Sept 5, 1755 Annapolis Nova Scotia - John Winslow 1703-1774, military commander at Annapolis, starts expelling 5,000 Acadians from Grand Pre, Annapolis & Fundy coast for refusing to take an oath of allegiance; their land and farms are forfeited to the Crown; most of the almost 10,000 Acadians forced into exile relocate to Louisiana. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sept 5, 1881 Sarnia Ontario - Forest fires in Ontario and Michigan kill an estimated 500 people in 20 villages near Lake Huron; the region is cloaked with a yellowish-green fog. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sept. 5, 1835 Montreal Quebec - 500 other young Montrealers found a new political Society called the Sons of Liberty (Fils de la Liberté) at a meeting in the Hotel Nelson on Jacques-Cartier Square; the gathering chooses the maple leaf as their emblem, and sing George-Etienne Cartier's patriotic song, 'Avant Tout Je Suis Canadien'. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sept 5, 1774 Philadelphia Pennsylvania - First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia; condemns 'Intolerable Acts' passed by British over past decade. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ Sept 5, 1882 - The first Labor Day holiday parade was held in New York City. It was sponsored by the Central Labor Union. Some 10,000 workers -- all men -- participated in the parade. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------