October 5

Highlights of the day

1786 Prince William (aka “Coconut Head”) 1st member of the Royal Family to visit Canada.
1813 War of 1812 - Shawnee chief Tecumseh killed in Battle of Moraviantown.
1878 John Douglas Sutherland, Lord Lorne appointed Governor-General of Canada.
1970 UK Trade Commissioner James Cross kidnapped from Westmount home by FLQ terrorists
1984 Marc Garneau becomes Canadian in space; on board Space Shuttle Challenger STS-41G.

List of Facts for October 5

1658 Robert de La Salle enters the Noviciat des Jésuites in Paris. Paris, France
1710 Francis Nicholson attacks Port-Royal; Daniel de Subercase, with less than 300 men, resists for eight days before surrendering. Annapolis, Nova Scotia
1755 Captain Pierre Pouchot and the Guienne regiment sail from Fort Frontenac with orders to rebuild the fortifications at Fort Niagara, with a new colonial war threatening; starts line of fortifications from Lake Ontario to the bank of the Niagara River, with a wall flanked by two projecting bastions, in the manner of Vauban’s great European fortresses. Kingston, Ontario
1786 Prince William becomes the First member of the Royal Family to visit Halifax; the 21 year old is known as ‘Coconut Head’ to his fellow Navy officers; he has a reputation for ‘wenching’. Halifax, Nova Scotia
1793 Captain George Vancouver arrives at Nootka Sound. Nootka Sound, BC
1795 William Tomison of the Hudson’s Bay Company finishes building Edmonton House, a fortified fur trade post on a sheltered curve of the North Saskatchewan River, close to the rival North West Company post; the NWCo post will be closed after amalgamation in 1821; the HBC fort will be rebuilt on a bluff near the present day Alberta Legislature in 1830, after severe flooding; it was dismantled in 1915, and reconstructed as Fort Edmonton Park in the 1960s. Edmonton, Alberta
1813 October 5 - War of 1812 - Shawnee chief Tecumseh is killed in the Battle of Moraviantown (Battle of the Thames), as William Henry Harrison defeats an outnumbered retreating Henry Procter; the Americans control the western frontier for the rest of the conflict. Moraviantown, Ontario
1813 War of 1812 - US Navy Commodore Isaac Chauncey captures six British schooners on Lake Ontario; they are carrying reinforcements and the sick and wounded from York to Kingston. Ontario
1829 Fort Pitt is established on the North Saskatchewan River. Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan
1835 Rail - Railway promoters put forward a plan to build an interprovincial line from Québec to New Brunswick. Montréal, Québec
1869 Disaster - Hurricane roars up the Bay of Fundy, sinking or driving ashore over 120 ships. Saint John, New Brunswick
1871 October 5 - Fenian raids - William O’Donoghue leads Fenian raiding party across Manitoba border at Pembina; seizes HBC post; followed and arrested by US troops. Pembina, Manitoba
1871 Louis Riel secretly returns to Manitoba to help the government put down a Fenian Raid from Minnesota; publicly thanked by Lieutenant-Governor Adams Archibald. St. Norbert, Manitoba
1871 First sod turned for the Prince Edward Island Railway. Charlottetown, PEI
1878 John Douglas Sutherland, Lord Lorne appointed Governor-General of Canada; serves from November 25, 1878 to October 21, 1883; his wife is Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria. London, England
1884 Disaster - Great Lakes steamer “Arabia” sinks in open water during a storm on Georgian Bay, when its cargo of grain becomes wet, expands and bursts the seams of the hull; the entire crew is saved; today the wreck lies 37 metres below the surface of Lake Huron, along with over 21 other steam and sailing vessels, in Fathom Five National Marine Park, at the tip of Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula. Tobermory, Ontario
1885 Trial - Itka and Man Without Blood tried, found guilty and sentenced to hang for killing farm instructor Payne on the Mosquito Reserve on March 29, 1885 the hangings take place on November 27, 1885. Battleford, Saskatchewan
