Highlights of the day

  • 1603 Samuel de Champlain publishes Des Sauvages: his account of New France.
  • 1877 NWT passes order For the Protection of the Buffalo; closed season on cows Nov. 15-Aug. 14.
  • 1948 Mackenzie King retires after record 21 years; Louis St. Laurent sworn in as 12th PM.

List of Facts for November 15

  • 1603 Samuel de Champlain publishes Des Sauvages: his account of New France. Paris, France
  • 1613 Samuel de Champlain founds La Compagnie du Canada - the Canada Company. Paris, France
  • 1644 François-Joseph Bressani survives Iroquois torture, is sold to the Dutch, who pay a ransom to free him and return him to France. Albany, New York
  • 1701 Fire badly damages the Séminaire de Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1761 Louis-Joseph de la Vérendrye drowns when his ship, en route from Québec to France, is smashed on the shores of Cape Breton during a gale; member of the family of fur traders and explorers of the Canadian and American west. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
  • 1765 Justice - Governor James Murray admits French speaking jurors to Québec courts and allows lawyers to plead in French. Québec, Québec
  • 1765 Religion - Rev. George Henry establishes the First Presbyterian Church in Canada. Québec, Québec
  • 1777 Ameircan Revolutionary War - The Continental Congress of the 13 colonies approves the articles of confederation; provision made for the future admission of Québec and the other British colonies. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1804 Theatre - Presentation of two Moliere plays, Le Médecin malgré lui and Les Fourberies de Scapin at Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1815 John Wilson appointed Administrator of Lower Canada; serves from May 21, 1816 to July 12, 1816. Québec, Québec
  • 1831 Opening of second session of 14th Parliament of Lower Canada; meets until February 15, 1832; passes First copyright law, and sets up Boards of Health; Robert Christie again expelled from the Chamber. Québec, Québec
  • 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion - William Lyon Mackenzie publishes a draft republican constitution based on the American one. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1849 Comunications - Nova Scotia Government Telegraph carries First European cable despatches to and from the US and Newfoundland, as the Pony Express era comes to an end. Nova Scotia
  • 1855 Rail - First Grand Trunk Railway train reaches Brockville from Montréal, Québec. Brockville, Ontario
  • 1877 Conservation - Northwest Territories Council passes ordinance For the Protection of the Buffalo in a failed attempt to slow the wanton destruction of the herds; provides for closed season on cows from Nov. 15 to Aug. 14; as many as 60 million buffalo once roamed the North American plains; by the late 1880s they are almost extinct. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1880 Rowing - Ned Hanlan defeats Australian Edward Trickett to win world single sculls rowing championship; Trickett was roughly 6’6 compared to Hanlan’s 5’10. Hanlan will hold the world title for four years, until 1884, when he will be defeated in Australia by William Beach. London, England
  • 1881 Labour - Founding of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada; becomes the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1886; some Canadian branch unions are members Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1882 Mining - Thomas Hammill registers the Silver Queen claim at the Government Agency at Wild Horse; staked it on top of the Bluebell claim about October 28, 1882. BC
  • 1885 Father André, Louis Riel’s priest, visits his charge in his jail cell and tells him he is to be hanged the next day; according to the priest, Riel takes the news calmly, and says he has made his peace with God, and is fully prepared. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1890 Energy - Regina YMCA becomes the First electrically lighted building in Saskatchewan. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1899 Springs, NWT, renamed Blairmore. Blairmore, Alberta
  • 1911 First session of the 12th Parliament of Canada meets, until April 1 ,1912; adds the Ungava Peninsula to Québec territory, and the remaining area of the NWT. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1920 Diplomacy - George Foster leads the Canadian delegation to the First meeting of the League of Nations at Geneva; with C. J. Doherty and Newton Wesley Rowell; until December 18, 1920. Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1930 Depression - Granby Consolidated Mining and Smelting shuts down its Copper Mountain operation at Princeton, BC.
  • 1933 Duff Patullo sworn in as Premier of British Columbia, replacing Simon Tolmie, Premier since August 21, 1928. Victoria, BC
  • 1935 Trade - Mackenzie King signs reciprocal trade deal with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt; First treaty with US since 1866; substantial concessions on 88 items and new quota system to ease depression caused by high tariffs. Washington, DC
  • 1942 Second World War - Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Saguenay is rammed by the Panamanian freighter Azra off Cape Race; the impact sets off Saguenay’s depth charges, which blow off her stern; she makes port at Saint John, New Brunswick, where her stern is plated over, and in October 1943 she is towed to Cornwallis. Cape Race, Newfoundland
