Highlights of the day

  • 1737 Iron ore first smelted in Canada at the Forges de St.-Maurice, north of Trois-Rivières.
  • 1774 Québec Act given Royal Assent; governor & council; freedom of religion to RCs
  • 1763 Royal Proclamation of 1763 declares Aboriginals hold lands unless ceded by Crown.”
  • 1913 William Herron discovers oil on Dingman site near Calgary; Alberta’s First oil boom.
  • 1992 NAFTA - the North American Free Trade Agreement - initialled by Canada, Mexico and USA.

List of Facts for October 7

  • 1535 Jacques Cartier plants a cross at the mouth of the St. Maurice River and claims the land for France; calls the river the Rivière Fouez. Trois-Rivières, Québec
  • 1661 Crime - Daniel Uvil executed; shot for selling alcohol to the Indians. Québec, Québec
  • 1663 October 7 - First municipal council meets at Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1663 Jean de Repentigny elected First Mayor of Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1737 Smelting - Iron ore is smelted in Canada for the First time on the banks of the St. Maurice River upstream from Trois-Rivières; Parks Canada presently operates the Forges de St.-Maurice as a national historic site. Trois-Rivières, Québec
  • 1758 First meeting of the Nova Scotia Legislature. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1763 October 7 - King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763; constitutes the new British Province of Quebec; provides terms of government for the territories Britain acquired from France under the Treaty of Paris; recognizes Indian rights in British North America, effectively closing lands north and west of the Alleghenies to settlement, which infuriates many American colonists; sets the western boundary where the 45th parallel crosses the St. Lawrence River NW to Lake Nipissing; the Appalachian watershed becomes the eastern boundary of Quebec. London, England
  • 1763 Royal Proclamation of 1763 declares that [Aboriginals] should not be “molested or disturbed in the Possession of such Parts of Our Dominions and Territories as, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us”, at the same time that it assumes that all lands in British territories belong to the Crown. London, England
  • 1763 Cape Breton annexed to Nova Scotia. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1763 Justice - Government appoints 10 English-speaking Justices of the Peace. Québec, Québec
  • 1773 Sculpture - Bust of King George III unveiled in the Place d’Armes. Montréal, Québec
  • 1774 Québec Act given Royal Assent; province to be ruled by a governor and from 17 to 23 councillors; freedom of religion given to Roman Catholics, and permission for Catholics to hold public office; guaranteed use of the French language; establishment of the French Civil Code and the English Criminal Code; maintenance of the seigneurial system; all to promote loyalty in the event of an American revolution. London, England
  • 1777 American Revolutionary War - Robert Rogers’ First American Regiment beats back George Washington and his rebel forces at Chadds Ford; regiment later known as the Queen’s York Regiment organized before the Revolution by Rogers; later moved to Toronto by Lt-Col John Graves Simcoe. Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
  • 1798 Count de Puisaye’s group of 44 refugees from the French Revolution are given land in Upper Canada, in Uxbridge, Gwillimbury, and Whitchurch Townships. Uxbridge, Ontario
  • 1825 Great Miramachi Fire begins; destroys Newcastle and Douglastown, New Brunswick, fed by hurricane force winds, the fire will be one of the three largest fires ever recorded in North America; it will leave over 500 people dead and torch 3 million acres of land, including homes, crops and communities. Newcastle, New Brunswick
  • 1841 Charles Bagot appointed Governor-General of the Province of Canada; serves from January 12, 1842 to March 30, 1843. London, England
  • 1869 Kohklux, chief of the Chilkat Indian village of Klukwan, draws US scientist George Davidson a highly detailed and accurate map of the Yukon/Alaska interior; impressed with Davidson’s prediction of a total solar eclipse. Klukwan, BC
  • 1876 October 7 - Northwest Territories Act is passed (An Act to amend and consolidate Laws respecting North-West Territories); separates the Territories from Manitoba. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1876 David Laird appointed Lieutenant-governor and Indian Superintendent of the Northwest Territories. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1885 Energy - Opening of the Montmorency Falls hydro-electric generating station. Montmorency, Québec
  • 1896 Responsible Government instituted in the NWT; Frederick Haultain sworn in as nonpartisan Premier, Attorney General and Territorial Treasurer of the Northwest Territories; serves to September 1, 1905. Battleford, Saskatchewan
  • 1897 Frederick Haultain, Premier of the Northwest Territories, supports the creation of a new prairie province called “Buffalo”; in a speech in Yorkton. Yorkton, Saskatchewan
  • 1904 Religion - Opening of the First St. Joseph’s Chapel in Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1909 William Pipes dies; lawyer, Liberal Premier of Nova Scotia 1882-1884; born April 15, 1850 at Amherst, Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia
  • 1913 William Herron gets good traces of crude oil on the Dingman site by Sheep Creek near Calgary, sparking Alberta’s First oil boom. Herron, a local horse wrangler, First noticed gas bubbling out of an old mine shaft in 1911, collected samples, and formed a company with Archibald Dingman - he Calgary Petroleum Products Company - to drill on the site. Okotoks, Alberta
  • 1918 Epidemic of Spanish Influenza claims its first victim in Montréal; brought by returning veterans from First World War. Montréal, Québec
  • 1920 Kettle Valley Railway opens its spur from Princeton to Copper Mountain, BC. Princeton, BC
  • 1931 Strike by Estevan coal miners ends. Estevan, Saskatchewan
