.

1 JANUARY 1916

Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden promises to field an army of half a million men, and decides to commit two more army divisions to
the Western Front.

Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden.

PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA – PA166997

2 JANUARY 1908
The Royal Mint of Ottawa opens, later known as the Royal Canadian Mint.

3 JANUARY 1990
Military dictator General Manuel Noriega surrenders in Panama.

4 JANUARY 1951
The Communists occupy the capital of South Korea; a new line is established south of the former capital.

5 JANUARY 2010
The World Food Program suspends operations in southern Somalia due to increased instability.

6 JANUARY 1936
Canada’s first-ever female mayor, Barbara Hanley, is elected at Webbwood, Ont., west of Sudbury.

Royal Canadian Air Force Vampire III.

PHOTO: CANADIAN FORCES

7 JANUARY 1948
First flight in Canada of the Royal Canadian Air Force Vampire III.

8 JANUARY 1941
Ottawa orders all Japanese Canadians be registered in British Columbia. In the coming weeks the War Measures Act would be used to remove Japanese Canadians residing within
160 kilometres of the coast.

9 JANUARY 1945
The United States invades Luzon, a main island in the Philippines.

United Nations General Assembly.

PHOTO: UN PHOTO-MARCEL BOLOMEY

10 JANUARY 1946
The first session of the United Nations General Assembly is held at London’s Central Hall Westminster. Canada is among
51 nations present.

Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Magnificent.

PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA – PA-153029

11 JANUARY 1957
Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Magnificent arrives at Port Said, Egypt, with a large force of Canadian army personnel and their equipment. The Canadians will contribute to the United Nations Emergency Force established to secure and supervise the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Egypt.

12 JANUARY 2010
A massive earthquake devastates Haiti, especially its capital of Port-au-Prince. It is later reported that there could be as many as 250,000 people dead and millions more homeless.

HMCS Ville de Quebec.

PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA – PA-153101

13 JANUARY 1943
The Canadian corvette HMCS Ville de Quebec sinks U-224 in the western Mediterranean.

14 JANUARY 1974
Jules Léger is sworn in as Canada’s Governor General.

15 JANUARY 1964
Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson meets with French President Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

16 JANUARY 1991
The Persian Gulf War begins with an American-led coalition offensive against Iraq. Captain Duncan Miller of the Canadian navy becomes commander of the Combined Logistics Force, the only non-American to hold such an important command at sea during the war.

17 JANUARY 1917
Canadians launch a highly successful raid against German lines northeast of the Lens-Bethune Railway near Calonne, France. In less than an hour, the Canadians blow up more than 40 dugouts, three ammunition dumps, capture enemy guns and take 100 prisoners.

18 JANUARY 1940
The Ontario Legislature condemns Canada’s war effort as inadequate.

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands.

PHOTO: LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA – PA-168124

19 JANUARY 1943
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands is born at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, in a room officially designated Dutch territory.

20 JANUARY 1948
The Canadian tribal-class destroyer HMCS Athabaskan (2nd) commissions into the Royal Canadian Navy at Halifax.

21 JANUARY 1949
A Royal Canadian Air Force plane is forced to make an emergency landing on the ice of Hudson Bay. All 12 on board survive and are later rescued.

22 JANUARY 1951
The Canadian tribal-class destroyer HMCS Huron sails for her first of two tours in the United Nations Korean War operations.

23 JANUARY 1953
Flight Lieutenant E.A. Glover is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions during the Korean War. During his time in Korea, he saw frequent air combat and shot down three MiG-15s, and damaged three other planes.

24 JANUARY 1978
A Soviet satellite, Cosmos 954, streaks across the sky and crashes near Great Slave Lake, N.W.T. Debris, including radioactive waste, is scattered across 124,000 square kilometres.

25 JANUARY 1900
The first contingent of nurses to serve overseas has been in South Africa for three months when the Canadian government passes Militia Order No. 20, giving a nursing sister the rank and pay of a lieutenant.

26 JANUARY 1945
The Lincoln and Welland Regiment takes the lead in Operation Elephant, an attack against a German bridgehead at Kapelsche Veer in the Netherlands. Launched under freezing conditions, the Canadians deploy in canoes on the Bergsche Maas, but are turned back with heavy losses.

The Honeymoon Bridge.

PHOTO: NIAGARA FALLS (ONTARIO) PUBLIC LIBRARY

27 JANUARY 1938
The Honeymoon Bridge over the Niagara River collapses as a result of a severe ice storm. There are no fatalities or injuries.

28 JANUARY 1986
The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida. All seven astronauts on board are killed, including teacher Christa McAuliffe.

29 JANUARY 1990
Ramon (Ray) Hnatyshyn is sworn in as Canada’s Governor General.

30 JANUARY 1933
Hitler becomes Germany’s chancellor.

31 JANUARY 1916
Sixth Canadian Brigade stages a raid against the Spanbroekmolen salient on the Western Front. In very short order, soldiers cross no man’s land, capture prisoners, destroy dugouts and inflict heavy casualties.

For ‘ON THIS DATE’ February Events, come back to legionmagazine.com on February 1st, 2011