Highlights of the day

  • 1874 Liberal Party intellectual Edward Blake makes Aurora Speech, “A National Sentiment”.
  • 1914 First Canadian Division sails for England with 33,000 volunteers; 32 ship convoy.
  • 1927 Mackenzie King chats with PM Stanley Baldwin to launch transatlantic phone service to UK.
  • 1987 Simon Riesman and team negotiate the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement.

List of Facts for October 3

  • 1535 Jacques Cartier leaves Hochelaga on the ‘Émerillon’ to return to Stadacona [Québec] for the winter. Montréal, Québec
  • 1738 Pierre de La Vérendrye rides up the Assiniboine River valley with sons Louis-Joseph de La Vérendrye and François de La Vérendrye to build Fort La Reine; on the site of Portage La Prairie. Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
  • 1873 Treaty - Saulteaux and Chippewa (Ojibwa) sign Treaty #3 (North-West Angle Treaty) in southern Manitoba and north-western Ontario; surrender aboriginal title in exchange for 88,511 sq km; $12 per Indian; schools; farm instruction. North West Angle, Ontario
  • 1874 Edward Blake defines a new nationalist viewpoint for the Liberal Party with his ‘Aurora Speech’ to over 2,000 people; urges an expanded franchise, some form of proportional representation, compulsory voting, imperial federation and Senate reform; calls Canadians “four millions of Britons who are not free,” and says, “The future of Canada, I believe, depends very largely upon the cultivation of a national spirit. We are engaged in a very difficult task - the task of welding together seven provinces which have been accustomed to regard themselves as isolated from each other, which are full of petty jealousies, their provincial questions, their local interests. Aurora, Ontario
  • 1881 David Laird finishes his service as Lieutenant-governor of the Northwest Territories. Battleford, Saskatchewan
  • 1882 Hector Fabre appointed agent-general for the Canadian government in France. Paris, France
  • 1903 British Columbia Election - Richard McBride wins re-election as the Conservative Premier of BC.
  • 1904 Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company reorganized and recapitalized to $15 million; J. J. Hill and his Great Northern Railroad are major investors. Vancouver, BC
  • 1912 Count Paul d’Esterhazy (John Packh) dies; founder of Esterhazy. Esterhazy, Saskatchewan
  • 1914 First World War - First Canadian Division sails for England with 33,000 volunteers, 7,000 horses and 144 pieces of artillery, travelling in a 32 ship convoy escorted by 10 British warships; largest armed convoy ever to cross the Atlantic by that date; arrives in England October 14, 1914. Gaspé, Québec
  • 1919 Dominion Stores grocery chain incorporated. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1925 Charlie Chaplin’s silent film The Gold Rush, inspired by the Klondike, plays to record-breaking crowds at Winnipeg’s Capitol Theatre. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1927 Technology - Canadian PM Mackenzie King inaugurates the First transatlantic telephone service to the UK by chatting with British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. For the time being, all calls are operator-assisted until 1956, when direct dialing comes in. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1935 Diplomacy - Canada refuses to support military intervention or even sanctions by the League of nations after the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1941 Second World War - Finance Minister J. L. Ilsley puts price freeze proposals to Cabinet; Mackenzie King sceptical at first. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1946 Disaster - American Overseas Airlines plane crashes near Stephenville, killing all 39 on board; worst civil aviation disaster in US history to that date. Stephenville, Newfoundland
  • 1953 NHL All-Stars beat Montréal Canadiens 3-1 in the 7th Natonal Hockey League All-Star Game in the Montréal Forum. Montréal, Québec
  • 1955 Finance - Start of three-day federal-provincial conference on fiscal issues. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1959 Montréal Canadiens beat NHL All-Stars 6-1 in the 13th National Hockey League All-Star Game in the Forum. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1967 Diane Linklater, 20 year old daughter of Canadian born TV personality Art Linklater, dies after jumped from the 6th floor window of her apartment building in Hollywood after taking LSD; the death is called a suicide; Linklater calls it murder. Hollywood, California
  • 1977 Mining - Ottawa starts inquiry into government-approved international cartel to market uranium; possible violations of combines law. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1981 October 3 - Montreal Expos defeat the NY Mets 5-4 to win their First NL pennant since coming into the League in 1969; go on to beat Philadelphia in playoff series but lose to Los Angeles Dodgers in bid to reach World Series when Rick Monday hits winning home run off Expo pitcher Steve Rogers; end of split baseball season disrupted by long players strike. New York, New York
