Geeknews

Today is Canada’s 150th 140th birthday, also known as Canada Day. On this day in 1867 the 1st of the British North America Acts were passed (they’re now called the ‘Constitution Act, 1867‘).

Q: Where did the name ‘Canada’ come from?

A: French explorer Jacques Cartier and his crew interacted with the Iroquoians (today they’re referred to the ‘St. Lawrence Iroquoians‘) in the late 16th century along the shores of what we now call the St. Lawrence River in Quebec and Ontario.

Cartier picked up on their word ‘canada’ which meant ‘settlement’, ‘village’ or ‘land’ and henceforth the territories had a name.