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Jacques Cartier

Jacques Cartier

Jacques Cartier (December 31, 1491 – September 1 1557), baptised Jakez Karter, was an explorer popularly thought of as one of the major discoverers of Canada, or more specifically, the interior eastern region along the St. Lawrence River that would become the first European-inhabited area of that country since the Vikings. Born in Saint-Malo, France in 1491, Cartier was part of a respectable family of mariners, and improved his social status in 1520 by marrying Catherine des Granches, member of a leading ship-owning family. His good name in Saint-Malo is recognized by its frequent appearance on baptismal registers as godfather or witness. Very little information is available on Cartier's character and personality, but his professional abilities can be easily ascertained. Considering that Cartier made three voyages of discovery in dangerous and hitherto unknown waters without losing a ship, that he entered and departed some fifty undiscovered harbours without serious mishap, and that the only sailors he lost were victims of an epidemic ashore, he may be considered one of the most conscientious explorers of the period. When Jacques Cartier first sailed to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Iroquoian Wendat (aka "Huron" or "Wyandot") chief Donnacona initially thought he was from underwater, and said that he was coming from wooden "houses".

First Voyage, 1534

The King of France, François I, chose Cartier to find "certaines îles et pays où l'on dit qu'il se doit trouver grande quantité d'or et autres riches choses" ("certain islands and lands where it is said there are great quantities of gold and other riches"). In 1534, he set sail, hoping to discover some western passage to the wealthy markets of Asia. He explored parts of what are now Newfoundland starting on May 10 of that year, and what are now the other Canadian Maritimes. He bartered for furs with the Micmac Indians, and learned of a river further west (the St. Lawrence), that he hoped might be the long-sought passage to Asia. He landed for the first time at present day Gaspé, Quebec, where he planted a 30-foot cross and claimed the territory for France. Cartier lied to Chief Donnacona and said the cross was an insignificant landmark. During this trip he captured and took Domagaya and Taignoagny, the sons of Chief Donnacona, back to France. He also began to build diplomatic relations with the natives.

Second Voyage, 1535-1536

Cartier set sail for a second voyage on May 19 of the following year with 3 ships, 110 men, and the two native boys. Reaching the St. Lawrence, he sailed up-river for the first time, and reached the Huron village of Stadacona (site of present-day Québec City), where Chief Donnacona was reunited with his two sons. Cartier left his main ships in a harbour close to Stadacona, and used his smallest ship to continue up-river and visit Hochelaga (now Montreal) where he arrived October 2, 1535. Hochelaga was far more impressive than the small and squalid village of Stadacona, and more than a thousand Hurons came to the river edge to greet the Frenchmen. The site of their arrival has been confidently identified as the beginning of the Sainte-Marie Sault -- where the Jacques Cartier Bridge now stands. After spending two days among the Hurons of Hochelaga, Cartier returned to Stadacona on October 11. It is not known exactly when Cartier decided to spend the winter of 1535-1536 in Canada, but the decision must have before reaching Stadacona, as it was by then too late to return to France. Cartier and his men prepared for the winter by strengthening their fort, stacking firewood, and salting down game and fish. During this winter, Cartier compiled a sort of gazetteer that included several pages on the manners of the natives -- in particular, their habit of wearing only leggings and moccasins even in the dead of winter. From mid-November 1535 to mid-April 1536, the French fleet lay frozen solid at the mouth of the St. Charles river, under the Rock of Quebec. Ice was over a fathom (1.8 m) thick in the river, and snow four feet (1.2 m) deep ashore. To add to the discomfort, scurvy broke out -- first among the Hurons, and then among the French. In his journal, Cartier states that by mid-February, "out of 110 that we were, not ten were well enough to help the others, a thing pitiful to see". Cartier estimated the number of Hurons dead at 50. One of the natives who survived was Domagaya, the chief's son who had been taken to France the previous year. Upon his visiting the French fort for a friendly call, Cartier enquired and learned of him that a concoction made from a certain tree called "annedda", a white cedar tree, would cure scurvy. This remedy likely saved the expedition from destruction, and by the end of the winter, 85 Frenchmen were still alive. Ready to return to France in early May 1536, Cartier decided to kidnap Chief Donnacona himself, so that he might personally tell the tale of a country further north, called the "Kingdom of Saguenay", claimed to be full of gold, rubies and other treasures. After an arduous trip down the St. Lawrence and a three-week Atlantic crossing, Cartier and his men arrived in Saint-Malo July 15, 1536. So ended the second and most profitable of Cartier's voyages, lasting fourteen months. Having already located the entrance to the St. Lawrence on his first voyage, he now opened up the greatest waterway for the European penetration of North America. He had made an intelligent estimate of the resources of Canada, both natural and human, aside from considerable exaggeration of its mineral wealth. Whilst some of his actions toward the Wendats were dishonorable, he did try at times to establish friendship with the them and other native peoples living along the great St. Lawrence river -- an indispensable preliminary to French settlement in their lands.

