TODAY–Tuesday 17 May 2011 IN CANADIAN HISTORY-Cape Breton Island-Nova Scotia

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	Today's Canadian Headline...
1939	FIRST ROYAL TOUR OF CANADA Quebec Quebec – King George VI 1895-1952 and Queen Elizabeth disembark at Wolfe’s Cove from the CP ship Empress of Australia to start a month-long royal visit to Canada; the first by a reigning British monarch; addresses citizens of Quebec in fluent French. The tour is designed to repair and enhance British-Canadian relations, as war clouds again gather in Europe.
1642	Also On This Day... Montreal Quebec – Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve 1612-1676 and Jeanne Mance arrive on Montreal Island with Mme de La Peltrie, Charlotte Barré and other colonists backed by La Société Notre-Dame; after a thanksgiving mass they start building a fort on the site of Place Royale; found a settlement they call Ville Marie de Montréal.
1963	Also On This Day... Montreal Quebec – Canadian Army engineer Sergeant-Major Walter Leja is seriously injured when bomb he is trying to dismantle blows up in his hands; one of a series of six FLQ terrorist bombs that explode in Westmount mailboxes starting at 3 am (five more are disarmed, another 5 are carried away and blown up safely). Three days later, police arrest 20 members of the Front de liberation Quebecois; 21 year old Mario Bachand will be sentenced to four years in jail for planting bombs.
1898	And in Today's Canadian Birthdays... Alfred Joseph Casson 1898-1992 painter, was born on this day at France in 1898; dies in Toronto Feb. 19, 1992 . Casson was a member of the Group of Seven painters (1920-32), who helped forge a national identity through the visual arts with their Canadian landscapes. Also Albert ‘Frenchy’ Belanger 1906-1969 boxer, was born on this day in Cabbagetown Toronto in 1906; dies May 29 1969. At 21, on Dec. 19 1927, Belanger outpointed England’s Ernie Jarvis in 12 rounds to win the World Flyweight Championship. The tough little boxer from Toronto, weighing 112 lbs, retired in 1930 after six years and 13 knockouts, 24 decisions, 7 draws and 17 losses in 61 pro bouts.
In Other Events…
1996	Cannes France – Toronto director David Cronenberg’s film Crash has its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival; audiences are scandalized by the portrayal of characters sexually aroused by traffic accidents.
1995	Montreal Quebec – Hockey legend Hector ‘Toe’ Blake dies at 82; born at Victoria Mines, NS on Aug 21, 1912, Blake played left wing for the Montreal Canadiens, and was the Hart Trophy regular season MVP in 1939. He led the team to 2 Stanley Cups as a player and 8 more as coach; his eight Stanley Cup championships in 13 seasons as coach of the Canadiens is an NHL record.
1993	Fredericton New Brunswick – Country singer Stompin’ Tom Connors awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St. Thomas University. Born in Saint John Feb. 3, 1936, he moved to PEI as a boy and only reached Grade 9 in school. The writer of Bud the Spud and other ditties, Connors started singing for a living in 1964, when he found himself broke at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins.
1992	Toronto Ontario – Blue Jays pass the one million attendance mark in only 21 dates, earlier than any team in major league baseball history.
1991	Ottawa Ontario – Department of National Defence says it is canceling orders for $900 million worth of military equipment and cutting almost 1,000 jobs at Ottawa NDHQ; due to the easing of Cold War tensions.
1991	Ottawa Ontario – Rogers Communications Inc. to acquire Skyline Cablevision Ltd. of Ottawa for $70 million; plus $5 million for French language community channel.
1990	St. Andrews New Brunswick – Star-Kist Canada to close down tuna plant, throwing 250 people out of work; slumping prices to blame; plant closed due to tainted tuna scandal from 1985-88.
1990	Ottawa Ontario – Jean Charest’s Commons committee unanimously recommends approving Meech Lake by June 23; says Ottawa should promote the two official languages, recognize the distinct society clause, and reform the Senate.
1984	Toronto Ontario – Former CFRB journalist and broadcaster Gordon Sinclair 1900-1984 dies after a heart attack.
1983	Edmonton Alberta – New York Islanders win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup, beating the Oilers 4- 2 in game 4.
