In 1867 the map of North America changed twice: in March Russia sold Alaska to the United States, and on 1 July Canada came into being next door.
The events
- Alaska Purchase1867 · Sitka (New Archangel). On 30 March 1867 Russia signed a treaty selling Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million. The territory was formally transferred on 18 October 1867 at Sitka (New Archangel).
- Canadian Confederation1867 · Ottawa, Canada. On 1 July 1867 the British North America Act came into force: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick united as the Dominion of Canada, with Ottawa as its capital. John A. Macdonald became the first prime minister. Manitoba and British Columbia soon joined, and 1 July is celebrated as Canada Day.
More amazing facts
- 1865 The US paid a Civil War pension until 2020.
- 1865 Under an 1865 British law, a man with a red flag had to walk 60 yards ahead of any road locomotive.
- 1866 · 1900 The founding work of genetics went unnoticed for 34 years.
- 1867 Alaska cost the United States about 2 cents an acre: $7.2 million for some 1.5 million km². Critics of the deal called it 'Seward's Folly' and 'Seward's Icebox'.
- 1868 · 1905 Only 37 years after the Meiji Restoration, when Japan was just leaving its samurai order behind, it defeated Russia in the war of 1904–1905.
- 1868 · 1964 In 1868 Japan was still ruled by a shogun and samurai carried swords.