Third Voyage 1541-1542

On May 23, 1541 Cartier departed Saint-Malo on his third voyage with five ships. This time, any thought of finding a passage to the Orient was forgotten. The goals were now to find the "Kingdom of Saguenay" and its riches, and to establish a permanent settlement along the St. Lawrence. Anchoring at Stadacona on August 23, Cartier again met the Hurons, but found their "show of joy" and their numbers worrisome, and decided not to build his settlement there. Sailing nine miles up-river to a spot he had previously observed, he decided to settle on the site of present-day Cap-Rouge. The convicts and other colonists were landed, the cattle that had survived three months aboard ship were turned loose, earth was broken for a kitchen garden, and seeds of cabbage, turnip and lettuce were planted. A fortified settlement was thus created and was named Charlesbourg-Royal. Another fort was also built on the falaise overlooking the settlement, for added protection. The men also began collecting quartz crystal ("diamonds") and iron pyrites ("gold"). Two of the ships were dispatched home with some of these worthless minerals on September 2. Having set tasks for everyone, Cartier left with the longboats for a reconnaissance in search of "Saguenay" on September 7. Having reached Hochelaga, he was prevented by bad weather and the numerous rapids from continuing up to the Ottawa river. Returning to Charlesbourg-Royal, Cartier found the situation ominous. The Hurons no longer made friendly visits or peddled fish and game, but prowled about in a sinister manner. No records exists about the winter of 1541-1542 and the information must be gleaned from the few details provided by returning sailors. It seems the Indians attacked and ate about 35 settlers before the Frenchmen could retreat behind their fortifications. Even though scurvy was cured through the native remedy, the impression left is of a general misery, and of Cartier's growing conviction that he had insufficient manpower either to protect his base or to go in search of Saguenay. Everyone boarded the three remaining ships in early June 1542, and arrived back in Europe in October 1542. This was his last voyage. Cartier spent the rest of his life in Saint-Malo and his nearby estate, and died aged 66 on September 1, 1557 from an epidemic. He died before any permanent European settlements were made in Canada; that had to wait for Samuel de Champlain in 1608.

Monuments


- Place Jacques-Cartier, a major street in the Vieux Port of Montréal
- Jacques-Cartier River
- Jacques-Cartier Bridge

External links


- [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=34229 Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online]
- [http://catalogue.bnquebec.ca:4400/cgi-bin/bestn?id=&act=8&auto=0&nov=1&bsid=34226249&t0=seqb%28@00220326%29&i0=0&s0=5&v1=0&v2=0&v3=0&v4=0&sy=&ey=&scr=1&x=39&y=14 Bref récit et succincte narration de la navigation faite en MDXXXV et MDXXXVI 1863 facimile edition French]
-
- [http://www.cartier.f2s.com Les voyages de Jacques Cartier (in french)]

Popular references

Cartier is refered to in the song Looking for a Place to Happen by the Canadian band The Tragically Hip, on the album Fully Completely. Cartier, Jacques Cartier, Jacques Cartier, Jacques Cartier, Jacques ja:ジャック・カルティエ simple:Jacques Cartier th:ชาก การ์ติเยร์

December 31

December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. It is the final day of the Gregorian year.

Events


- 406 - Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia.
- 1600 - British East India Company is chartered.
- 1687 - The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
- 1695 - A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at the Battle of Quebec.
- 1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada
- 1862 - American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union (thus dividing Virginia in two); meanwhile, the Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
- 1879 - Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time (Menlo Park, New Jersey).
- 1904 - The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York.
- 1916 - The Hampton Terrace Hotel in North Augusta, South Carolina, one of the largest and most luxurious hotels in the USA at the time, burns to the ground.
- 1929 - Guy Lombardo plays Auld Lang Syne for the first time
- 1944 - World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany
- 1946 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
- 1955 - General Motors becomes the first American corporation to make over USD $1 billion in a year.
- 1960 - The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender.
- 1961 - The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than USD $12 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.
- 1963 - Central African Federation officially collapsed, and eventually became Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
- 1968 - Marien Ngouabi assumed the presidency of the Republic of the Congo.
- 1972 - Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.
- 1983 - The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
- 1986 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
- 1988 - Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins becomes the first player in National Hockey League history to score one goal of each type in a single hockey game: a even-strength goal, a power-play goal, a short-handed goal, a penalty shot, and an empty-net goal.
- 1990 - Russian Garry Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.
- 1991 - The Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
- 1992 - In the last of the great ITV franchise renewals, Thames Television, Television South West and Television South cease broadcasting, replaced by Carlton Television, Westcountry Television and Meridian Television respectively.
- 1995 - The publication of the last new Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip.
- 1997 - After 26 years in operation, Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee closes permanently.
- 1999 - Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, to be replaced by Vladimir Putin
- 1999 - Five hijackers, who had been holding 155 hostages on an Indian Airlines plane, leave the plane with two Islamic clerics that they had demanded be freed.
- 1999 - The Panama Canal comes completely under Panama's jurisdiction.
- 2005 (coming) - various sections of the USA PATRIOT Act are set to expire

