Highlights of the day

  • 1798 Upper Canada Gazette first published in York; Toronto’s first newspaper.
  • 1873 Founding of Toronto Argonaut Football Club; branch of rowing club, hence the name.
  • 1920 Robert Leckie takes off from Dartmouth to begin first flight across Canada.
  • 1922 Cabinet creates Canadian National Railway Company; pulls CNR lines into one system.
  • 1982 Calgary climber Laurie Skreslet first Canadian to reach the top of 8,848 m Mt. Everest.

List of Facts for October 4

  • 1535 Jacques Cartier travels downstream from Hochelaga on board the ‘Émérillon’ toward Stadacona where he will spend the winter. Montréal, Québec
  • 1666 French-Iroquois War - The Marquis de Tracy military governor of New France (1663-67), arrives at the south end of Lake Champlain with an army of 1000 French regulars, 600 New France militia and 100 Hurons and Algonkians in a flotilla of 300 boats and canoes; after a rain-soaked march of several days, they will burn Iroquois corn crops and the deserted Mohawk village of Andarague October 16, 1666, as well as three other settlements. The expedition was ordered by Jean Talon left Québec September 14, 1666 after peace talks with the Iroquois failed; the Iroquois turn to the English for help. Ticonderoga, New York
  • 1773 Sculpture - Unveiling of a monument to General James Wolfe at Westminster. London, England
  • 1798 Media - The Upper Canada Gazette, or American Oracle, first published in the town of York; originally founded in Newark (Niagara) and first published April 18, 1793. Toronto’s first newspaper mainly chronicles the activities and decisions of Simcoe’s government; in 1802, it will publish the proclamation announcing the Treaty of Amiens to the townspeople; in 1812, it will publish Isaac Brock’s proclamation to alert the citizens of York to the possibility of an American invasion. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1812 War of 1812 - Americans repel British attack on Ogdensburg. Ogdensburg, New York
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Indian leader Tecumseh tells his fellow warriors, “We are about to enter an engagement from which I shall not return”; he will be killed by an American bullet October 5, 1813 at the Battle of the Thames; end of Indian resistance south of the lakes and British control of western Upper Canada. Moraviantown, Ontario
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837 - Les Fils de la Liberté (Sons of Liberty) publish a manifesto calling for the election of a republican government in Lower Canada. Montréal, Québec
  • 1851 Disaster - Freak gale off coast of Prince Edward Island sinks 100 American fishing vessels and kills at least 130 fishermen. PEI
  • 1860 Sport - World’s First indoor lacrosse match held in Montréal’s Lacrosse Ground. Montréal, Québec
  • 1864 Joe Montferrand dies in Montréal, where he owned a tavern and restaurant; once billed by American showman P. T. Barnum as the “Strongest Man in the World”; grew up in the Ottawa Valley where he was known for taking on 20 English troublemakers at once; he is commemorated in the folk song, “Mufferaw Joe”. Montréal, Québec
  • 1873 October 4 - Immigration - Sigtryggur Jonasson leads First Icelander group to found a new settlement on Lake Winnipeg; they name it ‘Gimli,’ which means ‘Paradise,’ or ‘The Great Hall of Heaven’ in Icelandic. The settlers main body of settlers arrives in 1875, unloading their flat bottomed boats at Willow Point. Gimli, Manitoba
  • 1873 Founding of the Toronto Argonaut Football Club to play rugby football; branch of rowing club, hence the name. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1873 Grand Trunk Railway finishes converting its tracks between Stratford and Montréal from 5’ 6 to the 4’ 8 1/2 standard gauge; work of 421 miles plus 60 miles of sidings completed in 24 hours; only 16 hours interruption on the main line. Ontario/Québec
  • 1876 Manitoba Schools Question - Protestant section of the Board of Education passes a resolution asking for a single, nonsectarian school system in Manitoba. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1886 Sicamous and Okanagan Railway Company opens offices in Victoria, BC.
