1000 Leif Ericson reaches North America

1451 The Iroquois Confederacy is formed

1497 John Cabot reaches Newfoundland (or perhaps Cape Breton)

1534 Jacques Cartier first explores the St. Lawrence region

1608 Samuel de Champlain establishes a French colony at Québec City

1670 Hudson's Bay Company is formed

1755 Expulsion of the Acadians

1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham: Québec City is captured

1763 New France is formally ceded to Britain; Pontiac Rebellion erupts

1783 Loyalist refugees begin arriving after the American Revolution

1812 War of 1812: U.S. invades Canada

1837 Rebellions against British rule in Upper and Lower Canada

1837 Queen Victoria comes to the British throne

1848 Responsible government is won, first in Nova Scotia, then in Canada

1861 14 December Death of Queen Victoria's husband Albert, Prince Consort

1867 Confederation (first four provinces: QB, ON, NS, and NB)

1868 Joseph Lister discovers disinfectant

1870 Red River Resistance; province of Manitoba is created

1871 British Columbia joins Canada

1873 Prince Edward Island joins Canada

1876 Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone

1880-1881 First Boer War

1885 North-West Rebellion; the CP Railway is completed

1899-1902 Second Boer War

1905 Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan created

1914-1918 First World War

1916 Women win the vote in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta

1917 April, Battle of Vimy Ridge

1919 Winnipeg General Strike

1926 In Britain, John Logie Baird invents the television

1929-1939 The Great Depression

1936 C.B.C. is founded

1939-1945 Second World War

1949 Newfoundland joins Canada

1950 Korean War begins

1952 CBC begins Television broadcasting

1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

1956 Suez Crisis

1957 Lester B. Pearson wins Nobel Peace Prize

1959 St. Lawrence Seaway (major transportation route) officially opens

1960 Québec's Quiet Revolution begins; Native Canadians given the vote

1963-1968 Lester B. Pearson is Prime Minister

1965 New Canadian Flag adopted

1967 Canada's 100th birthday; Expo 67 World's Fair in Montréal

1970 October Crisis: political kidnappings, Ottawa suspends civil rights

1980 Québec referendum on "sovereignty-association" defeated 60% to 40%

1982 Constitution comes home - with a Charter of Rights and Freedoms

1984 Apple Macintosh is released

1987 Meech Lake Accord is put forward - and collapses

1991 First Gulf War

1991 Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web

1992 Charlottetown Accord is rejected by a national referendum

1995 Québec referendum on sovereignty is narrowly defeated

1999 The new Arctic territory of Nunavut is created

2000 Clarity Bill outlines the terms of Québec separation

2003 Canada says "no" to joining the war in Iraq

2005 Former PM Jean Chrétien and sitting PM Paul Martin testify at the Gomery Inquiry

2010 Canada sets record for gold medals at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games
