GRADE 6 SOCIAL STUDIES   Unit 1 - "Building a Nation, 1867 to 1914" Unit 2 - "An Emerging Nation, 1914 to 1945" Unit 3 - "Shaping Contemporary Canada, 1945 to Present" Unit 4 - "Canada Today: Democracy, Diversity, and the Influence of the Past" * Remember to always give credit to your sources. Definition of Social Studies Social studies is the study of people in relation to each other and to the world in which they live. In Manitoba, social studies comprises the disciplines of history and geography, draws upon the social sciences, and integrates relevant content from the humanities. As a study of human beings in their physical, social, and cultural environments, social studies examines the past and present and looks toward the future. Social studies helps students acquire the skills, knowledge, and values necessary to become active democratic citizens and contributing members of their communities, locally, nationally, and globally. Source: Kindergarten to Grade 8 Social Studies: Manitoba Curriculum Framework of Outcomes,  page 3 What do active, responsible citizens look like? They are aware of the world in which they live, and they care about people around them, the people with whom they share this planet, both near and far away. They know that their actions affect others. They have informed opinions, and think critically about issues that concern themselves and others. They have the confidence to make their voices heard, to take a stand on issues, and to engage in social action when necessary. They are concerned with the well-being of the environment, and live their lives in ways that reflect that concern. Source: Grade 6 Social Studies: People and Stories of Canada to 1867: A Foundation for Implementation.  page 1 Important Moments in Canadian History Friday, January 1 – Businessman Sir John Morison Gibson was born in 1842 at Toronto. He was responsible for the 1893 Act for the prevention of cruelty to children. Saturday, January 2 – The Royal Canadian Mint opened in 1908 in Ottawa. Counterfeit operations opened soon after. Monday, January 4 – In one of the m ost shocking headlines ever: Canada withdraws from hockey! In 1970, Canada withdrew from the world hockey championships to protest rules barring the best Canadian players, the professionals, from playing. Thursday, January 7 – “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”  (Albert Einstein) - Sir Sandford Fleming, the distinguished scientist and civil engineer credited with the invention of standard time, was born at Kirkcaldy, Scotland in 1827. Sunday, January 10 – But I bet the Leafs weren’t calling Guinness…In 1920, Montréal and Toronto combined to set an NHL record for most goals in a game (21) in a 14-7 win for the Canadiens. Monday, January 11 – A Magnificent mission - HMCS Magnificent arrived in Port Said in 1957 with Canadian troops and material to the United Nations Emergency peacekeeping force controlling the Israeli-Egyptian border. Wednesday, January 13 – The Supreme Court rules supreme - The Supreme Court of Canada was made the final court of appeal in Canada in 1947, ending recourse to the British Privy Council. Thursday, January 15 - Baron Stanley of Preston, governor general of Canada 1888-93 and donor of the Stanley Cup, was born in 1841 at London, England. Saturday, January 16 – This was, of course, before The Great One…Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings scored one goal and assists on another in a 1960 game to pass Maurice (Rocket) Richard as the leading scorer in NHL history. Friday, January 22 – Shhhh…..The secret ballot and simultaneous voting were employed for the first time in Canada in 1878. Sunday, January 24 – Jack Bush, Canada's internationally acclaimed abstract painter, died in Toronto in 1977. Wednesday, January 28 – Suffragette City - Nellie Letitia McClung and other suffragettes held the Mock Parliament, in Winnipeg in 1914, to agitate for votes for women. Thursday, January 29 – The Victorian Order of Nurses was founded in Ottawa in 1897 with the aid of Lady Aberdeen, wife of the governor general. Friday, January 30 – Give them an inch, and they want 1.609344 kilometres! - The federal government unveiled a new metric policy in 1985 under which businesses would be allowed to sell and advertise food, gasoline and home furnishings in imperial measurements in addition to the mandatory metric units. Saturday, January 31 – The once-famous schooner Bluenose hit a reef and sank off the coast of Haiti in 