  • 1934 Richard Reid sworn in as UFA Premier of Alberta, succeeding John Brownlee. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1936 Paul Sauvé opens the Québec National Assembly as Premier. Québec, Québec
  • 1944 Second World War - RCAF’s No. 6 Group strikes at Dortmund; loses only two out of record 293 bombers. Dortmund, Germany
  • 1950 Montreal born comedian Ben Blue a cast member of The Frank Sinatra Show, that debuts on this day; the crooner’s First plunge into TV. Los Angeles, California
  • 1951 Princeton incorporated as a Village: Isaac Plecash, mayor. Princeton, BC
  • 1960 Trade - Fifteen Canadian industrialists leave on three-week trade mission to Europe. Europe
  • 1961 NHL All-Stars beat Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 in the 15th National Hockey League All-Star Game in Chicago. Chicago, Illinois
  • 1963 Terrorism - FLQ leader Georges Schoeters given 2 five-year terms for terrorist activities; Gabriel Hudon and Raymond Villeneuve get 12 years for April 20, 1963 death of Canadian Army watchman Sgt. Wilfred O’Neill. Montréal, Québec
  • 1964 Education - Opening of Eastern Ontario Institute of Technology in Ottawa; today’s Algonquin College. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Justice - Patrick Kelly chairs Commission on Windfall Mines; wants Ontario Securities Commission set up as independent body. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1966 South Saskatchewan Dam renamed the Gardiner Dam to honour Jimmy Gardiner, former Premier of Saskatchewan and federal Minister of Agriculture. Saskatchewan
  • 1968 October 7 - Terrorism - FLQ terrorists steal dynamite from store at Chomedey. Chomedey, Québec
  • 1968 Strike - Students occupy Collège Lionel Groulx, demand job programs and new French-language courses; other provincial colleges strike, but all CÉGEPs re-open by October 28, 1968. Ste-Thérèse de Blainville, Québec
  • 1969 October 7 - Strike by Montreal’s 3,700 police and firefighters; the 16-hour wildcat strike results in violence, looting and arson, as well as the death of one policeman and one civilian; both unions legislated back to work October 8, 1969; during the strike, FLQ terrorists broke into an armory and stole weapons. Montreal, Québec
  • 1969 Diplomacy - Canada resumes diplomatic relations with Gabon; suspended on February 19, 1968. Gabon
  • 1970 October Crisis - FLQ Manifesto read over radio station CKAC; the demands of the terrorists have expired without action from the federal or provincial governments. Chronology of the day: at 9:00 am, police discover the taxi used for the kidnapping of James Cross; at noon, Windsor Station is ransacked; in the afternoon, the FLQ issue two more communiqués, and at 6:00 pm, their lawyer Robert Lemieux holds a press conference to discuss the government’s offer to negotiate. Montréal, Québec
  • 1973 South Similkameen Museum Society opens its museum in Keremeos; Constable W.B. Stewart, retired, of BCPP, officiates. Keremeos, BC
  • 1975 Strike - British Columbia Legislature passes emergency measures legislation to force striking forest, railway, propane, and food industry workers to work. Victoria, BC
  • 1977 Morrissey, Fernie and Michel Railway Company dissolved. Fernie, BC
  • 1982 Canadian mountaineer Patrick Morrow reaches peak of Everest; one Canadian and 3 Nepalese killed in the ascent; native of Kimberley, BC. Nepal
  • 1983 Bell Helicopter Textron starts construction of Canada’s First helicopter factory at Mirabel Airport; investment of $766 million subsidized by Ottawa and Québec. Ste-Thérèse de Blainville, Québec
  • 1990 Canadian Forces CF-18 fighter jets start arriving at ‘Camp Canada Dry’ on the Persian Gulf to join a multinational force blocking Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Qatar, United Arab Emirates
  • 1992 October 7 - Michael Wilson initials NAFTA - the North American Free Trade Agreement - with Mexico and USA; symbolic ceremony attended by PM Brian Mulroney, US President Bush and Mexican President Salinas. San Antonio, Texas
  • 1992 Canadian Forces planning special peacekeeping force for UN duties; reaching limit of what it can do with conventional troops. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Media - CBC unveils new 9:00 pm news program Prime Time News; with Peter Mansbridge and Pamela Wallin; to replace The National and The Journal. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens hold a ceremony to retire the #1 sweater of goaltender Jacques Plante. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Funeral held for former Québec Premier Robert Bourassa, who died of cancer. Montréal, Québec
  • 1997 October 7 - Airbus Enquiry - Arbitrator orders RCMP to make reparations of $2 million plus interest to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, to cover his legal expenses, for defamatory accusations released during the Airbus enquiry; Mulroney launched a $50-million libel suit in November 1995 against the government after the Justice Department and RCMP investigators linked his name to over $5 million in purported kickbacks from the 1988 sale of 34 Airbus A320 passenger jets to Air Canada for $1.8 billion. Montréal, Québec
  • 1997 New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna retires after 10 years in office. Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • 1999 Adrienne Clarkson sworn in as Governor General of Canada; former CBC broadcaster the second woman to hold the office; named September 8, 1999. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2001 Military - Canada joins NATO attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan; Canadian fighter pilots and ground troops are involved in the war. Kabul, Afghanistan
  • 2002 Terrorism - U.S. Immigration and Naturalization officials at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport deport Canadian citizen Maher Arar, suspected of having links to al-Qaeda, to his native Syria; he was detained for questioning on September 26, 2002 while returning alone to Montreal from a family vacation in Tunisia; Arar is carrying a Canadian passport; he is tortured by the Syrians. New York, New York