Science | The Canadian Encyclopedia
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Science

This timeline chronicles scientific innovation and discovery in Canada

Dr. Charles H. Best and Dr. G.R. Williams

  1. November 30, 1618 ce - November 30, 1618 ce

    Science 

    First Comet Sighting

    The first sighting of a comet by Europeans in Canada was recorded.

  2. December 31, 1638 ce - December 31, 1638 ce

    Science 

    Lunar Eclipse

    A lunar eclipse was sighted in Huronia.

  3. April 22, 1662 ce - April 22, 1662 ce

    Science 

    Royal Society Chartered

    King Charles II of England chartered the Royal Society of London, the oldest scientific organization in Britain.

  4. December 25, 1758 ce - December 25, 1758 ce

    Science 

    Halley's Comet Returns

    As predicted by Edmond Halley in 1705, the comet of 1682 returned, the first ever predicted.

  5. August 19, 1809 ce - August 19, 1809 ce

    Science 

    Accommodation Launched

    The first steamboat in Canada, the Accommodation, was launched at Montreal. Driven by two paddle wheels and powered by a steam engine, it heralded a new age and showed that Canadians could keep abreast of the latest technology.

  6. July 20, 1854 ce - July 20, 1854 ce

    Victoria Bridge

    Science 

    Work Begins on Victoria Bridge

    The first stone, from the Kahnawake quarry, was laid on the abutment of the Victoria Bridge, spanning the St Lawrence River at Montreal.

  7. July 17, 1860 ce - July 17, 1860 ce

    Science 

    Total Eclipse Obscured

    An American expedition, including Nova Scotia-born astronomer Simon Newcomb, arrived in northern Manitoba to observe a total eclipse, but were thwarted by clouds on the crucial day.

  8. August 25, 1860 ce - August 25, 1860 ce

    Victoria Bridge

    Science 

    Victoria Bridge Opened

    The Prince of Wales presided over a ceremony officially opening the Victoria Bridge, spanning the St Lawrence River at Montreal. It was considered one of the engineering wonders of its day.

  9. February 08, 1879 ce - February 08, 1879 ce

    Sir Sandford Fleming

    Science 

    Fleming's Standard Time

    Sandford Fleming first proposed to divide the world into 24 equal time zones, with a standard time within each zone. His idea was adopted by 24 countries at a conference in 1884.

  10. February 04, 1882 ce - February 04, 1882 ce

    Science 

    Electricity comes to BC

    The first electricity came to BC, at the Moodyville sawmill on Burrard Inlet, powering the first electric lights on the Pacific coast north of San Francisco.

  11. December 30, 1882 ce - December 30, 1882 ce

    Science 

    Royal Society of Canada

    The Royal Society of Canada was founded by the governor general, the Marquis of Lorne.

  12. November 18, 1883 ce - November 18, 1883 ce

    Science 

    Standard Time Adopted

    Standard Time, advocated by Sandford Fleming, was adopted by North America. Fleming was instrumental in convening the 1884 International Prime Meridian Conference at which all 25 represented nations adopted international standard time.

  13. August 08, 1887 ce - August 08, 1887 ce

    Science 

    Vancouver Lights Up

    The Vancouver Electric Illumination Society (later, BC Hydro) started up its steam-powered generating plant - and 300 streetlights went on.

  14. May 26, 1896 ce - May 26, 1896 ce

    Point Ellice Bridge Disaster

    Science 

    Point Ellice Bridge Disaster

    During celebrations for Queen Victoria's birthday, a span of the bridge at Point Ellice in the harbour of Victoria, BC, fell out. A loaded streetcar fell with it and 55 people were killed, the worst streetcar accident in North American history.

  15. March 13, 1900 ce - March 13, 1900 ce

    Chesterfield Inlet

    Science 

    Tyrrell's Survey

    J.W. Tyrrell began a 2782 km journey to survey the area from Great Slave Lake to Chesterfield Inlet.