1946. The crew of 8 men was rescued. Sunday, February 1 – The Royal North-West Mounted Police became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920 after merging with the Dominion Police. RCMP headquarters was moved from Regina to Ottawa. Monday, February 2 – Lady Justice - The Law Society of Upper Canada changed its regulations in 1897, allowing Clara Brett Martin to become the first woman admitted to the profession of law in the British Empire. Tuesday, February 3 – Burning Down the House - Most of the original Parliament Buildings in Ottawa were destroyed by fire in 1916. Only the Parliamentary Library survived intact. Friday, February 6 – Canadians and ice, a winning combination!- Barbara Ann Scott and the RCAF Flyers won gold medals in figure skating and hockey, respectively, at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St Moritz, Switzerland. Saturday, February 7 – Canadian artists F.H. Varley, Maurice Cullen and others were shipped off to England in 1918 to paint for the Department of Canadian War Records. Monday, February 9 – Airman Billy Bishop, the top scoring Canadian and Imperial ace of WWI, was born in 1894 at Owen Sound, Ontario. Sunday, February 15 – In 1965 Canada's new flag was raised for the first time on Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Monday, February  16 – Workin’ on the railroad - The Canadian Pacific Railway Company was incorporated in 1881. Wednesday, February 18 – Canada's 1st contingent made a suicidal attack on Afrikaners at Paardeberg Drift, South Africa in 1900. Their second engagement took place on Feb 27. Under withering fire, 2 companies from the Maritimes maintained their position. Thursday, February 19 – The new two-dollar coin was introduced by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1996 to replace the two-dollar bank note. The name "toonie" became so popular that the mint trademarked it. Friday, February 20 – Shot down - In 1959 the Diefenbaker government announced the cancellation of the CF-105 Arrow fighter aircraft project. Sunday, February 22 – Grace Lockhart, the first woman in the British Empire to receive a bachelor's degree, was born in 1855 at Saint John, New Brunswick. Monday, February 23, 1909 - John Alexander Douglas McCurdy (1886-1961) piloted the Silver Dart just little less than a kilometre at Baddeck, Nova Scotia under the watchful eye of Alexander Graham Bell. It was the first powered flight of a heavier-than-air machine in Canada or the British Empire. (sources: "The Beaver" TheBeaver.ca and Histori.ca) Wednesday, February 25 – Armed with canvas and paintbrushes - Molly Lamb Bobak, the only woman to be appointed a war artist, was born in 1922 at Vancouver. Thursday, February 26 – In 1915 suffragist Nellie McClung presented the Alberta legislature with a petition demanding that women be given the right to vote. The right was granted in municipal elections 2 months later. Monday, March 2 – The 1923 "Halibut Treaty" with the US was the first treaty signed independently by Canada, without the participation of an Imperial delegate. Tuesday, March 3 – The first organized hockey game took place at Victoria Rink, Montréal in 1875, based on a set of rules proposed by a group of McGill University students. Saturday, March 7 – A total eclipse of the sun in 1970 cast a shadow 160 km wide along Canada's Atlantic coast, sweeping the length of Nova Scotia and across Newfoundland. Sunday, March 8 – In 1867 the British North America Act was passed by the British Parliament and was later given royal assent by Queen Victoria on March 29. It came into effect on July 1. The Act joined the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in one federal union. Tuesday, March 10 – Julia Catherine Hart, née Beckwith (b at Fredericton 10 Mar 1796; d there 28 Nov 1867). Hart wrote the first work of fiction by a native-born Canadian to be published in Canada. Her novel St Ursula's Convent; or, The Nun of Canada, Containing Scenes from Real Life, although published in 1824, was written when she was 17 and it is a sentimental, moralistic melodrama. As a young girl she experienced both the English and French cultures - a dual heritage reflected in her novel. Her second novel, Tonnewonte (1825), is set in the US. In this work she wrote to entertain and to set forth her idealism about the freedom and serenity of western frontier life. Wednesday, March 11 – The National Hockey League announced the formation of a 6-team division in 1965, consisting of Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland, St Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Minneapolis-St Paul. The division began play in the 1967-68 season. Friday, March 13 – BC passed the Chinese Immigration Act in 1885, restricting the entry of Chinese immigrants; it was disallowed by the federal government on March 31 of the same year. Tuesday, March 17 – Takin’ it to the streets! The 1955 suspension of Montreal Canadiens player Maurice Richard by NHL president Clarence Campbell triggered a riot at the Montreal Forum that spread into the streets. Wednesday, March 18 – Spring forward - Daylight saving time was introduced in Canada by the federal government in 1918 as a measure for increasing war production, emulating legislation in Germany and Britain. Friday, March 20 – Novelist Hugh MacLennan, who won the Governor General's Literary Award more than any other Canadian author (5 times), was born in 1907 at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. Saturday, March 21 – In 1821 an agreement was reached to merge the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company as of June 1, effectively ending the fur trade out of Montréal and creating a near monopoly of the fur trade in British North America. Monday, March 23 – Hat Trick! - Bill Mosienko of the Chicago Black Hawks set an NHL record in 1952 by scoring 3 goals in 21 seconds. He scored at 6:09, 6:20 and 6:30 of the third period against the New York Rangers. Tuesday, March 31 – The 1890 Manitoba School Act abolished publicly funded support for separate schools for Catholics. The aggrieved French minority argued that the Act violated the agreements under which Manitoba entered Confederation. Wednesday, April 1 –  The first United Empire Loyalists - 1124 refugees from New England - arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1776. Another 40 000 or so followed them to NS and to Quebec. The immigration resulted in the formation of New Brunswick and Upper Canada. Friday, April 3 – In 1970 Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins made hockey history by becoming the first defenceman to win the NHL scoring title. Saturday, April 4 – Canada, along with 11 other countries, signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC in 1949. The NATO treaty marked a new era of ties with the United States and of distance from Great Britain and spelled out the importance of economic collaboration. Monday, April 6 – Pierre Trudeau was chosen leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at a 1968 national leadership convention in Ottawa. Wednesday, April 8 – The North-West Territories became a political entity, separate from Manitoba in 1875. The territory would have its own lieutenant-governor and council. Thursday, April 9 – On Easter Monday, 1917, four Canadian divisions and one British brigade captured Vimy Ridge, near Arras, France, with 3578 killed and 7000 wounded. It was a brilliant victory for the Canadians, who sensed a new national awareness. Sunday, April 12 – Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope in 1980 at St John's, Newfoundland, to raise money for cancer research. The run ended on Sept 1 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, after cancer was discovered in his lungs. Within days the Marathon had raised over $10 million. Wednesday, April 22 – From April 22 to May 25, 1915 - At the Battle of Ypres, Belgium, the Canadian 13th Battalion stood firm despite chlorine gas and shelling, until reserves were moved up on April 23. The French troops had broken and fled. Friday, April 24 – In the 1928 Persons Case, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously decided women were not "persons" who could hold public office as Canadian senators. In 1929 the British Privy Council reversed the decision. Saturday, April 25 – The first wave of miners from California arrived at Victoria in 1858, en route to the Fraser River Gold Rush. The Gold Rush caused a precipitous decline in the Native population and politically unified British Columbia. Monday, April 27 – The home of the dome - Expo 67 opened in Montréal. The World's Fair closed on October 29, 1967 having hosted 50 306 648 visitors. Wednesday, April 29 – A rockslide (commonly called the Frank Slide) from Turtle Mountain, NWT (now Alberta), onto the town of Frank in 1903 killed at least 70 people, the most disastrous rockfall in Canadian history. Thursday, April 30 – Goodbye Gordie! - Gordie Howe retired from hockey in 1980, having played his last game with the Hartford Whalers. Friday, May 1 – History repeats itself – In 1997 the water crested on the worst flood since 1950 in southern Manitoba. The new floodway and 6.5 million sand bags protected Winnipeg but a number of other communities were inundated. Saturday, May 2 – Dancing to the finish line - In 1964 Northern Dancer was the first Canadian horse to win the Kentucky Derby. Sunday, May 3 - Prince Edward Island women won the rights to vote and to hold provincial office in 1922. Tuesday, May 5 – Willy Adams was appointed to the Senate for the Northwest Territories in 1977, making him the first Inuit to hold a seat in Parliament. Wednesday, May 6 – The long arm of the law - The Yukon Field Force, consisting of 203 volunteers, left Vancouver for Dawson in 1898 to maintain order during the Klondike Gold Rush. Thursday, May 7 – Hostilities ceased in Europe in 1945. The unconditional surrender of Germany was signed at Rheims on May 7, and it was ratified at Berlin on May 8. Friday, May 8 – Bungled burglary - Bill Miner stuck up a CPR train near Kamloops in 1906, but the robbery went wrong. Miner and 2 accomplices were captured by the Royal North-West Mounted Police. Saturday, May 9 –  From May 9, 1885 to May 12, 1885 - At Batoche, the Métis effectively resisted General Middleton's forces for 3 days until drawn out of their rifle pits by a concerted attack. Tuesday, May 12 – Happy Birthday Manitoba! The Manitoba Act of 1870 received royal assent. It created the new province of Manitoba and came into effect on July 15. Friday, May 15 – From May 15, 1919 to June 25,1919 - The Winnipeg General Strike began when the Winnipeg Trades and Labor Council called a general strike in sympathy with the strikers of May 1. The strike exposed the bitter class divisions in Canadian society and lasted 7 weeks. Sunday, May 17 – Welcoming the Royals - King George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrived in Canada for a state visit in 1939, the first reigning monarchs to visit Canada or any Commonwealth country. On May 19, George VI gave royal assent to several Canadian Bills in the Senate Chamber. Monday, May 18 – Conscription Crisis - Sir Robert Borden announced his decision in Parliament to implement Conscription in 1917. The imposition of conscription on reluctant French Canadians was a failure and bitterly divided the country along French-English lines. Monday, June 1 – Singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, who received the most Grammys ever won in a single year by a Canadian, was born in 1974 at Ottawa. Tuesday, June 2 – William Avery ("Billy") Bishop was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917 for a single-handed dawn attack on a German airfield on this day. Wednesday, June 3 – The last military engagement in Canada took place in 1885 when a NWMP force commanded by Samuel Benfield Steele met Cree led by Big Bear at Steele Narrows, NWT. Thursday, June 4 – Take me out to the ball game! A game of baseball was played in Beachville, Ontario (near Woodstock) in 1838. It predated by 7 years the establishment of Cartwright's New York Knickerbockers and the "New York game" with 9 men on the field. Friday, June 5 – Nazi, Fascist and Communist groups were declared illegal in Canada in 1940, and their leaders were jailed. Saturday, June 6 – D-Day. The 3rd Canadian Division and 2nd and 3rd Armoured Brigades landed on the beaches at Courcelles, St Aubin and Bernières-sur-Mer on the Normandy Coast in 1944 as part of the invasions that led to the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation. Sunday, June 7 – Barrier breakers - Louise McKinney and Roberta MacAdams were the first women in Canada elected to a provincial legislature, in 1917 in Alberta. Saturday, June 13 –  Lady Justice - In 1916 Emily Murphy was the first woman appointed magistrate (judge of a lower court) in the British Empire. She spent her first day in court on July 1, in Edmonton. Friday, June 26 – The United Nations was founded in 1945, with Canada one of its founding Nations. Sunday, June 28 –  Terry Fox died at New Westminster, British Columbia in 1981. He was an athlete studying kinesiology when, in 1977, it was discovered he had osteogenic sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. It was necessary to amputate most of one leg. While recovering, he developed the idea for a "Marathon of Hope" - a run across Canada to raise money and generate