4000 BC-1300 AD Migration of Paleo-Eskimos from the shores of Siberia
998-1350 AD Norwegian Viking farm settlements on Greenland
1200-1250 AD Migration of Thule Inuit from the Bering Strait
1576-1578 Martin Frobisher's search for gold in the vicinity of Baffin Island; claims land in the name of England's Queen Elizabeth
1670 - British Royal Charter granted for trade into Hudson Bay
1721 - Denmark establishes a colony on Greenland and in 1723 a royal charter was granted to cover all of Greenland.
1728 - Vitus Bering sails through the Bering Strait into the Bering Sea. Russian traders follow and begin to chart shores of Alaska.
1799 - Russian-American Trading Company established by royal charter
1821 - End of the Napoleonic wars prompts British Admiralty to explore and lay claim to portions of the Arctic Islands, beginning with Captain John Ross in 1821.
1821-1911 - British and Scottish whalers fish in Davis Strait and Lancaster Sound and southward. Whaling stations set up in Cumberland Sound and fishing extends to Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay. Whalers from other countries follow, including American and Dutch ships.
1825 - Separate treaties with Britain and the United States guaranteed Russian claims to Alaska territory.
1848 - disappearance of the Franklin Expedition, bringing ships from other countries to join in the search - including the American whaling ships and explorers.
1867 - Russia sells Alaska to the United States with official transfer taking place days before the official establishment of the Dominion of Canada.
1870 - Britain pressures agreement for Canada's annexation of the Hudson Bay Co lands
1880 - Britain transfers the land claimed in the Arctic Islands to Canada through an
Order in Council, without approval by the British Parliament and without defined boundaries.
1896 - Klondike/Yukon Gold Rush
1903 - Alaska boundary dispute settled by international tribunal; NWMP detachments set
up in the western Arctic and at Fullerton Harbour in Hudson Bay.
1904 - Based on documents provided by the British Colonial Office, Dr. W. F. King
submitted his report on the Arctic Islands, indicating Canada's title to some of the northern islands was "imperfect" and "may possibly be perfected by exercise of jurisdiction where any settlements exist." King stated that the problem originated because "Britain's acts of discovery and possession were never ratified by state authority prior to the transfer or confirmed by exercise of jurisdiction." Until settlements could be established, King advised that the government should patrol the Arctic islands and make claims of possession.
1904-1911 - Canadian government expeditions sent to the Arctic Islands, to report on foreign activities and make official acts of possession.
1913-1917- Canadian Arctic Expedition led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson discovered three previously uncharted islands.
1920-1921 - Another review of the documents sent by the British Colonial Office in
1903 - showed that Canada's title to the remote Arctic Islands was insecure.
1920-1927 - Construction of new RCMP detachments at Port Burwell, Craig Harbour,
Pond Inlet, Pangnirtung, Dundas Harbour, Bache Peninsula and Lake Harbour, to enforce Canadian laws. Post offices were included as evidence of administration. Eastern Arctic Patrol was established in 1922.
1923 - Murder trials held on Herschel Island in the Western Arctic and at Pond Inlet on Baffin Island to show that Canadian laws and justice were being enforced.
1925 - Canada took swift action against US Navy attempts to locate uncharted islands west of Ellesmere Island, setting a firm strategy that involved declaration of sovereignty over the Arctic Islands, new RCMP posts, additional police sled patrols, creation of the Arctic Islands Game Preserve and diplomatic initiatives
1932 - Norway lost its bid for sovereignty over East Greenland before the International
Court of Justice.
1933 - With the purchase of Norwegian Sverdrup's maps and notes, Canada declared that
its title to the Arctic Islands was secure. This did not include adjacent waters, sea ice or air space.
1939-1945 - World War II
1947 - Canada-US Mutual Defense Agreement
1951 - Construction of the USAF air base at Thule, Greenland
1970 - Following the voyage of the SS Manhattan through the NW Passage in 1969, the Canadian government passes the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act
1982 - UN Convention on the Law of the Sea sets out legal rights of ships with special
reference to rights of Arctic countries to enforce regulations to protect the fragile environment.
1986 - Following the traverse of the US Coast Guard Polar Sea through the NW Passage, Canada draws boundary lines around the Arctic Archipelago and declares all waters within to be internal waters, after the US Coast Guard Icebreaker Polar Sea traversed the NW Passage the year before
1988 - Canada/US Arctic Cooperation Agreement that allowed passage of US ships
through the NW Passage, but which also allowed Canada and the US "to agree to disagree" on the status of the Passage.
1996 - Creation of the Arctic Council comprised of eight countries with lands north of the Arctic Circle (Canada, Russia, the United States, Norway, Denmark/Greenland, Sweden and Iceland),with provision for representation of their aboriginal peoples.
2000 - Canadian government (Liberal) released "The Northern Dimension of Canada's Foreign Policy," which includes an assertion of Arctic sovereignty.
2003 - Canada ratifies the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
2007 - Canadian government launches Operation Nanook military exercise held in the
Arctic, the first of what would become an annual event.
2008 - Canada as one of the five Arctic coast countries signed the Illulissat Declaration,
feat stated they will abide by the existing international laws, including those set out by UNCLOS.
2008 - Unilateral declaration by Canada that extended the jurisdictional limits of the
Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act from 100 nautical miles to 200 miles.
2009    - In January, the United States issues a new Arctic policy.
2010    - In August, Canada's Conservative government announced a new comprehensive
Arctic foreign policy;
— Denmark and the US participate in Canada's Nanook 2010 military exercise.
2011 - Norway and Russia settle the dispute over their marine boundaries;
~ Arctic Council signed an agreement by the eight Arctic Countries on cooperation for Search and Rescue in the Arctic.

Also:
Shelagh D. Grant on “Polar Imperative”
Interviewed by Shelagh RogersCBC Podcast
http://www.voicebase.com/voice_file/public_detail/48851