Highlights of the day

  • 1775 British troops capture Vermont rebel Ethan Allen, hero of Ticonderoga, as he rashly attacks Montréal.
  • 1985 Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed opens $30 million Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology at Drumheller.
  • 1996 Québec singer Céline Dion reaches #1 on the Billboard Top 200 for record sales.

List of Facts for September 25

  • 1726 Some Acadians sign a British oath of allegiance on condition they do not have to fight the French. Nova Scotia
  • 1750 Labour - Nova Scotia fixes wage of laborers at 18 pence a day, with a rum and beer provision; First recorded government wage fixing in Canada. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1763 Montague Wilmot appointed Governor of Nova Scotia; takes office in May, 1764. London, England
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - British troops capture Vermont revolutionary Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga, as he rashly leads an attack toward Montréal with a handful of supporters before the Army of the Continental Congress arrives; the leader of the Green Mountain Boys stays a prisoner in an English jail for three years. Montréal, Québec
  • 1810 First issue of the Kingston Gazette published; ancestor of the Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1815 Métis leader Cuthbert Grant attacks fort at Red River settlement; remaining settlers leave two days later. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1839 Rebellion - Lower Canada government deports 58 patriotes to exile in Australia. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1844 Sport - Canada defeats the US by 23 runs in the First international cricket match. Montréal, Québec
  • 1871 Louis-Joseph Papineau dies at his seigneury at Montebello; First elected to Lower Canada Assembly in 1809; became leader of French-Canadian Patriotes and sparkplug of the Rebellion of 1837; later became too radical for mainstream populace of Quebec, and died in obscurity. Montebello, Quebec
  • 1872 David Lewis Macpherson organizes the Interoceanic Railway Company to make a Toronto-based bid for the transcontinental railway contract. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1873 Police - Government hires first nine officers of the North West Mounted Police; Lt. Col. Osborne Smith appointed first (interim ) Commissioner of the NWMP; serves to October 17, 1873. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1876 Crime - Gilbert Gordon becomes Manitoba’s First official outlaw when he escapes from the penitentiary at Upper Fort Garry. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1885 J. H. Pope appointed Minister of Railways and Canals. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1885 Trial - Kapapamahchakwew (Wandering Spirit) tried for treason and sentenced to hang for involvement in the North West Rebellion. Battleford, Saskatchewan
  • 1892 Souris branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway opens. Souris, Saskatchewan
  • 1895 CPR announces it has completed the survey of its right-of-way through the Crow’s Nest Pass to Rossland, BC
  • 1920 Vern Bradburn of the Winnipeg Victorias kicks 9 singles in a rugby football game. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1926 Mackenzie King sworn in as Liberal Prime Minister for the second time; serves until August 7, 1930; replacing Arthur Meighen, PM since June 29, 1926. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1926 National Hockey League grants NHL franchises to Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Red Wings. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1940 Second World War - Canadian armed merchantman ‘Prince Robert’ captures German ship ‘Weser’ off Mexican coast. Pacific Ocean
  • 1942 Second World War - Montreal holds civic welcome for 17 Canadian soldiers wounded in the Dieppe raid. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1942 Second World War - Squadron Leader K. A. Boomer downs Japanese fighter off Alaska; RCAF’s only air combat in North America. Pacific Ocean
  • 1944 Second World War - British General Bernard Montgomery defeated in week-long Battle of Arnhem; in Operation Market Garden, British airborne troops were dropped to capture bridges over Dutch rivers, outflanking the German defensive line. Canadian Army engineers help ferry out the survivors. Arnhem, Netherlands
  • 1946 Hillcrest-Mohawk Collieries ends its working season on Coal Mountain due to low demand. BC
  • 1948 Hillcrest-Mohawk Collieries suspends operations at Coal Mountain due to low demand. BC