  16. December 23, 1900 ce - December 23, 1900 ce

    Fessenden and his Inventions

    Science 

    Fessenden's Wireless

    Reginald Aubrey Fessenden of Québec transmitted the first wireless voice broadcast near Washington, DC. On December 24, 1906, he made the first radio voice broadcast from Brant Rock, Mass.

  17. August 29, 1907 ce - August 29, 1907 ce

    Québec Bridge Disaster

    Science 

    Québec Bridge Disaster, 1907

    Part of the Québec Bridge, the longest cantilever bridge in the world, collapsed, killing 75 workmen. Blame for the collapse was placed on the American engineer Theodore Cooper and faulty we plates.

  18. October 11, 1910 ce - October 11, 1910 ce

    Science 

    First Long-distance Transmission

    An Ontario Hydro transmission line brought Niagara Falls-generated electricity to Berlin (Kitchener), Ont, the first long-distance transmission of electricity in Canada.

  19. August 01, 1911 ce - August 01, 1911 ce

    Faith Fyles

    People 

    Faith Fyles Becomes First Woman Assistant Botanist at the Department of Agriculture

    Faith Fyles was the first woman hired to the position of assistant botanist by the Central Experimental Farm (CEF), part of the Department of Agriculture (now Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). In 1919, she became the department’s first botanical artist, male or female.

  20. July 24, 1914 ce - July 24, 1914 ce

    Science 

    Birth of Frances Kelsey

    Frances Kelsey, the Canadian doctor hailed as a hero for withholding approval of the drug thalidomide in the United States, was born in Cobble Hill, BC. While employed at the US Food and Drug Administration in the early 1960s, Kelsey likely saved thousands of American children from severe deformities and disabilities by refusing to approve the drug for sale, despite the fact that it was already being prescribed in Europe and Canada. Her suspicions were confirmed in 1961, when reports emerged of birth defects among children born to women who had taken thalidomide during pregnancy.

  21. November 30, 1915 ce - November 30, 1915 ce

    People 

    Birth of Henry Taube

    Henry Taube was born in Neudorf, Saskatchewan. He became a US citizen in 1942 and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1983. (See also Nobel Prizes and Canada.)

  22. February 14, 1916 ce - February 14, 1916 ce

    Science 

    First Long-Distance Call

    The first long-distance call in Canada was placed from Montréal to Vancouver, from the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montreal to the Globe Theatre in Vancouver.

  23. September 11, 1916 ce - September 11, 1916 ce

    Québec Bridge Collapse, 1916

    Science 

    Québec Bridge Disaster, 1916

    A new centre span of the Québec Bridge fell into the river as it was being hoisted into position, killing 13 men.

  24. March 18, 1918 ce - March 18, 1918 ce

    Science 

    Daylight Saving Time Introduced

    Daylight saving time was introduced in Canada by the federal government as a measure for increasing war production, emulating legislation in Germany and Britain.

  25. May 21, 1919 ce - May 21, 1919 ce

    Portrait of Dr. John A. Hopps

    People 

    Birth of Inventor and Research Scientist John A. Hopps

    Trained as an electrical engineer, John A. Hopps was recruited to design a cardiac pacemaker with a team of scientists at the Banting Institute in Toronto while he was working on another project at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). This resulted in the invention of a portable artificial external pacemaker. The device marked a significant medical milestone and laid the groundwork for implantable pacemakers.

  26. July 27, 1921 ce - July 27, 1921 ce

    Charles Herbert Best, physiologist

    Science 

    Banting and Best Isolate Insulin

    Frederick Banting and Charles Best at the University of Toronto first isolated insulin. The first diabetes patient was treated on 11 January 1922. Banting and J.J.R. Macleod received the Nobel Prize for their achievement.

  27. September 16, 1921 ce - September 16, 1921 ce

    Science 

    Birth of Ursula Franklin

    Physicist Ursula Franklin, who pioneered the development of archaeometry (the application of modern techniques of materials analysis to archaeology), was born in Munich, Germany.