publicity for cancer research. June 28, 1919 - Germany and the Allied nations signed the The Treaty of Versailles, marking the end of World War 1. The treaty was signed exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The signing took place in the Hall of Mirrors at the historic Palace of Versailles. July 1, 1916 - The Royal Newfoundland Regiment was annihilated at Beaumont Hamel. Wednesday, July 2 - Big Bear surrendered at Fort Carlton in 1885. Though he had always counseled peace, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Thursday, July 3 - In 1987 Québec City was the first city in North America to be awarded World Heritage status. Wednesday, July 8 –  Mystery at Canoe Lake - Artist Tom Thomson, whose paintings of Algonquin Park have become talismans of our image of the Canadian landscape, died in 1917 under suspicious circumstances at Canoe Lake, Ontario. Thursday, July 9 –  You say potato, I say pomme de terre - The Official Languages Act was given assent in 1969, to come into effect on September 7. It declared English and French the official languages of the federal administration. Friday, July 10 –  It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a…boy! - Cartoonist Joe Shuster, who created Superman, the most famous hero in comic-book history, was born in 1914 at Toronto. Saturday, July 11 – A standoff began at Oka, Québec in 1990, when police attempted to storm a barricade erected by the Mohawk to block the expansion of a golf course onto land claimed by the Mohawk. The protesters surrendered to soldiers on September 26, after a 2-month-long siege.   Sunday, July 12 – Journalist, historian and media personality Pierre Berton, was born at Whitehorse, Yukon in 1920. July 15, 1870 - The Manitoba Act came into effect.  Manitoba officially became a province of Canada. Monday, July 27 – A 1953 armistice ended Korean War hostilities. Thursday, July 30 – The Trans-Canada Highway was officially opened in 1962 at Roger's Pass, British Columbia. Saturday, August 1 – The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was founded in Calgary in 1932. Led by J.S. Woodsworth, the CCF was the first major democratic socialist movement in Canada and went on to have a profound effect on the Canadian political landscape. Tuesday, August 4 – A legend is born - Hockey player Joseph-Henri-Maurice "Rocket" Richard, who scored 50 goals in 50 games, long hockey's most celebrated record, was born in 1921 at Montreal. Friday, August 7 – The federal Unemployment Insurance Act was given royal assent in 1940. Canada became the last western industrialized nation to have unemployment insurance. The Act underwent major revisions in 1955 and 1971. Saturday, August 15 – From August 15, 1917 to December 15, 1917 – The attack on Hill 70 was the first major action fought by the Canadian Corps under a Canadian commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie. It was successful and the Canadians withstood a German counterattack. August 15th - National Acadian Day Monday, August 24 – On the arrival of General Wolseley and his troops from Canada in 1870, Louis Riel and other members of his government fled to the US. Wednesday, August 26 – In 1905, Roald Amundsen, travelling west of King William Island, sighted an American whaling ship that had come from San Francisco. At this point, he knew that he had achieved the Northwest Passage, a quest that had obsessed explorers for nearly 400 years. Monday, Sep 8, 1918 to Sep 8, 1919 - Possibly the most devastating epidemic in human history, which may have originated in Funston, Kansas, spread through Europe and the world, killing some 30 million people, including about 50 000 Canadians. The virus arrived with servicemen on board the ship Araguaya at Halifax. The first civilian outbreak in Canada occurred on September 8, 1918. Wednesday, September 10 – Canada declared war on Germany in 1939, 7 days after Britain and France. The first Canadian troops left for England in December. Although "obliged to go to war at Britain's side," King's delay of a week was a symbolic gesture of independence. Monday, September 21 – Leonard Cohen; poet, novelist, songwriter and singer, was born on this day in 1934. His career has spanned over 50 years, with his most recent publication, Book of Longing, having been released in paperback in March of 2007. Tuesday, September 22 – Women's rights activist Louise McKinney, who achieved national renown as one of the 5 appellants, the "Famous Five," in