1 APRIL 1734
Canada’s first lighthouse goes into operation at Louisbourg, the French fortress on Cape Breton Island.
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.
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
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 is sunk; 129 of her 256 crew are killed.
30 APRIL 1945
Adolph Hitler commits suicide.
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