Canada Timeline

1775 Aug 29
to 1775 Sep 9
 Newfoundland Hurricane of 1775
A storm struck the eastern coast of Newfoundland on September 9, 1775. It is uncertain if this storm was the remnants of the hurricane that had crossed the Outer Banks over a week earlier...
1812 Jun 18
to 1815 Mar 23
 War of 1812
The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire (particularly Great Britain and British North America), was fought from 1812 to 1815. There were several im...
1847 Jan 24 Battle Of Canada
The Battle of Cañada was part of the Taos Revolt, a popular insurrection against the United States by Mexicans. It took place on January 24, 1847, during the Mexican-American War.
1854 Sep 27 Sinking of the SS Arctic
Sudden and heavy fog causes two ships to collide, killing 322 people off the coast of Newfoundland on this day in 1854. The Arctic was a luxury ship, built in 1850 to carry passengers ...
1854 Oct 27 Jeannette's Creek Train Wreck
"The scene presented after the collision was a horrible one. Intermixed with the fragments of the broken cars, dead bodies lay in profusion, many of them mangled in the most dreadful manne..." —Detroit Free Press, October 28, 1854
1873 Prince Edward Island
1882 Jan 3 Oscar Wilde Begins Lecture Tour of the United States and Canada
"I have nothing to declare except my genius." —Oscar Wilde, upon arriving in the United States of America
1885 Sep 15 Jumbo the Elephant is Killed by a Locomotive
Jumbo's private car was some distance down the main line, and it was while walking to this that a shrill whistle signaled the approach of an oncoming freight train on the Grand Trunk rail...
1887 May 3 Nanaimo Mine Explosion
The Nanaimo mine explosion on May 3, 1887, in Nanaimo, British Columbia killed 150 miners. Only seven miners survived and the mine burned for one full day. The explosion started deep u...
1896 Aug 16 Skookum Party Discovers Gold Deposits in Bonanza Creek, Yukon
In August 1896, three people led by Keish (Skookum Jim Mason), a member of the Tagish First Nations, headed north, down the Yukon River from the Carcross area, looking for his sister Kate...
1903 Apr 29 Frank Rockslide
30 million cubic metres of limestone broke free from the mountain and crashed down towards the sleeping populace of Frank. In a mere minute and a half a landslide one kilometre wide and 4...
1906 Jan 22 Wreck of the SS Valencia
On Monday, January 22, 1906, the coastal passenger liner SS Valencia, en route from San Francisco to Seattle with 108 passengers and 65 crew aboard, passed the entrance to the Strait of J...
1914 May 29 Sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland
Only 14 minutes after having being struck by the Storstad, the Empress keeled over. Captain Kendall was thrown from the bridge and was eventually hauled into one of the lifeboats. The cre...
1914 Jun 19 Hillcrest Mine Disaster
On the morning of June 19th of 1914, a massive methane and coal dust explosion rocked the Hillcrest Collieries coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass of southwestern Alberta, Canada. Miners from...
1915 Apr 22
to 1915 May 13
 Second Battle of Ypres
Canadian Forces, 30,000 First Brigade, Gen. Mercer Second Brigade, Gen. Currie Third Brigade, Gen. Turner Artillery, Gen. Burstall British Cavalry, Gen. Allenby, Gen. Rivington Brit...
1915 Aug 1
to 1915 Dec 31
 German Destruction of Factories in Canada and the United States Begins
Germany had mobilized an immense army of spies, dynamiters, assassins and conspirators in the United States at the outbreak of War in Europe. These assassins hesitated at no crime that mi...
1917 Dec 6 The Halifax Explosion
The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo shi...
1918 Oct 25 Wreck of the SS Princess Sophia
Princess Sophia, was built for the Alaska run, and made her maiden voyage on June 7, 1912. She was not a fancy ship, her hull was short and had high freeboard, but she had comfortable acc...
1927 Jan 9 Laurier Palace Theatre Fire
About 800 children were enjoying a Sunday matinée at the Laurier Palace Theater on St Catherine Street in Montreal. Panic struck when at 2 p.m. a man yelled, "FIRE!!" 500 of the movie vie...
1939 Sep 10 Parliament of Canada Declares War on Nazi Germany
September 10, 1939 the Parliament of Canada declared war against the German Reich, marking the beginning of Canada's participation in the Second World War. The war officially began on Sep...
1942 Dec 12 Knights of Columbus Hostel Fire
The most deadly structural fire in what is now Canada consumed the Knights of Columbus hostel in St John's, Nfld, on 12 December 1942. An arsonist set fire to the building when it was pac...
1943 Jul 9 Allied Invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) Begins
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis (Italy and Nazi Germany). It was a large scale a...
1944 Aug 15 Allied Forces Invade Southern France through Operation Dragoon
The assault troops were formed of three American divisions of the VI Corps, reinforced with the French 5th Armoured Division, all under the command of Lieutenant General Lucian K. Truscot...
1944 Sep Herzogenbusch Concentration Camp is Liberated by the 4th Canadian Armored Division and the 96th Battery of the 5th Anti-Tank Division
Due to hunger, sickness and abuse at least 749 children, women and men died in the concentration camp. 329 of them were executed at the execution site, just outside the camp. When allied ...
1944 Sep 1 Canadian Forces Retake Dieppe Unopposed in Operation Fusilade
The World War II Operation Fusilade, was the planned set piece assault on the French port of Dieppe, by the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. In the event, the German occupiers, not having ...
1944 Sep 10 Allied Forces Launch Assault on Le Havre to begin Operation Astonia
Operation Astonia was a battle fought during the Siegfried Line Campaign of World War II from 10 September 1944 to 12 September 1944. The Allied objective of the operation was the capture...