  • 1888 Sylvia Convert born: First non-Aborginal child in the Grand Forks area. Grand Forks, BC
  • 1897 J. C. Corbin completes the Northport bridge on the Columbia and Red Mountain Railway. Northport, BC
  • 1898 Amédée Forget begins the First of his two terms as Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Territories.
  • 1899 October 4 - Boer War - First Canadian troops sent to an overseas war, the Second Boer War in South Africa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1899 Nelson Electric Tramway Company incorporated by the British Electric Traction Company. Nelson, BC
  • 1907 English author Rudyard Kipling takes brief tour of Calgary, after a CPR stop in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where he saw the gas wells discovered by the CPR when looking for water, and says “You people in this district seem to have all Hell for a basement”. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1909 October 4 - Building - Cornerstone of the Saskatchewan Legislature laid. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1909 Fire - End of disastrous prairie fire around Red Deer; 5 million acres burned, several people killed, homes and livestock destroyed. Red Deer, Alberta
  • 1909 Building - Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier lays the cornerstone of the École Technique in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1910 Kettle River Valley Railway begins construction west from Midway, BC.
  • 1913 Freddy Wilson of the Regina Roughriders kicks 10 singles in a rugby football game. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1917 Prohibition - Québeckers vote for prohibition of alcoholic beverages by a close 43,000 vote margin in a referendum; decision too narrow to proceed. Québec
  • 1918 Epidemic - First cases of the Spanish flu in Alberta are reported in Calgary. Calgary, Alberta
  • 1920 Aviation - Wing Commander Robert Leckie takes off from Dartmouth to begin the First flight across Canada; he arrives in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 11, 1920. From Winnipeg Air Commodore A. K. Tylee and three other pilots fly to Vancouver, BC, arriving October 17, 1920. The Total elapsed time is 45 hours and 20 minutes for a flight of 5,488 km. Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
  • 1922 October 4 - Rail - Cabinet creates Canadian National Railway Company as a corporate entity (Order in council P.C. 2094); government consolidates separate CNR lines into one system; appoints board of directors. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1922 Disaster - Great Haileybury Fire in Northern Ontario kills 41 people; leaves 10,000 homeless. Haileybury, Ontario
  • 1927 Aviation - Western Canada Airways starts Canada’s First official Royal Mail airmail service to northern mining communities. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1936 Sovereignty - Historian Abbé Lionel Groulx proposes the creation of a separate French state in North America. Québec, Québec
  • 1950 Alberta Premier Ernest Manning officially opens the Edmonton-Regina section of TransCanada Pipelines, Canada’s First major oil pipeline; will be built into Ontario. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1957 Aviation - First prototype Avro Arrow rolled out at A. V. Roe’s Malton plant and presented to the media; built by head designer James Floyd with a team of aeronautical scientists, some of whom would later play a key role in the Apollo project to put a man on the moon; the plane will be test flown on March 25, 1958. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1958 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens beat the NHL All-Stars 6-3 in the 12th National Hockey League All-Star Game held in the Montréal Forum. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1963 Strike by 3,800 longshoremen closes three St. Lawrence ports; delays shipment of wheat to Soviet Union. Montréal, Québec
  • 1964 October 4 - Patrick Watson and Laurier LaPierre host First broadcast of CBC-TV public affairs program ‘This Hour Has Seven Days’; controversial show discontinued May 8, 1966. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1964 Thorbergur Thorvaldson dies; cement chemist and educator; Thorvaldson Lake and a building on the University of Saskatchewan campus are named in his honour. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1965 Human Rights - Court fines Hilton of Canada for discriminating against black job applicant at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Montréal, Québec
  • 1971 Energy - Oil and natural gas discovered under Sable Island, 280 km south of Halifax. Sable Island, Nova Scotia
  • 1973 Energy - Alberta raises royalties on gas and oil production, based on wellhead prices. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1975 October 4 - Montréal-Mirabel International Airport opens for business. Ste-Thérèse de Blainville, Québec
