Today’s Features

  • 1760 French and Indian War - Major Robert Rogers gets surrender of French at Fort Detroit.
  • 1798 Members of the Legislature of the Island of St. John vote to change name to Prince Edward Island.
  • 1916 Founding of National Research Council; to further R&D and promote science in universities.
  • 1990 Gulf War - Parliament backs UN resolution allowing military force to end Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.

List of Facts for November 29

  • 1698 Louis de Callières appointed Administrator of New France after Count Frontenac’s death; serves until September 13, 1699. Québec, Québec
  • 1745 King George’s War - French soldiers burn Saratoga and later Albany, to retaliate for the efforts of Mohawk Valley Indian trader William Johnson to get the Iroquois on the warpath; American offshoot of the War of the Austrian Succession, 1744-1748. Saratoga, New York
  • 1760 French and Indian War - Major Robert Rogers gets surrender of French at Fort Detroit; when the British refuse to lower prices on trade goods and furnish them with ammunition, the Native Americans grow restive, stirred up by the Delaware prophet and his disciple Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa people. Detroit, Michigan
  • 1784 Louis d’Esgly appointed Bishop of Québec; First Canadian-born bishop. Québec, Québec
  • 1798 Place Name - Members of the Legislature of the Island of St. John vote to change name to Prince Edward Island in honour of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King June 24, 1534, Jacques Cartier, the first European to see the island, named it “Île St-Jean”, after the Saint’s day. The Mi’kmaq people believed that the island was formed by the Great Spirit placing on the Blue Waters some dark red crescent-shaped clay; they called it “Epekwitk”, meaning “resting on the waves”; the first French settlers pronounced it “Abegweit”. Charlottetown, PEI
  • 1808 Francis Burton appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada; serves until January 27, 1832. Québec
  • 1855 Rail - Grand Trunk Railway completed west from Montréal, Québec to Brockville. Brockville, Ontario
  • 1898 Disaster - Steamboat City of Ainsworth founders off Crawford Bay on Kootenay Lake; nine people drown. Kootenay Lake, BC
  • 1899 Boer War - William Otter arrives in Cape Town with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, to fight in the South African War. Cape Town, South Africa
  • 1911 Rail - Opening of the Kettle Valley Railway from Merritt, BC, to Brookmere. Brookmere, BC
  • 1913 Football - Hamilton Tigers beat Toronto Parkdale 44-2 in the 5th Grey Cup game; before 2,100 fans. Hamilton, Ontario
  • 1916 Science - Founding of the National Research Council of Canada, originally called the National Research Laboratories, to advise the government on wartime research; continued after the war to promote scientific planning and R&D; also offered science research fellowships at universities across Canada. In 1928, Henry Marshall Tory became the first President; in 1932, laboratories were built on Sussex Drive in Ottawa. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1918 Farming - Canadian Council of Agriculture calls for lower tariffs, free trade with Britain and the US; a farmers’ platform. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1922 Fire in Coleman distroys large section of downtown. Coleman, Alberta
  • 1924 Football - Queen’s University beats Toronto Balmy Beach 11-3 in the 12th Grey Cup game; before 5,978 fans. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1924 Hockey - Stanley Cup champion Montréal Canadiens beat Toronto Maple Leafs 7-1 in the First hockey game played in the new 9,300 seat Montréal Forum. Montréal, Québec
  • 1941 Football - Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat Ottawa Rough Riders 18-16 in 29th Grey Cup game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1947 Coinage - Proclamation removes the words ET IND IMP from the obverse legend of Canadian coins; short for and Empress of India in Latin. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1947 Football - Toronto Argonauts beat Calgary Stampeders 10-9 in 35th CFL Grey Cup game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1952 Football - Toronto Argonauts beat Edmonton Eskimos 21-11 in 40th CFL Grey Cup game. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1956 Peacekeeping - Canadians join main body of United Nations Expeditionary Force (UNEF) in Egypt; with Colombians, and troops from four Scandinavian countries Egypt
  • 1958 Football - Bud Grant’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat Hamilton Tiger Cats 35-28 in 46th CFL Grey Cup game. Vancouver, BC
