Home > Disasters and Tragedies

Topics: Disasters and Tragedies

Visit our Extreme Weather section

The Halifax Explosion Topic timespan: 1917-1998 A Lost Heritage: Canada's Residential Schools Topic timespan: 1955-2002 On Dec. 6, 1917, a collision in Halifax Harbour led to the biggest man-made explosion in the world before... (12 TV Clips, 11 Radio Clips) Educational activities about this topic In 1928, a government official predicted Canada would end its "Indian problem" within two generations. Church-run, government-funded residential schools... (13 TV Clips, 8 Radio Clips) Educational activities about this topic Springhill Mining Disasters Topic timespan: 1956-1992 The 'Great Northeastern Blackout' of 1965 Topic timespan: 1965 In the 1950s, the town of Springhill, N.S., was devastated by two of the worst mining disasters in Canadian... (6 TV Clips, 3 Radio Clips) Nov. 9, 1965 at rush hour: Toronto and New York are plunged into darkness as a blackout strikes Ontario... (3 TV Clips, 7 Radio Clips) The Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard Topic timespan: 1969-1999 The Sinking and Raising of the Irving Whale Topic timespan: 1970-1996 He was a carefree teenaged hippie just passing through Saskatoon on Jan. 31, 1969 — the same day nursing... (16 TV Clips, 2 Radio Clips) Environmentalists dubbed it a ticking time bomb, and nobody knew when — or if — the Irving Whale oil... (6 TV Clips, 6 Radio Clips) Mercury Rising: The Poisoning of Grassy Narrows Topic timespan: 1970-2002 The Early Years of the AIDS Crisis Topic timespan: 1981-1987 Between 1962 and 1970, natives in two northwest Ontario communities sat down to daily meals of poison. Their staple... (10 TV Clips, 8 Radio Clips) Educational activities about this topic In the early 1980s doctors began noticing rare cancers and infections striking otherwise healthy young gay men. Something was... (14 TV Clips, 7 Radio Clips) Educational activities about this topic The Krever Report: Canada's Tainted Blood Disaster Topic timespan: 1984-2002 The Air India Investigation Topic timespan: 1985-2003 A new disease was threatening the Canadian blood supply in the early 1980s: AIDS. But the Canadian Red Cross... (17 TV Clips, 3 Radio Clips) It was deemed the worst act of terrorism in Canadian history: 331 people were killed in two decisive... (9 TV Clips, 12 Radio Clips) The Montreal Massacre Topic timespan: 1989-1999 Davis Inlet: Innu community in crisis Topic timespan: 1992-2005 For 45 minutes on Dec. 6, 1989 an enraged gunman roamed the corridors of Montreal's École Polytechnique and killed... (10 TV Clips, 6 Radio Clips) Educational activities about this topic "We are a lost people." That description by an Innu chief seemed fitting when a shocking video of six... (6 TV Clips, 8 Radio Clips) The Duplessis Orphans Topic timespan: 1992-2004 Solar Temple: A cult gone wrong Topic timespan: 1993-1999 During the reign of Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis in the 1940s and 1950s, an alarming number of healthy children... (8 TV Clips, 6 Radio Clips) Murder. Suicide. Assassination. Sex. Money laundering. International investigations. These elements comprise the perfect... (12 TV Clips, 4 Radio Clips) Death on tap: The poisoning of Walkerton Topic timespan: 2000-2004 In May 2000, bacteria seeped into Walkerton's town well. The deadly E. coli then slipped quietly through a... (13 TV Clips, 10 Radio Clips) "On This Day" 1903 The Frank rockslide: 90 seconds of terror 1914 Empress of Ireland sinks in the St. Lawrence 1916 Fire destroys Parliament Buildings 1917 Tom Thomson last seen alive 1936 Moose River Mine disaster 1938 Disaster over Niagara Falls 1949 118 die aboard cruise ship SS Noronic 1963 Trans-Canada Air Lines crash kills 118 1964 Tsunami slams B.C. coast 1965 The 1965 'Great Northeastern Blackout' 1967 Bitter bush strike turns deadly 1973 Hundreds flee from poison gas cloud 1975 29 die in the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald 1977 Deadly fire at Saint John jail 1983 AIDS and the politics of plague 1984 Gunman kills 3 at Quebec legislature 1985 The downing of Air India Flight 182 1987 Manitoba moves to protect gays during AIDS crisis 1988 Residents flee PCB fire near Montreal 1988 First World AIDS Day 1989 Canadians flee troubled Beijing 1989 Notorious Mount Cashel orphanage to close 1990 Donald Marshall exonerated of wrongful conviction 1990 The Hagersville tire fire 1992 David Milgaard is a free man 1997 74 dead after Solar Temple cult mass suicide 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in Paris 1997 Krever Report on tainted blood lays blame 1998 Swissair 111 crashes in the ocean near Peggy's Cove 2001 September 11, 2001 2003 The great 2003 North America blackout
	Copyright © CBC 2006 All Rights Reserved Privacy