Births


- 1378 - Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)
- 1491 - Jacques Cartier, French explorer (d. 1557)
- 1514 - Vesalius, Flemish anatomist (d. 1564)
- 1572 - Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan, (b. 1617)
- 1668 - Herman Boerhaave, Dutch humanist and physician (d. 1738)
- 1720 - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (d. 1788)
- 1738 - Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British general (d. 1805)
- 1763 - Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (d. 1806)
- 1869 - Henri Matisse, French painter and graphic artist (d. 1954)
- 1880 - George Marshall, United States Secretary of State, recipient of Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1959)
- 1881 - Max Pechstein, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1955)
- 1894 - Pola Negri, Polish actress (d. 1987)
- 1903 - Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (d. 1992)
- 1905 - Jule Styne, English-born composer (d. 1994)
- 1908 - Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor and activist (d. 2005)
- 1910 - Carl Dudley, American film director (died 1973)
- 1919 - Tommy Byrne, baseball player
- 1920 - Rex Allen, American actor and singer (d. 1999)
- 1930 - Odetta, American singer
- 1936 - Aga Khan IV, Shia Imam
- 1937 - Avram Hershko, Israeli biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- 1937 - Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor
- 1938 - Rosalind Cash, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1941 - Alex Ferguson, Scottish football player and manager
- 1943 - John Denver, American musician (d. 1997)
- 1943 - Ben Kingsley, English actor
- 1945 - Taylor Hackford, American film producer and director
- 1945 - Diane von Fürstenberg, fashion designer
- 1947 - Burton Cummings, Canadian musician (The Guess Who)
- 1947 - Tim Matheson, American actor
- 1948 - Roy Partridge, American aviator, author, inventor, scholar, and military leader
- 1948 - Donna Summer, American singer
- 1951 - George Thorogood, American musician
- 1953 - James Remar, American actor
- 1953 - Jane Badler, American actress
- 1958 - Bebe Neuwirth, American actress
- 1959 - Val Kilmer, American actor
- 1959 - Phill Kline, American politician
- 1960 - John Allen Muhammad, American serial killer
- 1963 - Scott Ian, American singer (Anthrax)
- 1964 - Allen D'Nulderf, American stuntman
- 1971 - Brent Barry, American basketball player
- 1979 - Bob Bryar, American drummer (My Chemical Romance)
- 1980 - Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player

Deaths


- 192 - Commodus, Roman Emperor (b. 161)
- 1164 - Margrave Ottokar III of Styria (b. 1124)
- 1194 - Duke Leopold V of Austria (killed at a tournament) (b. 1157)
- 1297 - Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford, English soldier (b. 1249)
- 1302 - Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1238)
- 1384 - John Wycliffe, English theologian and Bible translator
- 1424 - Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter, English military leader
- 1460 - Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (executed) (b. 1443)
- 1460 - Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1400)
- 1510 - Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1472)
- 1535 - William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1465)
- 1568 - Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese warlord (b. 1493)
- 1575 - Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (b. 1502)
- 1583 - Thomas Erastus, Swiss theologian (b. 1524)
- 1610 - Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (b. 1540)
- 1650 - Dorgon, Chinese emperor (b. 1612)
- 1673 - Oliver St John, English statesman and judge
- 1679 - Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608)
- 1691 - Dudley North, English economist (b. 1641)
- 1719 - John Flamsteed, English astonomer (b. 1646)
- 1742 - Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. 1661)
- 1799 - Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and writer (b. 1723)
- 1872 - Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author (b. 1834)
- 1877 - Gustave Courbet, French painter (b. 1819)
- 1888 - Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi (b. 1808)
- 1889 - Ion Creangă, Romanian writer (b. 1837 or 1839)
- 1921 - Boies Penrose, United States Senator from Pennsylvania (b. 1860)
- 1936 - Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish writer and philosopher (b. 1864)
- 1948 - Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver (b. 1885)
- 1969 - George Lewis, American musician (b. 1900)
- 1972 - Roberto Clemente, baseball player (b. 1934)
- 1980 - Marshall McLuhan, Canadian writer (b. 1911)
- 1980 - Raoul Walsh, American film director (b. 1887)
- 1985 - Rick Nelson, American singer (b. 1940)
- 1990 - Vasili Lazarev, cosmonaut (b. 1928)
- 1993 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first President of Georgia (b. 1939)
- 1997 - Floyd Cramer, American musician (b. 1933)
- 1999 - Elliot Richardson, American politician (b. 1920)
- 2000 - Alan Cranston, American politician (b. 1914)
- 2003 - Arthur R. von Hippel German-born physicist (b. 1898)
- 2004 - Gerard Debreu, French-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances


- The sixth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
- The evening is called New Year's Eve. At 24:00 the beginning of the new year is celebrated, see January 1.
- "Last Day of the Year", Special holiday in the Philippines
- The day and evening are called Hogmanay in Scotland.
- Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Sharaf (Honor) - First day of the 16th month of the Bahá'í Calendar

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/31 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/12/31 Today in History: December 31] ---- December 30 - January 1 - November 30 - January 31 -- listing of all days ko:12월 31일 ms:31 Disember ja:12月31日 simple:December 31 th:31 ธันวาคม

September 1

September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). There are 121 days remaining.

