By: HISTORY.com Editors

1995

Quebec separatists narrowly defeated

Published: February 09, 2010Last Updated: May 27, 2025

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 could make it independent of Canada.

The French were the first settlers of Canada, but in 1763 their dominions in eastern Canada fell under the control of the British. In 1867, Quebec joined Canada’s English-speaking provinces in forming the autonomous Dominion of Canada. Over the next century, the English language and Anglo-America culture made steady inroads into Quebec, leading many French Canadians to fear that they were losing their language and unique culture. The Quebec independence movement was born out of this fear, gaining ground in the 1960s and leading to the establishment of a powerful separatist party—the Parti Québécois—in 1967. In 1980, an independence referendum was defeated by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.

Far narrower than the 1980 margin, the 1995 referendum was the most serious threat to Canadian unity in the country’s 128-year existence, carrying with it the possibility of losing nearly one-third of Canada’s population if the Oui vote won. Quebec separatists refrained from any significant violence after their narrow defeat, but former Québécois leader Jacques Parizeau raised the specter of racial tension by declaring that his campaign had been beaten by “money and the ethnic vote.”

Canada’s Long, Gradual Road to Independence

Canada was granted the right to self-government in 1867, but did not gain full legal autonomy until 1931.

By: Erin Blakemore

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on October 30th

1735

John Adams is born

On October 30, 1735, John Adams, the son of a farmer and a descendant of Plymouth Rock pilgrims, is born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He enrolled in Harvard University at 16 and went on to teach school and study law before becoming America’s second president. Adams did not fight in the Revolutionary War, but was instrumental […]

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1811

‘Sense and Sensibility’ is published

On October 30, 1811, Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’ is published anonymously. It was the British author’s first published novel.

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1864

The city of Helena, Montana, is founded after miners discover gold

On October 30, 1864, the town of Helena, Montana, is founded by four gold miners who struck it rich at the appropriately named “Last Chance Gulch.” The first major Anglo settlement of Montana had begun just two years before in the summer of 1862, when prospectors found a sizeable deposit of placer gold at Grasshopper […]

1905

George Bernard Shaw’s “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” premieres in New York, causing a scandal

On October 30, George Bernard Shaw’s play Mrs. Warren’s Profession, which dealt frankly with prostitution, is performed at the Garrick Theater in New York. The play, Shaw’s second, had been banned in Britain. After only one performance, puritanical authorities in New York had the play closed. On October 31, the producer and players were arrested […]

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1908

Queen of American high society dies

Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, wife of businessman and racehorse breeder William Backhouse Astor, Jr., dies at the age of 78. Even before her union with William Astor—the grandson of the American fur magnate John Jacob Astor—Caroline Schermerhorn was prime American aristocracy: She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and descended from Dutch nobles. Caroline’s death […]

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1918

Ottoman Empire signs treaty with Allies

On October 30, 1918, aboard the British battleship Agamemnon, anchored in the port of Mudros on the Aegean island of Lemnos, representatives of Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire sign an armistice treaty marking the end of Ottoman participation in the First World War. Though the Ottoman Empire—in a period of relative decline since the […]

1938

Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” radio play is broadcast

The radio dramatization of a Martian invasion caused panic.

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1948

Killer smog claims elderly victims

On October 30, 1948, killer smog hovering over Donora, Pennsylvania claims its first two victims. Over a five-day period, the smog killed about 20 people and made thousands more seriously ill. Donora was a town of 14,000 people on the Monongahela River in a valley surrounded by hills. The town was home to steel mills […]

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1974

Muhammad Ali wins the Rumble in the Jungle

On October 30, 1974, 32-year-old Muhammad Ali becomes the heavyweight champion of the world for the second time when he knocks out 25-year-old champ George Foreman in the eighth round of the “Rumble in the Jungle,” a match in Kinshasa, Zaire. Seven years before, Ali had lost his title when the government accused him of […]

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1991

“Perfect storm” intensifies in the North Atlantic

On October 30, 1991, the so-called “perfect storm” intensifies in the North Atlantic, producing remarkably large waves along the New England and Canadian coasts. Over the next several days, the storm spread its fury over the ocean off the coast of Canada. The fishing boat Andrea Gail and its six-member crew were lost in the […]

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2002

Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC is murdered

Jam Master Jay, DJ for the pioneering hip-hop trio Run-DMC, is shot and killed in his recording studio in Queens, New York.

1990s

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1990s

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1990s

The Euro: How a Common Currency Helped Europe Achieve Peace

Born in the ashes of World War II, the currency used by 21 European countries went into effect on January 1, 1999.

1990s

What Drove Heaven’s Gate Followers to Mass Suicide?

In 1997, 39 members of a religious sect were found dead by suicide inside a San Diego mansion. Why did they do it?

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