1944 Sep 17 Canadian Forces Initiate Operation Wellhit to Capture the Port of Boulogne
Operation Wellhit was the World War II operation by the 3rd Canadian Division (Canadian 1st Army) to take the fortified port of Boulogne in northern France. At first, the 9th Canadian Inf...
1944 Sep 22 Canadian Infantry Begins Attack on Calais through Operation Undergo
The 7th and 8th Canadian Infantry Brigades opened their attack on Calais and its western coastal defences at 10:15am on 25 September after a day's delay, following preparatory air and art...
1944 Oct 2 First Canadian Army Begins Advance North from Antwerp
On October 2, the 2nd Canadian Division began its advance north from Antwerp. Stiff fighting at Woensdrecht ensued on October 6, the objective of the first phase. The Germans, reinforced ...
1944 Oct 6 Canadian Forces Initiate Operation Switchback
The second main operation of the Battle of the Scheldt opened with fierce fighting to reduce the Breskens pocket. Here, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division encountered tenacious German res...
1944 Oct 24 Operation Vitality Begins as Canadian Infantry Advances Down the South Beveland Penninsula
The third major operation of the Battle of the Scheldt opened on October 24 when the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division began its advance down the South Beveland peninsula. The Canadians hope...
1944 Oct 31 Canadian Infantry Begins Attack on Walcheren Causeway
"C" Company of the The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada took heavy casualties on the afternoon and evening of 31 October 1944 in an attempt to "bounce" the Causeway. During...
1944 Nov 8 Allied Forces Capture Middelburg
On 6 November, the island's capital Middelburg fell after a calculated gamble on the Allies' part when the German commander was invited to consider surrendering only to an armored force. ...
1944 Nov 28 Allied Forces Begin Supply Convoys Through the Port of Antwerp
At the end of the five-week offensive, the First Canadian Army had taken 41,043 German prisoners. After the first ship arrived on November 28, convoys started bringing a steady stream of ...
1945 Jan 14 Operation Blackcock Begins
Operation Blackcock was the code name for the clearing of the Roer Triangle formed by the towns of Roermond, Sittard and Heinsberg. It was conducted by the 2nd British Army in January 194...
1945 Jan 19
to 1945 Jan 23
 Bombing Raids on Montfort
Between Friday evening January 19 and Tuesday 23 January the Dutch village of Montfort was shelled or bombed on seven occasions, and was hit by more than 100 bombs. Most of these fell in ...
1945 Feb 8 Anglo-Canadian Forces Begin Operation Veritable (Battle of the Reichswald)
Operation Veritable was a Second World War pincer movement conducted by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group to clear and occupy the land between the Rhine and Maas rivers. ...
1945 Mar 23 Allied Forces Cross the Rhine into Germany (Operation Plunder)
Commencing on the night of 23 March 1945 during World War II, Operation Plunder was the crossing of the Rhine river at Rees, Wesel, and south of the Lippe River by the British Second Army...
1945 Apr 18 Allied Forces Clear the Ruhr Pocket
The first step in realizing Eisenhower's plan was the eradication of the Ruhr Pocket. Even before the encirclement had been completed, the Germans in the Ruhr had begun making attempts at...
1945 Sep 5 Igor Gouzenko Defects from USSR to Canada, Providing Evidence of a Soviet Spy Ring in Western Countries
Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko (January 13, 1919, Rogachevo, Soviet Union – June 28, 1982, Mississauga, Canada) was a cipher clerk for the Soviet Embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. He defec...
1949 Apr 4 The NATO Agreement is Signed in Washington DC
The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and the United Kingdom is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement. The treaty and th...
1949 Sep 9 Albert Guay Affair
On this date in 1951, Albert Guay was hanged in Canada for one of the earliest commercial airline attacks — bombing a Canadian Pacific Airline flight to murder his wife. Stuck in a lov...
1949 Sep 17 SS Noronic Fire
About 2:30 a.m. on the morning of the 17th, a passenger discovered a small fire in a linen closet. Attempts to extinguish the fire proved futile and the flames spread quickly through the ...
1954 Oct 5
to 1954 Oct 18
 Hurricane Hazel
Leaving a death toll in Hati of more than 200 and an injured list of at least 500, according to unofficial reports reaching here, Hurricane Hazel moved toward the island of Mayaguana in t...
1956 Dec 9 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 Crash
An east-bound Trans-Canada Air Lines plane vanished Sunday night with 62 persons aboard ini turbulent weather over the mountains of southwest British Columbia. No trace of the plane has y...
1957 Dec 10 Lester B. Pearson is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE (April 23, 1897 – December 27, 1972) was a Canadian statesman, diplomat and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing t...
1959 Jun 18 Escuminac Hurricane of 1959
June 19, 1959: a fierce hurricane lashes the Gulf of St. Lawrence, wreaking awesome damage and disaster on the New Brunswick coast. The storm devastates the small port of Escuminac, as 13...
1980 Jan 27 'Canadian Caper' Covert Operation Succeeds in Rescuing Six American Diplomats
On January 27, 1980, the American diplomats, now travelling on Canadian passports, boarded a flight for Zürich, Switzerland, at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport. They arrived in the friendly nat...
1982 Apr 14 Canadian Juno Awards Are Presented
The Juno Awards of 1982, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 14 April 1982 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Burton Cummings at the Ha...
1985 Jun 23 Terrorists Bomb Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Toronto-Montréal-London-Delhi-Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, the airplane operating on the route was blown up in midair by a ...