Events


- 5509 BC - The world was created, according to the Byzantine Empire.
- 462 - possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle
- 1532 - Lady Anne Boleyn is created Marchioness of Pembroke by her fiancée, King Henry VIII of England
- 1644 - Battle of Tippermuir, Montrose defeats Elcho's Covenanters, reviving Royalist cause
- 1715 - King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years — the longest of any major European monarch.
- 1752 - The Liberty Bell arrives in Philadelphia.
- 1772 - Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa founded in San Luis Obispo, California.
- 1804 - Juno, one of the largest main belt asteroids, was discovered by German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding.
- 1807 - Former US Vice President Aaron Burr is acquitted of treason.
- 1836 - Narcissa Whitman, one of the first white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington.
- 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Chantilly - Confederate forces attack retreating Union troops in Chantilly, Virginia.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Confederate General John Bell Hood evacuates Atlanta, Georgia after a four-month siege by General Sherman.
- 1873 - Cetshwayo ascends to the throne as king of the Zulu nation following the death of his father Mpande.
- 1875 - A murder conviction effectively forces the violent Irish anti-owner coal miners, the "Molly Maguires", to disband.
- 1894 - Great Hinckley Fire: A forest fire in Hinckley, Minnesota, kills more than 400 people.
- 1897 - The Boston subway opens, becoming the first underground metro in North America.
- 1905 - Alberta and Saskatchewan join the Canadian confederation.
- 1906 - the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) is established.
- 1914 - St. Petersburg, Russia changes its name to Petrograd.
- 1914 - The last Passenger Pigeon, a female named Martha, dies in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo.
- 1923 - The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing about 100,000 people.
- 1928 - Ahmet Zogu declares Albania to be a monarchy and proclaims himself king.
- 1939 - World War II: Nazi Germany attacks Poland, beginning the war. (See Polish September Campaign.)
- 1939 - George C. Marshall becomes Chief of Staff of the United States Army.
- 1939 - The Wound Badge for Wehrmacht and SS soldiers is instituted.
- 1951 - The United States, Australia and New Zealand sign a mutual defense pact, called the ANZUS Treaty.
- 1954 - Paul "Bear" Bryant opens his infamous 10-day football mini-camp in Junction, Texas: The Junction Boys.
- 1960 - Disgruntled railroad workers effectively halt operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the history of the company.
- 1962 - Channel Television launches to 54,000 households in the Channel Islands.
- 1969 - A coup in Libya brings Col. Moammar Qaddafi to power, ousting King Idris I.
- 1970 - The last episode of the television sitcom I Dream of Jeannie airs on NBC. The show premiered on September 18, 1965.
- 1972 - In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky and becomes the world chess champion.
- 1975 - The last original episode of the American television series Gunsmoke airs on CBS after a record 20-year run.
- 1979 - The American Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km.
- 1980 - Chun Doo-hwan becomes president of South Korea after the resignation of Choi Kyu-ha.
- 1983 - Cold War: Korean Air Flight KAL-007 is shot down by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft enters Soviet airspace. All 269 on board are killed.
- 1990 - The Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist is founded, following a split from the Communist Labour Party of Turkey.
- 1985 - A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
- 1991 - Uzbekistan declares independence from the Soviet Union
- 1999 - A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 74, including 10 on the ground.
- 2001 - Almost every single commercial television station in Vancouver, British Columbia switches network affiliations after a round of ownership changes in 2000 - the largest change in North America.
- 2004 - The Beslan school hostage crisis begins when armed terrorists take hundreds of schoolchildren and adults hostage in the Russian town of Beslan in North Ossetia.

Births


- 1453 - Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general and statesman (d. 1515)
- 1566 - Edward Alleyn, English actor (d. 1626)
- 1588 - Henry II, Prince of Condé, French nobleman (d. 1646)
- 1651 - Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, Tsaritsa of Russia (d. 1694)
- 1653 - Johann Pachelbel, German composer (d. 1706)
- 1711 - William Boyce, English composer (d. 1779)
- 1711 - William IV, Prince of Orange (d. 1759)
- 1726 - François-André Danican Philidor, French chess player (d. 1795)
- 1734 - Joseph Wright of Derby, English painter (d. 1797)
- 1848 - Auguste-Henri Forel, Swiss entomologist (d. 1931)
- 1854 - Engelbert Humperdinck, German composer (d. 1921)
- 1855 - Innokenty Annensky, Russian poet (d. 1909)
- 1875 - Edgar Rice Burroughs, American writer (d. 1950)
- 1877 - Francis William Aston, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1945)
- 1887 - Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (d. 1961)
- 1888 - Andrija Štampar, Croatian physician and World Health Organization diplomat (d. 1958)
- 1889 - Richard Arlen, American actor (d. 1976)
- 1899 - Andrei Platonov, Russian writer (d. 1951)
- 1905 - Elvera Sanchez, Puerto Rican dancer (d. 2000)
- 1906 - Joaquín Balaguer, President of the Dominican Republic (d. 2002)
- 1906 - Franz Biebl, German composer (d. 2001)
- 1907 - Walter Reuther, American labor union leader (d. 1970)
- 1913 - Christian Nyby, American director and film editor (d. 1993)
- 1920 - Richard Farnsworth, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1921 - Willem Frederik Hermans, Dutch writer (d. 1995)
- 1922 - Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian actress
- 1922 - Vittorio Gassman, Italian actor (d. 2000)
- 1923 - Rocky Marciano, American boxer (d. 1969)
- 1925 - Art Pepper, musician (d. 1982)
- 1929 - Anne Ramsey, American actress (d. 1988)
- 1933 - Ann W. Richards, American politician
- 1933 - Conway Twitty, American country music singer (d. 1993)
- 1935 - Seiji Ozawa, Japanese conductor
- 1939 - Lily Tomlin, American actress, comedienne
- 1944 - Leonard Slatkin, American conductor
- 1946 - Barry Gibb, Manx-Australian singer
- 1947 - Al Green, American politician
- 1947 - Stephen King, American author
- 1949 - P.A. Sangma, Indian politician
- 1950 - Phillip Fulmer, American football coach
- 1951 - Nicu Ceauşescu, Romanian politician
- 1952 - Phil Hendrie, American radio personality
- 1955 - Billy Blanks, American martial artist
- 1955 - Bruce Foxton, English bassist (The Jam)
- 1957 - Gloria Estefan, Cuban singer
- 1962 - Ruud Gullit, Dutch footballer
- 1966 - Tim Hardaway, American basketball player
- 1970 - Vanna, Croatian singer
- 1977 - Aaron Schobel, American football player
- 1981 - Clinton Portis, American football player
- 1983 - Jose Antonio Reyes, Spanish footballer
- 1985 - Ciara-Camile Roque Velasco, American singer

