| 10,500 BP
|
The first inhabitants of British Columbia are living in the Peace River country in the north.
|
| 1778
|
Captain James Cook arrives in two ships on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
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| 1785
|
The first ship arrives on the coast of British Columbia to trade for sea otter skins.
|
| 1792-94
|
Captain George Vancouver explores the coast.
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| 1793
|
Alexander Mackenzie arrives at the Pacific after crossing North America by foot and canoe.
|
| 1805
|
Fur traders build the first trading post in British Columbia.
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| 1808
|
Simon Fraser canoes to the mouth of the Fraser River.
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| 1827
|
Fort Langley is built on the Fraser River.
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| 1843
|
Fort Victoria, the headquarters of the fur trade in British Columbia, opens.
|
| 1849
|
The colony of Vancouver Island is created.
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| 1850
|
The Haida on the Queen Charlotte Islands trade some gold nuggets with the Hudson's Bay Company, the first time gold is discovered in BC.
|
| 1856
|
Aboriginal people show gold nuggets to the trader at Fort Kamloops.
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| 1858
|
First shipload of prospectors arrives in Victoria from San Francisco.
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| 1858
|
The mainland of British Columbia becomes a separate colony.
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| 1859
|
The townsite of New Westminster, capital of the new colony, is laid out by military surveyors.
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| 1862
|
The town of Barkerville is founded in the Cariboo.
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| 1862
|
Smallpox epidemic devastates Aboriginal population.
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| 1865
|
The Cariboo Road reaches Barkerville.
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| 1866
|
The colony on the mainland joins with Vancouver Island to become a single colony called British Columbia.
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| 1868
|
The high point of the Cariboo gold rush has passed.
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| 1871
|
The colony of British Columbia becomes a province of Canada.
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| 1871
|
The first successful salmon cannery opens near the mouth of the Fraser River.
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| 1880
|
Construction begins on the British Columbia section of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
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| 1885
|
The Last Spike ceremony occurs at Craigellachie, completing the railway across the continent.
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| 1885
|
The government bans the potlatch ceremony.
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| 1886
|
The first train arrives in Vancouver across the continent from Montreal.
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| 1886
|
The City of Vancouver is created.
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| 1890
|
The first electric streetcars begin operation in Victoria.
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| 1896
|
The smelter at Trail begins operation, treating ore from the mines at nearby Rossland. It grows to become the largest smelter in the world.
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| 1898
|
A great fire destroys much of New Westminster.
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| 1906
|
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway begins clearing a site for the city of Prince Rupert.
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| 1907
|
Rioters destroy property in Vancouver's Chinatown.
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| 1912
|
Miners go on strike in Nanaimo coal mines; the strike lasts two years.
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| 1913
|
Railway construction through Hell's Gate causes landslides that almost wipe out the Fraser River salmon run.
|
| 1914-18
|
The First World War rages in Europe.
|
| 1929
|
The stock market crash begins the Great Depression.
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| 1932
|
The government begins setting up relief camps for single men without work.
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| 1935
|
Unemployed protestors in BC begin the On-To-Ottawa Trek.
|
| 1938
|
Protest results in bloody violence in Vancouver streets.
|
| 1939
|
The Second World War begins.
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| 1942
|
The government forces Japanese Canadians to leave their homes on the coast.
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| 1945
|
The Second World War ends.
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| 1951
|
The ban on the potlatch is withdrawn.
|
| 1952
|
The Social Credit Party wins its first election and W.A.C. Bennett becomes premier.
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| 1958
|
British Columbia celebrates its 100th birthday.
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| 1965
|
Simon Fraser University opens on a mountaintop in Burnaby.
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| 1972
|
After 20 years as premier, Bennett loses an election to the NDP.
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| 1986
|
Expo '86 attracts visitors from around the world to Vancouver.
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| 1993
|
Summer of protest at Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island.
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| 1998
|
Signing of the Nisga'a Agreement.
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| 2003
|
Vancouver and Whistler win the competition to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
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