Highlights of the day

  • 1813 Charles de Salaberry’s 1,600 Voltigeurs defeat 3,000 American invaders at Châteauguay
  • 1908 Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals win 11th federal election, with 135 seats to 85 for Borden’s Conservatives.
  • 1917 Arthur Currie’s Canadian Corps sees first action against Germans at Passchendaele
  • 1992 Charlottetown Accord Rejected in Referendum.

List of Facts for October 26

  • 1670 Religion - Louis Gaboury jailed for eating meat during Lent. Québec, Québec
  • 1678 Trade - New France’s Brandy Parliament votes 15-5 to open up liquor trade to Aboriginals to meet competition from the Dutch; no restrictions placed on liquor trade. Québec, Québec
  • 1756 Marquis de La Galissonière dies; Lieutenant General of French naval forces, Commandant General of New France, who advocated a line of garrisoned forts down the Ohio Valley to hold the back English colonies along the coast; wrote a report on the potential riches of Canada in Mémoires des commissaires du roi (1755-57). Montereau, France
  • 1760 King George III crowned King following the death of his grandfather King George II. London, England
  • 1768 Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester appointed Governor of Canada; serves to June 27, 1778. Québec, Québec
  • 1774 American Revolutionary War - The Continental Congress writes an open letter to the inhabitants of Canada (Québec) and Nova Scotia, inviting them to join the 13 Colonies in the American Revolution. It was signed by the president of the congress, Henry Middleton, and translated into French by Fleury Mesplet, printer of the Congress, who distributed the copies himself in Montreal. The letter pleaded the cause of democratic government, the separation of powers, taxation power, habeas corpus, trial by jury, and freedom of the press. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1775 American Revolutionary War - Richard Montgomery’s Army of the Continental Congress defeats Guy Carleton’s forces in a skirmish at Longueuil. Longueuil, Québec
  • 1792 Religion - Mgr. Hubert complains of undesirable books - ‘des mauvais livres’ - circulating in Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Charles de Salaberry leading 1,600 French Canadian Voltigeurs (light militia), turns back Gen. Wade Hampton and an invading army of 3,000 Americans after four hours of fighting at a ford over the Châteauguay River, 56 km southwest of Montréal; 300 front line militia blow hunting horns in the woods, making the Americans think they are facing a larger force; de Salaberry set up a barricade after learning of Hampton’s invasion October 21, 1813. Châteauguay, Québec
  • 1830 Augustin-Norbert Morin elected to the Assembly of Lower Canada; later co-Premier of the Union. Québec
  • 1830 Canal - New York Governor De Witt Clinton opens the $7,602,000 Erie Canal joining the Hudson River with Lake Erie; 585 km route built in eight years; allows traffic to bypass the British-controlled lower St. Lawrence River, but also gives Upper Canada another outlet for produce and a longer shipping season. Albany, New York
  • 1838 Rebellion - Eight Lower Canada Patriotes exiled to Bermuda in 1838 are set free. Bermuda
  • 1848 Education - Opening of the College of Bytown; forerunner of the University of Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1850 North West Passage - Robert McClure aboard HMS Investigator completes his crossing of the North West Passage via Prince of Wales Strait or around Banks Island; will return by ship in 1854 after travelling on foot over the ice to Beechey Island. Nunavut
  • 1852 Franklin Expedition - John Franklin promoted to Rear-Admiral more than five years after his death in the Arctic; fate of the expedition unknown until 1854; in 1859, Francis McClintock will find two notes confirming that he died June 11, 1847. London, England
  • 1864 Chilcotin War - Five Tsilhqot’in men: Klatsassin, Telloot, Tah-pitt, Piele, and Chessus are hanged for murder; sentenced to death by Justice Matthew Begbie on September 29; On the scaffold before he died, Chief Telloot allegedly pleaded with the Tsilhqot’in people to make peace with the whites and other aboriginal groups. Quesnel, BC