Deaths


- 921 - Richard, Duke of Burgundy
- 1067 - Baldwin V of Flanders
- 1159 - Pope Adrian IV
- 1256 - Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun (b. 1218)
- 1414 - William de Ros, 7th Baron de Ros, Lord Treasurer of England (b. 1369)
- 1557 - Jacques Cartier, French explorer (b. 1491)
- 1574 - Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (b. 1479)
- 1581 - Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (b. 1534)
- 1600 - Tadeáš Hájek, Czech physician and astronomer (b. 1525)
- 1615 - Étienne Pasquier, French lawyer and man of letters (b. 1529)
- 1648 - Marin Mersenne, French mathematician (b. 1588)
- 1685 - Leoline Jenkins, Welsh lawyer and diplomat (b. 1625)
- 1687 - Henry More, English philosopher (b. 1614)
- 1715 - François Girardon, French sculptor (b. 1628)
- 1715 - King Louis XIV of France (b. 1638)
- 1943 - Charles Atangana, Cameroonian chief
- 1957 - Dennis Brain, English French horn player (b. 1921)
- 1967 - Siegfried Sassoon, English poet and author (b. 1886)
- 1969 - Drew Pearson, American newspaper columnist (b. 1897)
- 1970 - Francois Mauriac, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
- 1977 - Ethel Waters, American singer and actress (b. 1896)
- 1981 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (b. 1905)
- 1981 - Haskell Curry, American mathematician (b. 1900)
- 1983 - Henry M. Jackson, U.S. Senator from Washington (b. 1912)
- 1988 - Luis Alvarez, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1989 - A. Bartlett Giamatti, baseball commissioner (b. 1938)
- 1999 - W. Richard Stevens, Author of Unix Network Programming and several books and IETF RFC documents (b. 1951)
- 2003 - Sir Terry Frost, British artist (b. 1915)
- 2004 - Ahmed Kuftaro, Grand Mufti of Syria (b. 1915)
- 2005 - R.L. Burnside, American musician (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances


- In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the new liturgical year begins on September 1. Also see September 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
- Church of England - Saint Giles
- Cameroon - Jour d'Union Nationale Camerounaise
- Libya - Revolution Day (1969)
- Russia - Knowledge Day
- Singapore - Teacher's Day
- Slovakia - Constitution Day
- Uzbekistan - Independence Day (from USSR, 1991)
- Start of the season when oysters are fit to eat (when month names contain an "R"). Which is also the season to have a common cold.
- Start of the partridge-shooting season ("St.Partridge").
- Start of new school year in many countries.

Fiction


- In the Harry Potter books September 1, the day on which the Hogwarts Express departs from Platform 9¾, always falls on a Sunday; this means that the first day of lessons is always a Monday.

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/1 BBC: On This Day] ---- August 31 - September 2 - August 1 - October 1 - more historical anniversaries ko:9월 1일 ja:9月1日 simple:September 1 th:1 กันยายน

1557

Events


- Spain is effectively bankrupt.
- June - Mary I of England joins her husband Philip II of Spain in his war against France.
- August 10 - Battle of St. Quentin - French forces under Marshal Anne de Montmorency are decisively defeated by the Spanish under Duke Emanuel Philibert of Savoy. Montmorency himself is captured, but Philip II refuses to press his advantage, and withdraws to the Netherlands.
- Ozdemir Pasha conquers the Red Sea port of Massawa for the Ottoman Empire
- Emperor Ogimachi ascends to the throne of Japan
- Hampton School, Hampton, London, England founded by Robert Hammond.

Births


- February 15 - Vittoria Accoramboni, Italian noblewoman (died 1585)
- February 24 - Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1619)
- May 31 - Tsar Feodor I of Russia (died 1598)
- August 16 - Agostino Carracci, Italian painter and graphical artist (died 1602)
- August 19 - Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (died 1608)
- September 16 - Jacques Mauduit, French composer (died 1627)
- Julius Caesar, English judge and politician (died 1636)
- Giovanni Croce, Italian composer (died 1609)
- Giovanni Gabrieli, Italian composer and organist (died 1612)
- Balthasar Gérard, assassin of William I of Orange (died 1584)
- Toda Katsushige, Japanese warlord (died 1600)
- Olaus Martini, Archbishop of Uppsala
- Thomas Morley, English composer (died 1602)
- Oda Nobutada, Japanese general (died 1582) See also :Category: 1557 births.

