Browse "History"

The Rush-Bagot Agreement (or Rush-Bagot Treaty) was signed in 1817 by Acting Secretary of State Richard Rush and Sir Charles Bagot, British minister in Washington. The treaty reduced the number of military ships on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain and helped secure the Canadian-American border.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on March 6, 1995. Partner content is not updated. Through the window of a Huey helicopter whisking above the countryside at 700 feet, the southern Rwandan countryside does not look like a hellish killing ground. The camel-hump hills are variations on green, groomed for the planting season that is just beginning.

The quickest and the fittest among them led the exodus. The first sign of Rwanda's long march of refugees was a single file of ragged but relatively healthy families, who stuck cautiously to the side of the road like people emerging into the light after a long night.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on November 25, 1996

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on August 5, 1996. Partner content is not updated. One soggy day late last April, Art Poirier found himself among thousands of people stacking sandbags against rising floodwaters from southern Manitoba's ancient and implacable nemesis, the Red River. Poirier flicked a cigarette butt into the brand new lake around his home.

In Canada's age of sail (1800-75) over 4000 ships, each exceeding 500 tons burthen, were built in Canada. In 1878 Canadian-registered ships numbered 7196 and totalled 1 333 015 tons. Among the nations, Canada stood fourth in seagoing tonnage.

Samson, first locomotive in North America to burn coal and the first to run over all-iron rails. Built in New Shildon, England, it was shipped to Pictou, NS, to haul coal from the Albion Mines 9.6 km over a tramway to Dunbar Point on Pictou Harbour.

Saskatchewan joined Confederation along with Alberta in 1905, when the two new provinces were carved out of the Northwest Territories (NWT).

The Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Bill was introduced in the Legislature 13 Oct 1961, and received royal assent 17 Nov 1961, after Woodrow S. LLOYD had replaced Douglas as premier. It was to come into force April 1, but this was amended, later, to 1 July 1962.

Two significant Aboriginal rock art sites in southwestern Saskatchewan were excavated during the early 1990s. These were the Herschel Petroglyph Site 95 km southwest of Saskatoon, and the Swift Current Creek Site just north of Canada No. 1 highway as it passes the city of Swift Current.

​The Bluenose schooner went undefeated in nearly two decades of racing starting in 1921, but restoring memories of its past glory has left Nova Scotia taxpayers at a loss.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on September 23, 2013

The Second World War was a defining event in Canadian history, transforming a quiet country on the fringes of global affairs into a critical player in the 20th century's most important struggle. Canada carried out a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic and the air war over Germany and contributed forces to the campaigns of western Europe beyond what might be expected of a small nation of then only 11 million people. Between 1939 and 1945 more than one million Canadian men and women served full-time in the armed services. More than 43,000 were killed. Despite the bloodshed, the war against Germany and the Axis powers reinvigorated Canada's industrial base, elevated the role of women in the economy, paved the way for Canada's membership in NATO, and left Canadians with a legacy of proud service and sacrifice embodied in names such as Dieppe, Hong Kong, Ortona and Juno Beach. (This is the full-length entry about the Second World War. For a plain-language summary, please see Second World War (Plain-Language Summary).)

The seigneurial system was an institutional form of land distribution established in New France in 1627 and officially abolished in 1854. In New France, 80 per cent of the population lived in rural areas governed by this system of land distribution and occupation.

In both the US and Canada parents are free to choose to send their children to the state-run public SCHOOL SYSTEM or to a variety of private fee-paying schools.

Serpent Mounds, situated on a bluff overlooking Rice Lake near Peterborough, Ont, is the only known effigy mound in Canada.

The Seven Years' War (1756–63) was the first global war, fought in Europe, India, America, and at sea. In North America, imperial rivals Britain and France struggled for supremacy. In the United States, the conflict is known as the French and Indian War. Early in the war, the French (aided by Canadian militia and Indigenous allies) defeated several British attacks and captured a number of British forts. In 1758, the tide turned when the British captured Louisbourg, followed by Quebec City in 1759 and Montreal in 1760. With the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France formally ceded Canada to the British. The Seven Years’ War therefore laid the bicultural foundations of modern Canada. This is the full-length entry about the Seven Years’ War. For a plain-language summary, please see Seven Years’ War (Plain-Language Summary).