Dinosaurs live in steamy forests and warm seas that cover much of what we now call Canada

The first human inhabitants of North America probably cross from Siberia by land bridge as the last Ice Age draws to a close.

Five Iroquois nations form the powerful Confederacy of the Longhouse.

Leif Ericsson's first voyage to Vinland. A Norse colony is established on Vinland, but lasts only a coupe of years.

Native people of southern Ontario begin to plant and harvest corn. The Thule people - ancestors of the Inuit - migrate east across Artic Canada

John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) of Genoa makes two voyages for England to the fishing grounds of Newfoundland.

John Cabot claims New World territory (either Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island) for England.

Jacques Cartier explores the coast of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. He lands on the Gaspe Peninsula and claims the land for France.

Jacques Cartier, on the Gasped Peninsula, claims the area for France.

Jacques Cartier journeys up the St. Lawrence to the Native settlements of Stadacona and Hochelaga. He gives Canada its name (from Indian word kanata, meaning village).

Martin Frobisher journeys as far as Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, on the first of three voyages in search of the Northwest Passage.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert visits Newfoundland and claims it for England.

Pierre Du Gua de Monts and Samuel Champlain establish a colony in Nova Scotia. Marc Lescarbot starts the first library and first French school of Native people, and in 1606 produces the first play staged in Canada. After Lescarbot returns to France, he writes the first history of Canada.

Samuel de Champlain founds a permanent French colony at Quebec.

Champlain founds Quebec City.

Champlain is the first European to use firearms against Indians (Iroquois).

Explorer Henry Hudson is set adrift by his mutinous crew in Hudson Bay.

First Jesuits arrive in New France (at Port Royal)

Henry Hudson cast adrift in James Bay by mutineers.

The first Roman Catholic missionaries try to convert Native people to Christianity.

Champlain completes eight years pf exploring, traveling as far as west Georgia Bay. The French and Huron form an alliance.

Louis and Marie Hebert and their children become the first French settlers of farm land in New France.

Champlain surrenders Quebec to Kirk brothers from England. (Port La Tour, N.S., is the only part of New France to avoid capture by English.)

The first French schools are founded in Quebec by religious orders.

Treaty of Saint-Germainen-Laye returns New France to French

Champlain dies in Quebec, aged about 65.

De Maisonneuve founds Ville-Marie (Montreal)

Ville-Marie (Montreal) is founded by Paul de Maisonneuve.

Three settlers killed in first of countless Iroquois attacks on Ville-Marie.

The Hotel-Dieu Hospital in Ville-Marie, founded by Jeanne Mance, is completed.

War between the Huron and Iroquois confederacies leads to the destruction of the Huron nation. The Iroquois begin raids on New France.

Francois de Laval arrives at Quebec as de facto bishop of New France

Iroquois attack Dollard des Ormeaux near Carillon, Que.

King Louis XIV decides to rebuild New France. He sends a governor and troops to protect the colony, and intendant (Jean Talon) to administer it, and settlers to increase its population.

With New France under the personal control of Louis XIV, Jean Talon arrives at Quebec as first intendant.

Carignan-Salieres Regiment leaves Quebec on raids into Iroquois territory that will end Iroquois harassment of New France for 23 years.

English Ketch Nonsuch reaches Rupert River in James Bay, where crew will build first Hudson's Bay Company post.

The English king grants a charter to the Hudson's Bay Company, giving it exclusive trading rights to vast territory drained by rivers the flow into Hudson Bay.

Hudson's Bay Company receives royal charter in London.

Frontenac awes restless Iroquois at Kingston, Ontario.

La Salle claims Louisiana for France

Rene-Robert Cavalier de La Salle reaches the mouth of the Mississippi, and claims for France all the land through which the river and its tributaries flow.

Lachine Massacre starts new series of Iroquois raids.

Frontenac victorious as Sir William Phips lifts four-day siege of Quebec.

Madeleine de Vercheres defends family fort against Iroquois.

Frontenac and 2,000 men leave Montreal on raid that will permanently end Iroquois harassment of New France.

Iberville in Pelican wins control of Hudson Bay.

Horses come to the northern plains, and the region's Native people become nations on horseback.

Treaty of peace with the Iroquois Confederacy is signed.

Iroquois sign lasting peace with New France

New flood of card money in Canada.

Montreal's public marketplace opens.

Port Royal falls to the English.

Port Royal surrenders for the last time to the English

Abortive invasion of New France.

Treaty of Utrecht cedes Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and mainland Nova Scotia to England.

Acadia, Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay Company become English.

A peace treaty forces France to turn over Newfoundland and Acadia to Britain. The French begin construction of Louisbourg, strongest fortress in North America, on Cape Breton Island.

Beginning of the ginseng boom.

Construction begins on Fortress Louisbourg.

Fort Rouille founded on the site of Toronto.

The first English school in Newfoundland is established, known as "the school for poor people".

Opening of the north shore road from Quebec to Montreal.

Opening of the St. Maurice Ironworks; founding of Port La Reine (Portage La Prairie) and Fort Rouge (Winnipeg, Manitoba).

Discovery of the Rocky Mountains.

Louis-Joseph, son of Pierre de la Verendrye, explores westward in search of the "Western Sea", crossing the plains almost to Rocky Mountains.

Fortress Louisbourg surrenders to the English (but will be handed back three years later).

New England forces seize Louisbourg.

Foundation of Halifax.

The British found Halifax as a naval and military post; about 3 000 people settle there in one year.

Halifax founded by the English to offset Louisbourg.

Building of Fort Lawrence.

First issue of the Halifax Gazette, Canada's first newspaper.

Canada's first newspaper, the Halifax Gazette, appears.

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, is founded.

The expulsion of the Acadians by the British begins; 6 000 to 10 000 Acadians were driven from their homes.

Acadians ordered deported.

The Seven Years War between Great Britain and France begins, fought partly in their North America colonies.

The British capture Louisbourg from the French.

Louisbourg surrenders to the English for second time. (Now it will be destroyed)

French troops, under the command of Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, win victory over the British at Carillon (Ticonderoga).

Wolfe defeats Montcalm on Plains of Abraham.

At the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Quebec falls to the British. Both commander, Wolfe and Montcalm, are killed.