  • 1869 Red River Rebellion - John Bruce and Louis Riel are summoned before the Council of Assiniboia to explain the actions of the Comité national des Métis. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1876 Métis songwriter Pierre Falcon dies at age 83; known as Pierriche or Pierre the Rhymer, born at Elbow Fort near Swan River June 4, 1793, son of a North West Company employee and a Cree woman; educated in Montréal, then worked as a clerk for the NWC and the Hudson’s Bay Company; retired to Grantown, on the White Horse Plain, where he farmed and served as a magistrate; wrote rousing songs about his work, daily life and major Métis events; best known work is La Chanson de la Grenouillère, about the Battle of Seven Oaks. St-François-Xavier, Manitoba
  • 1884 Nile Expedition - Canadian Nile Voyageurs begin their mission to rescue Kitchener of Khartoum. Cairo, Egypt
  • 1887 Peter Lamont opens Saskatchewan’s First telephone exchange in a bookstore. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1892 Honoré Mercier trial begins; after four years as Premier of Québec, Mercier was dismissed on December 17, 1891 by the Lieutenant Governor for alleged misuse of public funds in the Baie des Chaleurs Railway scandal; re-elected in 1892 provincial elections, but his party was soundly defeated; will be acquitted of all charges on November 4, 1892. Québec, Québec
  • 1908 Federal Election - Wilfrid Laurier wins the 11th Canadian federal general election for the Liberals, with 135 seats to 85 for the Conservatives; defeats Robert Borden with 50.4% of the popular vote; increase in Commons representation to 218 seats. Two future Prime Ministers are also elected for the First time - Mackenzie King (Liberal, York North) and Arthur Meighen (Conservative, Portage La Prairie). Canada
  • 1908 Mackenzie King First elected to the House of Commons for the riding of York North. York County, Ontario
  • 1908 Arthur Meighen First elected to the House of Commons; re-elected 1911, 1913, 1917, 1922, 1925; Canada’s 9th Prime Minister; called to Manitoba Bar in 1902; practiced in Portage La Prairie. Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
  • 1908 Saskatchewan participates in its First Dominion election. Saskatchewan
  • 1908 Alberta participates in its First Dominion election. Alberta
  • 1912 Kettle Valley Railway’s First locomotive arrives by barge at Penticton: 2-6-0 Mogul. Penticton, BC
  • 1917 First World War - Arthur Currie’s Canadian Corps starts its First action against well entrenched Germans, taking over where the Anzac troops left off, to capture the Belgian town of Passchendaele. The 2nd Battle of Passchendaele, a Flanders bloodbath, lasts until November 30, 1917. In total, 2,834 Canadian lives are lost and casualties reach 16,000, to win just five square km of muddy quagmire. Canadians win two Victoria Crosses the First day of the battle. Passchendaele, Belgium
  • 1917 First World War - Alberta’s 49th Battalion fights in the 2nd Battle of Passchendaele; in action from October 26, 1917 to November 10, 1917. Passchendaele, Belgium
  • 1934 Henry Stevens resigns from the R. B. Bennett government to found the Reconstruction Party of Canada; small business-oriented and conservative. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1940 Second World War - Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Britain is torpedoed and sunk, with child evacuees bound for Canada; the ship was bombed two days earlier. Atlantic Ocean
  • 1942 Second World War - RAF ferry bomber crashes at Dorval Airport, killing 16. Montréal, Québec
  • 1943 Second World War - RCAF sinks fourth U-boat in seven weeks. Atlantic Ocean
  • 1943 Human Rights - Two Jehovah’s Witnesses children expelled from school for refusing to salute the flag during patriotic exercises; parents believed in paying homage only to God, not to material objects; children stood at attention during the salute but this was not enough. Lethbridge, Alberta
  • 1944 Second World War - British Commonwealth Air Training Program shuts down its Macleod base. Fort Macleod, Alberta
  • 1950 Military - Canada signs six-point agreement with US for joint defence production; free trade in arms and equipment. Washington, DC
  • 1950 La Société Radio-Canada (SRC) extends French language programming as far west as Calgary and Edmonton. Alberta
  • 1956 United Nations sets up International Atomic Energy Agency; Canada a member. New York, New York
  • 1963 Rail - Last day of CN passenger service into Kelowna, BC.
