JIM WELLER (1:123/140) wrote to THEODORE NIKODEM at 22:05 on 16 Oct 2006:

 TN> What day is Discovery Day each year? I have August 17th listed in some
 TN> of my papers, but I am not certain about it.

 JW> Yukon Discovery Day celebrates the discovery of gold on August 16,
 JW> 1896 at Rabbit Creek and the beginning of the Klondike Gold Rush.
 JW> The mining claim was registered the next day.... August 17.
 JW> Discovery Day is celebrated on the Monday nearest August 17 so the
 JW> date varies. People want a three day weekend.
 JW>              
 JW> There is different Discovery Day in Newfoundland: celebrated on the
 JW> Monday nearest June 24th in commemoration of the discovery of the
 JW> province in 1497 by John Cabot.

 JW> The rest of Canada takes a holiday the first monday in August and
 JW> merely calls it Civic Day.

Nik,

Your original message did not reach me, probably because Bob Juge's system
went down, but Jim Weller has given you the correct answer.  The actual
Discovery Day is August 17 which was the day that George Carmack, Skookum
Jim and Dawson Charlie registered their Rabbit Creek claims in Fortymile. 
However, the holiday is celebrated on the third Monday in August.  In 1991
I celebrated Discovery Day in Dawson City and had a lot of fun watching the
gold panning contest.

Unlike the rest of Canada, the Yukon does not celebrate the August civic
holiday on the first Monday in August.

Take care,

Steven Horn (steven.horn{at}northwestel.net)
Moderator, ALASKA_CHAT 
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