O Canada first performed

June 24, 1880 – Calixa Lavallée first conducts his O Canada, called le Chant nationale, at a St-Jean Baptiste Day banquet at the Skaters’ Pavilion in Quebec City attended by the Governor General, Lord Lorne and Princess Louise; three massed bands play the song; the lyrics, by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, are at the time only in French.