Highlights of the day

  • 1814 War of 1812 - McArthur’s raiders defeat 150 Canadian militia, Mohawks at Malcolm’s Mills; last land battle in Canada of the War of 1812.
  • 1867 Parliament of Canada meets for 1st time; adopts Cartier’s resolution for entry of Rupert’s Land.
  • 1917 Arthur Currie’s Canadian Corps finally takes Passchendaele, 3rd Battle of Ypres

List of Facts for November 6

  • 1769 Samuel Hearne sets out from Fort Prince of Wales to explore the interior barrens west of Hudson Bay; he is away for five weeks on this, his First trip. Churchill, Manitoba
  • 1776 American Revolutionary War - Rebels from Machias, Maine, repulsed in attack on Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia. Cumberland, Nova Scotia
  • 1813 War of 1812 - American Gen James Wilkinson’s flotilla runs past the batteries at Fort Wellington, on its way to join up with Wade Hampton’s force and attack Montreal. Prescott, Ontario
  • 1814 War of 1812 - Battle of Malcolm’s Mills - McArthur’s raiders reach the Grand River, and after an unsuccessful attempt to force a crossing, attack a body of 150 Canadian militia and Mohawks at Malcolm’s Mills. The Canadians, comprising elements of the 1st and 2nd Norfolk, 1st Oxford, and 1st Middlesex regiments, put up a spirited resistance but are overwhelmed. This is the final land battle in Canada of the War of 1812. Oakland, Brant County, Ontario
  • 1837 Rebellion of 1837 - Thomas Brown leads the Sons of Liberty (Les Fils de la Liberté) in a street battle with members of the Doric Club (The Constitutionals), a group of young anglophone Tories, after a Doric mob wrecks the offices of his newspaper, The Vindicator, and stones the houses of Louis-Joseph Papineau and André Ouimet, president of The Sons of Liberty. The patriotes raise a liberty pole carrying the inscription: Papineau, ses compatriotes reconnaissants, 1837. Montréal, Québec
  • 1867 First sitting of the 1st Parliament of Canada; adopts resolution for entry of Rupert’s Land - Hudson’s Bay Company territory - into Canada. Throne Speech debate November 8; in session from November 6, 1867 until July 8, 1872. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1879 Holidays and Celebrations - Canadian Thanksgiving is officially observed for the First time on this day. The holiday is moved to the week of Armistice Day after First World War, then fixed as the second Monday in October in 1957. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1884 Football - Montréal Foot Ball Club, QRFU, defeats the Toronto Argonauts, ORFU, 30-0 in First CRFU rugby football championship game; forerunner of Grey Cup. Montréal, Québec
  • 1900 Banking - Alphonse Desjardins and his wife Dorimène Roy Desjardins found their first caisse populaire (credit union) in Lévis; to promote savings and protect people from usurers. Their innovation is so successful that today’s Caisse has millions of members in Québec, New Brunswick and Ontario.
  • 1903 Smelting - Granby Consolidated blows in furnace No. 6. BC
  • 1906 Communications - First long distance telephone line reaches Regina from Winnipeg. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1907 Communications - First long distance telephone call between Winnipeg and Regina is made. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1917 First World War - General Arthur Currie’s Canadian Corps finally take the town of Passchendaele, in the Third Battle of Ypres; Canadians and Anzac troops suffer 240,000 casualties in four months to gain 8 km of muddy territory; offensive began July 31, 1917, and the Canadians took over from the battered Australians. Passchendaele, Belgium -
  • 1919 First World War - Acting Prime Minister George Foster reads in the House of Commons a message from King George V asking everyone in the British Empire to remember the freedom won through the sacrifice of the soldiers. To honour them he suggested that on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when the war had officially ended, there be complete silence for two minutes. The King’s wishes will be observed throughout Canada. This day will become a legal holiday in 1921 called Armistice Day. In 1931 the name is changed to Remembrance Day.
  • 1948 Theatre - Gérard Thibault opens his cabaret Chez Gérard; attracts many writers, composers and performers. Québec, Québec
  • 1949 Music - Herman Geiger-Torel launches the new Royal Conservatory Opera Company with an opening night at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Nicholas Goldschmidt conducting. They will launch a full “Opera Festival” on CBC Archives)
  • 1958 Disaster - Royal Canadian Humane Association awards Gold Medal to the citizens of Springhill for bravery in life-saving, after disaster of October 23, 1958 that killed 75 miners; 99 survived, trapped for two weeks in the deepest mine in North America. Springhill, Nova Scotia