New France surrenders to the British.

Montreal surrenders to the English

Treaty of Paris seals the fall of New France

New France becomes a British colony called Quebec. Alliance of Native nations under Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa, makes war on the British, seizing many forts and trading posts.

Prince Edward Island, formerly part of Nova Scotia, becomes separate British colony.

Samuel Hearne, guided by Chipewyan leader Matonabbee, explores in a two-years voyage the Coppermine and Slave rivers and Great Slave Lake. He is the first white man to reach the Artic Ocean overland.

Scottish settlers reach Pictou, Nova Scotia, aboard the Hector.

Quebec Act, guaranteeing civil, language and religious rights to French Canadians, comes into force.

Quebec Act is passed by British Parliament, recognizing the French Canadian's right to preserve their language, religion, and civil law.

The American Revolution begins gaining independence from Great Britain for the Thirteen Colonies. The people of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island decide against joining the revolution.

American invaders under General Montgomery assault Quebec. The city is under siege until spring, when British reinforcements drive the Americans away.

American rebels' invasion stemmed at Quebec.

The fur traders of Montreal band together in the North West Company to compete with the traders of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Captain James Cook explores the Pacific Coast from Nootka, Vancouver Island, to the Bering Strait.

Around 40 000 United Empire Loyalist from the Thirteen Colonies start immigrating to Canada. Most settle in Nova Scotia, Quebec, and New Brunswick (established as a colony separate from Nova Scotia in 1784). Three thousand Black Loyalists settle near Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

First Loyalists land at Saint John, N.B.

Province of New Brunswick formed.

After helping the British during the American Revolution, the Iroquois are given two land grants. Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant) settles his followers at the Six Nations Reserve, near Brantford.

Province of Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario) formed.

Quebec is divided into two colonies, Upper and Lower Canada, each with its own Assembly.

Captains Vancouver and Quadra meet at Nootka Sound to settle British and Spanish claims to the Pacific coast.

Captain George Vancouver starts summer voyages to explore the coast of mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island.

York (now Toronto) is founded by John Graves Simcoe, lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada.

Alexander Mackenzie, first man to cross North America north of Mexico, records his arrival at the Pacific on a rock near Bella Coola, B.C.

By canoe and on foot, Alexander Mackenzie crosses the Rocky Mountains and the Coast Range, reaching the Pacific Ocean on July 22.

York (Toronto) founded.

First paper mill established in Lower Canada, producing paper from cloth rags.

Nor' Western Simon Fraser reaches the mouth of the Fraser River

Simon Fraser travels the Fraser River for 1360 km to reach the Pacific Ocean on July 2.

Lord Selkirk plans a settlement of Highland Scots in Red River area, near present site of Winnipeg. First settlers arrive at Hudson Bay in the fall of 1811.

Nor' Western David Thompson reaches the mouth of the Columbia River.

The War of 1812, between the United States and Britain begins.

Detroit surrenders to British general Isaac Brock and Tecumseh, leader of the Native nations allied to Britain.

Brock is killed during the Battle of Queenstown Heights.

Selkirk settlers reach Winnipeg

United States declares war on Britain (the War of 1812)

Americans defeated (but Sir Isaac Brock killed) in the Battle of Queenstown Heights.

Americans capture Fort York at present-day Toronto.

Laura Secord overhears American troops planning an attack, and walks 30 km, crossing enemy lines, to warn Colonel James FitzGibbon. Two days later, the Americans are ambushed and surrender to FitzGibbon.

Tecumseh dies during the British defeat of Moraviantown.

Laura Second warns British troops of impending American attack. ( Seventeen days earlier, scout Billy Green had revealed details of American troop positions. Both reports lead to British victories.)

Americans defended at the Battle of Chateauguay, near Montreal

Americans defeated at the Battle of Chrysler's Farm, Near Morrisbourg, Ont.

Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812, returns captured territory to the Americans.

The Treaty of Ghent officially ends the war.

Métis and a few Indians Massacre Selkirk settlers at Seven Oaks (Winnipeg)

Edward Parry anchors for a 10 month stay off Melville Island, (He is the first searcher for the Northwest Passage to winter the artic by Choice.)

Hudson's Bay Company absorbs North West Company.

Miramichi Fire kills more than 160 persons and consumes 6,000 square miles of forest in New Brunswick.

Reform editor William Lyon Mackenzie's printing shop in York is wrecked by Family Compact members

Shawnandithit, the last of the Beothuks, dies at about age twenty-eight in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Escaped slaves Josiah and Charlotte Henson and their children journey north from Maryland to Canada. The Henson's later help found a community of ex-slaves called Dawn, near Dresden, Ontario.

British troops kill three French Canadians in street riot following Patriot by-election victory

The Rideau Canal, built by Colonel John By, opens; the community of Bytown (later Ottawa), grows out of the camp for the canal workers.

Immigrants with Cholera land at Quebec. By September the disease will kill 3,800 there 4,000 in Montreal

Reform newspaper publisher Joseph Howe's oratory wins him acquittal on a libel charge and establishes freedom of the press.

The first railway in Canada opens, running from La Prairie to St. John's, Quebec.

Canada's first railway, the Champlain and St. Lawrence, starts service between Laprairie and Saint-Jean, Que.

Patriots crushed by British troops at Saint-Eustache, Que

Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada are put down by government troops. The rebel leaders, Louis-Joseph Papineau of Lower Canada and William Lyon Mackenzie of Upper Canada, are forced to flee.

Upper Canada rebels scatter after militiamen attack and burn Montgomery's Tavern (rebel headquarters)

British troops defeat Patriots at Saint-Charles, Que.

Patriot rebels defeat British troop at Saint-Denis, Que.

Mackenzie and Upper Canada rebels marching on Toronto are stopped by a militia ambush.

Lord Durham comes to Canada as governor. He recommends that the governments of the colonies should be chosen by the people's elected representatives.

Durham Report urges responsible government and political union for Lower and Upper Canada, and assimilation for French Canadians.

Britannia - the first ship of the Cunrad Line, founded by Samuel Cunrad of Halifax - arrives in Halifax harbor with transatlantic mail.

