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Events on Saturday 21 October 1871 1
1871San Juan Islands boundary dispute resolvedKaiser Wilhelm I arbitrates US-British border disputeGerman Emperor Wilhelm I, acting as arbitrator, ruled in favour of the United States in the long-running dispute with Britain over ownership of the San Juan Islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The decision fixed the final section of the US-Canada border in the Pacific Northwest. It peacefully ended a dispute that had earlier brought the two countries close to conflict during the so-called Pig War.