Deaths


- January 2 - Pontormo, Italian painter (b. 1494)
- April 9 - Mikael Agricola, Finnish scholar
- April 21 - Petrus Apianus, German astronomer (born 1495)
- June 11 - King John III of Portugal (born 1502)
- July 16 - Anne of Cleves, queen of Henry VIII of England (born 1515)
- August 1 - Olaus Magnus, Swedish ecclesiastic and writer (born 1490)
- September 1 - Jacques Cartier, French explorer (born 1491)
- September 13 - John Cheke, English classical scholar and statesman (born 1514)
- September 27 - Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (born 1497)
- October 25 - William Cavendish, English courtier (born 1505)
- November 19 - Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (born 1494)
- December 13 - Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia, Italian mathematician (born 1499)
- Sebastian Cabot, explorer (born 1476)
- Thomas Crecquillon, Flemish composer (born 1490)
- Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, Spanish historian (born 1478)
- Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts, French translator
- Jean Salmon Macrin, French poet (born 1490)
- Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, Spanish historian (born 1478)
- Albert the Warlike, Prince of Bayreuth (born 1522) See also :Category: 1557 deaths. Category:1557 ko:1557년 simple:1557

Canada

Canada is the second largest country in the world in terms of area, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean with claims extending to the North Pole. The northern-most country on the mainland of North America, Canada has land borders only with the United States. Governed as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, Canada is a federation of ten provinces with three territories. Initially constituted in 1867, the country's constitution was patriated in 1982 from the United Kingdom. Canada's head of state is its monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented in Canada by the Governor General, presently Michaëlle Jean. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Paul Martin; his minority government recently lost a vote of non-confidence in the Canadian House of Commons and asked for the dissolution of the Parliament by the Governor General, who then issued a Royal proclamation authorising the issue of election writs, and stating a federal election will take place on 2006 January 23. Canada's official languages are English and French. As of 2005, its official population estimate is approximately 32.4 million [http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm].

Overview

The capital city is Ottawa, Ontario, the seat of Canada's Parliament. The Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, and the Speaker of the House of Commons have official residences in the National Capital Region.National Capital Region, Ontario.]] Originally a union of British colonies with significant French influence and entitled as a "dominion", Canada is a founding member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and La Francophonie. Canada defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English is the official (and majority) language in most provinces of Canada.
- French is the official language of Quebec, an official language of New Brunswick, and is spoken in various areas throughout the country.
- Several Aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories; Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut and has official status there. Canada is a technologically advanced and industrialized nation. It is a net exporter of energy because of its large fossil fuel deposits, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capacity. Its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and trade, particularly with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship. Canada has ten provinces and three territories: Canada's major cities that are not capital cities include Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Calgary, Alberta.

Canada's name

The name Canada is believed to come from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, locals used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to Stadacona, site of present-day Quebec City. Cartier used Canada to refer not only to Stadacona, but also to the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.

History

Aboriginal tradition holds that the First Peoples have inhabited parts of what is now called Canada since the dawn of time. Archaeological records show that these lands have been inhabited for at least 10,000 years. Several Viking expeditions occurred circa AD 1000, with evidence of settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. British claims to North America date from 1497, when John Cabot reached what he called Newfoundland, though it is unclear whether Cabot landed in current Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or Maine. French claims date from explorations by Jacques Cartier (from 1534) and Samuel de Champlain (from 1603). Neither Cabot's nor Cartier's explorations left any permanent settlers behind. On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1604, French settlers were the first Europeans to settle permanently in what is now Canada. After an unsuccessful winter in St. Croix Island (today in Maine), they settled Port-Royal in what is now the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, but moved to found Quebec City in 1608. The current Acadians are descendants of settlers who came later in the same century and re-founded Port-Royal. New France was generally the name given to the French colonies of Canada and Acadia (and later Louisiana).Louisiana, depicts British General Wolfe's final moments during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.]] British settlements were established along the Atlantic seaboard and around Hudson Bay. As these colonies expanded, a struggle for control of North America took place between 1689 and 1763 (see French and Indian Wars), exacerbated by wars in Europe between France and Great Britain. France progressively lost territory to Great Britain, surrendering peninsular Nova Scotia in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and the remainder of New France including what was left of Acadia in the Treaty of Paris (1763). During and after the American Revolution approximately 70,000 [http://www.uelac.org/whatis.html] Loyalists fled the Thirteen Colonies. Of these, roughly 50,000 United Empire Loyalists [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0850061.html] settled in the British North American colonies which then consisted of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Province of Quebec, and Prince Edward Island (created 1769). To accommodate the Loyalists, Britain created the colony of New Brunswick in 1784 from part of Nova Scotia, and divided Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. The War of 1812 began when the U.S. attacked British forces in Canada in an attempt to end British influence in North America (and particularly, the British seizures of American merchant ships in the Atlantic). In April 1813, U.S. forces burned York (now Toronto). The British/Canadians retaliated with the burning of Washington (DC) in a surprise attack in August 1814, but were subsequently turned back at Plattsburgh, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814. It was only after the French and Napoleonic wars ended in Europe that large-scale immigration to Canada resumed. The Canadas were merged into a single colony, the United Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840) in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Once the U.S. agreed to the 49th parallel north as its border with western British North America, the British government created the colonies of British Columbia in 1848 and Vancouver Island in 1849. By the late 1850s, politicians in the Province of Canada had launched a series of western exploratory expeditions with the intention of assuming control of Rupert's Land (administered by the Hudson's Bay Company) and the Arctic. In 1864 and 1866, British North American politicians, in what became known as the Great Coalition, held three conferences to create a federal union. Spearheaded by John A. Macdonald, on July 1, 1867, three colonies—Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were granted a constitution, the British North America Act, by the United Kingdom, creating the Dominion of Canada. The term "Canadian Confederation" refers to this 1867 unification of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (formerly Canada East or Lower Canada), and Ontario (formerly Canada West or Upper Canada). The remaining British colonies and territories soon joined Confederation. By 1880 Canada included all of its present area except for Newfoundland and Labrador, which joined in 1949. (It should be noted that, although part of Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan did not gain Provincial status until 1905.) Newfoundland and Labrador In 1919, Canada became a member of the League of Nations and, in the Imperial Conference of 1926, Canada assumed full control of its own through the Balfour Declaration. In 1927, Canada appointed its first ambassador to a foreign country, the United States. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster gave the Balfour Declaration constitutional force, confirming that no act of the UK's parliament would thereafter extend to Canada without its consent. Canadian citizenship was first distinguished from British in 1947; judicial appeals to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ended in 1949. The power to amend Canada's constitution remained with the British parliament, although subject to the Statute of Westminster, until it was finally "patriated" to Canadian control by the Canada Act 1982. The Quebec sovereignty movement has led to two referendums held in 1980 and 1995, with votes of 59.6% and 50.6% respectively against its proposals for sovereignty-association. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional.