The Act of Union unites Upper and Lower Canada (which became Canada West and East) into the Province of Canada, under one government, with Kingston as capital.

Upper Canada becomes Canada West, and Lower Canada becomes Canada East: they are united into Province of Canada

Charles Fenetry of Sackville, New Brunswick, discovers a practical way to make paper from wood pulp. Today the pulp and paper industry is Canada's largest manufacturing industry, and Canada exports more pulp and paper than any other country in the world.

Work starts on the Vancouver Island HBC post that will become Victoria.

James Douglas of the Hudson's Bay Company founds Victoria and Vancouver Island.

Sir John Franklin and his crew disappear in the Arctic while searching the Northwest Passage.

Orgen Treaty sets the 49th parallel as the western Canada/U.S. boundary.

Geologist and chemist Abraham Gesner of Nova Scotia invents kerosene oil and becomes the founder of the modern petroleum industry.

Lieut. Graham Gore's sledge party leaves the icebound ships of the Franklin Expedition to seek the last link in the Northwest passage.

Franklin expedition ships Erbus and Terror abandoned. All 130 expeditions members will perish.

The Province of Canada's first responsible government by party - the Great Reform ministry led by Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin - takes office. Reform Ministry led by Louis-Hopolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin-takes office.

English Tory mob burns the parliament buildings in Montreal after Governor General Lord Elgin signs the rebellion Losses Bill.

Marco Polo, to be the fastest ship in the world, launched at Saint John, New Brunswick.

Province of Canada issues British North America's first postage stamp.

Canada's first postage stamp is issued, a three-penny stamp with a beaver on it.

Timothy Eaton opens his first general store, in Kirkton, Ontario. Thirteen years later he opens a store at the corner of Queen and Yonge in Toronto.

Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as the new capital of the United Province of Canada.

James Douglas, already governor of Vancouver Island, sworn in as governor of British Columbia

Gold is discovered in the sandbars of the Fraser River. Some twenty thousand miners rush to the area, and it comes under British rule as the colony of British Columbia.

French acrobat Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope. On later tightrope walks, he crosses the falls on stilts, blindfolded, and with his feet in a sack.

Billy Barker strikes gold on Williams Creek in the Caribou country of British Columbia

Charlottetown Conference opens to discuss the confederation of British North America colonies.

Quebec Conference opens to continue confederation talks. ( It will settle the fundamentals upon which the British North American Act will be based.)

Confederation conferences in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, September 1-9, and in Quebec, October 10-29. Delegates hammer out the conditions for the union of British North American colonies.

Private Timothy O'Hea extinguishes a fire in a boxcar of ammunition at Danville. Que., and wins the only Victoria Cross ever rewarded for an act in Canada.

Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia are combined into one colony named British Columbia.

Battle of Ridgeway climaxes biggest Fenian raid into Canada.

Confederation: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario form the Dominion of Canada. John A. Macdonald becomes the first prime minister.

The British North America Act is passed by Britain's Parliament, providing for Canada's Confederation.

Emily Stowe, the first woman doctor in Canada, begins to practice medicine in Toronto.

Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec.

Dominion of Canada comes into being: Sir John A. Macdonald sworn in as prime minister.

British parliament passes the British North America Act.

The Métis of Red River rebel, under Louis Riel, after their region is purchased by Canada from Hudson's Bay Company.

Canadian Parliament agrees to buy Rupert's Land - All the Hudson's Bay Company territory.

Louis Riel and Métis occupy Lower Fort Garry. The red River Rebellion has begun.

Riel establishes a legal provisional government in Rupert's Land.

Thomas Scott executed on orders of Riel.

Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: Manitoba, Northwest Territories

Métis rights recognized, as Manitoba becomes a province. (But Riel will have to flee Canada because of Scott's execution.)

Manitoba joins Confederation. The new province was much smaller than today's Manitoba.

As buffalo become scarce, the last tribal war is fought on the Prairies between the Cree and the Blackfoot over hunting territories.

Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: Prince Edward Island

Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: British Columbia

British Columbia joins Confederation.

The Pacific Scandal erupts: Prime Minister Macdonald accused of corruption in negotiations over a transcontinental railway. ( His government will be forced to resign.)

Prince Edward Island joins Confederation.

Prime Minister Sir John Macdonald resigns as a result of scandal over the partial financing of the Conservative election campaign by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.

American whisky traders kill fifty-six Assiniboine in the Cypress Hills of the southern Prairies. The North-West Mounted Police (later the RCMP) is formed to keep order in the new Canadian territories.

William D. Lawrence, the biggest wooden ship ever built in the Maritimes, launched at Maitland, N.S.

The Mounties leave Fort Dufferin on their march west to wipe out the whisky trade.

Scottish-born Alexander Graham Bell, who has been working on the invention of the telephone since 1874, makes the world's first long-distance call, from Brantford to Paris, Ontario.

The first intelligible telephone call between two buildings is made groom Brantford, Ont,. To Mount Pleasant, two miles away.

Treaty No.7 cedes the last big section of Prairie land to the government of Canada.

Secret ballot used for the first time in a federal general election.

Sandford Fleming proposes the idea of standard time.

The first organized games of hockey, using a flat puck, are played by McGill University students in Montreal. Before this, hockey-like games have been played on ice with a ball.

Britain transfer the Arctic, which it claims to own, to Canada, completing Canada's modern boundaries - except for Newfoundland and Labrador.

A system of international standard time and official time zones, advocated by Canadian engineer Sir Sandford Fleming, is adopted.

Last spike of the CPR driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia.

Riel hanged at Regina.

The Métis North-West Rebellion is led by Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont. After early victories for the rebels, the rebellion is crushed by troops who arrive on the newly built railway.

The last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway main line is driven at Craigellachie, BC. The next year, Vancouver is founded as the railway's western terminus.

More than 300 voyageurs, the first Canadians to serve in an overseas ways, reach Khartoum after guiding a British a British expedition up the Nile River.

Crees, and whites led by Mounties, fight the last military engagement on Canadian soil (near Loon Lake, Sask.)

Batoche falls, Riel taken prisoner

Louis Riel proclaims an illegal provisional government at Batoche, Sask. The Northwest Rebellion has begun.

John A. Macdonald dies age 76.

