maple leafToday's Canadian Headline....
1960 ROGER GETS THE RIDE OF HIS LIFE

Niagara Falls Ontario - Roger Woodward survives 162 foot plunge over the Horseshoe Falls because he is wearing a lifejacket; his first word when rescued is 'gosh'; the 7-year-old is the first person to go over the Falls by accident and live.

1874

Also On This Day...

Pembina Manitoba - First North West Mounted Police (NWMP) force of 318 men heads west from Fort Dufferin to the American whisky post called Fort Whoop Up at the junction of the Oldman and St. Mary rivers near present-day Lethbridge, Alberta; abandoned with the arrived of the police, Fort Whoop-Up will serve as an outpost for the force; forerunners of RCMP.

1923

Also On This Day...

Calgary Alberta -
Guy Weadick holds first Chuckwagon Race at the Stampede, persuading 6 local ranchers to risk their wagons and horses in what will be billed as 'the half mile of hell'. Here's an early Stampede poster from 1912, showing founders Pat Burns, George Lane, A. E. Cross and A. J. McLean.

1845

And in Today's Canadian Birthdays...

Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound Minto, 4th Earl of Minto 1845-1914
statesman, was born on this day at London England in 1845; dies March 1, 1914, at Minto, Roxburgh, Scotland. Minto served the Empire as 8th Governor-General of Canada (1898-1904) and viceroy of India (1905-10).

Also Leonard 'Red' Kelly 1927-
hockey player, coach, was born on this day in 1927. Kelly played for the Detroit Red Wings (Norris Trophy 1954, Lady Byng Trophy 1951, 1953, 1954, 1961) and was on 4 Stanley Cup winning teams; also for the Toronto Maple Leafs (4 Stanley Cup winners); coached the LA Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins: Adams Trophy (1969-70).

Also Clarence Campbell 1905-1984
National Hockey League President for 31 years, from 1946 to 1977, was born on this day at Fleming Saskatchewan in 1905; dies in Montreal in 1984. A Rhodes Scholar who captained the hockey team while at Oxford, Campbell refereed at the 1928 Olympic lacrosse final and officiated in the NHL for 155 scheduled games and 12 play off matches before joining the Canadian Army; in 1944 became a major and led the 4th Canadian Armoured Division. In March 1955, his suspension of Maurice Richard in the playoffs led to a riot in Montreal. Campbell was responsible for bringing in the All-Star game in 1947, the NHL Pension Fund in 1948 and establishing the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960.

In Other Events....
1995 South Pacific - French commandos board the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior II in the South Pacific; the ship is protesting continued French nuclear testing.
1991Ottawa Ontario - Joe Clark 1939- says he will release the federal position on unity by September; cites divisions over issues between English and French ministers.
1991St. Lazare Manitoba - 400 residents of St. Lazare flee homes when train carrying highly corrosive acetic anhydride derails; emergency evacuation ends after six days.
1991Toronto Ontario - Brian Mulroney 1939- meets US President Bush at the SkyDome for talks on common approach to aid for Soviet Union; American League beat National League 4-2 in the first All-Star game held in Toronto.
1991Montreal Quebec - International Human Rights Federation releases report citing human rights violations in the Oka crisis of 1990; Amnesty International report also cites mistreatment of natives by Quebec Police.
1988Lisbon Portugal - Bryan Adams holds concert before record 30,000 person crowd in Lisbon; joined by British singer Bonnie Tyler singing 'Straight From the Heart' and No Way to Treat a Lady,' two of her hits which he had written.
1984Ottawa Ontario - John Napier Turner 1929- calls federal general election for September 4, saying Canadians needed a 'renewal of confidence and certainty in this country.'
1976Montreal Quebec - Houston Astros pitcher Larry Dierker hurls a no-hitter, fanning eight and walking four as the Astros beat the Montreal Expos 6-0.
1975Teheran Iran - Canada and Iran sign trade agreements worth up to $2 billion.
1974New York City - Springhill, Nova Scotia's Anne Murray has a #1 Billboard hit with 'He Thinks I Still Care.'
1969Ottawa Ontario - Parliament passes the Official Languages Act, making English and French the official languages of federal administration in Canada.
1955Stratford Ontario - Festival Singers of Toronto gave their first concert, at the Stratford Festival; formed in 1954 by Elmer Iseler, the choir turn professional in 1968, as the Festival Singers of Canada.
1947London England - Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of Princess Elizabeth to Royal Navy Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, a member of the Greek royal family.
1944Caen France - Canadians and British capture Caen after massive bombardment by 467 planes from Bomber Command; urban area north of Orne River secured by nightfall by two British Divisions and the 3rd Canadian; the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders and the Sherbrooke Fusilier tanks are the first into the ruined city, although the famous Abbaye-aux-Hommes, 1000 years old, is untouched; 1,194 Canadian casualties, 334 are fatal.
1920Quebec Quebec - Louis-Alexandre Taschereau sworn in as Liberal Premier of Quebec.
1904Peterborough Ontario - Opening of giant hydraulic liftlock on the Trent-Severn Waterway; steamboat Stoney Lake first through lock from Rice Lake up the Otonabee River to the Kawartha Lakes.
1886Ottawa Ontario - Crown grants general amnesty to those involved in Northwest Rebellion of 1885; except for murderers.
1847Ottawa Ontario - Joseph-Bruno Guigues 1805-1874 appointed first Roman Catholic Bishop of Bytown.
1843Montreal Quebec - Launch of the Prince Albert; first iron steamship built in Canada.
1837Mackenzie River NWT - Thomas Simpson 1808-1840 reaches Mackenzie River with Peter Dease.
1827Guelph Ontario - Group of 150 destitute and homeless settlers arrived in Ontario via New York; after emigrating from England to Venezuela where they found the climate, soil and political conditions inhospitable.
1811Washington State - North West Company trader David Thompson raises the Union Jack at the junction of the Snake River and the Columbia, and claims the area for Britain; territory stays British until the Oregon Treaty of 1846 awards it to the United States.
1793Niagara-on-the-Lake - Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe passes Act Against Slavery, banning the further import of slaves into Upper Canada, and limiting the contract of those remaining; Act declares that slaves' children should be free at age 25; all slaves entering the province from this date were henceforth automatically free.
1793Quebec Quebec - Importation of slaves into Lower Canada prohibited; bill to abolish slavery failed until 1804.
1793Montreal Quebec - Jacob Mountain 1749-1825 appointed first Anglican Bishop of Canada.
1755Pittsburgh Pennsylvania - Daniel de Beaujeu 1711-1755 kills 600 of 1200 British regulars under General Edward Braddock in an ambush at Fort Duquesne; both Braddock and de Beaujeu mortally wounded in the Battle of the Monongahela, near present-day Pittsburgh. One survivor was an aide to Braddock - Col. George Washington - who wrote to his brother, 'But by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!'.
1749Halifax Nova Scotia - Edward Cornwallis c1713-1753 founds new settlement of Halifax founded as naval settlement to counter Louisbourg.
1615Huronia Ontario - Samuel de Champlain c1570-1635 travels up Ottawa River to Lake Nipissing, and down French River into Lake Huron; explores and maps; first discovered by Etienne Brulé and father Caron.