The day was established in 2005 by the organization Multiple Births Canada.
The event also commemorates the May 28th birth date of the Dionne quintuplets.
Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne Dionne, born on May 28, 1934, were the first quintuplets known in the world to survive their infancy at that time. They are also the only female identical set of five ever recorded, the Canadian Press reported Thursday.
The quintuplets were born to an impoverished couple in the small town of Callander in northeastern Ontario. After four months with their family, they were made wards of the King for the next nine years under the 'Dionne Quintuplets' Guardianship Act,' 1935. The government and those around them made millions of dollars' profit by making them a significant tourist attraction in Ontario.
Afterwards, the quintuplets were used to publicize commercial products. They also starred in four Hollywood films.
In 1998, surviving sisters Annette, Cecile and Yvonne and their families received a settlement worth 4 million Canadian dollars ( some 320 million U.S. dollars) from the Ontario government for their childhood mistreatment.
There are only two remaining Dionne quintuplets -- Annette and Cecile.
Emilie suffocated during an epileptic seizure in 1954 at the age of 20.
Marie died of a blood clot in her brain in 1970 at the age of 36.
And Yvonne died of cancer at age 67 in 2001.
The event also commemorates the May 28th birth date of the Dionne quintuplets.
Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne Dionne, born on May 28, 1934, were the first quintuplets known in the world to survive their infancy at that time. They are also the only female identical set of five ever recorded, the Canadian Press reported Thursday.
The quintuplets were born to an impoverished couple in the small town of Callander in northeastern Ontario. After four months with their family, they were made wards of the King for the next nine years under the 'Dionne Quintuplets' Guardianship Act,' 1935. The government and those around them made millions of dollars' profit by making them a significant tourist attraction in Ontario.
Afterwards, the quintuplets were used to publicize commercial products. They also starred in four Hollywood films.
In 1998, surviving sisters Annette, Cecile and Yvonne and their families received a settlement worth 4 million Canadian dollars ( some 320 million U.S. dollars) from the Ontario government for their childhood mistreatment.
There are only two remaining Dionne quintuplets -- Annette and Cecile.
Emilie suffocated during an epileptic seizure in 1954 at the age of 20.
Marie died of a blood clot in her brain in 1970 at the age of 36.
And Yvonne died of cancer at age 67 in 2001.