The City of Toronto establishes the first Children's Aid Society in Canada.

Lord Stanley, the governor general, donates the Stanley Cup as a hockey trophy.

Gold is discover in the Klondike. By the next year, 100 000 people are rushing to the Yukon in hope of getting rich.

Clifford Sifton named minister of the interior with the task of filling the Prairies with settlers.

George Carmack stakes a claim after striking gold on Rabbit Creek in the Klondike.

Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: Yukon Territory

First Canadian troops embark for the South African war.

The Boer War in South Africa stars, fought between Dutch Afrikaners (Boers) and the British. Seven thousand Canadian volunteers fight on the British side.

Reginald Fessenden transmits the world's first wireless spoken message via radio, and six years later the two-way voice transmission. His credited with the discovery of the super-heterodyne principle, the basis of all modern broadcasting.

Jack Caffery of Hamilton, Ontario, wins the Boston Marathon in 2:39:44. Two other Canadian, Bill Sherring and Fred Hughson, finished second and third. Caffery won again in 1901.

The first symphony orchestra in Canada is created in Quebec City.

Le Roy, the first true Canadian "production car", is built by the Good brothers, Milton and Nelson, in their company in Berlin, Ontario, (now Kitchener) that they founded in 1899. Its name came from the French "le roi", meaning the kind, and its currently on display at the Doon Heritage Crossroads museum in Kitchener.

Silver is discovered in Cobalt, Ontario, along with cobalt and nickel. Ontario rapidly became one of the world's leading silver producing districts, yielding more than 18,000 metric tonnes of silver between 1903 and 1989, when the last mine closed.

The Ivanhoe, a popular electric car, is made by Canada Cycle and Motor Co. of Toronto

Charles Saunders, a native of London, Ontario, developed the Marquis wheat at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. Maturing early than other varieties, this strain of wheat produced larger crops and resisted the cold and strong winds. The Marquis is given credit for bringing prosperity to Canada's prairies.

Canada wins an Olympic gold medal in soccer. Though known more as a country that specialized in hockey, a team from Galt, Ontario, defeated the Americans for gold at the Olympics in St. Louis.

Saskatchewan and Alberta join Confederation. Immigrants rush to settle in the plains, mainly as wheat farmers.

Roald Amundsen's Gjoa reaches Nome, Alaska, after becoming the first ship to sail the Northwest Passage.

Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: Alberta, Saskatchewan

Norwegian Roald Amundsen, in the schooner Gjoa, finds his way through the Northwest Passage to the Pacific.

Tom Longboat, an Onondaga from the Six Nations Reserve and world runner, wins the Boston Marathon in record time. In 1906 he won a 20 km race against a horse.

Canada Dry Ginger Ale is first bottled.

Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, is published. In the next ninety years the book sells more than a million copies, is made into a television movie, and becomes a popular musical.

A branch of the Royal Mint is established in Ottawa, making for the first time coins in Canada.

The Parliament passed the Tobacco Restraint Act prohibiting the sale of tobacco to person under 16, and prohibiting them from purchasing or possessing tobacco.

Joseph-Elzear Bernier affirms Canadian sovereignty in the High Artic by erecting a plaque on Melville Island.

J. A. D. McCurdy makes the first manned flight in the British Empire, at Baddect, N.S.

The first Grey Cup game; the University of Toronto football team defeats Toronto Parkdale. A trophy has been donated by the governor general, Earl Grey.

The first powered, heavier-than-air flight in Canada is made by J.A.D.McCurdy in the Silver Dart. The biplane flew almost a kilometer.

The Boundary Waters Treaty between Canada and United States creates the International Joint Commission, which first mission was to investigate the pollution of the Great Lakes in 1912. Its research and advocacy led to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972.

Royal Canadian Navy formed.

William Gibson built the first aircraft engine in Canada in Victoria, BC. It produced fifty-five horsepower and was installed in the Gibson twin plane, the first one in North America to use contra rotating propellers.

A proposal for free trade between the United States and Canada is rejected in a fiercely contested general election. The Liberal government, under Wilfrid Laurier, is replaced by a Conservative government led by Sir William Borden.

The last Dominion of Canada four-dollar notes were issued, being replaced by the five-dollar notes in 1912. Legislation was passed authorizing the striking of the silver dollar, Canada's first dollar coin, and two patterns for 1911 dollars were struck in silver.

Vilhjalmur Stefansson leads a Canadian expedition to the Arctic, and explores the North by deliberately drifting on ice floes.

One thousand and twelve people died when Canadian Pacific steamer Empress of Ireland collided with Norwegian ship Storstad in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It’s the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history.

Annie Langstaff was the first woman to graduate with a law degree in Quebec. She was not able to practice, though, because Quebec Bar refused to admit her, who end up working as a legal clerk.

A dust explosion at a coal mine in Hillcrest, Alberta, kills 189 miners.

Britain declares war on Germany. Canada is automatically at war too.

Canada goes off the gold standard, breaking forever the link between national gold reserves and the money supply.

Empress of Ireland sinks in the St. Lawrence; 1, 015 perish.

The First World War begins. Britain declares war on Germany on behalf of the British Empire, including Canada.

Canadian troops in the Second Battle of Ypres hold against history's first major gas attack.

Battle of Ypres starts in Belgium. It’s the first major battle fought by Canadian troops. They stand their ground against poison-gas attack.

Elizabeth Smellie is appointed colonel in the Canadian Army nursing corps. She was the first Canadian women to hold this position.

The Centre Block of Parliament Hill burned to ground. MPs and Senators had to conducted the nation's business in a museum not far from the Hill doing their work in the former hall of invertebrate fossils.

A devastating forest fire broke out in northwest of North Bay, Ontario, killing between 200 and 250 men, women, and children and destroying six towns, including Matheson and Cochrane. Property damage was estimated at more than $2 million.

Halifax explosion kills nearly 2,000 persons.

The Migratory Birds Convention Act is enacted, implementing the Treaty for International Protection of Migratory Birds which was signed by Canada and U.S.A. in 1916. It was the first international treaty for the conservation wildlife.

Heavy Canadian lost and a sharp decline in voluntary enlistment during the World War led Ottawa to introduce compulsory military service, French-Canadian opposition and English-Canadian support sparked a bitter linguistic and national unity crisis.

