Aberhart leads Social Credit Party to majority victory over Richard Reid’s United Farmers of Alberta in provincial election; world’s First Social Credit government will stay in power until 1971. Edmonton, Alberta

  • 1944 Second World War - German U-boats torpedo and cripple Canadian-manned aircraft carrier HMCS Nabob off Norway. Atlantic Ocean

  • 1949 Geology - Magnitude 8.1 Earthquake, Canada’s largest since 1700, hits the west coast of British Columbia; occurred on the Queen Charlotte Fault, Canada’s equivalent of the San Andreas Fault, at the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates that runs underwater along the west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The shaking was so severe on Haida Gwai that cows were knocked off their feet, and people could not stand up. Chimneys toppled, and an oil tank at Cumshewa Inlet collapsed. On the mainland at Terrace, BC, the quake bounced around cars. A wintness said standing on the street was “like being on the heaving deck of a ship at sea”. In Prince Rupert, windows were shattered and buildings swayed. Prince Rupert, BC
  • 1950 Strike - Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent calls for emergency meeting of Parliament after last-minute negotiations fail to avert Canada’s First national railway strike; week-long shutdown by 125,000 workers in 15 railway unions causes serious transportation crisis, paralyzing rail and telegraph services; Parliament will pass back-to-work legislation August 30, 1950. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1952 CBC tele-cine projectionist inserts a slide upside down; Canada’s First known TV gaffe. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1958 Toronto Argonauts’ Boyd Carter and Dave Mann combine for record 131-yd punt return in CFL game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1962 Trans-Canada Airlines’ First plane starts series of flights across Canada to mark TCA’s 25th anniversary. Montréal, Québec
  • 1964 Beatles give their First Canadian concert in Empire Stadium before 20,000 fans; hosted by DJ Red Robinson and broadcast live over radio station CKNW; play songs from their new album Something New; top ticket price $5.25; police cut concert short after 27 minutes, fearing a riot; bootlegged tapes of the show widely distributed. Vancouver, BC
  • 1979 Former prime minister John Diefenbaker buried on the University of Saskatchewan campus. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1979 William Auld and William Linklater establish the First Hudson Bay fur-trading post in northern Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan
  • 1983 Roger Simmons resigns as federal Mines Minister; later charged with tax evasion; appointed only ten days earlier. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1986 Musicfest rock festival opens at a park in the north end of Montréal, featuring James Brown, Huey Lewis and the News and Elton John; a financial disaster - only 160,000 people attend in 11 days, less than the 270,000 needed to break even. Montréal, Québec
  • 1990 Michel Belanger appointed co-Chair of the special commission to shape Québec’s political future; with Jean Campeau; 35 member Belanger-Campeau Commission to start hearings September 4, 1990. Québec, Québec
  • 1991 Colleen Dewhurst dies of cancer at age 67; Montréal born actor starred on Broadway, then in films such as Annie Hall, and The Blue and the Gray; she was Murphy Brown’s mother in the TV series, and was twice married to George C. Scott. New York, New York
  • 1991 Québec government mothballs Hydro-Québec’s Grande-Baleine project in James Bay. Québec, Québec
  • 1991 Supreme Court of Canada strikes down the so-called ‘rape shield law’ to protect victims; previous sexual conduct of those alleging rape could not be presented in court. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1991 Canadian rocker Tom Cochrane’s hit single ‘Life Is A Highway’ peaks at #6 on the Billboard pop chart. New York, New York
  • 1994 Arctic - Canadian icebreaker ‘Louis St-Laurent’ reaches the North Magnetic Pole. Nunavut
  • 1994 Gilbert Lajoie appointed Editor of the Québec newspaper Le Soleil. Québec, Québec
  • 1996 Stéphane Richer returns to play with the NHL Montréal Canadiens. Montréal, Québec
  • 2003 Fire - Forest blaze forces up to 10,000 people from their homes in Kelowna, BC.
  • 2011 NDP leader and Leader of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition Jack Layton dies of cancer. Ottawa, Ontario