1 April 1924
The Canadian Air Force officially becomes the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Credit: Wikimedia
4 April 1949
Canada, the U.S. and 10 other nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty to create NATO.
9 April 1917
The Battle of Vimy Ridge begins. It marks the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fight together, a seminal moment in the country’s history.
7 April 1916
No man’s land becomes a quagmire during the fighting for the St. Eloi Craters in France. Canada loses nearly 1,400 soldiers from late March to mid-April.
Credit: DND/LAC/3329062
11 April 2007
After his vehicle was destroyed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, an injured Private Jay Renaud provides life-saving first aid to a crewmate. He is awarded the Medal of Military Valour.
12 April 1945
After nearly a week of fighting, Canadians capture the city of Zutphen, part of the final offensive to liberate the Netherlands.
Credit: Donald I. Grant/DND/LAC/PA-130059
14 April 1912
A remote Marconi wireless station at Cape Race, Nfld., receives a distress call from RMS Titanic with the simple statement: “Have struck iceberg.” The ship sinks at 2:20 a.m.
19 April 1978
Canadian peacekeepers start their UN mission in Lebanon.
20 April 1900
Under heavy fire at Wakkerstroom, South Africa, Canadian-born William Nickerson attends to a soldier’s wounds and remains with him until he can be moved to safety; he is awarded the Victoria Cross.
Credit: Wikimedia
21 April 1918
Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, is killed after being pursued by Canadian pilot Roy Brown. While debate exists over who fired the fatal shot, many Canadians credit Brown with the kill.
Credit: Glasshouse Images/Alamy/CYPP5B
24 April 1992
The United Nations establishes UNISOM 1, a peacekeeping mission to Somalia.
26-28 April 1944
A fierce gun battle erupts when HMCS Athabaskan, Haida and Huron intercept three German destroyers off the coast of France; they sink one and damage the other two.
29 April 2014
The first CF-18 Hornets are deployed in Operation Reassurance, the ongoing NATO response to Russian actions in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.
30 April 1952
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is published in English.
Credit: abebooks.com
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