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Spanish Flu first observed
The Spanish Flu was a pandemic that killed up to 100 million people between the years 1918 to 1920. Some 500 million are thought to be infected. The Spanish Flu wiped out 3% of the world's population at the time (1.6 Billion). The name "Spanish Flu" was given because when King Alfonso XIII of Spain got the disease, it recieved mass media coverage, leading to false belief that Spain was affected the most in the pandemic. -
World War I officially ends.
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Period: to
Interwar Years
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League of Indians
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In this year, Mohawk Chief F.O. Loft, who had previously served in WWI, tried to draw the attention of the public towards the lack of concern of his people. Because of this, Loft formed the League of Indians. This league fights for the rights of Aboriginal Canadians to have the right to vote without losing their special status and wanted his people to have greater control over their reserves and funds as most control back in the day went to the mostly-European cultured government. -
Beginning of the Winnipeg General Strike
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On this date, metal workers with the support of over thirty-thousand working Canadians began a six-week strike. The government along with many businesses feared a Communist revolution. Things got ugly on June 21 when protestors turned violent. The RNWCP opened fire at the protestors, killing two, injuring dozens, and arresting scores of people. On June 26, the strike was called off. -
Beginning of Prohibition in the United States
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Prohibition meant that all Alcohol was prohibited from being used or imported into the US. As a result of this, "Bootleggers" who sell illegal alcohol emerged and started selling. A lot of bootleggers were Canadian, who came to the US looking to make a profit from illegally selling alcohol. On January 17th, 1933, Prohibition in the US ended because of the 21st Amendment. -
Mackenzie King wins Federal election for the first time.
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William Mackenzie King won the 1921 Canadian Federal Election, beating candidates Thomas Crerar and Arthur Meighen. King was Prime Minister until 1926 when he lost to Meighen, whose term was short lived, therefore King became Prime Minister again. King was PM from 1926-1930 and 1935-1948, making him the longest serving prime minister in Canadian history, passing Sir John. A Mcdonald's record. -
First Successful Usage of Insulin
Click for more information In 1920, Frederick Banting designed an experiment in which he later proposed to J.J.R Macleod, who was a professor at the University of Toronto. Charles Best became Banting's lab assistant. On January 11 of 1922, insulin was tested for the first time on Leonard Thompson, a dying diabetic. Biochemist James Collip improved insulin as the first test failed. The improved insulin was given to Thompson on January 23 and was successful. Banting and Macleod won the Nobel Prize in 1923. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
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On this date, the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 went into effect. The Act prohibits all Chinese people from immigrating to Canada except those who are coming in as merchants, diplomats, foreign students, or under "Special circumstance" which was granted by the Minister of Immigration. In May 1947, the act was repealed by the Federal government because of the horror of the Nazi Death Camps. -
Royal Canadian Air Force officially founded
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On this day, the prefix "Royal" was adopted by the "Canadian Air Force" and thus the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was born. The RCAF went on to serve from 1924 to 1968 as Canada's permanent Air Force. In 1968, the RCAF unified with the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Army, forming the Canadian Forces, therefore the RCAF ceased to exist. -
Maiden Voyage of the S.S. St. Louis
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The SS St. Louis was a German ship that brought Jews from Germany to Cuba to seek refuge. The Jews were rejected in Cuba. Desperate, the SS St. Louis then travelled to the US and Canada, where they were again rejected. Eventually, the Jews went back to Europe, where they were later captured and put into Nazi death camps. Had the ship succeeded, the results of the holocaust would be different. -
The Persons Case is decided
On this date, members of the "Famous Five"; Emily Murphy, Irene Marryat Parlby, Nellie Mooney McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney, Henrietta Muir Edwards triumphed in their case. The Persons Case gave women the attention that they deserved and needed in Politics, Law, and Society. With the case won, women are now qualified "Persons" under Canadian law and gave women many more rights than they had before. -
Black Tuesday
Click for more information On this day, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) suffered the greatest market crash in history. The prices for stocks were too high and are not worth their price. A record 16.4 million shares were traded which caused the ticker tape to fall back by 2.5 hours. Those who lent money to others to purchase stocks went bankrupt. The market suffered 12% loss and people that invested suffered losses of over 100 billion by November. This date marks the beginning of the Great Depression. -
Five Cent Speech
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King made a speech at the beginning of the Great Depression about how the provinces should be responsible for social welfare and broke into an outburst, declaring that he would not give a "five-cent piece" to any province that did not have a Liberal government. Because of this speech, the Liberal government lost the election that year and R.B. Bennett replaced King as Prime Minister. -
Statute of Westminster in Canada
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On this date, the British Parliament passed this statute, which enabled Canada and the other British Commonwealth nations to have complete control over their relationships with other countries. This was a major step in Canada's goal to achieve Sovereighty. -
On-To-Ottawa Trek
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The conditions in the Relief Camps that were set up grew worse and unemployed men "rode the rails" to Ottawa to protest. Bennett had the protestors stopped in Regina. On July 1, a riot broke out leaving one officer dead and dozens of officers and protestors injured. In the end, only 1 of the strike leaders met with the PM. The meeting did not change things and lead to his unpopularity in the next election. -
Launch of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
This marks the day that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is officially aired in Canada in the form of public radio. The transmitters reached 49 % of Canadian households. Over one million Canadian households own a radio. At its launch, CBC Radio had a daily 6 hours of progamming, in which 70% consisted of music. This is an important event in history as this marks the birth of canada's national broadcasting giant. -
World War II is officially started by Germany