  28. October 25, 1923 ce - October 25, 1923 ce

    Charles Herbert Best, physiologist

    Science 

    Banting and Macleod Win Nobel

    The Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded jointly to Frederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod for the discovery of insulin.

  29. November 02, 1925 ce - November 02, 1925 ce

    Science 

    Debut of Electrical Recording

    RCA Victor unveiled its electrical recording system. It had made the first electrical recording at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York on March 31.

  30. January 23, 1929 ce - January 23, 1929 ce

    John Polanyi receiving his share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry from King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, 10 December 1986.

    People 

    Birth of John Polanyi

    Nobel Prize winner John Charles Polanyi was born at Berlin, Germany.

  31. May 16, 1930 ce - May 16, 1930 ce

    Uraninite

    Science 

    LaBine Finds Uranium

    Prospector Gilbert LaBine discovered pitchblende, the chief source of uranium and radium, at Great Bear Lake, NWT.

  32. May 07, 1935 ce - May 07, 1935 ce

    Astronomers

    Science 

    David Dunlap Observatory

    The David Dunlap Observatory at Richmond Hill, Ont, was completed, the second largest in the world at that time.

  33. January 01, 1936 ce - January 01, 1936 ce

    Dr. Maude Abbott, 1894

    People  Science 

    Maude Abbott’s Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease Is Published

    Published by the American Heart Association in 1936, Maude Abbott’s Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease was a groundbreaking text in cardiac research. The life-saving publication helped doctors to better understand and diagnose heart defects and to develop new ways to treat them.

  34. February 19, 1938 ce - February 19, 1938 ce

    Science 

    Mysterious Big Bang

    A mysterious "big bang" woke thousands of people in Vancouver, yet no cause was ever found.

  35. June 29, 1938 ce - June 29, 1938 ce

    Portrait of Annette Herscovics

    People 

    Birth of Biochemist Annette Herscovics

    Annette Herscovics was born in Paris, France, and immigrated to Canada following the Second World War. She later studied at McGill University and worked there for several years before moving to Harvard Medical School. She returned to McGill as a full professor in 1981 and became known for her pioneering work on glycoproteins. She discovered where and how these modifications occur in our cells — a key development in the field of glycobiology.

  36. October 17, 1941 ce - October 17, 1941 ce

    Science 

    Death of John Stanley Plaskett

    Astronomer John Stanley Plaskett died at Esquimalt, BC. As director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory north of Victoria, he pioneered research on the rotation of the Milky Way Galaxy.

  37. December 02, 1942 ce - December 02, 1942 ce

    Science 

    Fermi Achieves Chain Reaction

    At the University of Chicago, Italian physicist Enrico Fermi achieved the first sustained nuclear chain reaction, leading to the atomic bomb and nuclear power.

  38. July 22, 1947 ce - July 22, 1947 ce

    Science 

    Canada's First Nuclear Reactors

    The NRX reactor, the ancestor of Canada's unique CANDU reactors, "went critical" at Chalk River, Ont. The NRX was based on Canada's first nuclear reactor, ZEEP (1 watt of power), which was built at Chalk River in 1945.

  39. October 23, 1950 ce - October 23, 1950 ce

    Image of an experimental external cardiac pacemaker-defibrillator

    Science 

    Bigelow, Callaghan and Hopps Unveil the Portable Artificial External Pacemaker

    Cardiac surgeon Dr. Wilfred Bigelow, research fellow Dr. John Carter Callaghan, and Dr. John A. Hopps of the National Research Council of Canada delivered their findings on their newly invented portable artificial external pacemaker to the American College of Surgeons in Boston. The device was designed to send electric pulses to the heart, causing the heart to contract and pump blood to the body. It marked a significant medical milestone and laid the groundwork for implantable pacemakers.

  40. September 15, 1956 ce - September 15, 1956 ce

    Image of an experimental external cardiac pacemaker-defibrillator

    Science 

    Reports of Canada’s First Successful Open-Heart Surgery

    Dr. John Carter Callaghan performed Canada’s first successful open-heart surgery on 10-year-old Susan Beattie, who had a hole in her heart. On 15 November 1956, the Edmonton Journal described the event as “the greatest single advance in heart surgery in recent years.” Callaghan was also known for co-developing the portable artificial pacemaker.