  • 1981 Football - Winnipeg Blue Bombers Dieter Brock sets CFL passing record by completing 41 of 47 passes in 44-24 win over Ottawa Rough Riders. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1985 Pierre-Marc Johnson sworn in as Premier of Québec, replacing René Lévesque. Québec, Québec
  • 1986 Ground-breaking ceremonies held for SkyDome, Toronto’s 56,000 seat stadium built on vacant railway land on Front Street. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1987 Diplomacy - Simon Riesman and other negotiators sign the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement, to take effect January 1, 1989; all tariffs between the world’s two largest trading partners to be phased out before 1999; creation of common energy market in petroleum, gas, uranium and electricity; creation of dispute settlement mechanism; deal reached just before US fast-track deadline for completing negotiations. Washington, DC
  • 1991 October 3 - Environment - Canada signs the Antarctic Treaty accord with 26 other nations; bans mining and oil exploration for next 50 years. San Lorenzo, Spain
  • 1991 Retail - Statistics Canada reports that cross-border shopping up 57.4%, to $617m for First half of 1991, over $392 million in same period 1992. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays beat Detroit Tigers to win the American League East pennant. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1993 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays become the First team in American League history to have teammates finish 1-2-3 in the batting race - John Olerud led the league with a .363 batting average, followed by Paul Molitor at .332 and Roberto Alomar at .326. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1994 October 3 - Crime - Charred corpses of two cult members of the Order of the Solar Temple are excavated from a burned-out condominium in Morin Heights north of Montréal; the bodies are initially thought to be those of Jo Di Mambro (69) and Dr. Luc Jouret (47), Swiss founder and prophet respectively, of the Order, but are later found to be Jerry Genoud and Colette Genoud. The following day, three more bodies, Quebeckers Antonio Dutoit (35), Suzanne Robinson Dutoit (30), and their three month old son, Christopher-Emmanuel, are found the following day huddled under a staircase in an intact adjacent building; all had succumbed to multiple stab wounds; the baby, targeted by Di Mambro as the anti-Christ described in the Bible, had a wooden stake through his heart; apparently the Solar Temple assassin quickly returned to Switzerland from Quebec to announce the demise of the anti-Christ, and Jouret and Di Membro proceed with the slaughter of 48 more members, who are found dead in a burned-out farmhouse and three chalets in Switzerland; many were shot or poisoned in a secret underground chapel lined with mirrors, in ceremonial robes in a circle, feet together, heads outward, all waiting for Jouret to lead them to a better afterlife on a planet revolving around the star Sirius. The Order will claim 16 more victims on Dec, 15 1995, in Vercors, France, and five more on March 23 1997, in St-Casimir, Québec. Ste-Agathe, Québec
  • 1994 Eric Clapton kicks off his Nothing But The Blues tour in Montréal; in 1998 an Ottawa Citizen reporter will discover that he is the illegitimate son of a Canadian soldier and entertainer. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Canadian dollar climbs to highest level in 19 months on the commodity exchanges, US$75.27. Chicago, Illinois
  • 1997 Hockey - Gordie Howie, age 69, plays in his 7th decade, in a game with the IHL’s Detroit Vipers. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1998 Toronto born rocker Neil Young performs at Farm Aid ‘98 with Willie Nelson, and Hootie and the Blowfish. Tinley Park, Illinois
  • 2000 Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is buried in Montréal; died September 28, 2000. Montréal, Québec
  • 2001 Canadian Pacific Limited breaks itself into Canadian Pacific Railway, CP Ships, Fairmont Hotels, Fording Coal Limited, and PanCanadian Energy. Calgary, Alberta
  • 2002 Environment - Canada to create 10 new national parks and five marine conservation areas over the next five years to protect unique landscapes and animals. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Montreal Expos play their very last game, losing 8-1 to the New York Mets in Shea Stadium, with Endy Chavez grounding out to 2nd Base for the final out; the Expos finished in last place with a record of 67-95, and the team is moved to Washington to play as the Nationals. New York City
  • 2006 Shawn Graham becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Bernard Lord. Fredericton, New Brunwsick
  • 2009 Politics - Stephen Harper surprises the crowd at a National Arts Centre (NAC) gala, by singing a Beatles tune with cellist Yo Yo Ma. Ottawa, Ontario