Highlights of Queen Elizabeth II’s royal tours of Canada, as shown on the map:

1957: The Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, opens the first session of the 23rd Parliament, becoming the first sovereign to inaugurate, in person, a session of Parliament as head of state.

1959: An exhausted monarch takes two rest days in Whitehorse during a gruelling 45-day tour. One report blames it on bad moose meat, but it turns out the sickness is due to her yet-to-be-announced pregnancy.

1959: It’s a night of glamour as the monarch dons a tiara and attends a ball at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel, which had opened the previous year.

1964: On a visit to the prime minister’s residence in Ottawa, the Queen is presented with a “penguin car,” a two-seat amphibious vehicle. When offered, Prince Philip declines to take it for a test drive.

1964: The highlight of a visit to Charlottetown’s new Confederation Centre for the Arts is a performance by Portia White. The internationally acclaimed Black Canadian contralto came out of retirement to sing for the Queen.

1970: Queen Elizabeth wears a pantsuit to protect against clouds of blackflies during a stop in the Northwest Territories. DDT had recently been banned.

1970: Residents of St-Pierre-Jolys arrange a frog-jumping competition in Her Majesty’s honour — a tradition that continues to this day as the annual Frog Follies.

1971: The Queen is treated to a demonstration of lumberjack sports, including an axe-throwing competition and tree-climbing races, on Vancouver Island.

1973: In an unusual event to celebrate Ontario Conservation Week, the Queen is tasked with releasing 100 bass into Grenadier Pond in Toronto’s High Park.

1976: On her first day in Halifax, the Queen is serenaded by more than 100 young ukulele players on a visit to the Nova Scotia Olympic Folk Show.

1983: On a spring visit to Victoria, the Queen receives so many bouquets of flowers from excited schoolchildren that the Royal Yacht Britannia is described as looking like a “floating flower shop.”

1997: The Queen marks the 500th anniversary of the arrival of explorer John Cabot in Newfoundland, joining crowds in Bonavista as a replica of Cabot’s ship the Matthew is sailed into the harbour.

2002: The Queen walks the red carpet to centre ice with hockey royalty. Accompanied by NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, she drops the ceremonial puck at Vancouver’s GM Place to kick off a game between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks.

2002: “Your land is indeed your strength,” the Queen says during a nationally televised dedication ceremony for the Nunavut legislative assembly. Throughout Nunavut, children shout “Queen Elisapee!” as she passes, the Inuktut pronunciation of her name.

2010: Winnipeg is the new home for a stone ruin from Runnymede, the English meadow where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215. The Queen unveils the cornerstone of the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights.