Heritage Branch, Wellness, Culture & Sport

Wellness, Culture and Sport

This Week in New Brunswick History!

January 11, 1969	Under the leadership of Michel Blanchard, approximately 100 students at the Universit� de Moncton initiate a �sit-in� of the Science building, demanding 32 million dollars increased federal funding for the university.
February 10, 1914	The Parish of Notre-Dame-de-L'Assomption is created in Moncton, under the leadership of Reverend Henri Cormier.
February 14, 1968	Almost 400 students from the Universit� de Moncton march on Moncton's City Hall shouting "En fran�ais! En fran�ais!" � protesting the lack of bilingual services in the city.
February 20, 1954	Radio Station CBAF in Moncton begins broadcasting, providing a French-language service to the Maritimes.
February 24, 1906	A "million dollar fire" destroys much of the Intercolonial Railway Repair Shops in Moncton. The Hon. Henry Emmerson, Westmorland MP and the Minister of Railways and Canals, immediately cables the city promising to have the facilities rebuilt in Moncton.
February 5, 1920	Eaton's opens a huge mail-order business in Moncton, after completing its six-storey building on Foundry Street. Seven years later, a retail operation is added to the busy enterprise.
March 18, 1936	Moncton is chosen as the first Archdiocese in New Brunswick and on December 1 Mgr. Louis-Joseph-Arthur Melanson is appointed Archbishop.
April 1, 1980	Radio-Canada in Moncton announces that Sugarloaf Mountain, a long dormant volcano for hundreds of millions of years, is suddenly erupting. Many in the region become alarmed � before they realize that it is only an April Fool�s joke !
April 11, 1853	Moncton shipbuilder Joseph Salter gives his workers better working conditions and a shorter work day. This date is observed as New Brunswick's first Labour Day.
April 21, 1933	The Moncton Hawks are greeted at the CN station in Moncton, the first Maritime hockey team to win the Allan Cup, Canadian amateur hockey's highest award. The team repeats as Canadian champions the following year.
April 23, 1890	The rapidly growing railway town of Moncton is re-incorporated as New Brunswick's third city.
April 23, 1892	Moncton's first railway union with international affiliation is established as the Moncton Lodge 226 of the International Association of Machinists.
April 27, 1884	Ivan C. Rand, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and conceiver of the "Rand Formula" for Unions, is born in Moncton.
May 23, 1906	Moncton mayor James Ryan is found guilty of two counts of assault in physical attacks against newspaper publisher John Hawke. The guilty judgement is the result of brutal fist fights in Hawke's newspaper office and Moncton's Council Chambers.
May 24, 1882	First issue of the "Moncton Transcript" newspaper (forerunner to the current "Times & Transcript").
May 30, 1957	Yvon Durelle, the �Fighting Fisherman� from Baie Ste.-Anne, wins the British Empire light-heavyweight crown at Moncton, in a 2 round knockout decision over Gordon Wallace of Brantford (Ontario). Durelle later challenges Archie Moore for the world title.
May 31, 1880	Moncton's "Daily Times" reports a "crazy man in the vicinity of High Street roaming about entirely naked with the exception of a sheep skin girdle in which is fixed a knife. He is said to live in the woods."
May 7, 1901	Moncton inventor Alex Carter and machinist Walter S. Bowness build New Brunswick's first automobile in their shop on Victoria Street.
May 8, 1989	Leopold Belliveau is elected Moncton's first Acadian mayor.
June 1, 1905	The publishing headquarters for "L'�vangline" (the "National newspaper for Acadia") is moved from Weymouth (Nova Scotia) to Moncton.
June 19, 1963	L'Universit� de Moncton is established by merging three exisiting university colleges: Sacr�-Coeur in Bathurst, Saint-Louis (Edmundston), and Saint-Joseph (Moncton).
June 27, 1910	"The Standard" reports that Auguste Belliveau, who operates the Duke Hotel in Moncton, holds the Scott Act record for the city - having been arrested 13 times, within a few hours, for selling alcohol.
June 3, 1766	Moncton Township's anglophone settlers arrive on a sloop commanded by Captain John Hall. Eight families from Philadelphia land near the mouth of Hall's Creek and are given grants of land totaling 17,611 acres.
June 5, 1882	John Mitchell Lyons, of Moncton, patents the Separable Baggage Check, a coupon ticket method still used today in bus, train and air travel.
July 14, 1951	Florine Bourque is crowned Queen of the Shediac Lobster Festival, by hockey great Maurice �Rocket� Richard. Presiding over the ceremony is King Neptune (Wendell Colpitts of Moncton) and his mermaid (Lillian Skanes of Belle Isle, Newfoundland).
July 23, 1971	Antonine Maillet's "La Sagouine" (The Washerwoman), the internationally acclaimed "quintessential Acadian play in language, humour and content", is officially launched at the Universit� de Moncton, with Viola L�ger.
July 24, 1904	The first Canadian branch of the "Soci�t� Mutelle d'Assomption" is established in Bouctouche under the leadership of Dr. David-V. Landry. Founded in Waltham (Massachusetts) in 1903, the international headquarters is moved to Moncton in 1917.
July 27, 1926	Construction begins on Moncton's first synagogue. Tiferes Isreal Synagogue later opens its doors on Steadman Street.
August 1, 1892	Policeman Joseph Steadman is shot dead in an alley in Moncton. Two men are later arrested, and Robert "Buck" Olsen is hanged for the crime at Dorchester.
August 11, 1877	First issue of Moncton�s �Daily Times " newspaper ( a forerunner to the �Times-Transcript�).
August 14, 1987	The Honourable Gilbert Finn, of Moncton, is appointed Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick.
August 19, 1905	The Canadian Pacific Railway�s annual western �Harvest Excursion� train departs from Moncton. Upwards of 3,000 young Maritimers are on their way to the northwest (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) to aid in harvesting grain crops.
August 20, 1857	The first train on the European and North American Railway departs Shediac for Moncton, with H.A. Whitney as the Conductor.
August 24, 1934	Eaton's in Moncton advertise men's wool suits at $10 and silver plated cutlery at $1.98 for 18 pieces.
August 31, 1988	Moncton's " Le Matin " daily newspaper declares bankruptcy, and " L'Acadie NOUVELLE " , in Caraquet, becomes the only French-language daily in the province.
August 6, 1879	His Excellency the Governor-General Marquis of Lorne and HRH Princess Louise commence their Royal Tour of New Brunswick, stopping by train in Moncton, Sussex and Hampton. In Saint John, �Reed�s Castle� on Mount Pleasant Ave. becomes their temporary home.
August 6, 2002	Moncton becomes the first bilingual city in Canada, adopting legislation that all municipal literature designed for the public will be issued in both official languages.
September 13, 1984	His Holiness Pope John Paul II visits Moncton as part of his Canadian tour and celebrates mass on the Magnetic Hill site.
September 20, 1896	New Brunswick�s only sugar refinery, The Moncton Sugar Refining Company, is destroyed by fire. Built in 1882 and acquired in 1894 by the Acadia Sugar Refining Company of Halifax (Nova Scotia), the Moncton plant is not rebuilt.
September 24, 1984	Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip begin their Canadian tour in Moncton. On September 25 they visit Fredericton to participate in a public ceremony marking the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the province.
September 7, 1821	At The Bend (Moncton), Rev. Joseph Crandall of Salisbury dedicates �The Free Meeting House� as a House of Worship. Restored as a Centennial project for the City of Moncton in 1990, The Free Meeting House is one of Moncton�s oldest existing buildings.
October 12, 1882	On a Maritime speaking tour, Britain�s famous literary celebrity, Oscar Wilde, is arrested in Moncton for breach of contract.
October 12, 1937	The Honourable C.D. Howe, Minister of Transport for Canada, announces at the annual dinner of the Maritime Board of Trade that Moncton will be the Maritime terminal for Trans Canada Airlines (Air Canada).
October 24, 1903	The Grand Trunk Railway is chartered to build a new transcontinental line between Moncton and Prince Rupert (British Columbia).
November 2, 1939	The first Trans Canada Airlines (Air Canada) flight arrives at the Maritime terminal in Moncton.
November 23, 1887	Valentin Landry publishes �L��vang�line� in Digby (Nova Scotia). With the motto, �Religion, Langue, Patrie�, it quickly becomes the most important French-language newspaper, moving its headquarters to Moncton in 1905.
November 30, 1911	Moncton's second street railway service is established and lasts until 1931, when competition from motor bus services puts the tram cars out of business.
November 4, 1990	After a 46-year absence, Professor Northrop Frye, one of the 20th century�s foremost literary critics, returns to his boyhood home of Moncton, where he is made an honorary citizen.
November 8, 1875	The Intercolonial Railway line between Moncton and Campbellton is officially opened.
December 10, 1868	"The Times" newspaper is first published in Moncton.
December 15, 1976	The first Atlantic Lottery draw takes place in Moncton, with the $50,000 grand prize going to Judy Christopher of North Port (Prince Edward Island).
December 20, 1911	The Albert County natural gas pipeline from Stoney Creek commences service to Moncton, although a temporary disruption occurs when a gas explosion on Main Street destroys four buildings.
December 22, 1903	The first convention of the New Brunswick Teachers� Union is held in Moncton. The organization is renamed the New Brunswick Teachers� Association and a constitution is adopted.
December 3, 1954	Moncton television station CKCW-TV commences broadcasting. In 1972 the station is purchased by the CHUM Group of Toronto and becomes part of the Atlantic Television System (ATV).
December 6, 1920	Moncton breaks out in partisan violence at a speaking engagement by Irish nationalist Lindsay Crawford.

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