Highlights of the day

  • 1872 John A. Macdonald defeats Alexander Mackenzie in 2nd Dominion election; 104 seats to Liberal 96.
  • 1917 Robert Borden sworn in as Unionist PM; 10 Liberals and 13 Conservatives in Cabinet.
  • 1957 Lester Pearson awarded 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for setting up United Nations Emergency Force.
  • 1970 Canadian Army troops from Camp Petawawa deploy in Ottawa to meet FLQ terrorist threats.
  • 1989 Sydney Altman wins Nobel Prize for Chemistry with colleague Thomas Cech.
  • 1994 Bertie Brockhouse wins Nobel Prize for Physics with colleague Clifford Shull.

List of Facts for October 12

  • 1535 Iroquois show Jacques Cartier and his crew the use of tobacco. Québec, Québec
  • 1615 Samuel de Champlain, wounded, retreats with his Huron war party back toward Lake Ontario after defeat by Senecas and Onondagas. Syracuse, New York
  • 1675 Robert de La Salle appointed Governor of Fort Frontenac. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1759 French and Indian War - Bishop Henri de Pontbriand tells the people of Québec to accept the English conquerors, recommends to his clergy to submit to the new order of things and observe the terms of the capitulation, and then retires to Montreal. Québec, Québec
  • 1818 Opening of third session of 7th Parliament of Upper Canada; meets until November 27, 1818; bans meetings held for ‘seditious purposes’. Ontario
  • 1845 Oblate Brother Alexandre Taché is ordained a priest at St. Boniface. St. Boniface, Manitoba
  • 1856 Energy - First street lighting by coal gas in Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1859 William Williams appointed Administrator of Canada; serves until February 22, 1861. Québec, Québec
  • 1864 Media - Journalists ask to attend sessions of the Québec Conference; the request is denied. Québec, Québec
  • 1868 Finance - Minister of Militia George-Étienne Cartier arrives in London to get loan guarantees for railways and fortifications. London, England
  • 1872 Federal Election - John A. Macdonald defeats Alexander Mackenzie with 49.1% of popular vote, versus Mackenzie’s 49.9%; 104 seats to Liberal 96; balloting from July 20 to Oct. 12. Canada
  • 1872 Montreal Foot Ball Club plays Québec City to a 0-0 tie, in its First game. Montreal, Québec
  • 1887 William Annand dies, farmer, politician, publisher, Premier of Nova Scotia 1867-75, born at Halifax April 10, 1808; 1836-43 Nova Scotia Reform MLA; 1843 defeated and acquired Joseph Howe’s Novascotian newspaper; 1844 began the Morning Chronicle newspaper; 1851-67 re-elected to the Assembly; 1867 defeated, but became Premier after he was appointed to the Legislative Council; 1875 replaced by Philip Hill; 1896 to London as Canada’s agent general, then as agent for Nova Scotia. London, England
  • 1892 Land - Federal Order-in-Council terminates the closed lease system in the NWT as of December 31, 1896; thenceforth all leases to be open and subject to forfeit. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1899 Boer War - Canadians split over Britain’s decision to go to war against the Boers in South Africa; most English Canadians want to support the Mother Country, but many French Canadians identify with the Boers, or like Henri Bourassa reject getting involved in an imperial war. Wilfrid Laurier’s solution is to decline joining the Boer War officially by sending the Canadian Army (a decision given to Joseph Chamberlain in 1897), but to place 8,300 volunteers at the disposal of Britain and supply up to $3 million in funding. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1907 Riot - Canadian government agrees to cover costs of mob rioting in Japanese and Chinese sections of Vancouver. Vancouver, BC
  • 1909 Frank Sherman dies; labour unionist led the miners of District 18 in the Galt Coal Mine strike of 1906. Alberta
  • 1912 Education - French-speaking students at Garneau walk out of class to protest presence of English-speaking teacher. Garneau, Ontario
  • 1912 Saskatchewan Legislative Building is opened. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1915 First World War - English nurse Edith Cavell executed by a German firing squad in occupied Belgium for helping POWs escape; Mount Edith Cavell in the Canadian Rockies will be named in her honour. Belgium
  • 1916 Media - First publication of the newspaper ‘La Bataille’. Montréal, Québec
  • 1916 Royal Bank of Canada absorbs the Bank of Québec. Montréal, Québec
  • 1917 Robert Borden sworn in as Unionist Prime Minister; his Unionist Government, with 10 Liberals and 13 Conservatives in Cabinet, contains many English Speaking Liberals who have abandoned Wilfrid Laurier over the conscription issue; among the ministers are Arthur Meighen as Minister of the Interior and superintendent General of Indian Affairs; J. D. Reid as Minister of Railways and Canals. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1927 Politics - R. B. Bennett chosen as party leader by Conservative convention, replacing interim leader Hugh Guthrie; serves to July 7, 1938. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1937 Epidemic - Toronto public schools open six-weeks late after polio outbreak eases; disease claimed 150 lives that summer. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1945 Budget - J. L. Ilsley makes budget speech, forecasting deficit of $2.242 billion; and unemployment rate of 4% for 1946 (in fact rate was 3.6%). Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1953 Sculpture - Statue of Wilfrid Laurier unveiled in Dominion Square. Montréal, Québec
