Chronography of Canada
Page last
modified 29/8/2022
Click here for image of Winnipeg 1870
and 1935
Box
Index
4.0 Reinstatement
of Indigenous Rights, 1987-99
3.0 Quebec
French-based separatist movement 1967-95
2.5 Brian
Mulroney administration 1988-93
2.0 Trudeau
administration 1968-84
1.0 Modern
Canadian flag created, 1964-65
0.0
Development of Canada as a modern State 1925-52
17/10/2018, Canada became the second country (after Uruguay in
2013) to legalise the sale of cannabis.
29/1/2017, A White Supremacist student went to a mosque in
Quebec and shot six Muslim worshippers. He was later captured by
police.
25/1/2006, Stephen Harper, Conservative
Party, became Canadian Prime Minister.
12/12/2003, Paul Martin was elected as 21st
President of Canada.
4.0 Reinstatement
of Indigenous Rights, 1987-99
1/4/1999,
Nunavut, an Inuit homeland, part of the Northwest
territories, was formed.
7/1/1998, In
Canada, the Minister of Indian Affairs, Jane Stewart, officially apologised to
indigenous Americans and Inuit people for centuries of mistreatment and
injustice.
12/11/1992, In northern Canada, a referendum amongst
the Inuit people produced a majority for a semi-autonomous territory to be
called Nunavut.
1/1/1987, The town
of Frobisher Bay in Canada�s
Northwest territories changed its name to Iqaluit.
In 1999 it became capital of Nunavut.
7/12/1989. A gunman claiming to hate feminists massacred 14
women at the University of Montreal.
22/6/1997, Gerard Pelletier, Canadian politician, died.
2/6/1997, In Canada the governing Liberal Party of Prime
Minister Jean
Chretien narrowly won general elections.
3.0 Quebec
French-based separatist movement 1967-95
30/10/1995.
Quebec
separatists narrowly (by just 1%) �lost a referendum to regain
independence from Canada.
12/9/1994, In Canada the Parti Quebecois won an overall majority
in the State legislature.
1980, Jean Lessage, Canadian
politician, died. He became the Liberal Prime
Minister of Quebec in 1960, but was defeated in 1966 by the Union Nationale
Party. He retired from leadership of the Party in 1970.
20/5/1980. Quebec
voted against seceding from Canada.
26/8/1977, French was made the only official language of
Quebec, Canada, excluding English.
15/11/1976. The
secessionist Party
Quebecois won the
16/10/1970. State of insurrection proclaimed in
11/10/1970, Quebec Separatists kidnapped Pierre Laporte, Minister of
Labour. His body was found on 17/10/1970.
7/7/1969, The French
language was given equal status to English across the country.
This was under the official Languages Act, passed by Canada�s House of Commons
this day.
1968, The Parti Quebecois
was founded by Rene
Levesque (1922-1987). This was in response to the refusal of
Quebec�s Liberal Party to become more nationalistic.
25/7/1967, During
a State visit to Canada, General Charles de Gaulle of France
encouraged French-speaking Quebec
citizens to break away; he was rebuked for this breach of etiquette by the
Canadian Prime Minister and returned to France.
25/10/1993, In Canada
the Liberal Party won a decisive victory in the general election. The
Progressive Conservative Party, which had been in office since 1984, retained
only 2 seats. The Bloc Quebecois became the second-largest Party.
25/6/1993, Kim Campbell
(born 1947) became Canada�s first female Prime Minister (Progressive
Conservative Party). In October 1993 her Party were defeated in an election by
the Liberal Party, led by Jean
Chretien, and in December 1993 Campbell resigned as Party
leader.
2.5 Brian Mulroney administration 1984-93
24/2/1993,
Brian Mulroney
resigned as Canadian Prime Minister.
13/1/1993. Official statistics from Canada showed that
Chinese
was the country�s third most common language, after English and French.
13/12/1992, KC Irving, Canadian industrialist, died (born
14/3/1899).
17/12/1991, Joseph Robert Smallwood, Canadian politician
who took Newfoundland into the Canadian Federation in 1949 and became its first
Prime Minister, died just before his 91st birthday.
