Highlights of the day

  • 1867 John A. Macdonald wins 1st Dominion election, defeating George Brown with 51.1% of the vote.
  • 1893 Lord Aberdeen appointed Governor General of Canada.
  • 1942 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation authorized to start national radio broadcasting service.

List of Facts for September 18

  • 1608 Fur trader Francis de Pontgravé leaves Québec to return to France. Québec, Québec
  • 1663 First meeting of the Conseil Souverain (Sovereign Council) of New France; consists of the Governor, the bishop, and 5 councillors. Québec, Québec
  • 1679 Robert de La Salle’s ship the Griffin leaves Green Bay on Lake Michigan with a load of valuable furs headed for Niagara; it is never seen again. Green Bay, Wisconsin - See La Salle-Griffon Project
  • 1759 French and Indian War - Jean-Baptiste de Ramezay opens the gates and officially surrenders the Quebec garrison to Townshend after the Duc de Lévis withdraws to Montreal; Brigadier General James Murray takes over as Governor, and sets about repairing the defenses; his garrison of 7,000 troops has meagre rations and rapidly falls victim to illness, particularly scurvy; by April, only about 3,000 troops will be fit to fight. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1762 French and Indian War - Lord Amherst retakes Fort William Henry from Joseph d’Haussonville; last French-English battle in North America. St. John’s, Newfoundland
  • 1777 Frederick Haldimand appointed Governor of Québec; following Guy Carleton’s resignation on June 26, 1777. Québec, Québec
  • 1787 Prince William, later King William IV, visits Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1813 War of 1812 - US General William Henry Harrison forces Henry Procter to evacuate Detroit and withdraw up the Thames River toward Lake Ontario; catches Proctor at Moraviantown October 5, 1813. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1840 Montreal adopts its official city seal. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1841 Census shows population of Prince Edward Island to be about 50,000. PEI
  • 1841 End of the 1st session of the 1st Parliament of the Province of Canada; Assembly passes First Canadian Copyright Act and Public Schools Act. Montréal, Québec
  • 1841 Education - Solicitor-General Charles Day passes Public Schools Act; $80,000 annually for elementary schools in Canada West, $120,000 for Canada East; creation of the post of uperintendent of Public Schools; teachers to be paid $68 a year. Montréal, Québec
  • 1865 End of the 4th Session of the 8th Parliament of the Province of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1867 Federal Election - John A. Macdonald wins First Dominion election, defeating George Brown with 51.1% of the popular vote; gets 108 seats to Liberal 72; balloting took place from August 9, 1867 to this date.
  • 1867 Federal Election - Charles Tupper First elected to the House of Commons; re-elected 1870, 1872, 1874, 1878, 1882; Canada’s 6th Prime Minister. Amherst, Nova Scotia
  • 1867 Federal Election - John Abbott First elected to the House of Commons; re-elected 1872, 1874; Dean of the Faculty of Law, McGill University; later Canada’s 3rd Prime Minister. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1867 Federal Election - Joseph Howe defeats Charles Tupper in double federal and provincial election; gets mandate to go to Ottawa to fight for better terms. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1867 Federal Election - Mackenzie Bowell wins riding of Hastings; re-elected 1872, 1874, 1878, 1887 and 1891; later Canada’s 5th Prime Minister. Belleville, Ontario
  • 1873 Finance - Panic caused by failure of the brokerage firm of Jay Cooke and Company results in a five-year depression in North America; Cooke was trying to compete with the CPR by wanting his railway to cross into Canadian territory, and meddled in Canadian politics. New York, New York
  • 1875 William Richards appointed First Chief Justice of the new Supreme Court of Canada, founded on this day; will hold its First session in 1876. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1884 Michael Oxarart arrives in Winnipeg, having driven eighty horses from Oregon for sale. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1885 Riot breaks out in Montréal to protest compulsory smallpox vaccination. Montréal, Québec
  • 1891 Spokane Falls and Northern Railroad reaches Northport, Washington, with spur lines along Canadian border.
  • 1893 Lord Aberdeen appointed Governor General of Canada. London, England
  • 1897 Post Office - Frank McCabe appointed as the First postmaster of Wardner, BC.
  • 1899 Mayor John Shaw formally opens the new Toronto City Hall; built at a cost of $2.5 million, the building still sits at the head of Bay Street, serving as a city courthouse. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1899 First scheduled Columbia & Western Railway train steams into Columbia. Grand Forks, BC
