In 1869, on this day Chinese and Irish labourers laid down a record ten miles worth of track for the Transcontinental Railroad which would eventually stretch from the newly incorporated Union State of Ontario all the way to the Pacific coast.

Railroaded into the UnionEven though Great Britain had not entered the recent Civil War, many Confederate Agents had operated out of Canada. And the climax of the conflict occurred during marching season which presented an unmissable historical opportunity to finally remove the hated British influence from the Continent.

Ironically, just two years later the Union bought Russian America and the continental United States tooks its current form (pictured). Because if not for the invasion of Canada, America would have been presented with the rather less appealing opportunity to purchase non-contiguous land north of the 41st parallel, an option which it might well have rejected.