  41. August 29, 1959 ce - August 29, 1959 ce

    Science 

    Birth of Chris Hadfield

    Astronaut Chris Hadfield, who became the first Canadian among the support team at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was born at Sarnia, Ont.

  42. February 20, 1962 ce - February 20, 1962 ce

    Science 

    Glenn Orbits the Earth

    Astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth when he circled it three times in the space capsule Friendship 7.

  43. June 15, 1962 ce - June 15, 1962 ce

    Science 

    Canada's First Space Vehicle

    Canada's first space vehicle, a 11.3 kg non-orbiting instrument package, was launched from Wallops Island, Virginia.

  44. September 29, 1962 ce - September 29, 1962 ce

    Science 

    Alouette-I Launched

    Canada's first orbiting satellite, Alouette-I, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

  45. October 25, 1962 ce - October 25, 1962 ce

    Science 

    Bedford Institute Opened

    The Bedford Institute of Oceanography was opened, near Halifax.

  46. July 15, 1965 ce - July 15, 1965 ce

    Miner at the Face

    Science 

    SOQUÉM Created

    The Société québécoise d'exploration minière (SOQUÉM) was created.

  47. November 09, 1965 ce - November 09, 1965 ce

    Science 

    Electrical Blackout

    The failure of a relay device of Ontario Hydro's Queenston generating station triggered a massive power failure extending from the Atlantic coast of the US to Chicago, and from Florida to southern Ontario, lasting up to 12 hours.

  48. January 01, 1970 ce - January 01, 1970 ce

    Buckwheat

    Science 

    Plant Gene Resources of Canada is Established

    Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC), Canada’s national seed gene bank, was founded to protect, preserve, and enhance the genetic diversity of Canada’s important agricultural plants and their wild relatives. PGRC has played a major role in protecting Canada’s agricultural crops and biodiversity while contributing to food security at home and around the world.

  49. January 16, 1970 ce - January 16, 1970 ce

    Science 

    Plans to Convert to Metric

    The government announced plans to convert from the imperial to the metric system of measurement. A special commission was appointed to oversee the introduction of metric.

  50. March 07, 1970 ce - March 07, 1970 ce

    Sunspots

    Science 

    Total Eclipse of the Sun

    A total eclipse of the sun cast a shadow 160 kilometers wide along Canada's Atlantic coast, sweeping the length of Nova Scotia and across Newfoundland.

  51. September 09, 1970 ce - September 09, 1970 ce

    Science 

    DDT Pesticides Banned

    The Canadian Government placed a complete ban on the use of DDT pesticides, effective 1 January 1971.

  52. November 07, 1970 ce - November 07, 1970 ce

    Science 

    Pierre-Laporte Bridge Opens

    The Pierre- Laporte Bridge, over the St Lawrence River, was opened. The bridge originally was to be named the Frontenac Bridge, but it was changed to honour Laporte, Québec minister of labour and immigration, following his murder during the October Crisis.

  53. February 10, 1971 ce - February 10, 1971 ce

    Science 

    Air Pollution Fine Set

    The federal Parliament set fines of up to $200 000 for air pollution.

  54. April 05, 1971 ce - April 05, 1971 ce

    Science 

    First CANDU

    Gentilly nuclear power plant opened in Québec, the world's first nuclear plant with a reactor fuelled by natural uranium and cooled by ordinary water (the CANDU system).

  55. April 29, 1971 ce - April 29, 1971 ce

    Science 

    James Bay Project

    Premier Robert Bourassa announced the development of the James Bay project.

  56. November 02, 1971 ce - November 02, 1971 ce

    Gerhard Herzberg, physicist, Nobel laureate

    Science 

    Herzberg Wins Nobel Prize

    Gerhard Herzberg was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure.

  57. February 25, 1972 ce - February 25, 1972 ce

    Science 

    Pickering Station Opened

    The Pickering nuclear power plant officially opened, the largest single electricity producer in the world.