Sir William Borden leads a unionist coalition, which combines support by Conservatives and western Liberals, into a wartime election against the Laurier Liberals. Borden wins.

The National Hockey League is established in Montreal. The original teams are: Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Arenas.

Flying ace Billy Bishop of Owen Sound, Ontario, wins the Victoria Cross for attacking a German airfield single-handed.

Louise McKinney is the first woman in Canada to be elected to a provincial legislature when she won a seat in Alberta.

Battle of Passchendaele starts also in Belgium. A Canadian victory at the cost of more than 15 000 casualties. Nine Victoria Crosses are awarded to Canadians.

The first Federal Income Tax is introduced. The Income Tax Act was presented as a "temporary" measure to help finance World War I, but, unsurprisingly, proved too good for the government to give up, even though the war ended in November 11, 1918.

Battle of Vimy Ridge begins in France. A Canadian victory at the cost of more than 10 000 killed or wounded.

A French munitions ship explodes in Halifax harbor, flattening the city, killing 1 600, and injuring 9 000.

Canadians capture Vimy Ridge.

Daylight Saving Time is first used in Canada.

Women win the right to vote in federal elections.

Anti-conscription riots break out in Quebec City.

Armistice declared, one day after the capture of Mons has climaxed " Canada's Hundred Days" of unbroken advanced.

Between 1918 and 1925 the Spanish Influenza affected all regions, killing more than 50 000 Canadians.

Mounties smash 37 day old Winnipeg General Strike.

This day is called Bloody Saturday when policy charged a demonstration of strikers during the Winnipeg General Strike, killing two and wounding twenty seven others.

Following the death of Laurier, William Lyon Mackenzie is chosen to be leader of the Liberal Party.

The Winnipeg General Strike. A strike in the building and metal trades spreads to other unions, and 30 000 workers stop, crippling the city until June, 25, of the same year.

The size of the cent is reduced from 25.4 mm to 19.05 mm.

The Group of Seven artists hold their first exhibition in Toronto.

Canada's director of military operations drafted a plan for the Canadian army to invade certain cities in the U.S. Fortunately, no one took the plan seriously.

Agnes Macphail of Owen Sound, Ontario, becomes the first woman elected to the House of Commons, in the first election since women gained the vote.

Agnes Campbell Macphail is the first woman in Canada to be elected to the House of Commons winning the Ontario riding of Grey South East. It was also the first election in which women had the right to vote.

Andrew Bonar Law of New Brunswick became leader of the Conservatives in England and then prime minister, post that he held for 209 days before resigning because of bad health. He moved to England in 1900 and became a MP.

The mint replaces the small, inconvenient silver five-cent piece with one made out of nickel, quickly becoming known as "nickles", expression used even today.

Omar Roberts poured gasoline on Elora Gray and set fire to her and his house in Kemptville, Nova Scotia, because she had turned down his marriage proposal and was in love with another man. Police found Gray before she died, however, and she was able the tell them what Roberts had done. He was found guilty of murder and hanged in November of the same year.

The Nobel Prize for Medicine is awarded to doctors Frederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod. Along with Dr. Charles and others, Banting discovered the insulin as a treatment for diabetes.

The Home Bank goes bankrupted with losses to depositors as well as shareholders. The failure led to the creation of the federal office of the Inspector General of Banks.

Armand Bombardier, of Valcourt, Quebec, developed the snowmobile, vehicles were in difficult terrain. In 1950 he pioneered the development of small, light snow vehicles for winter sports.

The first government old-age pension pays up to $20 per month.

To celebrate Canada's Diamond jubilee (sixtieth birthday) the first coast-to-coast radio broadcast is made.

At the first Olympics in which women may compete, a Canadian women's six-member track team wins bronze, two silver, and two gold medals.

England's Privy Council rules that women are indeed "person", and therefore can be appointed to the Canadian Senate. The next year, Cairine Wilson becomes Canada's first woman senator.

The bush pilots Vic Horner and Wop May battled snowstorm and minus 40 degrees weather to fly anti-toxins to Fort Vermillion to stop a diphtheria epidemic that threatened to wipe out Métis and Native in the fort. They were apparently so frozen when they return that was necessary to lifted them form the cockpit.

North American stock markets crash and the Great Depression begins.

R.B. Bennett leads the Conservative Party to victory over William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal as the country plunged into the Great Depression.

Cairine Reay Wilson is the first woman in Canada appointed to the Senate.

Dr. Wilbur Franks, of Weston, Ontario, developed the G-suit, which allowed fighter pilots to carry out high-speed maneuvers without blacking out. Used by Allied pilots from 1942 onwards, it led to the development of modern day astronauts' suits.

British parliament passes the Statute of Westminster, giving Canada final independence.

Bob Noorduyn built in Montreal the Norseman, the world's first bush plane which became the universal workhorse of the north. Nearly one thousand were produced and most are still in use today around the world.

William Aberhart is elected premier of Alberta on a Social Credit platform and begins issuing his own in the form of prosperity certificates which could be used as currency. The Supreme Court of Canada, however, disallowed the practice, ruling that banking and money fell under the control of federal government.

The Bank of Canada, as the country central bank, is founded.

The Bank of Canada is created with a mandate to be the sole issuer of Canadian bank notes. The first issue of bank notes was unilingual English or French, becoming bilingual in 1937.

Mary Teresa Sullivan becomes Canada's first female municipal councilor when she was sworn in as a member of Halifax city.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.

Seven hundred and eighty Canadians died when temperatures exceeded 42 degrees Celsius from Alberta to Ontario, in Canada's longest and deadliest heat wave.

Joan Miller of Nelson, British Columbia, was the world's first woman professional television performer. She was the star of the first TV show, "Picture Page Girl", produced by the BBC. She was paid 12.10 pounds per week.

Thomas Carroll built the first experimental model of the self-propelled farm combine in a Massey-Harris factory in Toronto. The machine revolutionized wheat farming in Canada by saving time, money, and backbreaking work.

Canada declares war on Germany after approval by the Canadian parliament.

The Second World War starts. After Germany invades Poland and Britain declares war, Canada declares war as well.

