Previously on this day

The first Grey Cup was played between the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club. The University of Toronto won the game 26-6. The Grey Cup’s legacy began in 1909, although it wasn’t the first time a Dominion senior rugby champion was declared. Teams from Eastern Canada had battled for the national championship since 1892, when Osgoode Hall defeated Universite de Montreal 45-5.

Albert Henry George Grey, Canada’s Governor General from 1904-1911, wanted to donate a trophy to Canada’s senior hockey champions, but Sir H. Montagu Allan beat him to it. Lord Grey was convinced to donate a trophy to the national rugby champions instead, and thus the Grey Cup was born. The first game for the new trophy featured the University of Toronto against the Parkdale Canoe Club. Many believed Parkdale wasn’t in the same league as the Varsity Blues.

Hugh Gail opened the scoring for the Varsity Blues with a 65-yard rouge, followed by the first try in Grey Cup history. Parkdale was given an ovation at halftime for its surprising play, but any hopes for an upset were dashed in the third quarter. Varsity Blues outscored Parkdale 9-1, highlighted by Murray Thompson’s major. The Varsity Blues players had to wait until the following March to officially celebrate as Grey’s staff forgot to have the trophy made before the game.

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The Quebec general election of 1976 was held to elect members to the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. It was one of the most significant elections in Quebec history, rivaled only by the 1960 general election, and caused major repercussions in the rest of Canada.

The Parti Quebecois, led by Rene Levesque, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Robert Bourassa. The Parti Quebecois’ campaign focused on providing “good government,” to contrast the many scandals that had plagued the Liberals since 1973. The PQ’s stated goal of achieving independence for Quebec from Canada was portrayed as only secondary, however the election of a separatist government in Quebec caused great distress in the rest of Canada.

It led to extensive discussions about performing the Canadian Confederation and finding ways of accommodating Quebec. The Parti Quebecois used its term in office to introduce numerous bills to implement its agenda. The first bill introduced was legislation to confirm French as the sole official language of Quebec, and to implement measures to make this a social reality. The bill was withdrawn, significantly altered and re-introduced as the Charter of the French Language which remains in effect today.

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The 1917 Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, was one of the major battles of World War I, in which British, Canadian, South African, and ANZAC units engaged the Imperial German Army. The battle was fought for control of the village of Passchendaele near the town of Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.

The basic plan of the offensive was to capture the high ground to the south and east of Ypres. Despite spells of good weather during the battle lasting long enough to dry out the land, Passchendaele has become known for the misery of fighting in thick mud. Preparatory bombardment and rainy periods produced an impassable terrain of deep liquid mud, into which an unknown number of soldiers drowned.

The Germans were well-entrenched, with mutually-supporting pillboxes and after five months of fierce fighting, the Canadian Corps took Passchendaele on November 6, 1917, ending the battle. In the course of the conflict, the Allied Powers had sustained almost half a million casualties and the Germans just over a quarter of a million dead and seriously wounded. In March 1918 – four months later – the Allies abandoned to the Germans every inch of territory gained in order to free several divisions to cover more strategically valuable terrain.

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The Great Fire in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador on July 8, 1892 is remembered as the worst disaster ever to befall that city. At approximately five in the afternoon, a dropped pipe in Timothy O’Brien’s stable at Freshwater Road at the top of Carter’s Hill began the fire. Initially, it did not cause any widespread panic, however, a series of catastrophic coincidences caused the fire to spread and devour virtually the entire east end of the city, including much of its major commercial area before being extinguished.

Hardly any rain had fallen for a month and a high-wind from the north-west was blowing. Work on water mains earlier that day caused insufficient water pressure to force water up into the higher sections of the city where the fire began. An hour into the blaze the people of St. John’s realized that the first could not be contained in the area of O’Brien’s farm.

Locals believed that stone walls would withstand the flames and moved valuables into numerous stone buildings in the city. However, stone structures, like the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, fell victim to the fire. The wind caused offshoots of the main fire to consume new sections of the city. The fire continued to burn into the night and the early hours of the next morning. Total estimated losses were $13 million with less than $5 million covered by insurance.

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“O Canada” is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by the then Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honorable Theodore Robitaille, for the 1880 St. Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony. Calixa Lavallee wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally only in French as a French Canadian patriotic song.

The French “O Canada” was first performed on June 24, 1880 but did not become Canada’s official national anthem until July 1, 1980. The Canadian government bought the rights to the lyrics and music for only one dollar. In 1906, the music with the French text and a first translation into English was published.

The English version that gained the widest currency was written in 1908 by Robert Stanley Weir, a lawyer. A slightly modified version of his poem was published in official form fro the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation in 1927, and gradually became the most accepted and performed version. Official changes to the English version were recommended in 1968 and a religious reference was added in 1980.

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The Canadian city of Halifax is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and the shire town of Halifax County. The town of Halifax was founded by the British government under the direction of the Board of Trade and Plantations under the command of Governor Edward Cornwallis. After a protracted struggle between residents and the Governor, the city of Halifax was incorporated in 1841.

