Early History | 1700's | 1800-1849

1850-1889 | 1890-1899

The first inhabitants were thought to have come to North America from Siberia and across the Bering Strait and were Asiatic Nomads

1000 - Norsemen and/or Vikings were on Newfoundland and in the Northwest Territories - Leif Ericsson

1497 - John Cabot sailed the eastern seaboard around Maine and Nova Scotia and claimed Nova Scotia for Britain (unsure as to exactly what he did but he sailed out again and his ship went down and died)

1534 - July 24 - Jacques Cartier sailed down the St. Lawrence area and claimed it for France

1584 - September 9 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for England and shortly thereafter sank in a ship

1604 - Champlain established the first french colony in Acadia

1608 - Champlain established the first french colony in Quebec

1617 - Louis Hebert brought his wife and family to Quebec and became the first homesteading family in Canada

1660 - May - Defence at Long Sault - battle against the Indians

1670 - May 2 - Hudson Bay Company established - original name was Government and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Co.

1692 - October 22 - Madeleine de Vercheres, a 14 year old girl defended herself against the Iroquois Indians attack

1713 - Louisbourg Fort erected and was named for King Louis XV of France

1756 - Seven Year War started between the french and english

1759 - September 13 - Battle of the Plains of Abraham - English defeated the French

1763 - Proclamation creating Quebec

1775 - Nov 13 - Americans from Louisiana tried to reclaim Quebec as their own by General Richard Montgomery

1778 - March 29 - Captain James Cook claimed the west coast of British Columbia for England

1783 - 60,000 American Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario

1789 - University of King's College in Windsor, Nova Scotia - King's College is now part of Dalhousie University, Halifax

1791 - Constitutional Act of 1791 divided Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, Upper being Ontario and Lower being Quebec

1793 - July 22 - Alexander MacKenzie arrived on west coast, making it the first overland trek across Canada

1812 - Red River Settlement founded by Lord Selkirk, a Scottsman - later became the City of Winnipeg

1812 - Treaty signed ending was of 1812 making Canada and British victors over Americans

1812 - June 21 - Laura Secord learned of an American plot to attach and trekked 19 miles to warn the British, who ultimately won the battle

1816 - June 19 - Massacre at 7 Oaks - rivalry between two fur trading companies

1821 - McGill University -humanities & medicine

1829 - Upper Canada College established in Toronto as best known private school for boys

1837 - Rebellion of 1837 led by Louis-Joseph Papineau of Quebec and William Lyon Mackenzie of Ontario

1841 - Upper Canada (Ontario) was renamed Canada West and Lower Canada (Quebec) was renamed Canada East

1850 - The underground railway set up at the border to harbour black slaves from America that escaped during the civil war.

1852 - Laval University founded in Quebec City - N.A. oldest french institution

1867 - Bishop Strachan School established in Toronto as best known private school for girls

- Governor General Lord Monch, 1867 - 68

- Sir John A MacDonald 1867-73 Conservative

- July 1 - Canada's Confederation - Canada became a nation - B.N.A. Act passed, four provinces of Canada - Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

1869 - Governor General Lord Lisgar, 1869-72

1870 - University of Montreal

- Camels were imported into B.C. to build roads up to the Yukon for the gold rush

- Bustle came into fashion

- July 15 - Manitoba and Northwest Territories joined Confederation

1871 - July 20 - British Columbia joined Confederation

1872 - Governor General Lord Dufferin, 1872 - 78

1873 - Alexander MacKenzie 73-78 Liberal

- July 1 - Prince Edward Island joined Confederation

- November 3 - "Pacific Scandal" involving Sir John A. MacDonald accepting $179,000.00 donation to the Conservative Party for awarding CPR contract to Sir Hugh Allan - MacDonald resigned as Prime Minister two days later

1878 - Sir John A. MacDonald - 78-91 Conservative

- Governor General Lord Lorne, 1878 - 83

1880's - The Chinese were brought to B.C. to build railway by Andrew Onderdonk of California

- Coldest Weather was in the 80's

1881 - February 16 - CPR was incorporated to run the railway from coast to coast

1883 - Governor General Lord Lansdowne, 1883 -88

1885 - March - Louis Riel - Rebellion of Metis

- November 7 - The last spike was driven home on the railway at Craigellarchie, B.C.

1888 - Governor General Lord Stanley, 1888 - 93

1890's - Gay -Whitworth's Candy Factory in Edmonton

1891 - Sir John Abbott 91-92 Conservative

1892 - Sir John Thompson 92-94 Conservative

- Yonge Street, Toronto - Horsecars are gone,

1893 - Montreal had electric trolleys, the party line, roads were being gravelled, modern plumbing was making its appearance, electric light was coming in but most still used candles and coal oil lamps, dime novels were popular, comic strips, the Gibson girl, Pullman Cars and Celluloid Collars

- Governor General Lord Aberdeen, 1893 - 98

1894 - arc lights introduced in 1884 were still around until 1911

- Dufferin Terrace Boardwalk was popular for walking, strolling in Quebec City

- Stationary Threshers and Steam Traction Engines were beginning to be seen on farms in the west

- Sir Mackenzie Bowell 94-96 Conservative

1895 - Pioneers ate bread, fat bacon, beans, dried apples, peaches, syrup, grease drippings and prairie butter

1896 - April 30 - Group of 107 settlers from Ukraine arrive in Quebec and were taken out west to farm

- British call on Canada to assist in the Boer War

- August 17 - Klondike Gold Rush drew thousands of prospectors to Alberta

- Sir Charles Tupper 1896 Conservative

- Sir Wilfrid Laurier 1896 - 1911 Liberal

- Worldwide Depression ended

1898 - June 13 - Yukon Territory joins confederation

- Governor General Lord Minto, 1898 - 1904

- Canada was known to other countries for the CPR, it's mounties and the Klondike.

1899 -Doukhobors, fundamentalist Christians from Russia immigrated to Saskatchewan. Passage was paid by Leo Tolstoy.

-Telephone had been invented but was not in widespread use

-Electricity had been invented but was expensive and not in wide spread use.