Nova Scotia’s John Thompson, a respected jurist and past Premier of Nova Scotia, entered the cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald on this date in 1885. He had been sent to the Commons by his province’s voters in a by-election after accepting the pleas of Sir John A. to enter federal politics. Thompson took up the challenge and was immediately brought into service as Canada’s new Minister of Justice. Less than a decade later The Man from Halifax – as he came to be known – would be Prime Minister. He was to serve for two years as PM before his tragic death, in office, at only age 49 in 1894.