the Persons Case, was born in 1868 at Frankville, Ontario. October is Women's History Month in Canada    Monday, October 12 – Lester Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his solution to the Suez Crisis. Wednesday, October 14 – Road trip! - Thomas Wilby and Jack Haney arrived in Vancouver in 1912 after completing the first crossing of Canada by automobile. Thursday, October 15 – The Canadian Pacific Railway Company was form ed in 1872. The company was given a charter on 5 February 1873. Methods used by Sir Hugh Allan to secure the charter later led to the defeat of John A. Macdonald's government. Friday, October 16 – The federal government invoked the War Measures Act in 1970, allowing it to overrule civil rights in order to deal with the FLQ October Crisis. Friday, October 17 – Goalie Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche won his 448th game in 2000 to surpass the record of Terry Sawchuck for most wins in a career as goaltender. Saturday, October 18 – The Imperial Privy Council ruled that women were legally "persons" in 1929 and therefore could hold seats in the Canadian Senate. Monday, October 19 – Oct 19 - 24, 1929 - The selling of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange accelerated, leading to panic selling and tumbling prices. By Black Thursday, October 24, the economic boom of the 1920s was in ruins and the Great Depression began. Friday, October 23 – Mackenzie King was sworn in as prime minister of Canada again in 1935. Saturday, October 25 – The 1923 Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded jointly to Frederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod for the discovery of insulin. Sunday, October 26 – In 1917 the Canadian Corps attacked over muddy terrain during the bloody Passchendaele offensive in Belgium. On November 7, having suffered over 15 000 dead and wounded,  the Canadians seized Passchendaele. October 28th - Josiah Henson - founder of the Black settlement at Dawn, Upper Canada (b at Charles Co, Md 15 June 1789; d at Dresden, Ont 5 May 1883). Born a slave, Henson escaped to Canada in 1830. Four years later he founded the Dawn community near Dresden, UC, for American fugit ive slaves. Aided by a white American missionary, Hiram Wilson, he and his associates organized a manual-labour school, the British-American Institute. He was active on the executive committee until the institute closed in 1868. Although a poor administrator constantly engaged in disputes over finance and management, Henson served as Dawn's spiritual leader and patriarch and made numerous fundraising trips in the US and England. He published his autobiography in 1849, and he was allegedly Harriet Beecher Stowe's model for the leading character in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Saturday, October 31 - Oil, that is, black gold, Alberta Tea - The 1770 km oil pipeline from Edmonton to the Great Lakes was completed in 1950, linking Canada's gas fields with the markets of central Canada. In 1958 Alberta gas finally reached Toronto and imports of Texas gas ended. Saturday, November 1 – After a slapshot by Andy Bathgate cut his face on November 1st, 1959, Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens had the cut stitched and returned to the ice wearing a mask. He went on to become the first goalie to wear a mask regularly. Sunday, November 2 – With 120 men, Louis Riel occupied Fort Garry in the Red River Colony in 1869 to block the transfer of the Northwest from the HBC to Canada. The insurrection resulted in the formation of the new province of Manitoba but Riel was exiled. Wednesday, November 5 – Pacific Scandal - In 1873, the Macdonald government resigned over the evidence that members of the government had accepted campaign funds from Sir Hugh Allan in return for the CPR contract. November 6, 1917 - Canadian and British capture Passchendaele (Third Ypres) Friday, November 6 – Physician James Naismith, who invented the game of basketball, was born in 1861 at Almonte, Canada West. Friday, November 7 – We are the navvies who work upon the railway - The last spike was driven by Donald Smith at Craigellachie, BC, at the western entrance to Eagle Pass in 1885, in a ceremony marking the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Sunday, November 9 – Space, the final frontier - Canada launched the world's first geostationary domestic satellite, Anik A-1 in 1972. Tuesday, November 11 – The Armistice with Germany ended WWI in 1918. A