Highlights of the day

  • 1927 Daily Mail publishes world’s first wire photo; invention of Winnipeg born engineer William Stephenson.
  • 1943 Canadians Victorious at Battle of Ortona - Canada’s Stalingrad
  • 1972 Lester Pearson dies at age 75

List of Facts for December 27

  • 1610 Marriage - Hélène de Champlain, age 12, signs marriage contract with 40 year old Samuel de Champlain; daughter of a wealthy secretary to King Louis XIII, and a Protestant; the wedding takes place December 30, 1610; she brings him a useful dowry of 4,500 livres. Paris, France
  • 1773 Education - Old Château de Vaudreuil becomes le Collège de Montréal. Montréal, Québec
  • 1789 Transport - Stage coach service opens on the Niagara portage road between Queenston and Fort Erie, Ontario; First stage coach service in Upper Canada. Queenston, Ontario
  • 1827 Media - Joseph Howe acquires the Novascotian newspaper from George Young, agrees to pay £1,050 in installments of £210 a year for five years; founded in 1824. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1857 Mining - Hudson’s Bay Company Governor James Douglas of the Colony of Vancouver Island proclaims the illegality of mining without a licence in British territory. Victoria, BC
  • 1867 Provincial - John Sandfield Macdonald serves as First Premier of Ontario as the new Ontario legislature holds its opening session. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1867 Provincial -P-J-O Chauveau serves as First Premier of Québec as new Québec legislature holds its opening session; J-G Blanchet First Speaker. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1869 Red River Rebellion - Louis Riel elected President of the Provisional Government of Rupert’s Land and the North West; with powers to negotiate with Canadian Commissioner Donald Smith, who had just arrived at Fort Garry to explain the sale of the HBC territory to Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1869 Media - First issue of the Ottawa Free Press newspaper published. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1897 Hockey - Montreal Victorias beat Ottawa Capitals 15-2 to win the Stanley Cup. Montréal, Québec
  • 1897 Rail - Québec, Montréal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway opens between Montréal and Hull via Lachute, Québec. Gatineau, Québec
  • 1901 Communications - Guglielmo Marconi sails along the coast from Glace Bay to Louisbourg on the Dominion Coal Company tug Douglas H. Thomas, inspecting sites for a wireless station; leaves for Ottawa the following day to confer with government officials. Sydney, Nova Scotia
  • 1916 Fire destroys the Trappist monastery at Oka. Oka, Québec
  • 1923 Trade - Canada signs reciprocal copyright agreement with US. Washington, DC
  • 1924 Hockey - Montréal Canadiens visit the Montréal Maroons at the Montreal Forum for the First time and skate to a 1-1 tie. Montréal, Québec
  • 1926 Aviation - Doc Oaks makes the First winter supply flight to Bathurst Mines in a Hudson bush plane; pioneers methods of engine heating and maintenance for bush flying. Narrow Lake, Ontario
  • 1927 Communications - The Daily Mail newspaper publishes the world’s First wire photo, the invention of Winnipeg born engineer William Stephenson, later know as Intrepid, head of British security in North America during Second World War. According to the Daily Mail, it was a great scientific event, and a new era in illustrated journalism is beginning. London, England
  • 1927 Fire destroys the Alberta Government Telephones building at Blairmore. Blairmore, Alberta
  • 1932 Labour - Rumours circulate that provincial civil servants will have a pay cut of up to 17% in the next fiscal year, due to the Great Depression. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1940 Marriage - Halifax born actress Ruby Keeler and her husband singer Al Jolson divorce after 12 years of marriage; they had separated a year earlier; but Jolson talked Keeler into co-starring with him in the Broadway show, Hold on to Your Hats. New York, New York
  • 1942 Disaster - Troop train with 13 coaches plows into the rear of CPR freight train 550 west of Ottawa, killing 36 and injuring 155 persons; caused by lack of automatic signals. Almonte, Ontario
  • 1943 Second World War - Defending German paratroopers start to abandon town of Ortona after a week of fierce fighting with Maj-Gen Christopher Vokes’ 1st Canadian Division; infantry from the Loyal Edmonton Regiment and the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada suffered heavy casualties; 1,372 Canadians killed in taking Ortona and environs. Ortona, Italy
  • 1943 Second World War - General Andy McNaughton resigns his command of the First Canadian Army in Europe; out of favour with Minister of National Defence, James Ralston over his opposition to fragmentation of the Canadian Army Overseas. London, England
  • 1945 Second World War - Lawyer Andrew Brewin persuades the Minister of Justice to halt the deportation of 900 Japanese Canadians; gets matter referred to Supreme Court of Canada; acting on behalf of Japanese Canadians. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1947 Children - Charlotte Whitton accuses the Alberta government of trafficking illegitimate babies in her article, Babies for Export. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1957 Labour - Seven judges of the Court of Appeal of Quebec are unanimous in declaring the Rand Formula illegal; the formula allows a union representing the employees in a bargaining unit to require the employer to withhold union dues payable on a mandatory basis by all staff members of this bargaining unit, even those who are not part of the union. Quebec, Quebec
  • 1964 Music - Chris Gage dies by his own hand; jazz pianist born in Regina in 1927; declined offers to tour with Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee and Gerry Mulligan. North Vancouver, BC
  • 1967 Human RIghts - Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau proposes sweeping reforms that, among other things, make homosexual acts legal in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1972 Lester Pearson dies at age 75; born April 23, 1897. Diplomat and Liberal Prime Minister 1963-68, Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Suez Crisis of 1956, setting up a UN peacekeeping force to help the British and French extract themselves from Egypt. His government is credited with bringing in medicare and the Canada Pension Plan. He is buried in Wakefield, Quebec. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1973 Mining - Noranda Mines announces plans to close Horne copper mine. Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec.
  • 1978 Media - Montréal-Matin tabloid newspaper closes. Montréal, Québec
  • 1981 Hockey - Edmonton Oilers centre Wayne Gretzky scores his 100th point of the season to set record for fastest 100 points in NHL history; playing his 38th game of the season, in a 10-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings; breaks Phil Esposito’s mark of 51 games set in 1970-71; will later bettered that mark in 1983-84 by scoring 100 points in 34 games. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1986 Music - The Northern Pikes sign a record deal, valued at over $350,000, to produce two albums on the Virgin records label, with options for possibly four more; members of the Saskatoon band are lead guitarist Brian Potvin, drummer Don Schmidt, vocalist Merl Bryck and leader-bass guitarist Jay Semko. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1990 Immigration - Barbara McDougall announces a five-year $332 million agreement to give Québec control of cultural integration of immigrants to the province. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1990 Fine Art - Harold Town dies of cancer at age 66; abstract artist, printmaker, studied at Central Technical School and the Ontario College of Art; worked as an illustrator for Maclean’s and Mayfair; a founding member of the Painters Eleven (1953-1960). Peterborough, Ontario
  • 2004 Foreign Aid - Canada donates an immediate $4 million to the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami relief effort; pledges a further $36 million. Ottawa, Ontario