Montreal Quebec - Montreal installs first street lamps, fueled by whale oil; first streetlights in Canada.

Also On This Day...

St-Denis, Quebec - Patriote leader Wolfred Nelson 1791-1863 leads his followers in defeating Col. Charles Gore 1793-1869 and his 2,000 British troops at the battle of St-Denis. Gore's Waterloo veterans, 6 companies of infantry and a detachment of artillery, have no success against the deadly fire of the rebels, holed up in Nelson's distillery and behind the thick stone walls of the Maison Saint-Germain; British suffer 6 dead and 11 wounded, Nelson's Patriotes lose 12 men and seven wounded; a British prisoner, Lt. George Weir, is also killed trying to escape; Nelson later jailed in Montreal; Louis-Joseph Papineau, Thomas Storrow Brown and a young George-Etienne Cartier flee to St-Hyacinthe, then the US.

Also On This Day...

Korea - Red Chinese forces launch three-day offensive against Le Royal 22e Régiment (the Van Doos) in Korea. The picture shows a young UN journalist named René Lévesque interviewing members of the regiment.

And in Today's Canadian Birthdays...

Robert McClure 1900-1991
medical missionary, church leader, was born on this day at Portland, Oregon to Canadian medical missionaries; died in Toronto Nov 10, 1991. After getting his medical degree in 1923, McClure was posted to Honan, China where he helped set up a rural medical system. In 1937, with war between China and Japan, he served as Red Cross medical director in Central China, and led the Friends Ambulance Unit during World War II. After the War he served in Palestine and India, and in 1968 was elected first unordained moderator of the United Church.

Also James Glenie 1750-1817
soldier, politician, was born on this day at Fife, Scotland, in 1750; died at London, England, Nov. 23, 1817. Glenie served in Quebec during the American Revolutionary War period; 1787 resigned his commission and settled in New Brunswick; clashed with Lt-Governor Thomas Carleton and his Loyalist compact; 1789 elected to the Assembly and fought for responsible government with the Governor and Council; led to political deadlock from 1795 to 1799, which lost him support; 1805 left for England where he died in poverty.

Also William Jack 1817-1886
mathematician, astronomer, professor, was born on this day at Trailflatt, Scotland, in 1817; died at Fredericton, New Brunswick, Nov. 23, 1886. Jack was a professor at King's College, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, from 1840 to 1885, and was President 1861-85; 1851 built the first astronomical observatory in Canada on the campus.

Also Frederic Nicholls 1856-1921
engineer, entrepreneur, was born on this day in England in 1856; died at the Kellogg sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan, Oct. 25, 1921. Nicholls came to Canada in 1874 after training as an electrical engineer in Germany; 1887 helped John A. Macdonald and the Conservative Party draft the National Policy of tariff protection; founded and edited the Canadian Manufacturer magazine until 1893; 1891 brought first electric lighting to Toronto with his Toronto Incandescent Light Company; founded the Electrical Development Company to develop Niagara power, and the Canadian General Electric Company to manufacture electric equipment.

Also Henri-Marc Ami 1858-1931
paleontologist, geologist, was born on this day at Belle-Rivière, Quebec, in 1858, the son of a Swiss pastor; died at Menton, France, Jan. 04, 1931. Ami studied geology at McGill University under John William Dawson; 1882-1911 worked for the Geological Survey of Canada, primarily on geological formations in Quebec and the Maritimes; 1895-1900 editor of the Ottawa Naturalist; 1900 elected to the Royal Society of Canada; 1911 retired to work privately on geological prehistory.

Also Gilbert Parker 1862-1932
journalist, author, politician, was born on this day at Camden East, Ontario in 1862; died in London, England, Sept. 06, 1932. Parker left for England in 1890 after teaching for several years in Ontario; 1900 MP for Gravesend to 1918); known for his historical novels, including Pierre and His People (1892) and Carnac (1922).

Also Archibald Huntsman 1883-1973
marine biologist, administrator, editor, professor, was born on this day at Tintern, Ontario, in 1883; died at St Andrews, New Brunswick Aug. 08, 1973. Huntsman was one of the founders of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada; 1934-53 served as the Board's chief scientist and director; 1927-54 Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Toronto.

Also Victor Jory 1902-1982
actor, was born on this day at Dawson City, Yukon, in 1902; died Feb. 12, 1982. Jory played in over 100 movies in a 50 year career from 1930 to 1980, including Canadian Pacific (1949 - Dirk Rourke). For more, check out the Internet Movie Database.

Also Ralph Collins 1914-1992
diplomat, was born on this day at Kunming, China, in 1914; died in Ottawa Jan. 01, 1992. Collins worked in the Department of External Affairs from 1940 to 1979; served in China during World War II, and headed External Affairs' Far Eastern Division; served as ambassador to South Africa and in 1971, Canada's first ambassador to the People's Republic of China.

Also Patricia Kathleen 'P.K.' Page 1916-
poet, painter, was born on this day at Swanage, Dorset, England, in 1916. Page left England in 1919 and settled in Red Deer, Alberta; educated in Calgary and Winnipeg; studied art in Brazil and New York; moved to Montreal and worked as a filing clerk, historical researcher and from 1946 to 1950, scriptwriter at the National Film Board; part of the group that founded Preview (1942-45); poems first appeared in Unit of Five (ed Ronald Hambleton, 1942); 1950 married W.A. Irwin; 1953-64 lived in Australia, where her husband was Canadian High Commissioner, then in Brazil and Mexico, where he served as Ambassador; 1964 moved to Victoria. Poetry includes As Ten As Twenty (1946); The Metal and the Flower (1954, Governor General's Award); Cry Ararat! (1967); Poems Selected and New (1974); Evening Dance of the Grey Files (1981); and The Glass Air (1985).

Also Daniel Hill 1923-
social activist, public servant, was born on this day at Independence, Missouri, in 1923. Hill got his a PhD in sociology from the University of Toronto; 1962-73 headed the Ontario Human Rights Commission; 1984 Provincial Ombudsman of Ontario; member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal; author of Human Rights in Canada: A Focus on Racism (1977) and The Freedom Seekers: Blacks in Early Canada (1981).

Also Bill Bissett 1939-
poet, painter, publisher, was born on this day at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1939. Bissett has published over 50 books of poems, including Nobody Owns the Earth (1971), Beyond Even Faithful Legends: Selected Poems (1980), and since 1985, with Talonbooks, works like Canada Gees Mate for Life, Seagull on Yonge Street, Animal Uproar, What We Have, Hard 2 beleev, Inkorrect Thots; an anarchist, bissett refused to obey normal spelling and grammar rules, and is well known as a sound poet.

Also Dan Kesa 1971-
NHL right winger, was born on this day at Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1971. Kesa was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

Also Matt Johnson 1975-
NHL left winger, was born on this day at Welland, Ontario, in 1975. Johnson was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round (33rd pick overall) of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.