Important Dates in Newfoundland History
This list is not meant to be exhaustive - it is continually being added to.
Some information taken from the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website.
11th Century - VIKING SETTLEMENT
The first Europeans known definitely to set foot in Newfoundland were the Norse. L'Anse aux Meadows, on Newfoundland’s northern peninsula appears to have been a small Norse settlement of about eight buildings and no more than 75 people, mostly sailors, carpenters, blacksmiths, hired hands and perhaps even serfs or slaves. It is probable therefore that the settlement was a base camp for repairing and maintaining Norse ships. Archaeologists have concluded that the habitation there was little more than a seasonal camp, never occupied for more than a few seasons, and never developing into the sort of permanent settlement which had been established in Greenland.
1497 - DISCOVERY
John Cabot, in the ship Matthew, with sixteen English seamen and one Burgundian, first sighted land at early morn, June 24th. Tradition points to Cape Bonavista as the land first seen, but this landfall is disputed by some historians.1498-1502 - FIRST REGULAR FISHERY
Started between 1498 and 1502. Rev. Phillip Tocquee, deceased local historian, said that in 1502 year the Portuguese established the first regular fishery in Newfoundland. Judge Prowse says in his history that the English fished here in 1498, and that records show their continuous operations from that date.1583 - POSSESSION OF NEWFOUNDLAND
Sir Humphrey Gilbert reached the harbour of St. John's, August 3rd. Queen Elizabeth gave him letters patent authorizing him to take possession of Newfoundland. On August 5th Sir Humphrey and his men landed, and the ceremony of taking possession was performed.1623 - SIR GEORGE CALVERT ARRIVES
Sir George Calvert, afterwards Lord Baltimore, a native of Yorkshire, arrived. He obtained a patent from King James I., conveying to him a whole of the Southern Peninsula of Newfoundland, extending from Trinity Bay to Placentia Bay, and it was named by him Avalon. He planted his colony at Ferryland, forty miles North of Cape Race, where he built a fine house and was resided for many years with his family. He left for Maryland, one of the American colonies, where he founded the city of Baltimore.1662 - PLACENTIA FOUNDED BY THE FRENCH
Placentia, known as "ye ancient capital," was founded by the French.
1829 - THE LAST BEOTHUK
Shanawdithit, the last known Beothuk, died in St. John's in 1829. The Beothuks were the aboriginal people of the island of Newfoundland. They were hunter-gatherers who probably numbered less than a thousand people at the time of European contact. Archaeologists have concluded that Beothuk extinction was not the result of a genocidal campaign by white settlers, but rather the result of European disease and starvation - the latter resulting from an expanding European settler population that denied the Beothuks access to the vital resources of the sea. Historians and archaeologists have commented on the fact that the Beothuks appear to have generally avoided contact with Europeans, and that there was virtually no fur trade between European traders and the Beothuks.1832 - REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT
The bill to grant representative government to Newfoundland came before the British Parliament in 1832, and after an election held in the fall of that year, the new system came into operation the following year.1833 - FIRST SESSION OF ASSEMBLY
On Monday, January 1st, the first local Parliament was opened by Governor Cochrane.1855 - RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT IS GRANTED
Responsible government was granted by the Imperial Government, and on May 22nd, Governor Darling opened the House of Assembly.1881 - NEWFOUNDLAND RAILWAY STARTED
First sod for railway construction was turned, August 29th. The first locomotive arrived December 5th. The first railway depot was at Fort William, which stood where the Newfoundland Hotel now stands.1885 - THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL IN ST.JOHN’S
The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John's was the largest building project to its date in Newfoundland history. Construction lasted from the excavation of the ground in May 1839, through the laying of the cornerstone in May 1841, until the consecration in September 1855. Bishop Fleming wanted to build "a temple superior to any other in the Island”. Newspapers reported scenes which can only be described as heroic: old women removing soil in their aprons during the two days of excavation which saw 8,800 cubic yards of soil removed; enormous stones blasted out of Signal Hill and hauled across frozen harbour ice by gangs of men and boys, through the town to the site; Fleming up to his waist in water in February on the beach at Kelly's Island in Conception Bay, loading stone onto the small boats of Protestant and Catholic vessel owners for conveyance to St. John's; the largest procession ever through the streets of St. John's in May 1841 for the laying of the cornerstone; and Fleming himself bedaubed with mortar, clambering around the scaffolding 120 feet off the ground, directing the construction personally.1885 - RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT
'Responsible government' meant that the Executive Council, or the government, was 'responsible' to the legislature. In other words, the governor, as the Crown's representative, appointed elected members of the Assembly - and sometimes members of the appointed upper house, the Legislative Council - to administer the colony. They held office only so long as they were able to maintain the support of a majority of members in the House of Assembly.1886 - ST. JOHN'S FIRST LIGHTED BY ELECTRICITY
On November 1st, the streets of St. John's were first lit by electricity.1888 - DOLLARS AND CENTS INTRODUCED
Dollars and cents were introduced as Newfoundland currency, which hitherto had been proud, shillings and pence.1892 - ST. JOHN'S DESTROTED BY FIRE
On July 8th a fire started in a barn at the junction of Pennywell and Freshwater Roads. Before nightfall, half of the city was destroyed and 11,000 people were rendered homeless.1898 - FIRST MAIL AND PASSENGER TRAIN
The first regular mail and passenger train to Port aux Basques left St. John's station at 6 p.m., July 25th.1901 - THE FIRST TRANS-ATLANTIC MESSAGE
Italian-born Guglielmo Marconi began experimenting with wireless telegraphy in 1894. In December of 1901, Marconi assembled his receiver at Signal Hill, St. John's, nearly the closest point to Europe in North America. He set up his receiving apparatus in an abandoned hospital that straddled the cliff facing Europe on the top of Signal Hill. After unsuccessful attempts to keep an antenna aloft with balloons and kites, because of the high winds, he eventually managed to raise an antenna with a kite for a short period of time for each of a few days. On December 12th, Marconi pressed his ear to the telephone headset of his rudimentary receiver and successfully heard "pip, pip, pip" - 1700 miles from the transmitter. This demonstrated that transatlantic wireless communication was possible. In 1904, Marconi installed a wireless station at Cape Race, the station that was later to receive the SOS message from the Titanic in 1912.
1908 - FPU ESTABLISHED
On November 3rd a mass meeting of fishermen was held at Herring Neck, in the L.O.A. Hall, to consider the establishing a fishermen's union for Newfoundland. Mr. W. F. Coaker (now Sir W.F. Coaker) was the convenor of the meeting and was elected pesident. This meeting marked the birth of the Fishermen's Protective Union, which was later destined to exercise a large influence in the political, commercial, and general economic life of the country, and to enroll 25,000 fishermen under its banner.1914 - BOWRING PARK OPENED
Bowring Park was opened by Duke of Connaught, who was visiting St. John's in July.1915 - PROHIBITION LAW PASSED
Total Prohibition for the whole island was established. It required 40 per cent of the registered voters at the election of 1913 in order to make prohibition operative. The total vote polled for prohibition was 24,965, against 5,348. It came into force on January 1st, 1917.1919 - FIRST SUCCESSFUL AIR FLIGHT
Alcock's winnign air flight started at St. John's on the evening of saturday, June 14th. During the foggy night he crossed the Atlantic, and a landing was made at Clifden, Ireland, after a flight of 15 hours and 57 minutes. The distance flown over the ocean was 1,800 miles. Both Capt. Alock and his pilot, Lieutenant A. Whitten Brown, were knighted by the King for their feat.1923 - GRACE MATERNITY HOSPITAL
1The Grace Hospital was opened on December 10th. It was staffed and administered by the Salvation Army in conjuction with an inter-denominational advisory board and Newfoundland medical practitioners.1925 - NEWFOUNDLAND HOTEL
The Newfoundland Hotel opened its doors to receive guests for the first time on July 1st, 1925, by Messrs. T.E. Rousseau, Ltd., of Quebec, and was soon raised to tower above the surrounding duildings. TThe building is erected on the site of the old Fort William.1925 - MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Memorial University College (MUC) officially opened on 15 September 1925, and began to offer the first two years of university training in the arts and sciences. Today it is called the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and is the largest university in Atlantic Canada. Memorial has built and cultivated a number of large researchpartnerships with business and government.