  58. November 09, 1972 ce - November 09, 1972 ce

    Science 

    Anik A-1 Launched

    Canada launched the world's first geostationary domestic satellite, Anik A-1

  59. April 20, 1973 ce - April 20, 1973 ce

    Science 

    Anik A-2 Launched

    The telecommunications satellite Anik A-2 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. With its launch, Canada became the first country in the world to employ satellites for domestic communications.

  60. December 07, 1973 ce - December 07, 1973 ce

    Science 

    CANDU Deal with South Korea

    Canada sold a CANDU reactor to South Korea.

  61. May 18, 1974 ce - May 18, 1974 ce

    Science 

    India Detonates Nuclear Device

    India detonated a nuclear device using Canadian materials.

  62. May 22, 1974 ce - May 22, 1974 ce

    Science 

    Canada Suspends Nuclear Exports

    The Canadian government suspended shipments of all nuclear equipment and materials to India, after India's detonation of a nuclear device.

  63. April 01, 1975 ce - April 01, 1975 ce

    Science 

    Weather Offices Use Celsius

    Weather offices in Canada first used celsius to report temperatures. On September 1, metric was first used for rainfall and snowfall.

  64. May 01, 1975 ce - May 01, 1975 ce

    Science 

    Anik A-3 Launched

    Communications satellite Anik A-3 was launched.

  65. January 24, 1978 ce - January 24, 1978 ce

    Science 

    Cosmos 954 Falls

    Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 plunged into the atmosphere over northern Canada, spreading debris.

  66. November 08, 1978 ce - November 08, 1978 ce

    Science 

    Challenger Flies for First Time

    The Canadair Challenger executive jet flew for the first time.

  67. March 05, 1979 ce - March 05, 1979 ce

    Science 

    Voyager 1 Encounters Jupiter

    The space probe Voyager 1 made its closest encounter with Jupiter before moving on to Saturn.

  68. June 05, 1980 ce - June 05, 1980 ce

    Science 

    First AIDS-related Deaths

    The US Centers for Disease Control reported 5 cases of pneumonia, which within a year were shown to be related to AIDS. By 1982, some 1600 cases had been reported worldwide.

  69. October 09, 1981 ce - October 09, 1981 ce

    People 

    David H. Hubel Wins Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

    David H. Hubel and Torsten N. Wiesel were jointly awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work mapping the brain’s visual cortex. (See also Nobel Prizes and Canada.)

  70. November 13, 1981 ce - November 13, 1981 ce

    Canadarm2

    Science 

    Canadarm Launched into Space

    The Canadian-made Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS), the Canadarm, was launched into space for the first time. It was carried aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-2, the second space shuttle. It performed well, exceeding all design goals and was declared operational one year later.

  71. August 16, 1982 ce - August 16, 1982 ce

    Science 

    Anik-D Launched

    Anik D-1 was launched, replacing the aging Anik A and B satellites. Anik D-1 was the first commercial satellite built by a Canadian prime contractor, Spar Aerospace Limited.

  72. October 05, 1984 ce - October 05, 1984 ce

    Marc Garneau, astronaut

    Science 

    Marc Garneau Enters Space

    Marc Garneau was the first Canadian astronaut to enter space, during the 41-G mission of the American space shuttle Challenger.

  73. January 30, 1985 ce - January 30, 1985 ce

    Science 

    New Metric Policy

    The federal government unveiled a new metric policy under which businesses would be allowed to sell and advertise food, gasoline and home furnishings in imperial measurements in addition to the mandatory metric units.

  74. September 01, 1985 ce - September 01, 1985 ce

    Wreckage of the RMS Titanic

    Science 

    Titanic Wreck Found

    A US-led expedition discovered the wreck of the Titanic 590 km southeast of Newfoundland at a depth of 3,810 m.

  75. September 25, 1985 ce - September 25, 1985 ce

    Science 

    Tyrrell Museum Opens

    Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed officially opened the $30-million Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology at Drumheller.

