Quebec Timeline of Events

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Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

Timeline of Events

1616

7.11.1616

Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec.

1620

6.3.1620

Construction of the oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, begins in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

1632

3.29.1632

Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.

1694

10.23.1694

British/American colonial forces, led by Sir William Phipps, fail to seize Quebec from the French.

1759

6.27.1759

General James Wolfe begins the siege of Quebec.

1763

2.10.1763

French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.

5.18.1763

Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec.

1791

1.25.1791

The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada.

3.4.1791

A Constitutional Act is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario).

1817

11.3.1817

The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal, Quebec.

1832

6.7.1832

Asian cholera reaches Quebec, brought by Irish immigrants, and kills about 6,000 people in Lower Canada.

1837

5.25.1837

The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom.

1838

2.28.1838

Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaims the independence of Lower Canada (today Quebec)

1864

6.29.1864

Ninety-nine people are killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec.

1920

5.20.1920

Montreal, Quebec radio station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America.

1944

9.15.1944

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.

1949

2.14.1949

The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.

1966

10.14.1966

The city of Montreal, Quebec, begins the operation of its underground Montreal Metro rapid-transit system.

1967

4.28.1967

Expo 67 opens to the public in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

1970

10.10.1970

In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.

1976

11.15.1976

René Lévesque and the ''Parti Québécois'' take power to become the first Quebec government of the 20th century clearly in favour of independence.

1977

7.26.1977

The National Assembly of Quebec imposes the use of French as the official language of the provincial government. thumb launch on July 26, 2005.]]

1984

5.8.1984

Corporal Denis Lortie enters the Quebec National Assembly and opens fire, killing three and wounding 13. René Jalbert, sergeant-at-arms of the assembly, succeeds in calming him, for which he will later receive the Cross of Valour.

1990

7.11.1990

Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec, Canada begins.

1995

10.30.1995

Quebec sovereignists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada (vote is 50.6% to 49.4%).

1996

7.18.1996

Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec's costliest natural disasters ever.

1998

8.20.1998

The Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.

2006

11.27.2006

The Canadian House of Commons endorses Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motion to declare Quebec a nation within a unified Canada.