  • 1915 First World War - Saskatchewan’s 28th (North West) Battalion arrives in France for service on the Western Front. France
  • 1936 Record - CPR tests new lightweight streamlined passenger train; 4-4-4 locomotive #3003 hits officially recorded speed of 112.5 mph on the Canadian Pacific Winchester Subdivision line. St-Télésphore, Québec
  • 1942 Media - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/ Radio Canada authorized to start a national radio broadcasting service. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1947 Laval University starts construction of its Cité Universitaire de Québec. Ste-Foy, Quebec
  • 1954 Gallup Poll says a family of four can live comfortably on $50 a week, more than $10 less than the estimate of $60.56 in 1951; half of this amount spent on food. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1956 Adélard Godbout dies; former Premier of Québec. Québec
  • 1965 Chambly incorporated as a town. Chambly, Québec
  • 1971 John Bassett publisher of the Toronto Telegram announces that the newspaper will close October 30, 1971. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1971 Verchères incorporated as a town. Verchères, Québec
  • 1973 Energy - Construction begins on the Syncrude Canada Ltd. site, a synthetic oilsands plant that will produce 21,250,000 Litres a day. Fort McMurray, Alberta
  • 1975 Ontario Election - William Davis leads PCs to minority win in provincial election, taking 5l of 125 seats; NDP official opposition; First minority government in 30 years. Ontario
  • 1976 Trial - Henry Morgentaler again acquitted of performing illegal abortion. Montréal, Québec
  • 1977 Queen Elizabeth II opens 3rd session of the 30th Parliament; reads Throne Speech for the First time since 1957; session meets until October 10, 1978. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1978 Bennett Campbell sworn in as Liberal Premier of Prince Edward Island succeeding Alex Campbell. PEI
  • 1984 Record - Montréal Expos Tim Raines becomes the First player in major league history with four consecutive 70-stolen-base seasons by stealing 4 in Montréal’s 7-4 win over St. Louis. Montréal, Québec
  • 1984 Pope John Paul II prevented by heavy fog from visiting thousands of Chipewyan and Dene First Nations people gathered in Fort Simpson; he promises to return, and flies to Vancouver; will make good his promise September 20, 1987. Fort Simpson, NWT
  • 1984 Hockey - Team Canada defeats Team Sweden 6-5 in second of 3-game playoff to win Canada Cup. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1989 Crime - Ontario NDP Leader Bob Rae arrested with 15 others in Temagami Wilderness Society anti-logging blockade near a stand of old-growth white pines; an Ontario Supreme Court ruling September 14, 1989 had rejected a provincial injunction against the demonstrators; by September 30, 1989, 90 arrests will be made, with 49 charged for mischief. Temagami, Ontario
  • 1990 Olympics - Toronto loses bid to host 1996 Olympic Games; IOC chooses Atlanta over Athens, then Toronto; will be 100th Anniversary of modern games. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1991 Strike - PSAC President Daryl Bean calls Public Service Alliance of Canada strikers back to work to negotiate new contract. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Crime - Explosion rocks Giant Gold mine, killing 9 miners, during labour dispute; miner later charged with first-degree murder. Yellowknife, NWT
  • 1992 Toronto comedy production, The Kids In The Hall, debuts on HBO; after run on CBS. New York, New York
  • 1992 Energy - Trade Minister Michael Wilson says South Korea buying 2 CANDU reactors for $1 billion; will restore prosperity to Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1994 National Party of Canada collapses due to party infighting; nationalist group founded in 1992 by Edmonton publisher Mel Hurtig to promote Canadian unity. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 2001 Ernie Coombs, the CBC childrens entertainer known as Mr. Dressup dies at age 73; born at Lewiston, Maine Nov. 26, 1927. Coombs started his career as a commercial artist; worked as puppeteer for Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood in Pittsburgh; 1964 started playing Mr. Dressup at CBC with his puppet friends Casey and Finnegan; 1996 retired on St. Valentine’s Day after 31 years on the air; author of 5 children’s albums and three books (co-author, with Shelly Tanaka). Toronto, Ontario
  • 2004 John Tory wins the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2006 New Brunswick Election - Shawn Graham leads the NB Liberal Party to a narrow majority government in the provincial election, winning 29 of the province’s 55 seats against Conservative Bernard Lord; the Liberals won more seats but received a slightly smaller proportion of the popular vote, 47.00% to 47.65%. NB