Geography

unconstitutionalCanada occupies the northern portion (precisely 41%) of North America. It is bordered to the south by the contiguous United States and to the northwest by Alaska. The length of these borders are 6,416 km (3,987 mi) and 2,477 km (1,539 mi), respectively. Off the southern coast of Newfoundland lies Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas community of France. The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west (hence the country's motto). To the north lies the Arctic Ocean; Greenland is to the northeast. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141° W longitude ([http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1927/1]); this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5° N – just 834 kilometres (518 mi) from the North Pole. Also, the magnetic North Pole lies within Canadian boundaries (although is moving towards Siberia). Canada is the world's second-largest country in total area, after Russia. Much of Canada lies in Arctic regions, however, and thus Canada has only the fourth-most arable land area behind Russia, China, and the U.S. The population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre (9.0/mi²) is among the lowest in the world: Canada has more land area than the U.S., but only one-ninth of its population. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Axis in the east. To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers—over 60% of the world's lakes are in Canada. The Canadian Shield encircles the immense Hudson Bay, extending from Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories at its westernmost point, to the Atlantic coast in Labrador in the east. Newfoundland, North America's easternmost island if Greenland is excluded, is at the mouth of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. The Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward from the southern coasts of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province. Prince Edward Island; at 5 959 m (19,551 ft), Canada's highest point and second highest in North America.]]West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia. Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands. Some specific geographical features of note include the world's largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island, which divides Georgian Bay and Lake Huron and the world's longest freshwater beach, Wasaga Beach, on the Georgian Bay shoreline. Thanks to past glacial activity in the Canadian Shield, Canada boasts a considerable reserve of fresh water and more lakes than any other nation, roughly two million in all, the overwhelming majority of which are relatively small.

Climate

Canada has a reputation for cold temperatures in the winter months. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the Prairie Provinces. Temperatures can reach lows of -50°C (-58°F) in the far North however, such low temperatures are not the norm; the record coldest temperature in North America was -63°C (-81°F), at Snag, Yukon, in 1947. Coastal British Columbia is an exception: it enjoys a temperate climate with much milder winters than the rest of the country however, rainy winters are common. Summers in Canada range from mild (low 20s Celsius [70°F]) on the east and west coasts, to hot (mid 20s to low 30s Celsius [75-90°F]) in Central Canada, the Prairies and the intermontane regions of British Columbia. The highest recorded temperature in Canada was 45°C (113°F) at both Midale and Yellow Grass in Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937. For a more complete description of weather norms around Canada, go to www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html

