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Alexander Roberts Dunn, VC, army officer (born 15 September 1833 in York, Upper Canada; died 25 January 1868 near Senafe, Abyssinia). During the Crimean War, Lieutenant Dunn was the first Canadian ever to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire.

French Canadian attitudes toward monarchical government and members of the French and, later, British royal families have changed over time. King Louis XIV of France made New France a crown colony and supported its expansion and economic development. King George III of Great Britain granted royal assent to the Quebec Act in 1774, which guaranteed freedom of worship and French Canadian property rights. Early royal tours of Quebec were well received by the public. There was republican sentiment expressed during the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837, however, and support for the monarchy in Quebec declined sharply following the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Today, polling data indicates that a majority of people in Quebec support the abolition of the monarchy in Canada.

Joseph Howe, journalist, publisher, politician, premier of Nova Scotia, lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia (born 13 December 1804 in Halifax, NS; died 1 June 1873 in Halifax, NS). Howe was well-known in his time as an ardent defender of freedom of the press and freedom of speech, and was also a champion of responsible government. He was a prominent figure in the movement opposed to Confederation, yet later, as a federal Cabinet minister, played an important role in securing Manitoba’s entry to Confederation.

Peter Vasilevich Verigin, Doukhobor leader (born 1859 in Slavianka, Russia; died October 1924 near Grand Forks, British Columbia). Exiled in Russia, Verigin immigrated to Canada in 1902. There, he became a powerful and controversial Doukhobor leader in Western Canada. Verigin died when the train in which he was travelling exploded, leading some to believe he was assassinated.

Laura Secord, née Ingersoll, Loyalist, mythologized historic figure (born 13 September 1775 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts; died 17 October 1868 in Chippawa [Niagara Falls], ON). During the War of 1812, Laura Secord walked 30 km from Queenston to Beaver Dams, near Thorold, Ontario, to warn British Lieutenant James FitzGibbon that the Americans were planning to attack his outpost. The story of her trek has become legendary, and Secord herself mythologized in Canadian history.

James FitzGibbon (sometimes spelled Fitzgibbon), soldier, public servant (born 16 November 1780 in Glin, County Limerick, Ireland; died 12 December 1863 in Windsor Castle, England). Lieutenant and hero of the War of 1812, James FitzGibbon is best known for his actions as a guerrilla fighter who harassed the American forces, and for being the soldier whom Laura Secord informed of the American surprise attack after the capture of Fort George in May 1813. (See also Battle of Beaver Dams.) Tough and wily, FitzGibbon was one of the few soldiers who fought both conventional battles and irregular warfare during the War of 1812.

Peter Easton, privateer, pirate (born c. 1570 in England; died c. 1620). Easton visited Newfoundland in 1602, a year before becoming a pirate. He returned to Newfoundland in 1612 and built a fort at Harbour Grace. Easton plundered Basque, Spanish, English, French and Portuguese ships on the Newfoundland coast, in Puerto Rico and at the Azores islands. When pardoned by the English King James I, Easton purchased a castle in Savoy where he lived a life of leisure.

Sir Charles Bagot, diplomat (born 23 Sept 1781 at Blithfield Hall, England; died 19 May 1843 in Kingston, Canada). Born to a wealthy and influential family, Bagot was elected to the British Parliament in 1807. He served in the cabinet as undersecretary of state for foreign affairs before appointments as Britain’s minister to France (1814), the United States (1816-19), Russia (1820-24), and the Netherlands (1824-32). As Britain’s minister to the United States, he negotiated the 1817 Rush-Bagot Agreement which reduced the number of military ships on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain and helped secure the Canadian-American border. From 1841-43, he served as Governor General of the Province of Canada, advancing responsible government and French-English equality in the colony.

Tales of swashbuckling pirates have captured audiences from around the globe for centuries. Among them is the story of Eric Cobham and his wife Maria Lindsay. Legend has it that the couple established a base in St. George’s Bay, Newfoundland, from which they attacked ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from 1740 to 1760. The couple is then said to have moved to France where they lived in a lavish estate. Cobham became a magistrate and judge while still occasionally committing acts of piracy. Lindsay died under mysterious circumstances and Cobham died in 1780 after allegedly dictating the story of his exploits. However, his memoirs were lost and therefore, the adventures of Cobham and Lindsay can’t be proven. This has led some experts to contend that the couple are nothing more than characters in a pirate tale.

