Highlights of the day

  • 1923 Canadian National Rwy links Montréal CHYC with CNRO Ottawa over phone lines; Canada’s first radio network.
  • 1941 Winston Churchill Visits Ottawa, Gets Photographed by Karsh.
  • 1988 Senate of Canada passes the bill approving the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement.
  • 2009 Four Canadian soldiers and Journalist Michelle Lang killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

List of Facts for December 30

  • 1650 Fire destroys Ursuline convent at Québec. Québec, Québec
  • 1813 War of 1812 - Major General Phineas Riall attacks the village of Black Rock in the pre-dawn with a party of Canadian militia and Mohawks to get revenge on burning of Newark on December 10, 1813; in a 2 week raid, he will also torch Manchester (Niagara Falls), Fort Schlosser and Buffalo, stopping only at Tonawanda Creek, where the bridges had been destroyed by retreating American troops. Buffalo, New York
  • 1834 Fire destroys Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada at York. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1861 Military - Britain despatches the 62nd Wiltshire Regiment to St. Andrews, New Brunswick; all told, 6,000 British troops land at Saint John, NB with orders to march overland to the Canadas - in defence of a possible American invasion; a response to the Trent Crisis, where the Union seized two Confederate diplomats from a British vessel on the high seas. St. Andrews, New Brunswick
  • 1870 Manitoba Election - Manitoba holds its First provincial election. Manitoba
  • 1881 Lord Lorne founds The Royal Society of Canada, to promote learning in the arts and sciences. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1884 Rail - Qu’Appelle Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railway and Steamship Company is granted a charter. Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1892 Urban - Vernon receives its letters patent of incorporation as a city. Vernon, BC
  • 1896 Hockey - Montreal Victorias beat Winnipeg Victorias 6-5 for the Stanley Cup. Montreal, Quebec
  • 1908 Hockey - Montreal Wanderers lose to the Edmonton Eskimos but retain Stanley Cup by outscoring Edmonton 13-10 in a two game set (4th game of 1908). Montreal, Quebec
  • 1909 Mining - Gold discovered in the Porcupine region. Timmins, Ontario
  • 1914 Rail - Rails laid on the Hope road and railway bridge. Hope, BC
  • 1923 Media - Canadian National Railways sets up the First radio network in Canada by hooking up Montréal station CHYC with CNRO Ottawa over telephone lines to broadcast the CNR anniversary program. Montréal, Québec
  • 1941 Second World War - Winston Churchill arrives in Ottawa after his talks with President Roosevelt over strategy to win the war with Germany. In his Chateau Laurier studio, Yousef Karsh snaps this famous photo of a scowling Churchill by telling him to pose without his cigar. In a speech to Parliament that evening, he quips, “Hitler thought that England would have her neck wrung like a chicken… Some chicken… some neck.” Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1959 Music - Ottawa singer Paul Anka has a #1 Billboard hit with his single, It’s Time to Cry. New York, New York
  • 1967 Death of Vincent Massey, the first Canadian born Governor General of Canada. Port Hope, Ontario
  • 1971 Hockey - Groupe Placement Rondelle Ltée. acquires the Club de hockey du Canadien de Montréal from brothers David, Peter et William Molson with the sale of the Canadian Arena Company (the team and the Montreal Forum). Montreal, Quebec
  • 1981 Hockey - Wayne Gretzky scores five goals, including his 50th of the season into an empty net, leading the Edmonton Oilers to a 7-5 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Scoring in only his 39th game of the season, Gretzky becomes the First player to reach the mark in fewer than 50 games, shattering Maurice Richard’s NHL record. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1988 Trade - The Senate of Canada passes the bill approving the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Police - RCMP Commissioner Norman Inkster to investigate suicide of Inspector Claude Savoie, age 49, ex head of Montréal drug squad; day before CBC Fifth Estate alleges links with Montréal drug kingpin Alan Ross. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1992 Human Rights - Sue Rodriguez to appeal court ruling that the Criminal Code of Canada ban on suicide aid does not violates her rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; terminally ill with Lou Gherig’s Disease; wants assisted suicide. Victoria, BC
  • 2003 Military - Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson arrives in Afghanistan to meet with Canadian troops; accompanied by her husband John Ralston Saul. Kandahar, Afghanistan
  • 2004 Farming - Agriculture Canada announces finding a second case of mad cow disease; a day after the US said it planned to reopen its border to Canadian beef. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2004 State Visit - King Mohammed VI of Morocco meets with Canadian PM Paul Martin and ambassador Carmen Sylvain for talks about cooperation between their two countries. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 2009 Military - Bloodiest day of the year for Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, as 4 soldiers and one Journalist are killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while on a Community Security Patrol. The journalist was 34 year old Michelle Lang, a native of Vancouver, BC, who had been in Afghanistan just two weeks on a rotational assignment for the Calgary Herald. In 2008, Lang won a national journalism award for best beat reporter. Kandahar, Afghanistan