May 31: CBC on the air; Terry Sawchuk dies; Pinawa generates; Republic of Manitobah.

May 31, 1868 - In Portage La Prairie Thomas Spence declares "The Republic of Manitobah" with himself as president. With vague boundaries that covered most of the west, Spence had his new subjects swear an oath of allegiance:

May 31, 1906 - Winnipeg Electric Railway Company's Pinawa Hydro Generating Station, the first in Manitoba, is officially opened by Lieutenant-Governor Sir Daniel McMillan. It was decommissioned in 1951 and is now a provincial park.

May 31, 1954 - Manitoba's first television station CBWT (CBC Channel 6) begins broadcasting.

To create their new headquarters , including TV studios, the CBC bought Leonard and McLaughlin motors showroom at Portage and Langside and spent nearly $1m converting it into a broadcast centre.  

"CBWT" was to have been be the CBC's third television station after Montreal and Toronto but equipment installation delays pushed the expected broadcast debut back a number of months, allowing Vancouver to sneak ahead.

May 31, 1970 - Terry Gordon Sawchuk dies of a pulmonary embolism caused after falling during an innocent shoving match with a N.Y. Rangers teammate at a restaurant. He was 40 years old. 

Considered one of the greatest NHL goalies, despite battling injuries, both physical and emotional, throughout his career. When he died there was such a push to have him put in the Hockey Hall of Fame that they waived the five-year waiting period and he was added the year after his death. – the quickest induction until Wayne Gretzky's.

May 31, 1983 - The Gas Station Theatre holds an opening night gala.