11/7/1990, Conflict between indigenous Mohawk Indians
and the Quebec provincial police erupted in the small town of Oka, population
3,000. The dispute was sparked by a proposal to build a golf course in land
claimed by the Mohawk, including a Mohawk cemetery. The Mohawk set up
barricades and Corporal
Marcel Lemay was shot and killed by a Mohawk bullet. The conflict
ended on 26/9/1990 when the last remaining 50 Mohawk surrendered and were
arrested.
21/11/1988, Brian Mulroney was re-elected Conservative
Prime Minister of Canada, with a reduced majority. He had campaigned on a free
trade with the USA policy.
4/9/1984, Brian Mulroney (Progressive Conservative Party)
was elected to government.
2.0 Trudeau
administration 1968-84
30/6/1984, Pierre Trudeau resigned as Prime Minister of
Canada.
29/2/1984, Pierre Trudeau announced he was stepping down
after 15 years as Canadian Prime Minister.
15/2/1982, 84 died when a storm wrecked an oil rig off
the coast of Newfoundland.
18/2/1980, Pierre Trudeau
returned to power in the Canadian General Election, after nine months out of
office.
31/12/1980, Marshal Mcluhan,
Canadian philosopher, died aged 69.
16/8/1979, John George Diefenbaker,
Canadian Prime Minister (born 18.9.1895 in rural Ontario) died.
22/5/1979, In Canada, Pierre Trudeau,
Liberal, lost the election. Joe Clark became Progressive Conservative
Prime Minister of a minority government.
24/1/1978, A Soviet
nuclear-powered satellite, Cosmos 954, crashed in north-western Canada,
spilling radioactive debris. The Canadian government presented Moscow with a 6
billion dollar bill for the clean-up, of which Moscow eventually paid half.
27/10/1975, 18 year old Robert Poulin began shooting at
the Pius X High School in Ottawa, Canada, killing 1 and injuring 5. He then
shot himself.
7/2/1975, In response to the global oil crisis,
Canada imposed a national speed limit of 55 mph.
9/7/1974, In Canadian elections, Prime Minister Pierre
Trudeau�s Liberal Party won with 141 seats out of 264. The
Conservatives took 95 seats, the New Democratic Party took 11 the Social Credit
Party won 11 and there was one independent seat.
27/12/1972, Death of Lester Pearson, Canadian
politician and Liberal Prime Minister 1963-8.
30/10/1972, In Canadian elections the incumbernt
Liberal party narrowly won and Pierre Trudeau remained as Prime Minister.
17/10/1970, Pierre Laporte, Quebec politician, died.
1968, The Trans-Canada highway was completed/
21/4/1968, Pierre Trudeau
succeeded Lester
Pearson as Prime Minister of Canada.
30/12/1967, Vincent Massey, Canadian lawyer and diplomat,
died aged 80.
29/10/1967, Expo 67 closed in Montreal, after having attracted
more than 50,306,648 visitors in six months, a record attendance for any
world's fair. It
had opened on 27/4/1967.
27/4/1967, The Expo
�67 exhibition opened in
8/11/1965, In Canadian elections, the Liberals under Lester B
Pearson became the largest Party with 131 seats, but without an
overall majority. The Progressive Conservatives secured 97 seats, Others won 37
seats.
1.0 Modern Canadian
flag created, 1964-65
15/2/1965, Canada flew the newly-adopted maple leaf flag for the first
time.
15/12/1964, The Canadian parliament voted in favour of a single maple
leaf design for the Canadian Flag.
8/4/1963, General election in Canada was won by the Liberals with 129 seats. The
Progressive Conservatives won 95 seats, Others won 41 seats.
19/11/1962, The Newfoundland general election was won by the Liberal
Party of Newfoundland and Labrador, led by Joey Smallwood.
18/5/1962, In Canada, the Progressive Conservatives lost their majority in the
elections; however John Deifenbaker remained as Prime Minister. The
Progressive Conservatives won 116 seats, the Liberals won 100, others 49.
1961, The New Democratic Party was founded, through a merger of the
Commonwealth Co-operative Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress.
31/3/1958, General election in Canada. The Progressive Conservatives won a large
majority, 208 seats, against the Liberals with 49 seats, and the Co-operative
Commonwealth Foundation with 8 seats. John
Diefenbaker remained
Prime Minister.
10/6/1957, In Canada, Progressive Conservatives won the election with 112 seats.
The Liberals got 105 seats, the Cooperative Commonwealth foundation got 25
seats, Others got 23 seats. The Liberal leader, Louis St Laurent, resigned,
ending 22 years of Liberal rule, and the Conservative, John Diefenbaker, took office.