  76. January 28, 1986 ce - January 28, 1986 ce

    Science 

    Challenger Explodes

    The space shuttle Challenger exploded soon after takeoff, killing 7 astronauts.

  77. December 08, 1986 ce - December 08, 1986 ce

    Science 

    John Polanyi Shares Nobel

    John Polanyi shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Dudley Herschenbach and Yuan T. Lee.

  78. August 03, 1988 ce - August 03, 1988 ce

    People 

    Birth of Canadian Astronaut Jenni Gibbons

    In 2017, Jenni Gibbons was selected as an astronaut candidate by the Canadian Space Agency. After completing her astronaut training, Jenni Gibbons became Canada’s third female astronaut.

  79. March 01, 1989 ce - March 01, 1989 ce

    People 

    Creation of the Canadian Space Agency

    The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) was established and Larkin Kerwin was made the organization’s first president.

  80. August 25, 1989 ce - August 25, 1989 ce

    Science 

    Voyager I Reaches Neptune

    The US space probe Voyager I reached Neptune. Its pictures of Triton, Neptune's moon, revealed the existence of 2 additional moons.

  81. October 12, 1989 ce - October 12, 1989 ce

    People 

    Sidney Altman Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

    Sidney Altman was awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas R. Cech. They discovered that RNA (ribonucleic acid) could act as both a molecule and a biocatalyst. (See also Nobel Prizes and Canada.)

  82. April 24, 1990 ce - April 24, 1990 ce

    Science 

    NASA Launches Hubble

    NASA put the Hubble telescope into orbit. A flawed mirror and other defects were corrected in space in December 1993 by astronauts.

  83. October 17, 1990 ce - October 17, 1990 ce

    People 

    Richard E. Taylor Wins Nobel Prize in Physics

    Richard E. Taylor shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Americans Jerome I. Friedman and Henry W. Kendall. They were awarded the prize for their work developing the quark model in particle physics. (See also Nobel Prizes and Canada.)

  84. January 22, 1992 ce - January 22, 1992 ce

    Roberta Bondar

    People 

    Canada's First Female Astronaut

    Neurologist and clinical science researcher specializing in the nervous system, Dr. Roberta Bondar blasted into space aboard the US space shuttle Discovery. Bondar was Canada's first female astronaut.

  85. October 13, 1993 ce - October 13, 1993 ce

    Science 

    Smith Wins Nobel Prize

    Michael Smith won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research on site-directed mutagenesis.

  86. July 16, 1994 ce - July 16, 1994 ce

    Shoemaker-Levy

    Science 

    Comet Collides with Jupiter

    Fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with the planet Jupiter.

  87. October 12, 1994 ce - October 12, 1994 ce

    People 

    Bertram Neville Brockhouse Wins the Nobel Prize in Physics

    Bertram Neville Brockhouse was awarded one half of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the development of neutron spectroscopy. (See also Nobel Prizes and Canada.)

  88. October 24, 1995 ce - October 24, 1995 ce

    Science 

    New Emission Standards

    The federal government and the provinces agreed that by the year 2001 all new cars sold in Canada must meet strict air pollution emission standards.

  89. December 08, 1995 ce - December 08, 1995 ce

    Science 

    Galileo Reaches Jupiter

    After 6 years and a 3.7 billion km journey, the space probe Galileo reached Jupiter.

  90. August 12, 1997 ce - August 12, 1997 ce

    Science 

    Nuclear Reactors Shut Down

    Ontario Hydro, North America's largest electric utility, announced that it would shut down the 7 oldest of its 19 nuclear reactors: 3 at the Bruce facility on lake Huron and 4 at Pickering on lake Ontario.

  91. December 17, 1997 ce - December 17, 1997 ce

    Science 

    New Pictures of Dying Stars

    The Hubble Space Telescope showed images of the dying phases of stars in unprecedented detail, showing the expansion into red giants.