  • 1959 Energy - Ottawa starts new program to produce $1 billion in uranium, extending to 1966. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1960 Rail - Canadian Pacific Locomotive A-l-e no. 29, 4-4-0, built in 1887, pulls a special excursion train to St-Lin, Québec, in CP’s last steam locomotive trip. Montréal, Québec
  • 1961 Postal - US Post Office issues a stamp honoring the 100th birthday of Canadian James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. Washington, DC
  • 1968 Medicine - Toronto surgeons perform world’s First plastic cornea implant in a human eye. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1969 Education - Ottawa starts $50 million program to promote language training across Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1970 Terrorism - Montréal police raid the hiding place of the FLQ’s Chenier cell, arresting Bernard Lortie for the kidnapping and murder of Québec labour Minister Pierre Laporte. (October Crisis) Montréal, Québec
  • 1970 Transport - Official inauguration of the Pont Pierre-Laporte at Québec City. Ste-Foy, Québec
  • 1973 Cinema - Canadian film producer Harry Saltzman and his partner Cubby Broccoli start filming the James Bond flick, The Man With The Golden Gun. Britain
  • 1974 Foreign Aid - Canadian External Affairs Minister Allan MacEachen pledges $785 million in Canadian food aid over three-year period at World Food Conference in Rome. Rome, Italy
  • 1975 Housing - Ontario limits rent increases to 8%, and moves to establish rent review boards. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1978 Theatre - Théâtre du Café de la Place inaugurated in Montreal’s Place des Arts; holds 138 seats, making the hall an intimate place for theatrical presentations; designed by architects David, Barott and Clève. Montréal, Québec
  • 1980 Constitution - Parliamentary committee starts hearings on constitutional proposals; televised over 3-month period; discuss rights for women, natives, handicapped, Acadians and those accused of crime. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1984 Crime - Former Saskatchewan cabinet minister Colin Thatcher found guilty of murdering his ex-wife Joanne Thatcher; sentenced to life in prison; angry that he had to pay her $820,000 in a divorce settlement, he tried to hire a killer, but when that failed, smuggled a gun into Canada and shot her. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1988 Football - Saskatchewan Roughriders beat up the Ottawa Rough Riders 45-11. The Ottawa Riders end the football season with 2-16 win-loss and 618 points-against records, the worst in CFL history. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1990 Constitution - Jean Campeau and Michel Bélanger start hearings of Québec Liberal Party’s Constitutional Committee; Bélanger-Campeau Committee mandated to study constitutional status of Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1990 Constitution - Robert Bourassa urges the Bélanger-Campeau Commission to find a clear consensus about what Québeckers want to change; at opening session. Québec, Québec
  • 1991 Military - Canadian team puts out last of 751 oil well fires started by Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s troops at close of Gulf War. Burgan, Kuwait
  • 1991 Investment - Ontario Treasurer Floyd Laughren brings in law to encourage workers to buy shares and invest in venture capital funds; Ontario tax credit of 20% on First $3,500 invested. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Hockey - Manon Rheaume of the Atlanta Knights becomes the First woman to suit up for a regular-season pro hockey game; the 20-year-old goalie from Trois-Rivières, Québec didn’t play in Atlanta’s 3-2 overtime loss to Cincinnati in the IHL game. Atlanta, Georgia
  • 1992 Justice - Supreme Court of Canada refuses leave to appeal from the Quebec Towing Company of a ruling in April by the Quebec Court of Appeal of Quebec; the company ordered to pay fines totaling $ 83,200 for intimidating motorists and unlawfully detaining towed cars. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1994 Pierre Bourque elected Mayor of Montréal with 46.4% of the vote. Montréal, Québec
  • 1995 Hockey - Mark Messier scores his 500th NHL goal as the New York Rangers beat the Calgary Flames 4-2; 21st player to reach that mark. New York, New York
  • 1998 Awards - Romeo Leblanc awards the 1998 Governor-General’s Performing Arts Awards at Rideau Hall. Winners are the CBC comedy team Royal Canadian Air Farce, singer Bruce Cockburn, tenor Jon Vickers, film producer Roch Demers, a co-founder of the Montréal Film Festival, Arnold Spohr, a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and Paul Buissonneau, an actor, stage director and founder of La Compagnie de Théâtre de Quat’Sous in Montréal. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2003 Danny Williams sworn in as Conservative Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, replacing Liberal Roger Grimes. St. John’s, Newfoundland