This Day In History
December 12

Year Month Start Date Event
1812 December 12 Born - December 12 - John Sandfield Macdonald, Premier of Ontario (d.1872)
1828 December 12 On December 12, Daniel Tracey founds the newspaper The Irish Vindicator and Canada General Advertiser, which became The Montreal Vindicator soon after.
1859 December 12 The Victoria Bridge opened.
1863 December 12 Close of navigation from Montreal.
1894 December 12 December 12 - Sir John Thompson, Prime Minister, dies in office.
1894 December 12 Died - December 12 - John Sparrow David Thompson, lawyer, judge, politician, university professor and 4th Prime Minister of Canada (b.1845)
1901 December 12 December 12 — Guglielmo Marconi receives a transatlantic radio message at St. John's, Newfoundland
1904 December 12 First escalator in Toronto is installed at an Eaton's store on Queen Street West.
1911 December 12 Died - December 12 – Daniel J. Greene, politician and Prime Minister of Newfoundland (b.1850)
1913 December 12 Born - December 12 - Clint Smith, ice hockey player and coach (d.2009)
1916 December 12 Died - December 12 - Albert Lacombe, missionary (b.1827)
1920 December 12 Died - December 12 - Edward Gawler Prior, mining engineer, politician and Premier of British Columbia (b.1854)
1933 December 12 Born - December 12 - Joe Borowski, politician and activist (d.1996)
1935 December 12 Born - December 12 - John Wise, politician, MP for Elgin (1972–1988); Minister of Agriculture (1979–1980; 1984–1988) (d.2013)
1942 December 12 Born - December 12 - A fire at the Knights of Columbus Hall in St John's, Newfoundland kills 99.
1944 December 12 Worst winter storm in Toronto's history ends as 20.5 inches of snow fell in 24-hours.
1944 December 12 Born - December 12 - Peter Goldring, politician
1951 December 12 December 12 – The St. Lawrence Seaway Authority is established.
1952 December 12 Born - December 12 – Herb Dhaliwal, politician and Minister
1957 December 12 Born - December 12 – Robert Lepage, playwright, actor and film director
1960 December 12 Died - December 12 – Louis Orville Breithaupt, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b.1890)
1968 December 12 December 12 – Harry Strom becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Ernest Manning
1969 December 12 Born - December 12 - Debra Wurzburger, swimmer
1969 December 12 Born - December 12 - Iain Sydie, badminton player
1975 December 12 December 12 - Roy Kellock, jurist and Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (b.1893)
1980 December 12 Died - December 12 - Jean Lesage, lawyer, politician and Premier of Quebec (b.1912)
1985 December 12 December 12 - Robert Bourassa becomes premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Pierre-Marc Johnson
1985 December 12 December 12 - The worst airplane accident in Canadian history occurs when Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes on take-off from Gander International Airport. 256 people are killed.
1986 December 12 Born - December 12 - Marie-Pier Beaudet, archer
2003 December 12 December 12 - Paul Martin is sworn in as Canada's 21st Prime Minister