  • 1956 Canadian Sunset by the Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra & Eddie Heywood peaks at # 2 on the pop singles chart. [Apart from the title, this piece of music has no Canadian content.] New York, New York
  • 1957 Lester Pearson awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for his establishment of a United Nations Emergency Force in Egypt to solve the Suez Crisis and halt the Israeli-British-French invasion. Oslo, Norway
  • 1960 Massey Sound between Axel Heiberg Island and Amund Ringnes Island in the Arctic Archipelago is named after former Governor General Vincent Massey. Massey Sound, Nunavut
  • 1960 Aviation - Opening of new airport terminal at Regina. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1964 Astronomy - Ottawa announces plans to build Queen Elizabeth II Observatory at Mt. Kobau, BC. Osoyoos, BC
  • 1968 Olympics - Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz officially opens the 19th Summer Olympics in Mexico, as Canadian athletes join 111 other nations in the First Olympiad ever held in Latin America, with 5,530 competitors; Canada will win one gold medal (Equestrian: Team Jumping: Jim Day, Jim Elder, Tom Gayford), three silver medals (Elaine Tanner in 100 and 200m Backstroke and Ralph Hutton in 400m Freestyle), and one bronze medal (4x100m Freestyle: Angela Coughlan, Marilyn Corson, Marion Lay, Elaine Tanner). Mexico City, Mexico
  • 1968 René Lévesque elected President of the new Parti Québécois at the founding convention. Montréal, Québec
  • 1968 Val d’Or incorporated as a city. Val d’Or, Québec
  • 1970 October Crisis continues as the Robert Bourassa cabinet appoints Montréal lawyer Robert Demers to negotiate terms with the Front de libération du Québec for the release of hostages James Cross and Pierre Laporte. Chronology of the day: 1:45 am - new FLQ communiqué; 2:45 am - Cross writes a letter to CKLM; 8:00 am - Canadian Army troops leave Camp Petawawa and mobilize in Ottawa to meet terrorist threats, guard government buildings and officials, and protect the diplomatic community; 4:00 pm - FLQ Chénier Cell issues another communiqué; 10:55 pm - new FLQ communiqué. Montréal, Québec
  • 1970 Terrorism - Canadian Army troops leave Camp Petawawa for Ottawa to meet FLQ terrorist threats. Pembroke, Ontario
  • 1972 Hockey - Winnipeg Jets play their First game. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1975 Strike - Canada Post workers go on strike. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1976 Opening of 2nd session of the 30th Parliament; until October 17, 1977. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1980 Energy - Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed announces Alberta will curtail oil production by 25% beginning March 1, 1981. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1982 New Brunswick Election - Richard Hatfield leads Progressive Conservatives to re-election victory, winning 39 of 58 seats. New Brunswick
  • 1986 Expo ‘86 closes; over 20 million visited the world’s fair, based on the theme of transportation and communication. Vancouver, BC
  • 1987 Olympic Stadium roof raised for the First time. Montréal, Québec
  • 1987 Education - Students from 20 Québec CÉGEPs [community colleges] now on strike. Québec
  • 1989 Science - Sydney Altman wins Nobel Prize for Chemistry with colleague Thomas Cech; Canadian scientist working in US. Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1990 United Nations endorses joint Canadian and British resolution condemning Israel for the October 8, 1990 shooting of Palestinians at the Temple Mount. New York, New York
  • 1991 Football - Quarterback Doug Flutie of the CFL BC Lions breaks Warren Moon’s Canadian Football League record for yards passing in a season with a 582-yard performance in a 45-38 overtime loss to the Edmonton Eskimos. Vancouver, BC
  • 1992 Energy - Paragon Petroleum strikes oil on farm east of Windsor; pumping 500 barrels a day, versus 60 for the average Alberta well. Windsor, Ontario
  • 1992 Robert Bourassa debates the Charlottetown Accord with Jacques Parizeau on Radio-Canada. Montréal, Québec
  • 1993 Baseball - Toronto Blue Jays win their second straight American League pennant, defeating the Chicago White Sox in the sixth game of the ALCS. Chicago, Illinois
  • 1994 Bertie Brockhouse wins the Nobel Prize for Physics with American Clifford G. Shull; retired professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario pioneered the use of beams of neutrons to study matter in its smallest detail. Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1998 Trade - Canada planning to open talks with non-European Union countries Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Liechtenstein for the first trans-Atlantic free-trade pact.
  • 2004 Strike - Tens of thousands of public servants go on strike as negotiators for Ottawa and CUPE continue marathon talks. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2007 Defence - Stephen Harper appoints former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley chair of panel on Afghan mission. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2008 Crime - Bomber damages an Encana sour gas pipeline to the east of Dawson Creek, BC. British Columbia
  • 2009 Soccer - Canadian Soccer Association holds the 2009 Canadian National Challenge Cup in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.