Canada is marking many firsts, with their newest 10 dollar bill.
First, it's the first time that a non-royal woman has been featured on a bill.
It's also the first time a black person has been on a Canadian bill.
Viola Desmond is best known for protesting a segregated Nova Scotia movie theatre in 1946 by refusing to give up her seat in a whites-only section. Her stand predates Rosa Parks’ similar action on an Alabama bus by nearly a decade.
The civil rights leader was selected out of a list of 26 thousand nominations, submitted from across Canada.
Bank of Canada Govenor Stephen Poloz was on hand for the announcement at the Halifax Central Library.
“The Minister of Finance and I agreed it was long past time for a bank note to feature an iconic Canadian woman. That has been a goal of mine since I became governor,” Poloz said. “A great national conversation took place . . . about the contributions so many iconic women have made to our history.”