1956, The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
was formed, by a merger between the Trades and Labor Congress and the Canadian
Congress of Labour.
26/4/1955, Sir
Lyman Poore Duff, Canadian jurist (born 7/1/1865 in Meaford,
Ontario) died in Ottawa, Ontario.
21/10/1954, Brian Tobin, Canadian politician, was born.
7/4/1954, The USA
announced that, in conjunction with Canada, it would set up a chain of almost
100 radar stations along a 3,000 mile line at the 55th parallel. On 27/9/1954 a
second chain of radar stations was announced above the Arctic Circle to warn of
enemy aircraft approaching from Russia across the North Pole. This was the Distant
Early Warning Line, or DEW; within a few years it was obsolete because missiles
would be delivered by rockets not planes.
1953, Large uranium deposits were
discovered in Ontario; these would become significant for the world�s emerging nuclear
industry.
0.0 Development of
Canada as a modern State 1925-52
24/1/1952, Vincent Massey became the first Canadian to be appointed Governor-General of Canada. He
remained in post until September 1959.
11/12/1948, At a ceremony in Ottawa, terms of union
were signed between Canada and the Dominion of Newfoundland by which
Newfoundland would become a province of Canada.
1/10/1947, The powers of the Governor-General of
Canada were increased by lettrers pa5tent signed by King George V of Britain,
this role now having �full royal powers�.
1931, The Statute of Westminister made Canada a fully independent State.
2/6/1925. The Canadian government claimed all land
between Greenland and
Newfoundland
31/3/1949. Newfoundland, with its dependency Labrador, joined
21/12/1933, Britain resumed administration of its former
colony, Newfoundland, after a financial crisis there. Newfoundland had become a
Dominion in 1917.
15/11/1948, W L Mackenzie-King, Prime Minister of Canada,
resigned and entered retirement. He was succeeded by Louis St Laurent.
10/9/1948, Margaret Trudeau, former Canadian 1st lady,
was born in Vancouver, British Columbia.
1947, Oil was first struck in
Alberta, at Leduc, near Edmonton.
22/4/1946, Samuel John :Latta, Canadian politician, died.
1942, In Quebec the Bloc Populaire
Party was founded. The Party was founded by Liberals who were opposed to
Canadian participation in World War Two, and to conscription, and also
contained Catholic
radicals such as Andre Laurendeau who wanted to base industrial relations on
Papal encyclicals and ban foreign capital from Quebec. The Bloc Populaire
disintegrated after winning four seats in the 1944 elections.
7/1/1941, A special committee of the Canadian government
recommended that Japanese Canadians not be allowed to volunteer
for the armed forces on the grounds of strong public opinion against them.
10/12/1939, The first convoy of Canadian troops departed
Halifax, Nova Scotia for England.
For main
events of World War Two in Europe see France-Germany. For main events of
World War in the Pacific see China-Japan
11/1/1934, Jean Chretien, Canada�s 20th Prime Minister,
was born.
18/6/1931, Canada raised tariffs on imports from the USA,
cutting import levels by two-thirds.
31/10/1929, Nova Scotia voted to repeal Prohibition. This left Prince
Edward Island as the only �dry� region in Canada.
30/10/1929, General Election in Ontario. The Conservatives,
led by Howard
Ferguson, won with an increased majority.
27/8/1927, Emily Gowan Murphy (maiden name Ferguson,
born 14/3/1868 in Cookstown, Ontario), petitioned the Canadian Government to
have women recognised as full legal �persons�. She had been instrumental in
passing the Dower Act (1911),giving
women a share in their husband�s property, and in 1916 Murphy had been appointed as the
first woman magistrate in the British Empire. However on her first day as
magistrate, a lawyer challenged her appointment as illegal as she was not a
�person� under Canadian law. Murphy began a legal battle to overturn this
law, petitioning the Canadian Government this day. On 14/3/1928 the Supreme
Court of Canada decided against Murphy and four other campaigners, Nellie McClung,
Irene Parlby,
Henrrietta
Muir and� Louise McKinney. The�Famous
Five� took their case to the British Privy Council, where they finally won on
18/10/1929. Murphy
died of diabetes in 1933.
28/6/1926, In Canada, W L MacKenzie King resigned as a result of the
Canadian Customs scandal. Arthur Meighen formed a Liberal Government,
15/12/1922, Franco-Canadian trade agreement signed.
29/12/1921, MacKenzie King, Liberal Party, became Prime
Minister of Canada.
1/7/1920, Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada,
resigned due to ill-health. He was succeeded on 10/7/1912 by Arthur Meighen.
1/2/1920, The North
West Mounted Police changed their name to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
18/10/1919, Pierre Trudeau, Canadian Liberal and Prime Minister,
was born in
17/2/1919, Sir Wilfird Laurier, Canada�s first French-speaking
Prime Minister, died.
29/3/1918, In Quebec,
Canada, the Compulsory Military Service
Act of September 1917 provoked such severe rioting from this day until
2/4/1917 that 4 civilians were killed.
30/12/1917, Election-related riots in Quebec; city placed
under martial law.
3/2/1916, In Ottawa, Canada, the Parliament Building burnt
down.
14/8/1912, Leopold Demers, Canadian Liberal politician,
was born (died 21/11/1990),
22/2/1911, Canada voted to remain a part of the
1/6/1909, The Seattle World Fair opened.
17/11/1908, Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere, Canadian politician,
died (born 5/12/1829).
29/8/1907, After four years construction, the Quebec Bridge,
still being built, collapsed. 75 workers were killed and half the bridge had
gone.
1/5/1907, Death of Canadian Neil Brodie, reportedly the
�world�s dirtiest man�, who only bathed when legally ordered to do so.
22/5/1906, The last British troops left the Dominion of Canada.
15/3/1906, Alfred Jones, Canadian politician, died (born
9/1824).
30/8/1905,
The Province of Alberta was constituted a province of Canada, created
out of part of the North West Territories. Edmonton was chosen as the
provincial capital, causing a rapid growth in the city�s size.
1/9/1904, Earl Grey was appointed Governor-General of
Canada.
1/3/1903,
The Ligue Nationaliste Canadienne was founded in Quebec, Canada, by Henri Bourassa and Olivar
Asselin.
23/7/1900. Canada forbade
immigration of paupers and criminals.
26/4/1900, Major fire in Ottawa and Hull area of Canada;
12,000 made homeless.
1897, Immigration poster for Western Canada.
31/3/1897, Gold was
discovered in The Klondike, Canada.
17/8/1896. Gold was
discovered at Bonanza Creek on the Klondike River in Canada�s Yukon Territory.
This led to the great Gold Rush of 1898, in which the city of Dawson grew to
over 25,000 people.
16/8/1896, Sir David
MacPherson, Canadian politician, died.
18/12/1893, The
Chateau Frontenac Hotel opened in Quebec after 18 months construction, with 170
bedrooms.
1891, The first Ukrainian
migrants (Mennonites) arrived in Canada.
6/6/1891, Sir John Alexander Macdonald, first Prime Minister of Canada, died.
31/5/1891, Sir Antoine Dorion, Canadian politician, died
(born 17/1/1816).
1887, The Canadian Commercial Union
movement proposed an economic union with the USA. However there were fears that
this would lead to total union with, and thereby political dominance by, the USA.
16/11/1885, Louis Riel, leader of the Canadian Metis Rebellion, was hanged by
the British.
18/8/1885, Sir Francis Hincks, Canadian politician, died
(born 1807).
12/8/1885, Louis Reil and his Metis followers (see
24/8/1870, 16/11/1885) began a second rebellion in Saskatchewan. This day the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (organised 23/5/1873) and the Canadian Army
surrounded riel�s headquarters at Batouche and captured him.
9/12/1882, Sir Hugh Allan, Canadian financier, died in
Edinburgh (born 29/9/1810 in Saltcoats, Ayrshire).
1/2/1882, Louis Stephen St Laurent, Canadian statesman,
was born.
1880, The contract for
construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway was signed (ratified by the Canadian
Parliament in 1881),
24/6/1880, Canada�s national anthem, �Oh Canada�, was first
sung. Music was by Calixa Lavallee, and the words in French were
composed by Adolphe
Routhier. The English lyrics were written by Robert Weir in 1908.
9/5/1880, George Brown, Canadian statesman, died (born
29/11/1918).
1879, Canada, under a
Conservative government, raised customes duties against imports from the US, to
protect Canadian industry.
6/11/1879, The first Canadian Thanksgiving Day was observed.
It is now generally held on a Monday in October.
1878, Liberal Prime Minister, A. Mackenzie,
was defeated. John
MacDonald, Conservative (see 7/11/1873) was re-elected and served
until his death on 6/6/1891.
20/6/1877, The first commercial telephone service in Canada
was started by Hugh
Cossart Baker, in Hamilton, Ontario.
7/11/1873, The Conservative Prime Minister, Sir John
Macdonald, was defeated, over the Pacific Railway affair.
1/7/1873, Prince
Edward Island was made part of the Dominion of Canada.
1/6/1873, Joseph Howe, Canadian statesman, died (born
13/12/1804).
23/5/1873. The Royal
North West Mounted Police were
established in Canada. Their name was changed to The Royal Canadian Mounted Police on 1 February 1920.
10/5/1873, Sir George Cartier, Canadian statesman, died
(born 6/9/1814).
1871, Canada signed the Treaty of Washington with the USA, settling
fisheries rights and the usage of certain canals.
24/8/1870, A rebellion by Louis Reil
(1844-85) was suppressed by British forces under Colonel Garnet J Wolseley
(1833-1913), who captured his stronghold at Fort Garry (Winnipeg) without a
fight. Riel fled the country. Riel and his Metis (French-Indigenous Indian
Canadians) had been concerned that when the Hudson Bay Company sold its rights
to the Canadian Government, the Metis would lose their traditional rights in
the Red River area. See 12/5/1870, 12/8/1885.
12/5/1870, Manitoba,
previously called the Red River Colony and controlled by the Hudson Bay Company, was bought by
Canada and made a province.
8/12/1869, In Toronto, T Eaton Ltd, shop, opened at 178 Yonge
Street. It had fixed prices and no bartering or credit was allowed.
Canada
constituted as self-governoing Dominion
9/4/1869, The
Hudson Bay Company ceded its territory to Canada.
28/1/1868, Sir Edmund Head, British colonial Governor of
Canada, died (born 1805).
1/7/1867. Britain
granted Canada self-governing dominion status. Britain still maintained control
over foreign policy. The Dominion of
Canada was set up by the British
North America Act. It comprised four million people and four provinces,
Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.
29/3/1867, The
British North America Act created the dominion of Canada, comprising the
provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
8/6/1866, The Canadian Parliament met for the first
time, in Ottowa.
19/10/1864, The Saint
Albans raid. During the US Civil War, some 25 Confederate agents crossed
from Canada into Union territory and attacked the town of Saint Albans,
Vermont. They killed a man and fled back to Canada, having stolen around
US$200,000 from three banks. A US posse pursued the perpetrators into Canada
and captured them, but were forced to hand them over to Canadian authories. A
Canadian Court then released them unpunished, sparking fears of a war between
the USA and Canada/Britain. The raiders were rearrested and charged with
breaking Canadian neutrality. The money was returned. However the war scare did
not go away, and in 1865 some 2,000 Canadian militiamen were stationed along
the US border.
26/2/1864, Sir Louis Lafontaine, Canadian statesman, died
(born 4/10/1807).
20/11/1863, James Bruce, Earl of Elgin, Governor of Canada
1847-54, died in Dharmsala, India (born 20/7/1811 in London, England).
29/8/1861, William MacKenzie, Canadian politician, died
(born 12/3/1795).
17/9/1859, Frank Adams, Canadian geologist (died 29/12/1942) was
born.
9/12/1858, Robert Baldwin, Canadian statesman, died; born in
York (now Toronto), 12/5/1804
7/8/1858, Ottawa was
selected as capital of Canada.
2/8/1858, British
Columbia was constituted a British Colony; it became part of the Dominion
of Canada in 1871.
26/6/1854, Robert Borden, Canadian politician, was born
in Grand Pre, Nova Scotia.
1849, A.T.Galt of the Montreal Tory Party issued the Annexation Manifesto, calling for the USA to take
over the Canadian Colonies. The Canadian economy had been suffering since
Britain ended its colonial trading preferneces. However the Canadian French
were strongly opposed, and the US showed little interest, so the policy was
abandoned.
24/11/1848, William Fielding, Canadian politician, was
born.
11/6/1847, Sir John Franklin, British Arctic explorer, died in Canada
attempting to discover the north-west passage.
19/1/1843, Sir William Mulock, Canadian statesman, was
born.
13/6/1841, The first Canadian Parliament opened, at Ottawa.
15/10/1840, Honore Mercier, Canadian statesman, was born.
23/7/1840, London announced that Canada was to be a
self-governing union.
10/2/1840, An Act was passed reuniting the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, 50 years after
they were divided by Britain.
Rebellion against British
rule
29/12/1837,
Canadian forces loyal to Britain burnt the US steamboat Caroline, which had
been supplying rebels under Papineau.
14/12/1837, British troops crushed a rebellion in
Canada.
5/12/1837, Louis Joseph Papineau began a rebellion in
Canada against British rule. This day he attacked Toronto but was repulsed and
fled across the border to the USA.
7/6/1832, Irish immigrants in Lowerr Canada, from the ship Carrick, began dying of cholera. Thgis
was the beginning of an epidemic that killed 9,000 people.
1831, Canadian Christian
missionaries opened the first of many �schools for natives�. Set up to convert
indigenous Canadian children, from 4 years old, into �docile English settlers�,
they were hotbeds of sadism and abuse, and in reality part of a programme of cultural
genocide. The last such school closed in 1997. Parents had to send
their children away to these schools or face jail, a law enforced by the
Canadian Mounties. This programme was intended to eradicate the mnomadic way of
life and free up land for European settlers.
5/12/1829, Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere, Canadian
politician, was born (died 17/11/1908).
5/6/1829, George Mountstephen, Canadian financier, was
born.
27/12/1823, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, Canadian politician, was
born.
28/1/1822, Alexander MacKenzie, Canadian statesman, was
born (died 17/4/1892).
6/8/1820, Lord Strathcona, Canadian businesman, was
born.
22/7/1820, Sir Oliver Mowat, Canadian statesman, was born
(died 19/4/1803).
29/11/1818, George Brown, Canadian statesman, was born
(died 9/5/1880).
6/9/1817, Sir Alexander Galt, Canadian statesman, was
born (died 19/9/1893).
17/1/1816, Sir Antoine Dorion, Canadian politician, was
born (died 31/5/1891).
23/11/1815, Canada�s frist street lights were lit, in
Montreal. They were fuelled by whale oil, which burnt cleanly.
11/1/1815, Sir John Alexander, Canada�s first Prime Minister, was born.
6/9/1814, Sir George Cartier, Canadian statesman, was
born (died 10/5/1873).
12/12/1812, John MacDonald, Canadian statesman, was born
(died 1/6/1872).
29/9/1810, Sir Hugh Allan, Canadian financier, was born
in Saltcoats, Ayrshire (died 9/12/1882 in Edinburgh)
10/11/1808, Guy Dorchester, British Governor of Canada,
died (born 3/9/1724).
4/10/1807, Sir Louis Lafontaine, Canadian statesman, was
born (died 26/2/1864).
13/12/1804, Joseph Howe, Canadian statesman, was born
(died 1/6/1873).
12/5/1804, Robert Baldwin, Canadian statesman, was born
in York (now Toronto); died 9/12/1858.
10/5/1798, George Vancouver, British explorer who
surveyed the Pacific coast of America, died.
12/3/1795, William MacKenzie, Canadian politician, was
born (died 29/8/1861).
1794, The city of Toronto was founded by Governor Simcoe,
on the site of an American-Indian village of the same name.
1794, Fort Augustus was
established on the site of what is now Edmonton,
Alberta.
22/7/1793, A party led by Sir Alexander MacKenzie arrived
on the Pacific coast of Canbada, becoming the first Europeans to cross Canada,
by foot and canoe.
24/5/1793, The British recaptured the archipelago of St Pierre et Miquelon, off Canada,
which was a severe blow to the French cod fishing fleet.
1791, The Constitutional Act set aside one
seventh of the public land in Upper and Lower Canada for the support of the
Protestant clergy. In practice these lands served to enrich the already-wealthy
clerical elite whilst beong of no benefit to lower-status clergy, and were
secularised in 1841.
19/3/1791, French and English speaking settlers in Canada
were granted equal rights.
28/10/1790, The Nootka
Sound Convention, between Britain and Spain. Spain, claiming the entire
Pacific coastline of North America, had seized four British ships at Nootka
Sound, Vancouver Island, Canada. Britain disputed the Spanish claim because
Spain had not actually settled the coastline it claimed; at the Convention,
Spain backed down, opening up the area to British settlement.
3/6/1789, Alexander Mackenzie set out to explore the
Mackenzie River by canoe from central Canada to the Arctic Ocean.
American
War of Independence
1783, About 50,000 �Loyalists�
arrived in Canada, having left the newly-independent United States of America
to live in the British colony of Canada.
11/5/1783, The first
British-loyalist refugees from the newly-independent United States of America
arrived at the estuary of the St John�s River, Canada, having set sail from New
York on 16/4/1783. They founded the city of St Johns.
For more on American War of
Independence, see United
States of America
11/7/1776. Explorer Captain James
Cook set sail from Plymouth on his third and last voyage of
discovery. He was looking for a passage
around the north west side of America from the Pacific side.
1774, Spanish explorer Perez made the first
visit by a European to what is now British Columbia.
22/6/1774, The Quebec Act received Royal Assent. This
safeguarded the French-speaking inhabitants of Quebec the right to maintain
their own langiage and customes, legal and religious, within a British-governed
Canada,
British capture Canada from the French
10/2/1763. France
ceded Canada to Britain at the Treaty of Paris. See 26/7/1758 and
13/9/1759. The same treaty gave Florida
to Britain in exchange for Britain returning Cuba, which it had invaded on
12/8/1762, to Spain; Spain also regained Louisiana and the Philippines.
Britain gained all of America east of the Mississippi. Britain also gained
Minorca, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Tobago, St Vincent, Grenada, Dominica, and
Senegal.
8/9/1760. The French
surrendered Montreal to the British under General Jeffrey Amherst. This completed the British conquest of
Canada. Britain had declared war in France in 1756 as part of the Seven Years War;
Amherst
won in Canada in 1758 when he took the French fortress at Louisbourg, opening up the way to Montreal.
13/9/1759. General James Wolfe killed in the siege of Quebec;
in a fight on the Plains of Abraham near the city, although the British won the siege. See
26/7/1758 and 10/2/1763. The French commander, Louis Montcalm, was also killed,
dying of his wounds on 14/9/1759. The British won the surrender of Quebec on
18/9/1759.
24/7/1759, In
Canada, the British captured Fort Niagara from the French.
26/7/1758. A
British force authorised by William Pitt to
attack the French in North America had its first success with the capture of
Louisburg. See 13/9/1759 and 10/2/1763.
2/6/1758, A British war fleet anchored in Gabarus
Bay, off Canada, to fight the French.
19/2/1758, British General Amherst, recalled from
Germany by Pitt, sailed this day from Portsmouth with Brigadier-General Lawrence and Brigadier James
Wolfe, for Canada, to pursue the war against the French.� See 28/5/1758
Nova Scotia, Anglo-French conflict
28/5/1758, Amherst, Wolfe, and Lawrence arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, see 19/2/1758.
28/7/1755, The �Great Upheaval� in Nova Scotia, Canada. The British colony
decided to expel all French colonists who would ot sear allegiance to the
British Crown. In tye subsequent conflict, thousands died over the next 8
years.
9/7/1749, The British founded the naval settlement of
Halifax, Nova Scotia, as an answer to the French base of Louisburg.
11/2/1747, A combined force of French and American Indians
under Captain
Coulon de Villiers attacked the British at Grand Pre, Nova Scotia.
22/6/1758, George Vancouver, the explorer who gave his
name to the city of Vancouver, Canada, was born in Kings Lynn, England.
22/6/1757, George Vancouver, English naval captain who
surveyed the Pacific coast of North America, was born in Kings Lynn, Norfolk.
1756, Martin Frobisher explored Newfoundland.
3/9/1724, Guy Dorchester, British Governor of Canada,
was born (died `10/11/1808).
28/11/1698, Frontenac, French colonial Governor of Canada,
died. He was very much mourned by the French Canadians.
6/7/1696, Frontenac, French colonial Governor of Canada,
left Lachine for a campaign against the Iroquois people. However the Iroquois
abandoned their villages and pursuit of them proved impracticable so on
10/8/1696 Frontenac
left the area.
1691, Henrey Kelsey of the Hudson Bay Company reached what is now
the eastern border of Alberta.
5/8/1689, Massacre of Lachine, Canada.
8/1/1679, La Salle, French explorer, reached the Niagara Falls.
12/9/1672, Frontenac was appointed as French colonial
Governor of Canada, to succeed de Courcelle. This day Frontenac arrived in Quebec.
However he was to prove too independent-minded and expansionist for the comfort
of France.
2/5/1670, Charles II chartered the Hudson Bay Company.
1669, The French discovered Lake Erie. Penetration by Europeans
into this area had been delayed by hostile Iriquois Indians.
18/5/1642. Montreal in Canada was
founded.
1639, The earliest European
settlement in New Brunswick, on the Bay of
Chaleur, was founded by the French.
20/7/1629, English
adventurer Sir
David Kirke seized Quebec
from the French.
23/1/1622, William Baffin, British explorer who searched
for the North West passage and gave his name to Baffin Island and Baffin Bay,
died.
Samuel de
Champlain
25/12/1635, Explorer Samuel de Champlain died (born
ca.1567).
28/7/1615, Samuel de
Champlain discovered Lake
Huron.
3/7/1608.The French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded
the city of Quebec. See 1535.
3/7/1567, Samuel de Champlain, explorer of Canada, was
born.
1611, The French discovered Lake
Ontario.
23/6/1611. The navigator Henry Hudson
and eight of his men were cast adrift in a small boat in Hudson Bay after the
crew mutinied on his ship Discoverie; they were never seen again.
3/8/1610, Henry� Hudson
discovered Hudson Bay.
5/7/1610, John Guy set sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists,
for Newfoundland.
17/4/1610, Henry Hudson set sail from England
aboard The Discovery to attempt to
find a North West Passage to the Orient.
1605, French colonists founded Port Royal, Nova Scotia.
20/7/1605, French cartographer Samuel de Champlain reached Cape
Cod in search of a spot for French setlement in the New World.
9/9/1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert
(see 5/8/1583) was drowned when his ship, The Squirrel, sank off The
Azores drowning all on board.
5/8/1583. Sir Humphrey Gilbert
landed on Newfoundland and claimed it for Britain.� He founded the colony of St Johns there.
11/8/1576, Martin Frobisher
entered �Frobisher Strait�, Baffin Island. Now known as Frobisher Bay, the long
inlet was then thought to be a strait separating two islands.
Exploration by Jacques Cartier (French)
1/9/1557, Jacques Cartier, French explorer of the North
American coast and the St Lawrence river (born 1491), died in St Malo.
16/6/1536, The St Lawrence River was named by explorer
Jacques Cartier.
1535, Jacques Cartier first visited
the site of what is now the city of Quebec. At that time, it was an Indian
village called Stadacona. See 3/7/1608.
24/7/1534, Jacques Cartier landed in Canada, claiming the
territory for France.
10/5/1534, Jacques Cartier explored Newfoundland while
searching for the Northwest Passage.
20/4/1534, Jacques Cartier sailed from St Malo, to
explore the Canadian coast.
21/10/1520, The islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon were
discovered by Portuguese explorer Jo�o �lvares Fagundes off Newfoundland. He
named them "Islands of the 11,000 Virgins" in honour of Saint Ursula.
6/8/1497. The Genoese navigator John Cabot returned from an
expedition across the Atlantic. King Henry VII
financed his travels. Though he was Genoese and had Venetian citizenship, Cabot came to England in 1487 to raise support
for a transatlantic voyage and settled in Bristol. He sailed from Bristol on
2/5/1497 and landed on 24/6/1497 on the coast of Labrador. There he planted the Tudor banner, in defiance of the Treaty
of Tordesillas, which divided up the western world between Spain and
Portugal (see 6/12/1492, Papal backing for gold to finance a war against the
Moslems). Under this treaty, signed on 7/6/1494, all land west of a line
in the western Atlantic would belong to Spain; any land east of it would be
Portuguese. He explored the coastline from Labrador to Cape Breton.
24/6/1497, John Cabot,
in his exploration of North America, arrived at Cape Breton Island. He believed
he had landed in eastern Asia.
2/5/1497,� John Cabot set sail from Bristol.
5/3/1496, King Henry VII of England granted John Cabot
(Giovanni
Caboto) a commission to explore for new lands.
31/12/1491, Jacques Cartier, French explorer of the St Lawrence
area of north America, was born in St Malo, northern France.
36,000 BCE, First humans reached North
America,, across the Bering Strait.
