1 APRIL 1734

Canada’s first lighthouse goes into operation at Louisbourg, the French fortress on Cape Breton Island.

The obverse of the winner’s medal produced for the Olympic Games in Montreal features a design by Tuscan artist Giuseppe Cassioli. [Olympic.org]

Canada’s first national lottery is announced; it raises $15 million toward the $1.5 billion 1976 Summer Olympics.

3 APRIL 1669

King Louis XIV of France orders all Canadian males 16 to 60 to train with the militia.

4 APRIL 2003

Cpl. Bernard Gooden, serving with the U.S. marines, is the first Canadian killed in the Iraq war.

Headquarters and Barracks of Les Voltigeurs de Québec, Québec City Canada. In the foreground is the Regimental War Memorial.

4-5 APRIL 2008

Fire destroys the Quebec City Armoury, historic home of les Voltigeurs de Québec.

6 APRIL 1885

In bitter cold, Gen. Frederick Middleton leads a militia column 355 kilometres to the Métis stronghold at Batoche, Sask.

7 APRIL 1868

Thomas D’Arcy McGee, a Father of Confederation, is assassinated in Ottawa after denouncing the Fenians.

8 APRIL 1954

An RCAF trainer collides with a passenger plane over Moose Jaw, Sask., killing 37.

9 APRIL 2001

Queen Elizabeth II re-dedicates the refurbished Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.

10 APRIL 1900

Lord Strathcona’s Horse regiment arrives in South Africa under the command of Sam Steele.

11 APRIL 2007

Canadian soldiers M.Cpl. Allan Stewart and Tpr. Patrick James Pentland are killed in Taliban attacks near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

12 APRIL 1936

A gold mine in Moose River, N.S., collapses, trapping three; live radio reports of the rescue, a first in broadcasting, attract 100 million listeners.

13 APRIL 1877

A U.S. newspaper reporting on the capture of smugglers coins the slogan “The Mounties always get their man.”

14 APRIL 1944

HMCS Swansea and HMS Pelican destroy German submarine U-448 near the Azores.

15 APRIL 1945

Canadian and British troops liberate 53,000 starving survivors in Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp.

16 APRIL 1874

The House of Commons moves for the expulsion of duly elected Louis Riel.

17 APRIL 1982

British authority in Canada ends as Queen Elizabeth II signs the proclamation of the Constitution Act.

18 APRIL 1943

No. 14 (F) Squadron, RCAF supports the U.S. Eleventh Air Force bombing Japanese installations on Kiska in the Aleutian Islands.

19 APRIL 1916

The Germans force the Canadians out of craters 6 and 7 at St. Eloi in Belgium.

20 APRIL 1889

Adolph Hitler is born in Austria.

21 APRIL 1918

Capt. Roy Brown, a Canadian, is credited with shooting down German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen.

22 APRIL 1951

Two American soldiers (at the bow) cross the Imjin River with members of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, June 1951. [BILL OLSON, LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA—PA132638]

23 APRIL 1943

Britain asks Canada to help in the Battle of the Mediterranean.

24 APRIL 1992

The United Nations establishes UNISOM 1, the peacekeeping mission to Somalia.

25 APRIL 1915

Under heavy fire at Saint-Julien, Belgium, Capt. Francis Scrimger protects a wounded officer with his own body; later receives a Victoria Cross.

26 APRIL 1778

Capt. James Cook sails from Nootka Sound, tracing the coast of British Columbia.

27 APRIL 1813

York, capital of Upper Canada, is captured and burned by the Americans.

28 APRIL 1891

RMS Empress of India sets a speed record: England to Vancouver in 10 days, via the Suez Canal.

HMCS Athabaskan alongside HMCS Prince Robert, Plymouth, England, April 1944. [PA-131807]

HMCS Athabaskan is sunk; 129 of her 256 crew are killed.

30 APRIL 1945

Adolph Hitler commits suicide.