1978	Ottawa Ontario – Robert B. Bryce 1910-sees no need to screen mergers, in his report of the Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration.
1975	Aylmer Ontario – Ten policewomen start training to be OPP constables at the Ontario Police College, ending 65 years of male-only service in the Ontario Provincial Police.
1974	Vancouver BC – Joe Morris 1913- elected president of the Canadian Labour Congress at Vancouver convention.
1972	Ottawa Ontario – Gerald LeDain issues his LeDain Commission Report Part Two, recommending abolition of penalties for possession of cannabis.
1971	Moscow Russia – Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1919- starts ten-day trip to Soviet Union.
1971	Montreal Quebec – Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks 4 games to 3 for the Stanley Cup.
1968	Antigonish Nova Scotia – Mike McIntosh appointed to the Board of Governors of St. Francis Xavier University; first undergraduate on a Canadian university Board.
1968	Montreal Quebec – Opening of the Man and his World fair on the former Expo ’67 site on Ile Ste-Helene and Ile Notre-Dame.
1963	Ottawa Ontario – Construction begins on the National Library and Public Archives Building on Wellington Street in Ottawa.
1957	Cornwall Ontario – Canadian National Railways opens a 40 mile diversion of its Montreal to Toronto main line to avoid construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
1949	Ottawa Ontario – Canadian government grants full diplomatic recognition to the State of Israel, founded May 14, 1948.
1943	England – Only 8 of the 17 British and Canadian Lancasters of the Dambusters Squadron return from breaching the Mohne and the Eder dams in Germany’s industrial Ruhr basin; 30 RCAF airmen part of the Squadron; 13 of the 53 dead are Canadians.
1928	Amsterdam Netherlands – Canadian athletes join 44 other nations and a total of 3,014 competitors at the opening of the ninth modern Olympic games. Canada will win four gold medals, two by Percy Williams (100m and 200m dash) and two by Ethel Catherwood (high jump and 4x100m relay).
1919	Winnipeg Manitoba – Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand organized to counteract Winnipeg General Strike; provide essential public services.
1882	Kingston Ontario – Queen’s College in Kingston given university powers; now Queen’s University.
1878	Ottawa Ontario – Thomas Edison demonstrates his new invention, the phonograph, to Governor-General and Lady Dufferin.
1873	Ottawa Ontario – Samuel Leonard Tilley 1818-1896 moves resolution to bring Prince Edward Island into Confederation.
1871	Fredericton New Brunswick – Common Schools Act sets up separate schools in New Brunswick.
1855	Charlottetown PEI – Charlottetown incorporated as a city.
1851	Saint John New Brunswick – Launch of the sailing ship Marco Polo; reputed to be the fastest ship in the world.
1849	Red River Manitoba – Metis leaders James Sinclair and Louis Riel Senior intimidate the General Quarterly Court of Assiniboia during the trial of Guillaume Sayer for unlicensed fur trading; Sayer found guilty, but the court rules for mercy, saying that Sayer did not know that the Metis were not permitted to trade freely; illegal trading continues, threatening the monopoly of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
1841	Quebec Quebec – Landslide kills 32 die at Citadel Rock, Quebec City.
1793	Alberta – Alexander Mackenzie 1764-1820 sights the Rockies.
1790	Quebec – Government bans export of wheat, oats, and flour to cut high prices.
1775	Philadelphia Pennsylvania- US Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.
1757	Quebec Quebec – War speculators raise the prices of bread and meat by 1000%; 4 oz. of bread the daily ration in Quebec.
1689	Europe – Beginning of King William’s War with France; to Sept. 20 1697.
1673	Sault Ste Marie Ontario – Fathers Marquette and Joliet leave Sault Ste Marie and paddle south across Lake Michigan to rediscover and claim Mississippi River for Louis XlV; they will reach south as far as the Arkansas River.
1657	France – Gabriel Thubières de Lévy de Queylus 1612-1677 leaves from France with Sulpician priests Gabriel Souart, Dominique Galinier, and Antoine d’Allet; appointed Vicar-General by la Societé des Prêtres de Sainte-Sulpice, the seigneurs of Montreal.
1656	Quebec Quebec – Zacharie Dupuy c1608-1676 leaves with a group of French to establish a settlement among the Onondagas; military commander of Quebec.