total of 628 562 Canadians served in the Canadian armed forces, including 424 589 who went overseas; 60 661 were killed. Friday, November 14 – Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin, was born in 1891 at Alliston, Ontario. Sunday, November 16 – Louis Riel was hanged for treason at the Regina jail in 1885. He had been convicted after a trial held in Regina from July 28 to August 1. Macdonald's refusal to grant leniency made Riel a symbol of English-Canadian oppression. Tuesday, November 17 – The Grand Trunk Railway was completed from Guelph to Stratford, Ontario in 1856; the last stretch from St Mary’s to Sarnia was finished on November 21. The GTR was a significant factor in the economic development of Canada. Tuesday, November 18 – Standard Time, originated by Sandford Fleming, was adopted by Canada in 1883. Thursday, November 19 – Swimmer Marilyn Bell, who at age 16 swam across Lake Ontario, was born in 1937 at Toronto. Thursday, November 20 – Prime minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who was the first French-Canadian PM and who held the longest unbroken tenure as PM, was born in 1841 at St-Lin, Canada East. Tuesday, November 25 – In 1885 the federal government set aside 26 sq km around the Banff hot springs as Canada's first national park. Wednesday, November 26 – The National Hockey League was formed in 1917. The original teams were the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Arenas. Friday, November 28 – Eaton’s held its first Christmas parade in Montréal in 1925, with 1100 children participating. The parade route ran from Saint Joseph Blvd to the store on Sainte Catherine Street. It became an annual event and was held on the third Saturday of November until 1968. Sunday, November 30 – Writer Lucy Maud Montgomery, whose first novel, Anne of Green Gables, was an instant best seller, was born in 1874 at Clifton, Prince Edward Island. Monday, December 1 –  On December 1st, 1962 the Grey Cup football game in Toronto was halted with 9:29 left to play because of severe fog on the field; the game continued the following day. Winnipeg won the game 28-27. Thursday, December 4 – Astronaut Roberta Bondar, who was the first Canadian female astronaut in space, was born in 1945 at Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. Sunday, December 7 – The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, bringing the US into World War II. Canada declared war on Japan, Finland, Hungary and Romania. Wednesday, December 10 – An international Law of the Sea agreement was signed in 1982, entrenching a 200-mile international limit. Friday, December 12 – Nancy Hodges was named Speaker of the BC Legislature in 1949, the first woman to hold the post of Speaker in the British Commonwealth. Saturday, December 13 – In 1999 the House of Commons voted 217-48 in favour of a bill that would give the Nisga'a of northwest BC the right to self-government. The band received 2000 sq km of land and $253 million. In return they agreed to pay taxes and relinquish future claims. Sunday, December 14 – Yoho National Park in BC was established in 1886. Monday, December 15 – Sitting Bull, chief of the Sioux Indians, died in 1890 in North Dakota. Tuesday, December 16 – The British North America Act was amended by the British Parliament in 1949 so that the Canadian Parliament would have the power to amend its own constitution. Thursday, December 18 – The first Canadian troops to arrive in Korea, the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, landed at Pusan in 1950. Friday, December 19 – Hockey player Doug Harvey, the greatest defenceman of his era, was born in 1924 at Montreal. Saturday, December 20 – Infantry from the Loyal Edmonton Regiment and the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada attacked Ortona, Italy in 1943. The German forces withdrew on the night of December 27, 1943. Wednesday, December 23 – Riel Reclaims Red River - Louis Riel issued a Declaration of the people of Rupert's Land and the Northwest in 1869 and became head of the provisional government of Red River. Tuesday, December 29 – Hockey player Nels Stewart, "Old Poison," who was the first player to score 300 goals, was born in 1902 at Montreal. Wednesday, December 30 – Humourist Stephen Leacock, whose comic masterpiece Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town embedded the fictional small town of Mariposa in the Canadian psyche, was born in 1869 at Swanmore, England. source: Historica.ca