This day in history

Some selective historical occurrences on this day in history.

1949, Newfoundland officially joins the Dominion of Canada and becomes the country’s 10th province. After several years of debate as to whether Newfoundland should enter Canada, become an independent country, or form an association with the United States, a 1948 runoff referendum goes for the Canadian option by a margin of 52.3 to 47.7 percent. (The first referendum had independent responsible government ahead of Canadian province hood by 44.6 to 41.1.) Not everyone knows this – well most Canadians have caught on by now – but Newfoundlanders have been screwing with our heads ever since becoming one of us. The off- by-a-half-hour time zone, that flag (what is going on there?), its domination of the CBC show This Hour Has 22 Minutes (which, with that time zone, suggests the show ends eight minutes before it starts), and the official addition to its name of “and Labrador,” which was done just to make Canadians stutter (“Newfoundland-and Labrador”) ... no wonder the Vikings cleared out.

For information here are the years each province joined the Canadian Confederation:

1867 Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick

1870 Manitoba, Northwest Territories

1871 British Columbia

1873 Prince Edward Island

1898 Yukon

1905 Saskatchewan, Alberta

1949 Newfoundland

1999 Nunavut

1889 - The Eiffel Tower, or the Tour Eiffel, was opened on March 31st, 1889, and was the work of Gustave Eiffel, who was a bridge engineer. It was made for the centenary of the French Revolution and was chosen instead of over one hundred other plans that were given.

1943: The musical "Oklahoma!" debuts on Broadway. This play, written by the famed duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, was originally titled "Away We Go" and continues to be produced by theatres across the country.