Despite recent confusion, Canada did not burn down the White House during the War of 1812—in fact, it wasn’t even a country in 1812. Though the British attack was conducted in response to an American attack on York, Ontario, Canada as we know it didn’t exist at the time. Canada ...read more
Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known human footprints in North America. Specifically, they’ve discovered footprints from three ice-age humans who walked the shores of a Canadian Island approximately 13,000 years ago.Researchers believe that the 29 clay footprints, ...read more
The Northwest Passage is a famed sea route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through a group of sparsely populated Canadian islands known as the Arctic Archipelago. European explorers first began to search for the Northwest Passage in the fifteenth century, but ...read more
The Klondike Gold Rush, often called the Yukon Gold Rush, was a mass exodus of prospecting migrants from their hometowns to Canadian Yukon Territory and Alaska after gold was discovered there in 1896. The idea of striking it rich led over 100,000 people from all walks of life to ...read more
Archaeologists working with the support of the Hakai Institute began excavations on Triquet Island last summer. Since then, they have uncovered a number of artifacts linked to an ancient human settlement on the island, including fish hooks, a hand drill used to ignite fires and a ...read more
1. The American Revolution (1775) The United States had yet to even declare its independence from Great Britain when the Continental Army launched an invasion of the neighboring British colony of Canada in the summer of 1775. Setting out to seize Quebec City, the patriots hoped ...read more
During the October Crisis, the Quebec Liberation Front (FLQ), a militant separatist group, kidnaps Quebec labor minister Pierre Laporte in Montreal. Five days earlier, FLQ terrorists had seized British trade commissioner James Richard Cross. In exchange for the lives of the men, ...read more
In a ceremony presided over by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II, the St. Lawrence Seaway is officially opened, creating a navigational channel from the Atlantic Ocean to all the Great Lakes. The seaway, made up of a system of canals, locks, and dredged ...read more
At 9:05 a.m., in the harbor of Halifax in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, the most devastating manmade explosion in the pre-atomic age occurs when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes 20 minutes after colliding with another vessel.As World War I raged in ...read more
Known in the past as the premiere Honeymoon destination, this geological wonder is not only one of most popular tourist attractions in the state of New York, but also functions as one of the major power providers to the state itself. Comprised of three waterfalls — American ...read more
By a bare majority of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, citizens of the province of Quebec vote to remain within the federation of Canada. The referendum asked Quebec’s citizens, the majority of whom are French-speakers, to vote whether their province should begin the process that ...read more
The autonomous Dominion of Canada, a confederation of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the future provinces of Ontario and Quebec, is officially recognized by Great Britain with the passage of the British North America Act.During the 19th century, colonial dependence gave way to ...read more
After three months of horrific fighting, the Third Battle of Ypres finally ends when Canadian forces take the village of Passchendaele in Belgium.In one of the bloodiest battles of World War I, a combination of over-ambitious aims, terrible weather conditions, and misguided ...read more
At a remote spot called Craigellachie in the mountains of British Columbia, the last spike is driven into Canada’s first transcontinental railway.In 1880, the Canadian government contracted the Canadian Pacific Railroad to construct the first all-Canadian line to the West Coast. ...read more
In accordance with a formal proclamation by Queen Elizabeth II of England, a new Canadian national flag is raised above Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the capital of Canada.Beginning in 1610, Lower Canada, a new British colony, flew Great Britain’s Union Jack, or Royal Union Flag. In ...read more
Young Johan Jonsen, the future “Mad Trapper of Rat River,” leaves Norway with his family and heads for America.When he was six years old, the Norwegian Jonsen headed for America with his family on this day in 1904. His Swedish father settled the family on a barren 320-acre ...read more
The city of Toronto, Canada, is battered with its worst-ever snowfall on this day in 1944. Twenty-one people died as a result of the record storm, in which nearly 20 inches of snow fell in a single day.The storm began hundreds of miles to the south near the Gulf of Mexico; it ...read more
Hurricane Hazel, the fourth major hurricane of 1954, hammers southern Ontario, Canada, on this day in 1954. Hazel hit hard from Jamaica to Canada, killing more than 400 people and causing over $1 billion in damages.On October 5 hurricane hunters spotted Hurricane Hazel about 50 ...read more
Twenty-six people are killed in a glacial slide and avalanche on this day in 1965 in British Columbia, Canada. The victims were miners who were removing copper ore from underneath a glacier.The Granduc Mining Company camp was in the town of Stewart, near the border of British ...read more
On this day in 1718, Francois-Louis-Frederic Haldimand, who would help bring the United Empire Loyalists and Six Nations of Iroquois to safety in Canada following the American War for Independence, is born in Yverdon, Switzerland.Haldimand joined the Prussian army in 1740 and, ...read more
On this day in 1775, Continental Army Brigadier General Richard Montgomery takes Montreal, Canada, without opposition.Montgomery’s victory owed its success in part to Ethan Allen’s disorganized defeat at the hand of British General and Canadian Royal Governor Guy Carleton at ...read more
On this day in 1775, Patriot forces under Colonel Benedict Arnold and General Richard Montgomery attempt to capture the city of Quebec under cover of darkness and snowfall. They fail, and the effort costs Montgomery his life. On December 2, Arnold, Montgomery and their troops ...read more
Beginning on this day in 1775, Colonel Benedict Arnold and General Richard Montgomery lead an American force in the siege of Quebec. The Americans hoped to capture the British-occupied city and with it win support for the American cause in Canada. In June, Congress decided to ...read more
In 1534, France’s King Francis I authorized the navigator Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) to lead a voyage to the New World in order to seek gold and other riches, as well as a new route to Asia. Cartier’s three expeditions along the St. Lawrence River would later enable France to ...read more