Historica Canada

At 68, a formerly enslaved Black Loyalist enlists men for the Coloured Corps, an instrumental company in the War of 1812.

Scientists Banting, Best, Collip and Macleod at the University of Toronto as they race for a treatment to cure 13-year-old Leonard Thompson of his life-threatening diagnosis of diabetes.

This Heritage Minute follows Chloe Cooley, an enslaved Black woman in Upper Canada in 1793. Her acts of resistance in the face of violence led to Canada’s first legislation limiting slavery.

This Heritage Minute follows the life of Onondaga long-distance runner Gagwe:gih, whose name means “Everything.” Known around the world as Tom Longboat, he was one of the most celebrated athletes of the early 20th century.

This Heritage Minute celebrates Norman Kwong, the first CFL player of Chinese heritage and 4x Grey Cup winner.

Pioneering gay activist Jim Egan publicly challenged a culture of rampant homophobia in the press starting in the late 1940s, when it was dangerous to speak out.

A team of Icelandic-Canadians serve in the First World War before bringing home the very first gold medal in Olympic hockey.

Québec's Father of Confederation negotiates entry into Union of his home province, as well as Manitoba and British Columbia.

Elsie MacGill was the world’s first female aeronautical engineer and Canada’s first practicing woman engineer.

This Heritage Minute follows Canada’s most honoured jazz musicians from his humble beginnings in the Black neighbourhood of Little Burgundy in Montréal to his rise to fame.

Mohawk Chief John Norton and 80 Grand River warriors hold off American soldiers until reinforcements arrive and the Battle of Queenston Heights is won (1812).

Nursing Sisters serve at the No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital in France during the First World War.

On June 6, 1944, Canadian Forces landed on Juno Beach. D-Day, as this day would become known, was the largest amphibious invasion of all time, led to the liberation of France, and marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War.

As a pioneering trans soul singer in the 1960s, Jackie Shane’s unapologetic and authentic presence in Toronto contributed to the local R&B music scene and made her an enduring queer icon in Canada.

Mary Riter Hamilton painted the battlefields after the First World War as a testament to its devastating cost. She would suffer mental and physical illnesses as a result of documenting the experiences of Canadian soldiers.

From 1914-1941, the Vancouver Asahi were one of city’s most dominant amateur baseball teams, winning multiple league titles in Vancouver and along the Northwest Coast.

The story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack, whose death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in Canadian residential schools.

One of Canada’s greatest legal scholars, Bora Laskin overcame antisemitism to become the first Jewish Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Lucy Maud Montgomery battled depression, rejection, and sexism to become known around the world for Anne of Green Gables and 19 other novels. This Heritage Minute tells her story in her own words, as drawn from her journals.

Canada's first Prime Minister outlines his vision for Confederation en route to the Charlottetown Conference.