1 May 1888
Lord Stanley appointed Governor General of Canada; serves from June 11, 1888, to September 6, 1893, and later donates hockey’s Stanley Cup.
Credit: William James Topley/LAC/PA-025686
2 May 1945
U-2359 is sunk by British, Norwegian and Canadian Mosquito aircraft.
4-5 May 1971
A clay landslide destroys 40 homes and kills 31 residents of Saint-Jean-Vianney, Que.; three members of the Canadian Armed Forces are decorated for daring rescues.
6 May 1952
1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, relieves the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, in Korea.
7 May 1867
Dr. Campbell Douglas of Grosse Île, Que., leads three trips through heavy surf in Little Andaman Island, Bay of Bengal, to rescue several men. He is awarded the Victoria Cross.
8 May 1945
On Victory in Europe Day, a ceasefire takes effect at 11 p.m. after the Germans formally surrender.
Credit: IWM/Wikimedia
9 May 1937
The Canadian Coronation Contingent stands sentry at St. James and Buckingham palaces in England, the first Canadian military personnel to do so.
10 May 1915
The Curtiss Aviation School in Toronto begins training pilots; 128 military airmen graduate before it closes in 1916.
13 May 1861
Queen Victoria asks her subjects to remain neutral in the U.S. Civil War.
14 May 1943
Trainee navigator Kenneth Spooner takes over for an unconscious pilot, saving three lives, but crashes. He is posthumously awarded the George Cross.
15 May 1923
Canadian air force pilot training, in hiatus since 1918, resumes at Camp Borden near Barrie, Ont.
Credit: Frank Johnston/LAC/Wikimedia
17 May 2006
Captain Nichola Goddard is the first female Canadian soldier killed in combat.
18 May 1785
The communities of Parrtown and Carleton amalgamate to form Saint John, N.B., Canada’s first incorporated city.
19 May 1918
Lieutenant Katherine MacDonald is the first Canadian Nursing Sister killed in action, at No. 1 Canadian Hospital, Étaples, France, during an enemy air raid.
Credit: Canadian Virtual War Memorial
20 May 1971
Francis Simard is given a life sentence for the murder of Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte, kidnapped by the Front de libération du Québec.
28 May 1916
The Canadian government is advised to abandon the Ross rifle, which often jams in combat.
Credit: CWM/19750021-015
30 May 1915
The German Fokker Eindecker (monoplane) aircraft is fitted with synchronized machine guns that fire through the arc of the propeller blades.
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