1898 Rail - Last spike driven in Crow’s Nest Pass Line near Kootenay Landing, BC.
1907 Football - Montreal defeats Toronto 17-8 in First game of the new Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU). Montreal, Quebec
1912 Billy Mallett of the Hamilton Tigers kicks 9 single points in one Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) game. Hamilton, Ontario
1939 October 5 - Second World War - General Andrew McNaughton named to head the First Canadian Division. Ottawa, Ontario
1939 Second World War - Department of Finance sets up War Supply Board for government purchasing; transferred to new Department of Munitions and Supply in 1940. Ottawa, Ontario
1940 Second World War - Battle of Britain ends, with RAF airmen, many of whom were Canadian, driving Hermann Goring’s Luftwaffe from the skies over southern England. Britain
1944 Second World War - Five RCAF pilots destroy First German Messerschmidt jet fighter. France
1948 Espionage - Ottawa announces it has issued a Canadian citizenship certificate to Igor Gouzenko; the former cypher clerk defected from Soviet Embassy with files that showed Communist spy rings operating in Canada; put under protective custody. Ottawa, Ontario
1949 Diplomacy - Canadian mission attends UN opening ceremony, as the United Nations flag is raised over its New York headquarters. New York, New York
1951 Opening of the Centre for Physical Sciences at McGill University. Montréal, Québec
1952 NHL 1st Team ties 2nd Team 1-1 in the 6th National Hockey League All-Star Game in the Olympia. Detroit, Michigan
1954 Maurice Duplessis meets Louis St-Laurent to discuss taxation. Montreal, Quebec
1955 Foreign Aid - Canada announces plans to build power plant in Pakistan under Colombo Plan. Ottawa, Ontario
1957 October 5 - Strike - End of bitter 6 month walkout at the Murdochville mine. Murdochville, Québec
1957 NHL All-Stars beat Montréal Canadiens 5-3 in the 11th National Hockey League All-Star Game at the Forum. Montreal, Quebec
1958 Boundary Museum in Grand Forks opens. Grand Forks, BC
1959 October 5 - Ottawa singer Paul Anka’s ‘Put Your Head On My Shoulder’ peaks at #2 on the Billboard pop singles chart. New York, New York
1959 Roman Catholic Church celebrates the 300th anniversary of the hierarchy in Canada.
1961 Diplomacy - Inauguration of La Maison du Québec in Paris. Paris, France
1962 Bonanza/Blueberry Pass section of the Crowsnest Highway opens for traffic. BC
1963 NHL All-Stars tie Toronto Maple Leafs 3-3 in the 17th National Hockey League All-Star Game at Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto, Ontario
1964 October 5 - Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip begin an eight-day visit to Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
1964 New Winnipeg City Hall opens. Winnipeg, Manitoba
1970 Terrorism - British Trade Commissioner James Cross kidnapped at gunpoint from his Westmount home at 8:45 am by masked Front de Libération du Québec terrorists; FLQ group consists of Jacques Lanctot, Marc Carbonneau, Louise Cossette-Trudel, Jacques Cossette-Trudel and Yves Langlois; at 1:00 pm they deliver a communique to a site in Parc LaFontaine demanding a $500,000 ransom, and the release of 23 ‘political’ prisoners; at 4;00 pm Québec Justice Minister Jérôme Choquette holds a press conference making the FLQ conditions public; at 5:00 pm the Robert Bourassa and Pierre Trudeau cabinets both hold emergency meetings; Cross will be released unharmed in December. Montréal, Québec See: British Trade Commissioner James Cross kidnapped by FLQ
October 5 - Terrorism FLQ Manifesto is issued by the Front de Libération du Québec (Quebec Liberation Front); will be read over Radio-Canada October 8, 1970 as a condition for the release of kidnapped British trade official James Cross. Montréal, Québec
1973 October 5 - Jules Leger chosen as Governor General of Canada in succession to Roland Michener; currently Canadian Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg; he will start to serve in 1974, after recovering from a stroke. Ottawa, Ontario
1973 Trade - Ottawa sells China up to 7,800 million L (220 million bushels) of Canadian wheat over three years. Ottawa, Ontario