  92. April 21, 1998 ce - April 21, 1998 ce

    Jupiter

    Science 

    Formation of Planets Discovered

    Astronomers announced that they had observed evidence of the early formation of a group of planets, similar to our own solar system, around a young sun 220 light years away.

  93. April 15, 1999 ce - April 15, 1999 ce

    Science 

    New Solar System Found

    Astronomers announced that they had discovered another solar system of multiple planets orbiting a star, some 44 light years away.

  94. April 23, 1999 ce - April 23, 1999 ce

    Science 

    New Human Ancestor Found

    Paleontologists announced that they had discovered a fossil skull in Ethiopia that belonged to a previously unknown species of human ancestor.

  95. May 27, 1999 ce - May 27, 1999 ce

    Payette, Julie

    Science 

    Julie Payette in Space

    Canadian astronaut Julie Payette took part in a space shuttle mission. She and a co-worker repaired faulty parts in the Russian space station Zarya's battery pack.

  96. January 01, 2000 ce - January 01, 2000 ce

    Science 

    Millennium Celebrations

    The arrival of the year 2000 saw little technological disruption or acts of terrorism. The Y2K (Millennium) bug caused only minor computer problems.

  97. February 01, 2003 ce - February 01, 2003 ce

    Science 

    Shuttle Columbia Disaster

    Space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Tyler, Texas, killing all seven people on board, including the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, and Kalpana Chawla of India. First clues pointed to failure of the heat-shielding tiles.

  98. October 06, 2009 ce - October 06, 2009 ce

    People 

    Willard S. Boyle Wins Nobel Prize in Physics

    Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith were jointly awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on the charge-coupled device (CCD). (See also Nobel Prizes and Canada.)

  99. March 13, 2013 ce - March 13, 2013 ce

    Chris Hadfield

    Science 

    Hadfield Becomes ISS Commander

    Astronaut Chris Hadfield became the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station (ISS), succeeding astronaut Kevin Ford. A brief ceremony aboard the ISS included a broadcast of O Canada.

  100. August 07, 2013 ce - August 07, 2013 ce

    Science 

    Death of Tony Pawson

    World-renowned researcher, Tony Pawson, whose discovery about how cells communicate and interact with each other transformed scientists' fundamental understanding of cancer and many other diseases, died in Toronto.

  101. August 07, 2015 ce - August 07, 2015 ce

    Science 

    Death of Frances Kelsey

    Frances Kelsey, the Canadian doctor hailed as a hero for withholding approval of the drug thalidomide in the United States, died in London, ON, at age 101. While employed at the US Food and Drug Administration in the early 1960s, Kelsey likely saved thousands of American children from severe deformities and disabilities by refusing to approve the drug for sale, despite the fact that it was already being prescribed in Europe and Canada. Her suspicions were confirmed in 1961, when reports emerged of birth defects among children born to women who had taken thalidomide during pregnancy.

  102. September 19, 2015 ce - September 19, 2015 ce

    Science 

    Canadian Team Sets Record Speed for Human-Powered Vehicle

    A team of Canadian engineers set a new world record for the fastest human-powered vehicle at an annual competition in Battle Mountain, Nevada, attaining a speed of 139.45 kilometres per hour. The vehicle, Eta — a high-efficiency recumbent bicycle enclosed in a carbon-fibre shell — is the work of Aerovelo, a company founded by University of Toronto alumni Todd Reichert and Cameron Robertson. Reichert pedalled the bike to a world record on 17 September 2015 and subsequently broke his own record twice to achieve the final speed.

  103. October 06, 2015 ce - October 06, 2015 ce

    People 

    Arthur McDonald Wins Nobel Prize in Physics

    Arthur B. McDonald, a physicist at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering that neutrinos — one of the smallest particles of matter — have mass. Neutrinos were previously thought to be massless. He shares the prize with Takaaki Kajita of Japan, whose research broke ground on the same subject. According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (the organization that awards the Nobel), "the discovery has changed our understanding of the innermost workings of matter."