  • 1963 Disaster - Trans-Canada Airlines DC-8F with 111 passengers and 7 crew crashes in woods north of Montréal 4 minutes after takeoff from Dorval Airport; there are no survivors from the TCA crash; no satisfactory explanation to Canada’s worst air disaster. Ste-Thérèse de Blainville, Québec
  • 1964 Music - Canadian actor Lorne Greene, who plays Pa Cartwright on the NBC TV show Bonanza, has a # 1 Billboard pop hit with his single, Ringo; second Canadian to have a #1 pop hit in the United States, after Paul Anka. Los Angeles, California
  • 1965 Space - NASA Thor Agena B launches Canadian communications satellite, Alouette II (mass 145 kg); to continue ionospheric research. Vandenberg AFB, California
  • 1969 Music - Blood, Sweat, & Tears single And When I Die peaks at #2 on the Billboard pop singles chart; group led by Toronto rocker David Clayton Thomas. New York, New York
  • 1972 Aviation - Ottawa approves $74 million plan to computerize air traffic control; will improve safety and ease airport congestion. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1973 Strike - 7,800 Toronto secondary teachers end work-to-rule campaign, sign contract with Metro school board. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1974 Crime - Naim Djemal hijacks an aircraft over Saskatchewan, assaults a stewardess and orders the pilot to fly to Cyprus; on landing for fuel, he hands a knife to the captain, and is arrested as he walks off the aircraft. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1976 Music - Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad, The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald stays at #1 on the charts for another week. New York, New York
  • 1977 Mining - Québec establishes provincially-owned National Asbestos Corporation. Montréal, Québec
  • 1978 Music - Neil Young’s 13th solo album, Comes a Time, goes gold. Los Angeles, California
  • 1982 Percy Williams dies; runner, born at Vancouver, BC May 19, 1908; 1928 won gold medals in the 100 and 200 m sprints at the Amsterdam Olympics. Vancouver, BC
  • 1983 Running - Kanchan Stott, age 37, reaches Halifax 207 days after leaving Victoria, BC; First cross-Canada run by a woman; longest recorded run (6688 km) by a woman . Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1983 Metric System - Ottawa suspends enforcement of metric measurement after adverse court ruling; need to rewrite and clarify law. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1987 Football - Joe Faragall’s Edmonton Eskimos defeat Toronto Argonauts 38-36 in 75th CFL Grey Cup game. Vancouver, BC
  • 1990 Gulf War - Parliament backs United Nations resolution allowing the use of military force to end the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. Saddam Hussein will ignore UN deadline of January 15, 1991 to withdraw, and Canadian units, including fighters, field hospitals and ships are sent to the Persian Gulf.
  • 1990 Baseball - Investment group led by Montréal Expos president Claude Brochu agrees to acquire the National League club from financier Charles Bronfman. Montréal, Québec
  • 1991 Environment - Minister Jean Charest announces $34.9 million program to protect Canadian wildlife; set up national wildlife habitat network; plus $17.7 million for ecology research. Montréal, Québec
  • 1992 Football - Doug Flutie leads Wally Buono’s Calgary Stampeders to win over Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-10 in 80th Grey Cup; 3rd title to Calgary. Pundits say this may be last all-Canadian event if the CFL expands to the US. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1992 Media - Toronto-based TV comedy show Kids In The Hall, produced by Lorne Michaels, last aired on HBO. New York, New York
  • 1995 Finance - Ontario Premier Mike Harris vows to cut $6.2 billion in spending over 3 years and balance the budget by 2000, as part of his Common Sense Revolution; head of Ontario’s new Progressive Conservative government. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2004 Tommy Douglas voted “The Greatest Canadian” in a CBC TV series audience vote. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2005 Federal Election - Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the advice of Prime Minister Paul Martin, dissolves Parliament and calls a general election for January 23, 2006. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2010 Football - CFL East Division champions Montreal Alouettes defeat Western Division champion Saskatchewan Roughriders 28-27 in the 97th Grey Cup at McMahon Stadium Stadium; Als came from behind on a 33-yard field goal by Damon Duval as time ran out; Duval had missed his first attempt, but Saskatchewan was penalized for having too many men on the field; Montreal running back Avon Cobourne named the MVP of the game. Alouettes slotback Ben Cahoon awarded the Dick Suderman Trophy as the Most Valuable Canadian. Calgary, Alberta