Queen Victoria proclaims that a Federal Canada will achieve Dominion status on July 1, 1867.

In February 1867, the Confederation Bill to unite the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in a federal dominion had been introduced into the British Parliament, passed as the British North American Act on March 8, 1867, and received the royal assent on March 29, 1867. On this day, a royal proclamation from WIndsor Castle announced that the measure would take effect on the upcoming July 1, 1867. (By John Osborne)