  • 1950 Federal-Provincial Conference - Start of three-day conference at Québec City; to try and devise an amending formula for the BNA Act. Québec, Québec
  • 1956 Telecom - Canadian Overseas Telephone Company (COTC), the British Post Office and American Telephone & Telegraph open the first direct dial transatlantic calling service with an exchange of greetings between London, Ottawa and New York. The new $42 million cable from Oban, Scotland, jointly owned by the three firms, consists of two lines laid 30 km apart on the ocean floor. Clarenville, Newfoundland
  • 1957 Health - Provincial Geriatric and Rehabilitation Centre is opened at Regina. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1960 Jean Drapeau founds his Montreal Civic Action Party/ le parti de l’Action Civique de Montréal. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1962 Energy - Anglo-Dutch giant Shell Oil pays $55 a share for Canadian Oil Companies and the ‘White Rose’ brand name; $130 million sale scandal points up need for laws to govern inside trading. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1963 Ontario Election - John Robarts wins a sixth consecutive majority for the provincial Progressive Conservatives. Ontario
  • 1968 Energy - Québec Premier Daniel Johnson, Sr. flips a switch to start electricity generation at Hydro Québec’s Manic 5 power dam. Manicouagan, Québec
  • 1971 Labour - International Typographical Union ends seven-year strike against the Toronto Star, Toronto Telegram and the Globe & Mail; three major Toronto newspapers. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1973 Robin Phillips appointed Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival, succeeding Jean Gascon. Stratford, Ontario
  • 1975 Transport - Ottawa halts construction of new Pickering International Airport east of Toronto. Pickering, Ontario
  • 1976 Montréal Expos baseball team play their last game at Montreal’s Jarry Park; move into Olympic Stadium - the Big O. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1979 Media - The Montréal Star newspaper stops publishing after 110 years. Montréal, Québec
  • 1983 State Visit - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher arrives in Canada for 3-day official visit. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1985 Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed opens the $30 million Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, named after Geological Survey of Canada scientist Joseph Tyrell who discovered dinosaur remains nearby in 1884; later the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology; the museum holds over 200,000 specimens, many from nearby Dinosaur Provincial Park. Drumheller, Alberta
  • 1985 Marcel Masse resigns from Brian Mulroney’s Cabinet. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Québec Election - Robert Bourassa re-elected Premier of Québec; provincial Liberals take 50% of the popular vote and 92 out of 125 seats; PQ 40.2%, Equality Party 4.6%; Jacques Parizeau elected, and becomes Leader of the Opposition. Québec
  • 1991 Stan Waters dies at age 71 of brain cancer; commanded Canadian Army 1973-75; pursued business career after retirement; one of the founding members of the Reform Party; campaigned for a ‘Triple-E Senate’ - elected, efficient and providing equal representation of the provinces; won an 1989 provincial vote held in Alberta to recommend who would fill the province’s vacant seat in the Senate of Canada; not a legal election, and Ottawa refused to confirm the appointment, but it was accepted in June, 1990 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1992 Royal Bank CEO Allan Taylor releases study showing costs of breakup of Canada; predicts a 15% drop in living standards by 2000; each Canadian $4,000 poorer, 720,000 jobless, 1.25 million to emigrate to US. Three days later, the Canadian dollar shows its biggest drop in value since the Depression. Taylor also says a No vote in the Charlottetown Accord referendum, to be held on October 26, 1992, would be bad for the economy.Montréal, Québec
  • 1996 Québec singer Céline Dion reaches #1 on the Billboard Top 200 for record sales. New York, New York
  • 1996 Speaker of the Ontario Legislature Allan McLean resigns in the wake of a sexual harassment case. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1997 Chris Jericho inducted into the Canadian Wrestling Hall Of Fame.
  • 1999 Hockey - Ottawa turns down program of financial aid to the 6 remaining Canadian-based NHL hockey teams; claim they are suffering from the low Canadian dollar. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2005 Allison Brewer elected leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party. Fredericton, NB