  • 1975 American Revolutionary War - 750 Americans in colonial costumes re-enact 1775 American attack on Québec City; part of the US Bicentennial celebrations. Québec, Québec
  • 1978 Princeton incorporated as a town; David Brown, mayor. Princeton, BC
  • 1980 Baseball - Mike Schmidt’s 2-run homer in the top of the eleventh inning gives Philadelphia a 6-4 win over the Montréal Expos, clinching the NL East title for the Phillies. The home run is Schmidt’s 48th of the season, breaking Eddie Mathews’s single-season record for third baseman set in 1953. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1982 October 4 - Canadian Mount Everest Expedition - Calgary mountaineer Laurie Skreslet reaches the top of 8,848 m (29,002 ft) Mt. Everest; Skreslet leaves Camp 4 at 4 am with two Sherpas; by 9:15 am they are standing on the summit. Kathmandu, Nepal
  • 1982 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays clinch First American League Eastern division baseball pennant. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1982 Canadian pianist Glenn Gould dies of a stroke at age 50; possibly complicated by addiction to medication. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1985 Football, - Winnipeg Blue Bombers James Jefferson scores 2 touchdowns on interception returns without making an interception, by scoring on laterals. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1987 Baseball - Frank Tanana outduels Jimmy Key as Detroit Tigers beat second-place Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 at Tiger Stadium on Larry Herndon’s second-inning home run, to win the AL East title; were one game behind the Jays entering their 3-game season-ending showdown, and won each game by a single run (4-3, 3-2, and 1-0); Blue Jays lost their final 7 games, allowing the Tigers to beat them in the division on the last day of the regular season. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1988 Justice - Nine Canadians victimized by CIA brainwashing experiments at McGill University in the 1950s reach out-of-court settlement, sharing $750,000 award. Washington, DC
  • 1991 Hockey - NHL NY Rangers trade Bernie Nichols to Edmonton Oilers for Mark Messier. New York, New York
  • 1992 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland As win the American League East and West champs with an identical record (96-66); First time in baseball history. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1993 October 4 - Blood System - Justice Horace Krever appointed by federal government to review Canadian blood system and Red Cross management, after 1,200 Canadians infected with AIDS virus and another 12,000 with hepatitis C during the 1980s; hearings to start November 22, 1993. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1993 Environment - Clayoquot Sound environmental activists close down their anti-logging protest camp on Vancouver Island for the winter; over 700 arrested during 3 months of demonstrations. Clayoquot Sound, BC
  • 1995 Ottawa rock singer Alanis Morissette appears on the covers of both Rolling Stone and Spin magazines. New York, New York
  • 1996 October 4 - Céline Dion’s album ‘Falling Into You’ is certified Multi Platinum 5.00; her single, ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’ is also certified Gold and Platinum. New York, New York
  • 1996 Politics - Defence Minister David Collenette resigns after admitting he violated ethics guidelines by signing a letter to the Immigration Board on behalf of a constituent. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1997 Lennox Lewis successfully defends his WBC world heavyweight boxing title against Andrew Golota of Poland in a First round technical knock out; Lewis boxed for Canada at the Seoul Summer Olympics. Atlantic City, New Jersey
  • 1999 Larry Walker of the Colorado Rockies ends baseball season as National League batting champion; Canadian baseball player wins title with a .379 average. North America
  • 2002 Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Canada to start of 12-day Canadian tour to mark her Golden Jubilee. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 2004 October 4 - Amnesty International releases a report critical Canada’s lack of protection of Aboriginal women. New York, New York
  • 2004 Terrorism - Canada starts investigating the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for possible relations with Hamas terrorists. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 Politics - Paul Martin and his Cabinet ministers sworn in at Rideau Hall; Canada’s first minority government since 1979. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2005 Epidemic - Toronto’s chief medical officer says 4 more residents of a nursing home for the elderly have died of an unknown respiratory illness, bringing the number fatally infected by the disease to 10; Legionnaires’ Disease the likely cause; the death total will rise to 16 over two days. Toronto, Ontario