1927 - THE DISPUTE OVER LABRADOR
The long-standing dispute with Québec over the ownership of Labrador officially ended in 1927, when the British Privy Council reaffirmed Newfoundland's control. The new borders set by the council increased Labrador's original land area by about 285,000 sq km (about 110,000 sq mi). Québec refused to accept the decision.1934 to 1949 - COMMISSION OF GOVERNMENT
In 1933 the Newfoundland legislature voted itself temporarily out of existence, ending 79 years of responsible government. A country voluntarily giving up self-government in this manner is highly unusual. The following year, Newfoundland accepted a constitution similar to those in place in the directly-controlled Crown colonies. A Commission of Government controlled the country, which consisted of seven persons appointed by the British government. No elections took place, and no legislature was convened, for the next 15 years.1939 to 1945 - WORLD WAR II
Newfoundland's economy revived after the Great Depression as markets for its products were reestablished and fortifications were constructed. Its strategic position in the North Atlantic made it a prime location for Canadian and United States air and naval bases. Early in the war, Canadian troops were stationed in Newfoundland, and in 1941 the United States built bases near St. John's and at Stephenville and Argentia. Canadian bases were located at Gander and Goose Bay.1942 - THE DISASTER OF THE TRUXTON & POLLUX
On 18 February 1942, a blinding snow blizzard forced two U.S. ships - the S.S.
Pollux and the S.S. Truxton - to run aground near St. Lawrence within two
miles and a few hours of each other. When the alarm went out, men rushed from the Director and Iron Springs mines to the scene of the disaster. Some risked life and limb by launching dories into the storm toward the stricken vessels. Others threw ropes from cliff tops down to the beaches and hauled the sailors inch by inch up the precipice, using mine lamps to illuminate their work. Those survivors who could, walked back to town. The rest were pulled on sleds to the Iron Springs mine for first aid and then to St. Lawrence for soup and shelter. Altogether, 182 men were saved by the local people. When the American sailors returned home they praised their rescuers so highly that the United States government felt moved to present St. Lawrence with a hospital.
1949 - CONFEDERATION WITH CANADA
Newfoundland became the tenth province of Canada just before midnight on March 31st, 1949, after two referendums. Joey Smallwood’s campaign for Confederation gained 78,323 votes (52.3 percent), while the campaign for a return to responsible government received 71,334 votes (47.7 percent). Many patriotic Newfoundlanders considered this to be a dark day in Newfoundland’s history, while some welcomed the financial support that joining Canada would bring.1965 - TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY
The Newfoundland section of the Trans-Canada Highway was completed and opened in 1965.1974 - CHURCHILL FALLS
Construction on the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant broke ground in 1966, and the project was completed in 1974. At the time, it was the largest construction project in North America, employing 30,000 workers over its seven-year construction period, 6200 at its peak. The hydro contract, through which the Province of Québec reaps most of the financial benefits from the project, became an embarrassment to Newfoundland's Smallwood government.1985 - MILITARY AIRCRAFT CRASH IN GANDER
On December 12, 1985, an Arrow Air DC-8 crashed on take-off at the end of runway 22 at Gander International airport. On board were 248 service men and women of the 101st Airborne Division, United States Army, and 8 Arrow Air crew members. There were no survivors. The cause of the crash is still in dispute today.1992 - COLLAPSE OF THE COD FISHERY
A dark day in Newfoundland’s history. The collapse of the cod fishery caused the federal government to shut down the industry that had sustained many Newfoundland communities from their beginnings. Fortunately, jobs associated with the development of the offshore Hibernia oil field, and the growth of fisheries for other species prevented the collapse of the economy, along with special government programs of compensation for the moratorium on fishing.1994 - THE END OF THE DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS SYSTEM
After protracted negotiations with, in particular, the Roman Catholic and Pentecostal Churches, who strongly opposed reform, and after two referenda in favour of change, the Liberal government of Brian Tobin finally passed the necessary legislation to form a non-denominational school system, 155 years after the first denominational Education Act.
