Timeline of Sikh Pioneers

1897 – Kesar Singh is among the first Sikhs to visit Canada.

1899 – Sikhs are allowed to land in San Francisco.

1904 – Guru Granth Sahib Ji is brought to North America.

1906 – Diwan Singh and Dhana Singh Poonian arrive in U.S.

1906 – Khalsa Diwan Society Established

1906-1922 – Astoria, Oregon: “Hindu Alley.”

1907 – Anti-Hindu riot occurs in Bellingham, Washington.

1908 – Vancouver, B.C. builds the first Gurdwara in North America.

1908 – Canada considers moving its Hindu immigrants to British Honduras.

1909 – “The Awakening of the Sikhs” in which they refused to wear British war medals or keep British military ranks.

1911 – Holt, California – Baba Jawala Singh and Baba Wasakha Singh appoint funds for buying a Gurdwara property.

1911 – First Sikh Prayer in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib in America.

1912 – Stockton Gurdwara founded.

1912 – Pacific Coast Khalsa Diwan Society founded.

1913 – Alien Land Law, State of California affects Asian Indian ownership of property.

1913 – Sikh wrestling prowess, March, 1913. Astoria, Oregon.

1913 – Gadar first meeting, Astoria, April, 1913.

1914 – Komagata Maru arrives in Vancouver, B.C.

1914 – Komagata Maru departs to India.

1915 – Stockton Gurdwara’s first permanent structure is finished.

1915 – Dedication of Stockton Gurdwara.

1915 – Kartar Singh Sarabha, editor of The Gadar (Punjabi), is hung by the British.

1917 – Asian Barred Zone and Literacy Test discriminates against Asian Indians.

1918 – Ottowa Plans to Recognize Paldi, Set Up Sikh Museum.

1921 – Hazing of turbaned Hindus by students at U.C. Berkeley.

1923 – Bhagat Singh Thind case. U.S. vs Thind 261 US 204(1923).

1925 – The Pahkar Singh Murders: A Punjabi Response to California’s Alien Land Law –

1929 – Stockton California Gurdwara’s current brick structure is finished.

1946 – Luce-Cellar Act passed, giving Asian Indians right to citizenship.

1948 – El Centro California Gurdwara established.

1956 – Dalip Singh Saund elected as first Asian, first Indian and first Sikh member of Congress

1960 – Narinder Singh Kapany, father of fiber-optics, coins the term “fiber-optics.”

1965 – Dr. Bruce LaBrack’s Study of South Asian Immigrants. The Indian community increased, especially the Sikhs, between 1965-75.

1968 – Har Gobind Khorana receives Nobel Laureate in Medicine: For their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis.

1993 – First turbaned Sikh elected in Canadian Parliament.

1994 – Prabhu-Poonam Goel & Rekhi Grant to benefit girls’ education in India .

1998 – Amartya Sen received the 1998 Nobel Laureate in Economics: For his contribution to welfare economics.

1998 – Founding of first Sikh Preschool in Northern California – Yuba City, California.

1999 – Sikh Canadian stamp released.

2000 – Ujjal Dosanjh is British Columbia Premier, Feb 21, 2000-June 2001.

2001 – Sikh-American community leaders meet President Bush.

2002 – Canadian Prime Minister gives Abbotsford, British Columbia Sikh Temple heritage status.

2003 – First Indian in the US Army Killed in Iraq.

2004 – “Sikhs: Legacy of the Punjab” at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

2004 – Mohini Bhardwaj is the first Indian American girl in the U.S. Olympic Team.

2004 – White House marks 400th anniversary of Guru Granth Sahib.

2004 – Bobby Jindal becomes the second Indian-American elected to Congress.

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