1 May 2002
HMCS St. John’s joins the Canadian Naval Task Group, part of the multinational anti-terrorism campaign in the Persian Gulf.
2 May 1915
Lieutenant Alexis Helmer is killed by shellfire near Ypres, Belgium. His death inspires Major John McCrae to write “In Flanders Fields.”
6 May 1915
Filled with fresh troops, SS Metagama leaves Montreal for England.
Credit: IWM/HU 50190
7 May 1945
The unconditional surrender of the German Third Reich is signed at Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force at Reims in northeastern France.
8 May 1945
Millions take to the streets around the planet to celebrate the end of the Second World War in Europe.
Credit: Royal Museums Greenwich/BHC0679
10 May 1915
The Curtiss Flying School in Toronto begins training military pilots.
Credit: Toronto Public Library/X-23-4
11 May 1717
The forerunner to the Montreal Stock exchange, the Canadian Commercial Exchange, is founded.
12 May 1937
The Canadian military participates in the crowning of King George VI.
14 May 1804
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embark from the American Midwest on an expedition to the Pacific coast of North America.
15 May 1885
Canadian Métis leader Louis Riel is captured in the aftermath of the Battle of Batoche in the North-West Territories (present-day Saskatchewan).
16 May 1951
China launches the second part of a spring offensive in Korea, but the UN forces a stop to the attack within days.
17 May 1944
1st Canadian Infantry Division faces strong German opposition in the advance toward the Hitler Line in Italy.
19 May 1911
Parks Canada, the world’s first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
24 May 1941
German battleship Bismarck sinks the pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three of its crew.
Credit: Frank Duberville/LAC/3529282
26 May 1940
The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
27 May 1941
The German warship Bismarck is sunk.
Credit: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
28 May 1940
Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik in Norway in the first Allied infantry victory of the Second World War.
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