Politics

1937] Canada's head of state is the monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and commonly referred to as the Queen of Canada. However, the day-to-day duties of head of state are exercised by the Governor General, who is generally a retired politician, military leader, or other notable Canadian; the current Governor General is Michaëlle Jean. All government authority is derived from the monarch, and executive power is wielded by the Prime Minister of Canada and the cabinet. The Governor General is formally appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is a non-partisan figure who fulfils many ceremonial and symbolic roles including providing Royal Assent to bills, reading the Speech from the Throne, officially welcoming dignitaries of foreign countries, presenting honours such as the Order of Canada, signing state documents, formally opening and ending sessions of Parliament, and dissolving Parliament for an election. The Governor General is also the titular Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. The position of Governor General also beholds considerable reserve powers, but these have been rarely used. The last to do so was Jeanne Sauvé, who ignored the National Capital Commission and closed the grounds of Rideau Hall in the late 1980s; the most famous use of the Governor General's extraordinary powers was during the King-Byng Affair in 1926. Canada's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists of [http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/const/index.html written text] and unwritten traditions and conventions (see Westminster system). The federal government and the governments of nine provinces agreed to the patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it, at a meeting of First Ministers in November 1981. The Quebec government did not agree to the changes, and Quebec nationalists refer to that night as the Night of the Long Knives. The patriation of the Constitution included the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that, generally, cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. It contains, however, a "notwithstanding clause", which allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures the power to override other sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years. notwithstanding clause]]The position of Prime Minister, Canada's head of government, in practice belongs to the leader of the political party who can command a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and his or her cabinet are formally appointed by the Governor General; however, the Prime Minister effectively chooses the cabinet and the Governor General, by convention, has to appoint the Prime Minister's desired choices. The Cabinet is drawn, by convention, from members of the prime minister's party in both legislative houses, though mostly from the Commons. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada and become ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises a great deal of individual political power, especially in terms of the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service. The legislative branch of government has two houses: the elected House of Commons and the appointed Senate. Each member in the Commons is elected by simple plurality in one electoral district or "riding"; general elections are called by the Governor General when the prime minister so advises, and must occur every five years or less. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the prime minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75. electoral district]]Canada has four main political parties today. The traditionally centrist / left-of-centre Liberal Party of Canada formed the government in Canada for most of the 20th century, and is the party of the current Prime Minister Paul Martin. The only other party to have formed a government is the now-defunct, right-of-centre Progressive Conservative (PC) Party and its predecessor, the Conservative Party, which was the dominant political party in the 19th century. The PC Party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form a new rightist Conservative Party of Canada in December 2003. The New Democratic Party (NDP) is the major party furthest to the political left. The Bloc Québécois promotes Quebec independence from Canada and currently holds a majority of Quebec's seats in the Commons. There are many smaller parties and, while none have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial. Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter; its nine members are directly appointed by Cabinet. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are selected and appointed by the federal government, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail). Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in most provinces policing is contracted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP is one of few police forces in the world to perform three different levels of enforcement: municipal, provincial, and federal.

Foreign relations

Canada has a close relationship with the United States, sharing the world's longest undefended border, co-operating on some military campaigns and exercises, and being each other's largest trading partners. Canada also shares a history and long relationship with the United Kingdom as its "mother country". United Kingdom.]] In the last century, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to reach out to the rest of the world and promoting itself as a "middle power" able to work with large and small nations alike. This was clearly demonstrated during the Suez Crisis when Lester B. Pearson mollified the tension by introducing the idea of peacekeeping and the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. In 1957, Pearson was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. In that spirit, Canada developed and has tried to maintain a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. Canada has cumulatively contributed more troops to peacekeeping operations worldwide than all other nations combined and currently serves in over 40 different peacekeeping missions, most recently in Afghanistan. Canada has contributed in some way to all UN peacekeeping missions. Canada is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Organization of American States (OAS), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization, the G8, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Military

Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationA founding member of the NATO alliance, Canada currently employs about 62,000 regular and 26,000 reserve military personnel.[http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/about/family_e.asp] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) are comprised of army, navy, and air force branches. Major CF equipment deployed includes 2,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 140 combat aircraft. Defence is an exclusive federal jurisdiction: defence spending in fiscal year 2004-5 was approximately $14 billion.[http://www.vcds.forces.gc.ca/dgsp/pubs/rep-pub/ddm/rpp/rpp05-06/sec3c_e.asp] However, in the 2005 federal budget, the Liberal government allocated an additional $12.8 billion over five years to the armed forces, and committed to increasing troop levels by an additional 8,000 regular and reserve personnel over the same period.[http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget05/speech/speeche.htm] Canadian forces have served in various wars including World War I, World War II, the Korean War and recently, in Afghanistan. Since Lester B. Pearson proposed the first UN peacekeeping force in 1956, the Canadian Forces have served in 42 peacekeeping missions — more than any other country. Canada was also the prime destination of American draft dodgers during the Vietnam War. These factors – along with its comparatively low level of military spending, other positions such as nuclear non-proliferation, and an international treaty banning personnel land mine usage – have led to Canada sometimes being referred to as a pacifist country. Battles significantly contributing to Canada's development and self-identity include the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Second Battle of Ypres, the Third Battle of Ypres, and Juno Beach. Currently, CF personnel are involved in the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Smaller missions are also taking place in Haiti and Kosovo. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in two relief operations in the last year. The two-hundred member relief crew helped in Southeast Asia after the December 2004 tsunami, and DART was also deployed in response to the devastating earthquake that struck the Kashmir region in South Asia in October 2005. Moreover, CF (and RCMP) personnel recently assisted in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Provinces and territories of Canada

Canada is composed of ten provinces and three territories. The provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, the territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols. The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. The federal government can initiate national policies that the provinces can opt out of, but this rarely happens in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces. All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years. Lieutenant-Governor.]] Most provinces have provincial counterparts to the three national federal parties. However, some provincial parties are not formally linked to the federal parties that share the same name. Some provinces have regional political parties, such as the Saskatchewan