The Mi’kmaq called the area Jipugtug (anglicized as “Chebucto”), which means “the biggest harbor” in reference to present-day Halifax Harbour. The territory passed from French to English to even Scottish hands several times. In the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, it was relinquished to England. Between this treaty of 1713 and 1749, no serious attempts were made by Great Britain to colonize Nova Scotia.

British General Edward Cornwallis was dispatched by the Lords of Trade and Plantations to establish a city at Chebucto, on behalf of and at the expense of the Crown. Cornwallis sailed in command of 13 transports, a sloop of war, 1,176 settlers and their families. The outpost was named in honor of George Montague-Dunk, 2^nd Earl of Halifax, who was the President of the British Board of Trade.

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Larry Clark Robinson was a player and a coach in the National Hockey League. He was born in Winchester, Ontario, Canada on June 2, 1951. In 1995, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and is currently an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils. He was nicknamed “Big Bird” for his height (6’4”) and his blond hair that resembled Sesame Street’s Big Bird. He was known as a big, strong defenseman who was also highly mobile.

Robinson played 17 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens and another three for the Los Angeles Kings before retiring in 1993. He won the James Norris Memorial Trophy twice as the league’s most outstanding defenseman and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 1978 playoffs. He helped lead the Canadiens to six Stanley Cups. Robinson was also a member of Team Canada in the 1976, 1981, and 1984 Canada Cup tournaments. During his career, he played in 10 All-Star games. Over his 20-year career as a player, he scored 208 goals, made 750 assists and accumulated 958 regular-season points.

After he retired, Robinson was hired as an assistant coach with the Devils in 1993 and won the Stanley Cup with them in 1995. He became the head coach of the Kings in 1995 and left them at the end of the 1998-1999 seasons, signing on as assistant coach with the Devils once again.

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The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most influential strikes in Canadian history. J.S. Woodsworth, strike leader, was briefly imprisoned and went on to found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the forerunner to the New Democratic Party.

After World War I, Canadian soldiers that returned found few job opportunities and the ones who did suffered poor wages and working conditions with mostly non-existent labor regulations despite many companies enjoying huge profits from war contracts. Some workers saw the Bolshevik revolution in Russia as an example of a successful socialist revolution.

By 11 am on May 15, 1919, virtually the entire working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job – 30,000 to 35,000 people were on strike in a city of 175,000. Even firefighters went on strike but the police remained on duty at the request of the strike committee. By June 25, 1919, the workers were gradually giving up and the strike was halted.

Minister of Justice Arthur Meighen accused the strike leaders of being Communists and many were deported from Canada. Labor delegates from across Western Canada convened in Calgary to form a branch of the “One Big Union” with the notion of earning rights for Canadian workers through a series of strikes.

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The Canadian Corporation for the 1967 World Exhibition opened on April 27, 1967 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and closed on October 29 of that same year. It was considered the most successful World’s Fair of the 20th century with over 50 million visitors, 62 nations participating, and a record for single-day attendance for a world’s fair with 569,000 visitors on its third day.

It was originally to be held in Moscow to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution but the Soviet Union had to cancel and Canada was awarded it in the fall of 1962. It went on to become the country’s main celebration during its centennial year. The official opening ceremonies were held on Thursday afternoon in an invitation-only event held at the Place des Nations. Governor General of Canada Roland Michener proclaimed the fair open after the Expo flame was ignited by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Over 1,000 reporters covered the event which was broadcast, via satellite, to a worldwide audience of over 700 million viewers and listeners. Expo 67 was officially opened to the public the next day with an estimated crowd of between 310,000 and 335,000 visitors.

The Expo featured 90 pavilions representing Man and His World themes with the Soviet Union’s being the most popular, attracting 13 million visitors. The Ed Sullivan Show was broadcast live twice from the Expo and notable people such as Queen Elizabeth II, Robert F. Kennedy, Bing Crosby, and Marlene Dietrich visited during the fair’s run.

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Terry Fox was born in 1958 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In high school, a teacher encouraged Fox to go out for cross-country running. He continued the activity through university and in 1977 he developed a severe pain in his right knew. It became so bad that he could barely stand. Fox went to a hospital and was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. His right leg was amputated six inches above the knee.

Fox became aware of how little money was spent on cancer research in Canada and decided to run across the country to raise awareness and money to fight the disease. Named the “Marathon of Hope,” his goal was to raise $1 million but after running through Newfoundland, he changed the goal to $1 for each person in Canada – $25 million.

Fox’s run began on April 12, 1980 from St. John’s, Newfoundland with only one camera crew from the CBC documenting the event. By the time he left the province, the young man had raised over $14,000. By the time he made his way to Montreal, Quebec, media and public attention had increased considerably. On July 4, he met with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Fox became a media sensation by the time he reached Toronto, Ontario with a crowd of over 10,000 people attending a rally at City Hall.

On September 1, 1980, poor breathing prevented Fox from continuing his run and he learned that his cancer had spread to his lungs. He had run fro 143 consecutive days. Terry Fox died on June 28, 1981 and was the youngest person ever awarded the Order of Canada. He was able to raise $24.17 million. His iconic run is celebrated each year with the Terry Fox Run. By 2004, it has raised over $360 million.

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