Trans-Canada Airlines (later Air Canada) makes the first scheduled passenger flight from Vancouver to Montreal.

The first national unemployment-insurance program comes into operation.

The Fall of Hong Kong. More than 500 Canadians die in battle or of starvation and ill-treatment in Japanese prison camps.

The Japanese attack the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, and Canada declares war on Japan.

Polymer Corporation Limited is formed because western nations were cut off from all sources of natural rubber during the World War II. It took fourteen month to build a $50 million plant which became the forerunner of many large-scale petrochemical plants and refineries.

From May to October, German submarines in the Gulf of St. Lawrence sink twenty-three Allied ships, with a loss of 258 lives. The gulf is then closed to ocean shipping until 1944.

In a disastrous raid on Dieppe, France, 900 out of 5 000 Canadians are killed and almost 2 000 are taken prisoner.

Twenty two thousand Japanese Canadians are rounded up by RCMP and placed in work camps until after the war.

RCMP ship St. Roch reaches Halifax after becoming the second ship ever (and the first going west to east) to sail the Northwest Passage.

Dieppe raid leaves 907 Canadians dead. 1, 946 capture.

Canadian troops invade Sicily and, with other Allied troops, fight their way north through Italy. They reach Rome on June 4, 1944.

Canadians troops, along with British and Americans, land successfully on the coast of France and begin to drive the Germans back.

The first Canadian nuclear reactor goes into operation.

Family-allowance payment begin. All families receive a monthly sum for each child under sixteen who is in school.

Canada's largest on-land earthquake shakes Central Vancouver Island measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale and causing extensive property damage. Seventy percent of the chimneys were knocked down in Courtenay, Cumberland, and Union Bay. One person was drowned and one died of heart attack. The quake was felt from Oregon to Alaska and east to the Rocky Mountains.

Canada's record cold temperature is set in Snag, Yukon Territory, when the mercury plunged to -63 degrees Celcius, solidifying Canadian reputation as one of the coldest country in the world.

Prospectors strike oil in Leduc, Alberta, beginning Alberta's oil boom.

Canadians Suzanne Morrow and Wally Distelmeyer perform for the first time the Death Spiral in an international skating competition. It’s a circular move in which the man lowers his partner to the ice and swings her in circle while she is arched backward gliding on one foot with the head almost touching the ice.

The Income Tax Act is enacted, taking effect for the 1949 and subsequent taxation years. After numerous amendments to the Income War Tax Act introduced in 1917, the new act largely reworded and codified the former law with little change in actual policy.

William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's longest-serving prime minister, retires at the age if 74.

Canada's biggest earthquake in the 20 century hits Queen Charlotte Island, in British Columbia, with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter Scale. The shaking was so severe that cows were knocked off their feet and people could not stand. The value of the damage, however, was not high because of the sparse population on the island. It was also felt over a wide area in western North America.

Province and territories joined Confederation, or were created from existing parts of Canada: Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador join Confederation as the tenth province.

Park Royal Shopping Centre opens in West Vancouver, British Columbia, as the first suburban shopping mall in Canada. Today the mall has both a north side, the original, and the south side, which construction started in 1960s.

Harold Adams Innes publishes Empire and Communications, a book that deals with the role of communications in various societies throughout history. Innes shows the connection between communications technology and the ability of different empires to survive and prosper.

The Korean War starts. Twenty-seven thousand Canadians serve and more than 1 600 are killed or wounded.

Inuit win the right to vote in federal elections.

Heart pacemaker was invented in a National Research Council laboratory in Ottawa by Winnipeg native John Hops to keep weak of heart alive and kicking.

The construction of Trans-Canada Highway starts, to be completed in 1970. The 7 821 kilometer road cost more than one billion, linked the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and its ranked as one of Canada's most important transportation projects

Charlotte Whitton becomes mayor of Ottawa, the first woman in Canada elected for this post.

Former prime minister Lester B. Pearson is elected president of the United Nations General Assembly.

The outbreak of the Foot and Mouth Disease in Saskatchewan results in the slaughter of thousands of animals but also sets the stage for very rigorous regulations regarding the health of domestic livestock. Today Canada's herd health programs are recognized around the world as being the most stringent anywhere.

The first Canadian scheduled TV broadcast.

Vincent Massey becomes the first Canadian-born governor general since Pierre Regaud de Vaudreuil governed New France.

Paule-Emile Leger, archbishop of Montreal, is appointed cardinal by the Vatican. Leger served as a missionary among lepers and handicapped children in Cameroon, Africa. He also was involved in many humanitarian activities and was recipient of the Pearson Peace Medal.

Marilyn Bell, age sixteen, is the first person to swim Lake Ontario.

Hurricane Hazel touches down in Toronto with 178 millimeters of rain. Eighty-three people died, entire streets in west Toronto ware destroyed and many bridges were washed away in the worst inland storm in Canada.

The Yonge Street subway opens in Toronto, the first underground public transit system in Canada.

Banks in Canada are authorized to make residential mortgage loans for the first time and also take "chattel mortgages", which led banks to offer automobile financing.

United Nations General Assembly adopts Lester B. Pearson's Suez peace-keeping plan.

Registered Retirement Saving Plan is introduced allowing Canadians who were either self-employed or did not belong to a benefit plan could put aside money for their retirement on a tax-deferred basis. Today, the RRSP is a multi-billion dollar industry and considered one of the few tax breaks available for ordinary Canadians.

John George Diefenbaker leads the Conservative Party to decisive victory over Louis St. Laurent's Liberals in a federal election, winning more seats in the House of Commons than any party has before.

Lester Pearson wins the Nobel Prize for proposing a United Nations peacekeeping force to prevent war over control of the Suez Canal.

The newspaper Montreal Herald stopped publication after 146 years of circulation.

The Springhill Mining Disaster. Shifting rock kills seventy-four coal miner. Some of the survivors are trapped for eight days before being rescued.

The last weld is completed on the TransCanada Pipeline, a 2 290 kilometer, $375 million gas line that took twenty-eight months to build and ran from Burstall, Saskatchewan, to Kapuskasing, Ontario. Capable of delivering more than nine billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, the project is compared to the building of the transcontinental railway in the 19th century.

