2 January 1929

Canada and the United States sign a joint agreement to protect and beautify Niagara Falls.

3 January 1947

Mackenzie King becomes Canada’s first citizen after passage of the Canadian Citizenship Act.

4 January 1932

Members of the RCMP set out on a northern expedition to apprehend Albert Johnson, the “Mad Trapper,” leading to a manhunt, several shootings and at least two deaths.

5 January 1919

The German Workers’ Party is formed in Munich, laying the groundwork for the birth of the Nazi Party
13 months later.

7 January 2000

Beverley McLachlin becomes the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

8 January 1940 

Food rationing begins in Britain; Canada tightens its belt and sends flour, bacon, eggs, cheese and milk to its beleaguered ally.

11 January 1815 

John A. Macdonald is born in Glasgow, Scotland.

12 January 1930

Future NHL defenceman and coffee kingpin Tim Horton is born in Cochrane, Ont.

14 January 1994

Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin sign the Kremlin Accords, reducing the threat of global nuclear conflict. 

15 January 1991

Australia becomes the first nation of the Commonwealth to create its own Victoria Cross; Canada follows suit two years later.

16 January 2001

U.S. President Bill Clinton awards Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his actions in the Spanish-American War.

17 January 1948 

First flight in Canada of the Royal Canadian Air Force Vampire III fighter jet.

18 January 1967 

Yellowknife is announced as the capital of the Northwest Territories.

19 January 1943

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands is born at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, in a room officially designated as Dutch territory.

23 January 1879

A British force of about 150 successfully defends a mission station against more than 3,000 Zulu warriors at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift.

24 January 1972

After hiding in the jungles of Guam for nearly 30 years, Second World
War-era Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi is subdued by local fishermen.

26 January 1961

Canadian icon and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky is born in Brantford, Ont.

28 January 1916 

Manitoba is the first province to give women the vote and the right to run for office.