1973 Toronto rocker Neil Young joins Graham Nash and David Crosby, as they do a 50 minute set with Stephen Stills and Manassas at San Francisco’s Winterland ballroom; First performance of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in two years. San Francisco, California
1974 Jules Leger takes duties as Governor General of Canada after recovering from a stroke; serving from January 14, 1974 to January 22,1979. Ottawa, Ontario
1975 Aviation - Official opening of Mirabel Airport. Ste-Thérèse de Blainville, Québec
1976 October 5 - Death Penalty - Supreme Court of Canada rules that death penalty not cruel and unusual penalty; within meaning of Canadian Bill of Rights. Ottawa, Ontario
1976 Baseball - American League Toronto Blue Jays pick Bob Bailor as their First choice among 30 unprotected players on other AL rosters; the Seattle Mariners pick Ruppert Jones. Toronto, Ontario
1978 Nova Scotia Election - John Buchanan leads Conservatives to victory in provincial election over Gerald Regan’s Liberals; Premier to September 12, 1990, will become the second Conservative Premier to win four majority governments; known for investigating tidal power and using Cape Breton coal as a cheap alternative to costly foreign oil; began process of gas exploration that led to Sable Island project; 1990 appointed a Senator to help Mulroney government pass the GST. Nova Scotia
1980 Montréal Expos Ron Leflore steals bases 96 and 97 against Philadelphia, becoming the First player in baseball history to win the stolen bases title in both major leagues. Leflore won the American League title In 1978, stealing 68 bases with Detroit. Montréal, Québec
1982 Laurie Skreslet returns to base camp after becoming the first Canadian to have climbed Mount Everest on CBC Archives)
1984 Space - Marc Garneau becomes First Canadian in space on board Space Shuttle Challenger Flight STS-41G; during the eight day mission he will travel a total of 3.4 million miles around the Earth in 133 orbits; the crew will deploy the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, conduct scientific observations of the earth with the OSTA-3 pallet and Large Format Camera (LFC), and demonstrate potential satellite refueling with an EVA and associated hydrazine transfer. Mission duration is 197 hours 23 minutes. Cape Canaveral, Florida
1985 Toronto Blue Jays clinch their First American League Eastern Division baseball pennant. Toronto, Ontario
1987 October 5 - Diplomacy - Canada and US sign Free Trade Agreement. Washington, DC
1987 Hockey - New York Islander star Mike Bossy announces he will be taking a year off from the NHL to rehabilitate his injured back. Montreal, Quebec
1990 Senate of Canada ends filibuster on the GST; Liberal Senator Sid Buckwold, chairman of the Banking Committee, moves a report recommending that the 7% Goods and Services Tax proposed by the Brian Mulroney government be killed. Ottawa, Ontario
1992 October 5 - Mining - Four Westray Mines officials charged with violating mine safety rules; failed to clear explosive dust; mine disaster killed 26. New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
1992 George Weber the First Canadian to head 152 country International Red Cross Society; world’s largest aid group; Secretary-General of the Canadian Red Cross. Ottawa, Ontario
1994 October 5 - Welfare - Government announces new social assistance reform program. Ottawa, Ontario
1994 At least 48 members of the secretive Solar Temple doomsday cult are found dead in apparent murder-suicides carried out simultaneously in two Swiss villages and north of Montréal. Montréal, Québec
1999 Gary Doer of the New Democratic Party of Manitoba sworn in as Premier of Manitoba, replacing Gary Filmon of the Conservatives. Winnipeg, Manitoba
2003 Maher Arar is freed from jail in Syria.
2004 October 5 - Governor General Adrienne Clarkson reads the Speech from the Throne. Ottawa, Ontario
2004 Fire breaks out on board Canadian Forces submarine HMCS Chicoutimi (SSK 879) off the northwest coast of Ireland, causing a loss of control power; 57 sailors take to the boats until the fire is brought under control; Lieutenant Chris Saunders, one of nine crew members hurt in the fire, dies of smoke inhalation after a British helicopter flies him to a hospital in Ireland. Atlantic Ocean