Queen Elizabeth II and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower officially open the St. Lawrence Seaway, which lets ocean vessels reach the Great Lakes.

A shower of more than five hundred stony mereorites, some as small as as peas, fells from the sky in Bruderheim, Alberta. It was the biggest Canadian mereorite fall, with more than three hundred kilograms recovered from the field.

Native people living on reserves get the right to vote in federal elections.

Social changes and a new government in Quebec lead to the beginning of Quebec's "Quiet Revolution". Stirring of interest in independence for Quebec soon follow.

The Canadian Medical Association concluded that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer.

Saskatchewan is the first province to have medical insurance covering doctor's bills. In 1966, Parliament passes a legislation to establish a national Medicare program. By 1972, all provinces and territories have joined the program.

Canada launches the Alouette I satellite to study the ionosphere, becoming the third country in space after Russia and United States.

Blanche Margaret Meagher is appointed ambassador to Austria, being the first in Canada to hold this position. While in Vienna she also became Canada's representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The FLQ, a terrorist group dedicated to revolution to establish an independent Quebec, explodes bombs in Montreal.

Marshall McLuhan publishes the book Understanding the Media which helped Canada and the world to understand the changes technology and communications were bringing to society.

Canada gets a new red-and-white, maple leaf flag.

Canada Pension Plan (or CPP) is created, requiring contributions from both employers and employees for a publicly financed retirement saving plan. Lately the CPP has been mired in controversy about its solvency, resulting in steep increase inn the premiums paid by employers and employees.

Expo 67, the Montreal world's fair, attracts more than 55 million visitors from April to October.

Canada celebrates a hundred years of Confederation. Across the country, communities sponsor centennial projects. In Ottawa, on July 1, Queen Elizabeth II cuts a giant birthday cake.

Federal legislation abolishes the death penalty for murder, except when police officers or prison guards are the victims.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau succeeds Lester Pearson as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party. "Trudeaumania" sweeps the country in the subsequent federal election.

Rene Levesque founds the Parti Quebecois, with the goal of making Quebec a "sovereign" (independent) state "associated" with Canada.

The rising price of silver forces the mint to replace the 10, 25, and 50 cent pieces and the dollar coin with one made of nickel.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police replaced the dog teams by snowmobiles to patrol and search.

U.S spacecraft Apollo II lands on the moon with Canadian-built landing gear.

The strangled body of Pierre Laporte, a Quebec cabinet minister, was found in the trunk of a car in St. Hubert, Quebec, during the FLQ crisis. Paul and Jacques Rose, Francis Simard, and Bernard Lortie were charged in 1971 with kidnapping and non-capital murder, and later all were convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight years to double life.

The greatest change ever in crop planting came with the introduction of canola, a plant able to produce a more desirable oil for the food trade. Canola became a dominant crop on the Canadian prairies, causing the greatest change ever in crop planting.

Greame Ferguson, Robert Kerr, Roman Kroitor, Bill Shaw, and Bill Breukelman developed the IMAX System, a giant-screen, large-format film medium, which uses the largest film frame in movie history and multi-track sound system. The first permanent Imax Theatre was built at Toronto's Ontario Place in 1971. Today there are Imax theatres all over the world.

The October Crisis. After the FLQ kidnaps a Quebec government minister and a British trade commissioner, Prime Minister Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act, which allows Canadians to be arrested and held without being charged.

Voting age lowered from twenty-one to eighteen.

Fifty-two-year-old bachelor prime minister Pierre Trudeau married twenty-two-year-old Margaret Sinclair, the daughter of a former Liberal cabinet minister. From then, though the birth of their three sons, to the couple's divorce in 1984, the world watched as the antics of Pierre and Margaret charmed and same times embarrassed Canadians.

The Tobacco companies announced that effective in 1972 they would voluntarily place a warning on cigarette packages and would no advertise cigarettes on radio or television.

Gerhard Hertzberg of Ottawa wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Anik 1 Geo-stationary Commercial Satellite is launched by Telesat, making Canada the first country in the world to use satellites for domestic communications.

Rosemary Brown is the first black woman elected to the provincial legislature in British Columbia.

Few Canadian have been credited with deeds as momentous as the goal Paul Henderson scored for Team Canada The converted rebound, with thirty-four seconds remaining in the final game of the first ever Canada-Russia series, turned back a relentless Soviet Union advance in the climactic eight mach and gave Canada a victory that may never be forgotten.

Wayne Gretzky, age seventeen, plays hockey for the Oilers; he is the youngest person in North America playing a major-league sport.

Rene Levesque and Parti Quebecois are elected in Quebec.

Organized by the Canadian Labor Congress to oppose wage controls, the Day of Protest was the Canada's first national general strike and saw more than one million workers leaving their jobs for a day.

The blue box recycling program is launched in Kitchener, Ontario. Since then, the program has spread to all the provinces and has played a key role in making Canada's environment better.

Quebec voters reject "sovereignty-association" in favor of renewed Confederation.

At least 1 200 Canadians of all ages were infected with the deadly AIDS virus and thousands more contracted hepatitis C after receiving blood transfusion between 1980 and 1990. Blame for the suffering has been lain with the Red Cross, public health officials, bureaucrats, and politicians in what has been called "the greatest preventable medical scandal" in Canada's history.

Federal legislation allows 100 percent owned foreign banks to be established in Canada.

Ken Taylor, former Canadian ambassador to Iran, hid six American diplomats and spirited them out of Tehran after Iranian militants stormed the U.S. embassy and took sixty-six hostages.

Terry Fox begins his cross-country run, the "Marathon of Hope". On September 1, he is forced to stop the run when his cancer returns.

The University of Waterloo, Ontario, develops the first local area networks, or LAN, for microcomputers. The networks were created as soon the first Macintosh computers and IBM personal computers were available. LANs allow all computers in an office communicate with one another.

The federal government and every province except Quebec reach agreement for patriating the Canadian constitution (bringing it to Canada from Great Britain).

Terry Fox dies. Minus one leg already lost to cancer, Fox attempted to run across Canada in 1980 in his Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research. But in September, near Thunder Bay, Ontario, cancer struck again and the run was called off. By the time of his death $24 million was raised for his cancer research fund. Every September, runs are held in Canada and around the world to keep Fox's memory alive and also raising fund for the cancer research. Terry Fox in one of the most beloved Canadian heroes.