  • 1942 Weather - Edmonton hit with a snowfall of nineteen and a half inches. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1944 Hockey - Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings score five goals in the span of one minute, 39 seconds in an NHL game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1948 Mackenzie King retires as Prime Minister of Canada after 21 years of service; in power since October 23, 1935, he set a British Commonwealth record for long service; succeeded by Louis St. Laurent. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1948 Louis St. Laurent sworn in as 12th Prime Minister of Canada, succeeding Mackenzie King; serves to June 21, 1957. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1951 Military - First units of the 27th Canadian Brigade arrive in Germany for NATO service. Hanover, Germany
  • 1954 Aviation - SAS makes its First regularly scheduled commercial flight between Los Angeles and Europe; First commercial flight over the Canadian Arctic and the North Pole. Nunavut
  • 1956 Peacekeeping - United Nations Emergency Force arrives in Egypt; devised by Canada’s Lester Pearson to solve the impasse between Egypt on one hand, France and Britain on the other. Suez, Egypt
  • 1959 New Miners’ Hall dedicated at Hillcrest, Alberta.
  • 1960 Justice - Ontario panel of experts, appointed by Attorney General Kelso Roberts, finds that D.H. Lawrence’s novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover is not obscene according to the Criminal Code. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1962 Nova Scotia born singer Hank Snow has a #1 Billboard country hit with his single, I’ve Been Everywhere. New York, New York
  • 1963 Foreign Aid - Canada to help India build CANDU-type nuclear power station. Rana Pratrap Sagar, India
  • 1967 Museum - Secretary of State Judy LaMarsh opens new Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa; part of the National Museums of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1968 Foreign Aid - Canadian aid to Biafra ends after 11 air relief trips; Canadian families and institutions allowed to return. Nigeria
  • 1968 Terrorism - FLQ bomb explodes on Rue d’Iberville. Montréal, Québec
  • 1972 Human Rights - Alberta passes provincial Alberta Bill of Rights. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1973 Theatre - premiere of Charbonneau et le chef; a controversial play about Maurice Duplessis and Québec’s Archbishop. Montréal, Québec
  • 1973 Hockey - Parry Sound, Ontario born defenseman Bobby Orr scores three goals and assisted on four more as the Bruins beat the New York Rangers, 10-2. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1974 Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold stars in film Earthquake, with Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner; features ‘Sensurround’, with low-frequency noises supposed to suggest a quake Hollywood, California
  • 1974 Treaty - Ottawa signs James Bay Agreement with Cree and Inuit; $150 million grant for land lost to power dams. Montréal, Québec
  • 1976 Québec Election - René Lévesque leads the Parti Québécois to victory in the provincial election, defeating the Liberals under Robert Bourassa; wins 69 of 110 seats in the National Assembly; four women are elected: TV star Lise Payette, Louise Sauvé Cuerrier, Jocelyne Ouellet and Denise Leblanc-Bantey; Bourassa loses his own riding (Mercier) to the PQ poet Gérald Godin. Québec
  • 1981 Football - Ottawa Rough Riders beat First place Hamilton Tiger Cats 17-3, becoming the First CFL team to advance to the Grey Cup after regular season losing record (5-11). Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1983 Diplomacy - Pierre Trudeau starts 19-day peace initiative to Japan, Bangladesh, China and Commonwealth conference in India. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1989 Crime - Liberal Senator Hazen Argue charged by the RCMP with misuse of Senate of Canada funds; First Canadian Senator to face criminal charges; dies in 1991 before case goes to trial. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Environment - George Bush passes Clean Air Act; commits US to cut Sulphur Dioxide emissions from power plants by over 50% by year 2000. Act took 16 months to get through Congress; intended to reduce acid rain damage in New England, Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes. Washington, DC
  • 1991 Rob McCall, figure skater, dies of AIDS-related cancer at age 33. He and ice dancing partner Tracy Wilson won seven Canadian championships in a row from 1982-1988, and they took the Bronze medal at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics; native of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1993 Hockey - NHL referees go on strike. Canada USA
  • 1995 Mike Harcourt resigns as NDP Premier of British Columbia after his party is implicated in the so-called Bingo Scandal, or bingogate, involving a misuse of charity funds. Victoria, BC
  • 1996 Céline Dion’s album Falling Into You is certified Multi Platinum 6.00. New York, New York
  • 2004 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opens a civil fraud lawsuit against Canadian financier Conrad Black. Chicago, Illinois
  • 2004 Terrorism - US Department of Homeland Security tightens border security at three checkpoints, including Blue Water Bridge; 17 other checkpoints will have similar security before 2005, part of the US-VISIT programme. Sarnia, Ontario
  • 2005 Politics - Andre Boisclair, age 39, elected Leader of the Parti Québécois, defeating former Quebec deputy premier Pauline Marois, with 54% of the votes to Marois’s 31%. Québec, Québec
  • 2009 Mike Schreiner elected new leader of the Green Party of Ontario. Toronto, Ontario