  • 1968 Politics - Last congress of the RIN - le Rassemblement pour l’indépendence nationale party; most members join the Parti Québecois. Montreal, Québec
  • 1968 Museum - Opening of the Centennial Museum-MacMillan Planetarium in Vancouver. Vancouver, BC
  • 1969 Canada’s The Guess Who awarded a gold record for the single, Laughing. Los Angeles, California
  • 1969 John Diefenbaker former Prime Minister installed as Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1974 Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) has a #1 Billboard hit with You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet/Free Wheelin’. New York, New York
  • 1974 Museum - Henry Moore Centre opens at the Art Gallery of Ontario; featuring scupture and drawings by the British artist. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1976 Gordon Lightfoot’s Summertime Dream album certified Gold. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1978 Anne Murray single You Needed Me certified Gold. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1982 Baseball - Founding of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, to be situated in St. Mary’s, Ontario, near Stratford, Ontario; over 160 Canadians are known to have played major league baseball. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1982 Holiday - Parliament votes to approve Bill C-201, which legally changes the name of Dominion Day (July 1) to Canada Day; given Royal Assent October 27, 1982. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1983 Language - Plebiscites to expand bilingual services defeated in all 20 Manitoba communities where they are held. Manitoba
  • 1984 Crime - Richard Hatfield, Premier of New Brunwick is charged with possession of 26.5 grams of marijuana.; his Progressive Conservative Party will be wiped out in the following election. Saint John, New Brunswick
  • 1985 Crime - Policewoman Jacinthe Fyfe, age 25, shot to death by robbers; Montréal Police (CUM) constable the First female police officer killed on duty in Canada. Montréal, Québec
  • 1987 Meech Lake Accord adopted by Parliament. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1987 Robert Toupin resigns from NPD-Québec, member of the Assembly for the provincial New Democratic Party. Québec
  • 1988 Strike - Students at 23 Québec CÉGEPs start 3 day strike. Québec
  • 1990 Media - Michael Davies sells the Kingston Whig-Standard to Southam Press; daily circulation of 37,000; founded 1834, daily since 1849. Kingston, Ontario
  • 1990 Montreal Métro (CTCUM) bans panhandlers and beggars. Montreal, Québec
  • 1990 Hockey - Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings becomes the First NHL player to reach 2,000 career points, with an assist against the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1992 Canadian voters say “No” to the Charlottetown Accord by a margin of 54.4% to 44.6%. The question asks, “Do you agree that the Constitution of Canada should be renewed on the basis of the agreement reached on August 28, 1992?” The Yes side wins in Newfoundland, PEI, New Brunswick, and only barely in Ontario. A total of 74.9% of 18,517,982 eligible Canadians vote, plus almost 83% of eligible Québeckers. Canada
  • 1993 Crash Test Dummies release album God Shuffled His Feet. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1993 Hockey - NHL New Jersey Devils lose 2-0 to Montréal Canadiens, after winning their First 7 games. Montreal, Québec
  • 1995 Aboriginal - Results of referendum on Québec secession by the Cree and Inuit First Nations of Nouveau-Québec are released. The Cree voters were asked: “Do you consent, as a people, that the Government of Quebec separate the James Bay Crees and Cree traditional territory from Canada in the event of a Yes vote in the Quebec referendum?”; 96.3% of the Cree voted in favour of retaining the relationship with Canada. Of 6,380 eligible voters, 77% participated in the Cree referendum. Québec, Québec
  • 1995 Rail - CN reopens a modernized electrified commuter line between Montréal Central Station and Deux Montagnes. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Hockey - Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores his 500th goal against the New York Islanders.
  • 1997 Auto Racing - Jacques Villeneuve becomes the First Canadian to win the World Championship of Drivers; he finishes third at the 69-lap European Grand Prix at Jerez, clinching the Formula One title; driving for the Williams Renault team, the 26 year old native of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec holds off Michael Schumacher’s smash-and-grab assault on lap 48; Villeneuve wins the Luxembourg, Austrian, Hungarian, British, Spanish, Argentine and Brazilian Grand Prix this year. Jerez, Spain
  • 1997 Hockey - Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers assists on a goal by Niklas Sundstrom at 12:14 of the 2nd period to notch his 1,850th career assist, equalling Gordie Howe’s record; at 32 seconds of the third period, he assists on a goal by Ulf Samuelsson for his NHL record 1,851st career assist; see also 1990. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 2003 Sport - Canadian Rob Krueger defeats 320 competitors at the World Rock, Paper, Scissors Championships at a Toronto nightclub, and takes home $3,825. The World RPS Society sponsored the 2nd international tournament. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2005 Aboriginal - Health - Ontario government evacuates over 800 members of the Kashechewan First Nation to Ottawa, Ontario, Sudbury, Ontario and other communities after Escherichia coli (E. coli) is found in the reserve’s water supply network. Moosonee, Ontario
  • 2010 Weather - Start of severe three day storm; heavy snow causes school closures in eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba; strong winds whipped up large waves and caused flooding along the shores of lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba.