| 1497 | | 2 May:
John Cabot sets sail from England on his first successful voyage to North America.CBC CMoH |
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| | 24 Jun:
John Cabot discovers Newfoundland.NNDB CBC |
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| 1534 | | 20 Apr:
Jacques Cartier sets sail from France on his first exploration of the New World.PC LoC |
|
| | 9 Jun:
French navigator Jacques Cartier begins exploring the St. Lawrence River.LoC WHP |
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| 1535 | | 19 May:
French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail for North America.MM&P CMoH |
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| 1583 | | 5 Aug:
The first English colony in North America is chartered at Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert but no settlement is made there until 1604.Fordham HF.uk |
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| 1603 | | 15 Mar:
Samuel de Champlain sets sail from France aboard the Bonne-Renommée on his first voyage to North America. MM&P OHT |
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| 1613 | | 27 Mar:
The first English child is born in Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.tCE MC |
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| 1638 | |
| 1663 | |
| 1689 | | 17 May:
King William's War; England declares war on France which lasts until the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick.HoMA MB |
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| 1691 | |
| 1697 | | 20 Sep:
The Treaty of Ryswick settles the Nine Years War and ends hostilities in America, although that wouldn't happen for another two months.Jacobite theMet |
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| 1700 | | 26 Jan:
A magnitude 9.0 earthquake strikes off the west coast of North America producing a huge tsunami that sweeps across the Pacific.NRCan USGS |
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| 1702 | |
| 1713 | | 11 Apr:
The Treaty of Utrecht is signed ending the War of the Spanish Succession, also known as Queen Anne's War in North America.CHNC CBC |
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| 1722 | |
| 1733 | | 17 May:
Britain passes the Molasses Act putting high tariffs on rum and molasses imported to the Colonies from anyplace other than Britain and its possessions.GoogleBooks JotAR |
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| 1734 | | 1 Apr:
The first lighthouse in Canada begins operation.LLS CCN |
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| 1744 | |
| 1752 | | 14 Sep:
The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar.CSL CalWiz |
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| 1758 | | 27 Jul:
British and colonial forces defeat French and Canadian forces at the Battle of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia.BB CTHist |
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| 1759 | |
| 1763 | |
| 1765 | |
| 1775 | |
| |
| | 31 Dec:
After nearly a month, Continental forces, under command of Montgomery and Arnold, are soundly defeated after attacking Québec.CMoH SIMag |
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| 1780 | | 19 May:
Smoke from forest fires cause The Dark Day of 1780.NEHS HI |
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| 1807 | |
| 1812 | |
| | 19 Aug:
USS Constitution captures HMS Guerriere in a battle off the coast of Nova Scotia earning the nickname "Old Ironsides".USNavy MM |
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| 1813 | | 26 Oct:
Canadian troops and their Mohawk allies win an important victory over invading American forces in the Battle of the Châteauguay.NPS MC |
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| 1816 | |
The previous year, Mt. Tambora erupted producing so much ash and gas the sunlight was blocked from warming the earth causing the "Year Without Summer".USGS |
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| 1818 | |
| 1820 | | 29 Jan:
George IV. Ruler of England 1820-1830. House of Hanover: Eldest son of George III, Prince Regent, from Feb 1811.HistoricUK |
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| 1830 | | 26 Jun:
William IV. Ruler of England 1830-1837. House of Hanover: 3rd son of George III, married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.HistoricUK |
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| 1831 | |
| 1837 | | 24 Mar:
Black men are granted the right to vote in Canada.BF |
|
| | 20 Jun:
Victoria. Ruler of England 1837-1901. House of Hanover: Daughter of Edward, 4th son of George III; married (1840) her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who became Prince Consort.HistoricUK |
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| 1838 | |
| 1842 | |
| 1855 | | 8 Mar:
The first train crosses the Niagara Railway Suspension Bridge, the first such bridge in the U. S..NFT NG |
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| 1864 | |
| 1866 | | 27 Jul:
Cyrus W. Field finally succeeds in laying the first working trans-Atlantic Telegraph cable from Ireland to Newfoundland.N&LH PBS |
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| 1867 | | 1 Jul:
Three British colonies merged to form the country of Canada. CNN |
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| 1876 | | 7 Mar:
Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.USNA PBS |
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| 1882 | | 5 Jun:
The baggage claim check as it exists today is patented.WK CIPO |
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| 1883 | |
| 1884 | | 13 Oct:
The Greenwich meridian is officially adopted globally as the prime meridian, the imaginary north-south line where the longitude is 0 degrees.W I R E D MAA |
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| | 1 Nov:
Greenwich Mean Time is adopted universally when the International Meridian Conference meets in Washington, DC.GMT OFA |
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| 1885 | | 26 Mar:
In Saskatchewan, Louis Riel leads the local Métis people and farmers for control of Fort Carlton beginning the North-West Resistance against Canada.CFP EoS |
|
| | 15 Apr:
Cree Uprising - 200 Anishinabe soldiers attack Fort Pitt, commanded by Francis Dickens, son of Charles Dickens, in western Saskatchewan.A-H CMA |
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| 1887 | | 2 Feb:
Groundhog Day! Six more weeks of winter if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow.GD 3RP |
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| 1888 | | 11 Mar:
The Great Blizzard of March 1888 or the Great White Hurricane, hits the northeastern United States.HI LoC |
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| 1896 | | 16 Aug:
Gold is discovered in Rabbit Creek in the Yukon. The Klondike Gold Rush is on when word reaches civilization almost a year later.UoW PBS |
|
| | 12 Dec:
Marconi demonstrates the radio and 5 years later, on this same day, transmits the first trans-Atlantic radio signal.W I R E D |
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| 1897 | | 20 Aug:
World Mosquito Day marks the discovery of the malaria parasite.Mosquito EM |
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| 1901 | | 22 Jan:
Edward VII. Ruler of England 1901-1910. House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: Eldest son of Victoria, married Alexandra, Princess of Denmark.HistoricUK |
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| 1906 | |
| | 3 Nov:
The distress signal S.O.S. becomes the worldwide standard at the 2nd International Radiotelegraphic Convention.SIMag GA&C |
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| 1909 | | 30 Aug:
Charles Walcott of the Smithsonian Institute discovers the Burgess Shales, one of the world's richest fossil troves.ESCONI tCE |
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| 1910 | | 6 May:
George V. Ruler of England 1910-1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of Edward VII, married Princess Mary of Teck. Accession, Jan 20, abdication, Dec 10.HistoricUK |
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| 1914 | |
| 1917 | | 26 Nov:
The National Hockey League is founded.NHL |
|
| | 6 Dec:
The Mont-Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes in Halifax, Nova Scotia harbor after a collision, killing over 1800, injuring 9000 and entirely obliterating parts of the city.SIMag CanGeo |
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| 1918 | | Feb:
The Spanish Flu pandemic kills at least 3% of the World's population.VLib npr |
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| 1919 | |
| 1922 | | 11 Jan:
Insulin is first used to successfully treat diabetes.MNT WHP |
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| 1925 | | 28 Feb:
An earthquake measuring approximately 7 on the Richter scale strikes the Charlevoix-Kamouraska area of eastern Canada.NRCan MM |
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| 1936 | | 20 Jan:
Edward VIII. Ruler of England 1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Eldest son of George V.HistoricUK |
|
| | 11 Dec:
George VI. Ruler of England 1936-1952. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of George V, Duke of York; married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.HistoricUK |
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| 1939 | |
| 1944 | | 6 Jun:
D-Day - allied forces begin the invasion of continental Europe.USArmy IWM |
|
| | 16 Dec:
The Battle of the Bulge, a surprise offensive by the German Army pushes Allied forces back through Belgium and Luxembourg.USArmy PBS |
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| 1945 | | 7 May:
Germany unconditionally surrenders, effectively ending World War II in Western Europe. Soviet surrender terms were signed the next day.DoD USHMM |
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| |
| | 24 Oct:
The United Nations is established.UN USState |
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| 1948 | | 21 Jan:
The fleur-de-lis flag becomes the official flag of Québec.CBC QC |
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| 1949 | | 4 Apr:
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is founded.USNA Avalon |
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| 1950 | | 24 Sep:
Black Sunday occurs when smoke from forest fires in western Canada makes its way east, darkening the skies in the eastern United States and Canada and as far away as western Europe.BLM WR |
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| |
| 1952 | | 6 Feb:
Elizabeth II. Ruler of England 1952-present.House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Elder daughter of George VI, acceded Feb 6, 1956.HistoricUK |
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| 1954 | | 15 Feb:
The governments of Canada and the U. S. agree to jointly build a line of radar stations in defense against a possible air Soviet attack, the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line.1370th T&G |
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| 1956 | | 25 Sep:
The first transatlantic telephone is opened for business.CBC A-C |
|
| 1958 | |
| 1965 | | 28 Jan:
The new maple leaf national flag of Canada is officially proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II.Canada CMoH |
|
| | 9 Nov:
The Northeast Blackout of 1965 is caused by human error.SIMag NEHS |
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| 1980 | | 20 May:
In a referendum, Québec votes to secede from Canada. The motion fails to pass.CBC GNB |
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| 1982 | | 17 Apr:
Canada becomes fully independent from Britain.CMoH CA |
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| 1991 | | 30 Jan:
After 320 years, the Hudson's Bay Company gets out of the fur trade business.CBC RCI |
|
| | 30 Oct:
The "Perfect Storm" hits the North Atlantic.NPS Weather |
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| 2001 | |
| 2003 | |
| 2006 | |
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