Andrew Charles Mynarski, Royal Canadian Air Force pilot officer, Victoria Cross recipient (born 14 October 1916 in Winnipeg, MB; died 13 June 1944 in Cambrai, France). Mynarksi served as a gunner on bomber aircraft during the Second World War. While on a mission on 12 June 1944, his plane was attacked and on fire when, rather than jumping to safety, he ran through flames to try to rescue his fellow crewmember who was trapped in the rear gun turret. Unable to extricate his friend, Mynarski parachuted safely to the ground but later died due to severe burns. His bravery earned him many posthumous commendations, including the Victoria Cross.

Louis-Olivier Gamache, sailor, merchant (born in 1784 in L’Islet, Quebec; died September 1854 on Île d' Anticosti, Quebec). Gamache lived on Île d' Anticosti at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and his exploits, either true or legend, became part of the region’s oral tradition. He is said to have joined the British navy and many years later, returned to Quebec to settle on Île d'Anticosti where he was a merchant and, according to legend, a dangerous pirate. Some accounts also allege that Gamache demonstrated supernatural powers and had a personal relationship with the devil.

Around 2,800 years ago (ca. 800 BCE), the Palaeo-Inuit groups living in the Eastern North American Arctic began to drastically change. These later Palaeo-Inuit groups are collectively called the “Dorset” by archaeologists. They had many differences from their Pre-Dorset ancestors. The Dorset people would persist in the Arctic until roughly 600-700 years ago (ca. 1300-1400 CE). After this point, they disappeared. This happened only a few centuries after the arrival of early Inuit (Thule) groups. They were genetically and culturally distinct from the Dorset.

Archaeologists separate this roughly 2,000-year period of Dorset existence into three different periods or traditions. These periods are the Early Dorset (ca. 800 BCE to 1 CE), Middle Dorset (ca. 1 to 500 CE) and Late Dorset (ca. 500 to 1400 CE). There is ongoing debate regarding the differences and similarities between these time periods. However, changes in terms of technology, domestic architecture, mobility and geographic range did occur (see also Dorset Culture).

The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was the forerunner of Canada's iconic Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Created after Confederation to police the frontier territories of the Canadian West, the NWMP ended the whiskey trade on the southern prairies and the violence that came with it. They helped the federal government suppress the North-West Resistance and brought order to the Klondike Gold Rush. The NWMP pioneered the enforcement of federal law in the West, and the Arctic, from 1873 until 1920.

René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, would-be Jesuit, fur trader, explorer, intriguer, discoverer of the Mississippi delta (b at Rouen, France 21 Nov 1643; assassinated 19 Mar 1687 in Texas).

Deskaheh (also known as Levi General), Cayuga (Gayogohó:no') chief and speaker of the Six Nations Hereditary Council (born in 1873 on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, ON; died on 25 June 1925 at the Tuscarora Reservation, New York). A member of the Longhouse religion, Deskaheh insisted that the Six Nations retain their languages and distinctive culture.

Cuthbert Grant, fur trader, Métis leader (born circa 1793 in Fort de la Rivière Tremblante, SK; died 15 July 1854 in White Horse Plains, MB). Grant led the Métis to victory at Seven Oaks in 1816 and founded the Métis community Grantown (later St. François Xavier), Manitoba, in 1824. Today, Cuthbert Grant is hailed as a founder of the Métis nation. (See also Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

Rupert Raj, transgender activist, trans social author, former psychotherapist (born 10 February 1952 in Ottawa, ON). Raj is a transgender pioneer who dedicated his career to clinical research, counselling and advocacy for the transgender community. Raj established (and co-established) some of Canada's earliest trans advocacy organizations, including the Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Transsexuals (disbanded). Raj also established the first known national transsexual newsletter in Canada, Gender Review: A FACTual Journal. (See also Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights in Canada.)