maple leafToday's Canadian Headline....
1944 CANADIAN ADVANCE HALTED IN NORMANDY

Le-Mesnil-Patry France - D-Day +5; 6th Canadian Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars) and Queens Own try to outflank Carpiquet by moving from Norrey-en-Bessin through Le-Mesnil-Patry towards Cheux, but they meet heavy mortar, machine-gun and 88mm anti-tank gun fire from the 12th Panzer SS, slowing the Sherman tanks; only 2 that enter the town survive; 59 men are killed, 21 wounded; the Queen's Own also loses 55 killed and 44 wounded; in the 6 days of June 6-11, 1017 Canadians are killed in action and 1814 more are wounded.

1534

Also On This Day...

Brest Harbour Newfoundland - Jacques Cartier 1491-1557 and his crew celebrate the first recorded Catholic mass in North America; Brest Harbour used by cod fishermen for wood and water; notes poverty of Labrador- not even 'a cartful of earth... this is the land that God gave to Cain'.

1983

Also On This Day...

Ottawa Ontario - Brian Mulroney 1939- chosen as party leader on 4th ballot by Progressive Conservatives, replacing interim leader Erik Neilsen; by 1,584 votes to Joe Clark's 1,324 on the 4th ballot; first PC leader from Quebec since Confederation.

1925

And in Today's Canadian Birthdays...

Johnny Esaw 1925-
broadcaster, was born on this day in 1925. Esaw is most remembered for his work with CTV on the 1972 Canada/Russia hockey series, for promoting figure skating and as host broadcaster for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

Also A.H. (Cap) Fear 1901-1978
athlete, was born on this day in 1901; dies Feb. 12 1978. Fear played outside wing for the Toronto Argonauts from 1920, and helped them win three league titles and a Grey Cup; from 1928-1932 played for the Hamilton Tigers, helping them take two league titles and two Grey Cups; also rowed with the Argonaut rowing club, stroking the lightweight eights and fours to Canadian Henley victories on the same day .

In Other Events....
1992 Ottawa Ontario - Joe Clark 1939- closes 3 months of constitutional talks; says all except Newfoundland like Senate reform ideas; suggests possible referendum.
1992Martensville Saskatchewan - Police charge couple Ron and Linda Sterling and son Travis, 6 others with 170 counts of sexual assault, forcibly confining children; operators of unlicensed babysitting service; most charges quashed.
1992Ottawa Ontario - Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops calls for change to prevent sexual abuse by priests; says dioceses should check allegations, support victims.
1990Toronto Ontario - Brian Mulroney 1939- tells Globe & Mail interviewers he intended to stall the first ministers talks until the last minute; says it is important to know 'when to roll all the dice'.
1990St. John's Newfoundland - Premier Clyde Wells, who promised only to seek the judgment of the people of Newfoundland on the Meech Lake Accord, concedes there isn't time to arrange a referendum by June 23; told by Ottawa the deadline can't be extended, he opts for a free vote in the House of Assembly.
1990Ottawa Ontario - Stanley Waters named to Senate by P.M. Mulroney; after Don Getty promised no further elections until studies done; Getty held Canada's first Senate election in Oct 1989 to push reform.
1978Temiskaming Ontario - High waves swamp canoeing expedition from St. John's school in Claremont, Ontario; 12 students and a teacher drowned in Lake Temiskaming on the Ontario-Quebec border.
1977Ottawa Ontario - Electoral boundary changes increase number of seats in House of Commons by 18 to 282; at next general election.
1976Ottawa Ontario - National Energy Board cuts oil exports to the US by 12%.
1976Vancouver BC - United Nations Habitat conference on human settlements ends in Vancouver.
1974Ottawa Ontario - Ottawa grants $55 million in aid to flood victims on the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers.
1971Washington DC - Canada and US agree to pollution control program in the Great Lakes.
1966San Diego California - Torontonian David Bailey 1945- first Canadian to break four-minute mile (3:59.1).
1964 Hungary - Canada and Hungarian People's Republic sign three-year trade pact; first between two countries in postwar era.
1962Nelson BC - Start of preliminary hearing against 72 Sons of Freedom Doukhobors for incidents between 1958 and 1961; conspiracy charges will be dismissed August 7.
1945 Canada - William Lyon Mackenzie King 1874-1950 wins Canada's twentieth federal general election 125 seats to 67; CCF 28; Social Credit 13; Independents 12; defeats John Bracken with 40.9% of popular vote.
1943Hot Springs Georgia - Canada signs international agreement on post-war relief; origin of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
1941Ottawa Ontario - DBS issues census results, showing Canada's population has reached 11,506,655.
1940Ottawa Ontario - Princess Juliana of the Netherlands arrives in Canada to seek refuge during the Second World War; will settle in Ottawa.
1936Quebec Quebec - Joseph-Adélard Godbout becomes Liberal Premier of Quebec.
1934Flin Flon Manitoba - Miners in Flin Flon go on strike until July 14.
1931Ottawa Ontario - Parliament votes to proclaim Remembrance Day, November 11, as a general holiday.
1917Ottawa Ontario - Borden's Union government introduces the Conscription Act in the Commons, then calls an election to get a mandate; election that followed passage of the bill one of the most divisive in Canadian history.
1917Ottawa Ontario - Cabinet creates the Canadian Board of Grain Commissioners, to be established in Regina.
1889Toronto Ontario - D'Alton McCarthy 1836-1898 founds Equal Rights Association in Toronto to argue for repeal of Quebec's Jesuits Estate Act, claims government let Roman Catholic Church control political decision-making; Conservative MP backed by Orange Order also agitated against Catholic separate schools in Manitoba and the Northwest.
1847King William Island NWT - Rear Admiral John Franklin 1786-1847 dies in his ice-bound ship; command goes to Francis Crozier; James Fitzjames second-in-Command; 14 others already dead; remainder sick from eating tainted canned rations.
1847Lapierre House Yukon - Alexander Murray 1818-1874 sets out from Lapierre House on the Bell River to build Fort Yukon for the Hudson's Bay Company.
1782Halifax Nova Scotia - William Black preaches his first sermon in Canada, as first Canadian Methodist minister.
1759Quebec Quebec - Royal Highland Regiment soldiers issued two quarts of spruce beer daily.
1638Trois-Rivières Quebec - Jesuit Relations describe first recorded earthquake in Canada; tremors for six months, from Gaspé to Montreal, but no casualties reported.
1636Quebec Quebec - Charles Huault de Montmagny c1583-c1653 arrives in Quebec as Governor and Lieutenant General of New France; to 1648; first Governor in title; builds upper town; forbids French to sell firearms to Indians.
1611Hudson Bay, off Northern Quebec - Hendrick Hudson's ship, the Half Moon freed from the ice; heads north for home.
1603Saguenay Quebec - Samuel de Champlain c1570-1635 explores 56 km up Saguenay River; hears of salt sea to the north, but doesn't believe it is the Pacific.
1583Plymouth England - Humphrey Gilbert c1537-1583 leaves Plymouth on second voyage with five ships; Delight, Raleigh, Golden Hind, Swallow and Squirrel; chartered to search for the Northwest Passage, and a patent from the English crown to explore and colonize America.