  104. May 18, 2016 ce - May 18, 2016 ce

    Canadian Museum of Nature

    Science 

    New Species of Dinosaur Identified

    Paleontologists at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa announced that bones discovered a decade earlier in Montana are those of previously unknown species of dinosaur related to the triceratops. Nicknamed Judith, the Spiclypeus shipporum specimen now belongs to the museum’s world-class collection of horned dinosaur fossils.

  105. July 22, 2016 ce - July 22, 2016 ce

    Science 

    Death of Ursula Franklin

    Physicist Ursula Franklin, who pioneered the development of archaeometry (the application of modern techniques of materials analysis to archaeology), died in Toronto, Ontario, at age 94.

  106. April 11, 2017 ce - April 11, 2017 ce

    People 

    Death of Dr. Mark Wainberg

    Montreal-born molecular biologist Dr. Mark Wainberg, a renowned HIV/AIDS researcher and activist, died at the age of 71. In 1989, Wainberg discovered that the antiviral drug 3TC slowed the replication of HIV in the body — a breakthrough in the development of antiretroviral therapy.

  107. May 18, 2017 ce - May 18, 2017 ce

    Science 

    Death of Michael Bliss

    Historian Michael Bliss died in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada’s leading historians, Bliss wrote numerous prize-winning books on Canadian and medical history, including The Discovery of Insulin and William Osler: A Life in Medicine. He received many career honours, including the Order of Canada, honorary degrees from six universities and honorary fellowship in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. For many years he was in demand as a lecturer, speaker and public intellectual in North America and Europe.

  108. September 08, 2017 ce - September 08, 2017 ce

    Avro Arrow

    Science 

    Avro Arrow Model Found in Lake Ontario

    The Raise the Arrow expedition announced that it discovered an Avro Arrow test model at the bottom of Lake Ontario. Images of the find show a jet covered in zebra mussels, which researchers planned to remove to discover more about the plane. The Malton, Ontario-based Arrow project began in the postwar years with the goal of creating one of the world’s fastest and most advanced interceptor aircraft, but it was controversially cancelled in 1959.

  109. September 26, 2017 ce - September 26, 2017 ce

    Science 

    Mona Nemer Named Canada’s Chief Scientist

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Mona Nemer, a pioneering heart researcher at the University of Ottawa, to the role of chief science advisor. The position involves promoting advancements in the sciences that will benefit Canadians, providing the government with impartial scientific advice, and reporting to the prime minister and the minister of health on the state of federal government science.

  110. October 02, 2018 ce - October 02, 2018 ce

    Les travaux de Donna Strickland sur l’amplification d’impulsions par dérive de fréquence ont jeté les bases des impulsions laser les plus courtes et les plus intenses jamais créées. Ces dernières sont utilisées dans la recherche sur l’action des forces su

    People 

    Donna Strickland Wins Nobel Prize

    The associate professor at the University of Waterloo became the first woman in 55 years, and only the third ever, to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Strickland and Gérard Mourou were awarded for their work in laser physics. They shared the prize with Arthur Ashkin.

  111. January 16, 2019 ce - January 16, 2019 ce

    Science 

    BC Fossils Help Solve Evolutionary Riddle

    The fossilized soft tissue of agnostids found in the 500-million-year-old Burgess Shale deposit helped researchers prove a connection between the bug-like creatures and trilobites, adding a new branch to the evolutionary tree of life.

  112. October 08, 2019 ce - October 08, 2019 ce

    People 

    James Peebles Wins Nobel Prize in Physics

    James Peebles was awarded one half of the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions in physical cosmology. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz shared the other half of the prize. (See also Nobel Prizes and Canada.)

  113. April 06, 2021 ce - April 06, 2021 ce

    Dragonfly

    Science 

    300-Million-Year-Old Fossil Found in New Brunswick

    Halifax high school students and amateur paleontologists Rowan Norrad and Luke Allen discovered a 300-million-year-old fossilized dragonfly wing near Grand Lake, New Brunswick. The length of the wing, about 10 cm, indicated a likely wingspan of 25 cm — much larger than contemporary dragonflies. The fossil was sent to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris for further analysis.

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