First flight of the Canadian Remote Manipulator System (Canadarm) on the space shuttle. The highly computerized 15m arm can be operated from inside the shuttle to release, rescue, and repair satellites.

Canada gets a new Constitution Act, including a Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Jeanne Sauve is named Canada's first female governor general. She was also the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons and the first female MP from Quebec to be a cabinet minister.

At the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Canada wins its greatest-ever number of gold medals: ten, including two for swimmer Alex Baumann.

Jeanne Sauve is Canada first woman governor general.

Astronaut Marc Garneau, aboard the U.S. space shuttle Challenger, becomes the first Canadian in space.

Wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen leaves Vancouver on a round-the-world "Man in Motion" tour to raise money for spinal-cord research and wheelchair sports.

John Polany of Toronto is co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Air Canada became the first North America carrier to ban smoking from its flights following the 1971 introduction of no-smoking sections on its aircraft.

Ten provincial premiers and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney agree to the Meech Lake Accord, which would make large changes to Canada's Constitution and address Quebec's concerns. Parliament and the legislatures of all provinces have three years to accept the Accord. It dies in June 1991, when both Newfoundland and Manitoba refuse to endorse it.

The Calgary Winter Olympics. Canada wins two silver medals (Brian Orser and Elizabeth Manley, for figure skating) and three bronze medals.

Ben Johnson wins the 100 meters in the Olympics dilating Canadians. But the cheers faded quickly after drugs screening sowed the Toronto athlete had tested positive for steroids. He was stripped of the gold medal and his actions led to an inquiry into drugs and sport not only in Canada but also around the world.

Marc Lepine kills fourteen female engineering students at Ecole Polytechnique at the University of Montreal and than shoots himself. The "Montreal Massacre" has since become a symbol of violence against women and is commemorated each December across the country.

The Canadian Space Agency is created to promote the peaceful use and development of the space and ensure space science and technology provide social and economic benefits to Canadians.

Audrey McLaughlin is elected leader of the federal New Democratic Party, becoming the first women to lead a national party in Canada and North America.

Audrey McLaughlin becomes the first woman leader of a federal party - the New Democratic Party.

After a federal election fought over the issue of free trade, the free-trade agreement between Canada and the United States comes into effect, gradually ending controls on trade and investment between the two countries.

The federal government settles a land claim with the Inuit that will give them 350 000 square km of territory in the North, to be called Nunavut.

A land dispute causes a 78-day armed confrontation between Mohawks and the army on a reserve near Oka, Quebec.

The federal government banned the use of leaded gas in motor vehicles after years of debate. Research had linked lead to health problems, mainly in children.

The war in the Persian Gulf starts. Canada sends three warships, twenty-six fighter jets, and 2 400 people to the Persian Gulf as part of a United Nations effort to force Iraqi troops to withdraw from Kuwait.

GST (Good and Services Tax) is introduced by Brian Mulroney's Conservative government. The 7 percent tax paid at the cash register replaced the 13.5 percent federal manufacturer's tax.

Canada's Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) is launched aboard NASA's Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS) to provide new measurements of the physical and chemical processes taking place at altitudes ten to three hundred kilometers above the earth's surface.

Toronto's Blue Jays became the first Canadian team to win baseball's World Series.

Canadian leaders adopt the Charlottetown Accord to reform Canada's constitution, but in a national referendum in October, Canadians reject it.

Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in space, aboard the U.S. space shuttle Discovery.

Kim Campbell, the new Conservative party leader, becomes Canada's first female prime minister, but in October Jean Chrétien's Liberals win the general election.

Canada, with Kurt Browning (gold), Elvis Stojko (silver), and Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler (gold), has its best skating World Championship since 1962.

Common-Law Union is recognized. Effective for the 1993 and subsequent tax years, common-law unions began to be considered the equivalent of a legal marriages for tax purposes. The measure was a response to court challenges that had argued that the tax system discriminated against legally married couples in favor of common-law ones.

Paul Martin abolishes the $100.000 Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption in his first budget as finance minister, except for qualified farm property and qualified small business corporation shares.

Kim Campbell becomes the first female prime minister of Canada. She was also the first woman to lead the federal Progressive Conservative Party.

Four members of the elite Canadian Airborne Regiment who were in Somalia for a peacekeeping mission were charged with the torture and beating death of Samali civilian. In 1994 Private Elvin Kyle Brown was convicted of manslaughter and torture and sentenced to five years in prison. The government disbanded the regiment later in 1995.

The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comes into effect, linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico in a new economic partnership.

Separatist Jacques Parizeau becomes the premier of Quebec.

Canadian James Gosling, working for American company Sun Microsystems, develops Java, an object-oriented programming language that allows many different kinds of computers, consumer gadgets, and other devices communicate with one another more easily.

RADARSAT is launched as the first Canadian earth observation satellite and first non-communications satellite since 1971. It can provide images of the earth's surface day and night, in any climate conditions, to clients around the world.

"Turbot war" erupts when Canada arrests a Spanish ship in a bid to prevent European fleets from over-harvesting Newfoundland fish stocks.

Donovan Bailey becomes "the world's fastest man" when he breaks the record for the 100-metre race.

Quebec votes in a referendum on sovereignty and the federalists win a razor-thin victory.

Lucien Bouchard is sworn in as the new premier of Quebec.

Astronaut Marc Garneau makes his second trip into space.

Confederation Bridge opens for business, linking Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick. The 12.9 kilometer bridge cost $1 billion.

The federal government rejects proposed bank merges that would have united the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce with the Toronto-Dominion Bank and the Royal Bank with the Bank of Montreal.

The most desctructive and disruptive ice storm in Canadian history dropps close to one hundred millimetres of freezing rain in some areas of central and eastern Canada, affecting nearly 20 percent of Canada's population, mainly in Montreal and Ottawa.

Wayne Gretzky plays the last game in a Canadian arena at the Corel Centre, in Nakata, Ontario. After twenty years in the National Hockey League with Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers, the Great One announced his retirement. His final game in the NHL was three days later at Madison Square Garden in New York.