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-Date-

-1507-  Ponce de Leon from Spain discovers Florida

-1541-  Hernando de Soto from Spain discovers the Mississippi River

-1565-  St. Augustine, Florida is the first European colony

-1606-  The London Company sponsors an expedition to colonize Virginia

-1607-  Jamestown, Virginia is founded

-1613-  The Dutch set up a trading post on the southern tip of what is now Manhattan

-1616-  Indians in New England are wrecked by a small pox epidemic

-1619-  The Dutch introduce slaves to America for the first time in Jamestown, VA.

-1620-  The Mayflower arrives off the coast of Cape Cod, MA.

-1620-  The colonists create the Mayflower Compact as the basis for governing themselves.  Majority rules 

-1626-  Dutchman Peter Minuit buys what is now Manhattan from the Indians for 60 Gilders and calls it New Amsterdam

-1630-  Boston, MA. is established

-1635-  The first public school is created, Boston Latin School in Boston, MA.

-1636-  Roger Williams founds Rhode Island

-1636-  Harvard College opens

-1652-  Rhode Island becomes first colony to make slavery illegal

-1663-  The colony of Carolina is established

-1664-  The British Navy blockades New Amsterdam and the Dutch surrender.  It is renamed New York

-1664-  Maryland passes a law making slavery for blacks mandatory

-1675-  War in New England breaks out between Indians and colonists

-1681-  William Penn founds Pennsylvania

-1682-  The lower Mississippi is claimed by the French and called Louisiana

-1682-  The first significant wave of immigrants arrive from the British Islands and Germany

-1686-  King James II of England restricts political rights and independence in the colonies

-1688-  Pennsylvania condemns slavery

-1692-  Salem Witch Trials, Salem, MA.  150 people are accused of being witches, 20 are executed

-1693-  William and Mary College founded in Virginia

-1700-  U.S. population:  300,000

-1701-  Yale College is founded

-1705-  The Virginia Black Code classifies slaves as real estate

-1711-  The Tuscarawas Indian War between the Indians and the settlers of North Carolina lasts two years

-1712-  Pennsylvania votes to disallow the importation of slaves into their colony

-1716-  Black slaves are introduced into the French controlled Louisiana Territory

-1725-  Black population in the colonies approaches 75,000 persons

-1728-  First American Synagogue is built in New York

-1731-  The first American public library opens in Philadelphia

-1732-  The first Catholic Mass is held in the colonies in Philadelphia

-1747-  The New York Bar Association is established in New York City

-1754-  French and Indian War begins.  The French allied with native Indians vs. the British forces supported by the American colonists 

-1758-  The first Indian reservation is created in New Jersey

-1760-  U.S. population:  1.45 million

-1763-  Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian War.  England gains all French lands east of the Mississippi except New Orleans, and most of Florida from the Spanish. 

-1763-  King George III, in an attempt to improve relations with native Indians,  proclaims no English settlements will be allowed west of the Appalachian mountains, and demands those that are there return to the east.

-1765-  The Stamp Act is passed by England.  It is the first direct tax on the colonies

-1765-  The Quartering Act is passed in England requiring colonists to house British troops.

-1766-  The Stamp Act is repealed after widespread protest and non-compliance by colonists

-1770-  The Boston Massacre;  in a tense moment British troops fire into a crowd killing five colonists and injuring six others.  Later at trial, the British troops are exonerated.   

-1773-  The Boston Tea Party; colonists in protest over taxes on tea, dress up as Indians, quietly board ships anchored in the harbor loaded with tea, and throw all the tea overboard.  

-1774-  The first Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia.

-1775-  Patrick Henry of Virginia declares, "Give me liberty or give me death" in protest over British rule

-1775-  Paul Revere rides from Boston, MA. to Lexington to warn colonists the British are coming to destroy their weapons cache

-1775-  The "shot heard round the world" on Lexington Green in Lexington, MA. effectively begins the American Revolutionary War.  England vs. the American Colonies, ultimately supported by France

-1775-  George Washington takes control of the Continental Army

-1775-  The U.S. Navy is created

-1776- New Hampshire is the first to adopt a state constitution

-1776-  Common Sense is published by Thomas Paine arguing for American independence

-1776-  Continental Congress allows for each of the 13 colonies to establish local governments

-1776-  Declaration of Independence is signed

-1777-  Congress requisitions a flag with 13 stars and 13 white and red stripes

-1777-  France recognizes the independence of America

-1777-  Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation as the basis for governing a new nation.

-1780-  American General Benedict Arnold is found to be a traitor to the Revolution.  He flees and is named a Brigadier General in the British Army

-1782-  Denmark recognizes the independence of America

-1783-  Spain, Sweden, and Russia recognize the independence of America

-1783-  England declares an end to hostilities with America.  The Revolutionary War ends

-1783-  Massachusetts abolishes slavery

-1784-  The Treaty of Paris officially ends the Revolutionary War

-1784-  Contact with China, as the American sailing ship Empress of China arrives in the Orient

-1786-  Congress creates the U.S. Mint

-1787-  Constitutional Convention begins in Philadelphia

-1787-  The new Constitution of the United States is approved and signed

-1787-  The Federalist Papers are published by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in support of ratifying the Constitution

-1787-  Delaware becomes the first of nine states to ratify the Constitution allowing the document to become the law of the land

-1789-  Georgetown University founded

-1789-  George Washington is elected to be the first President of the United States.  John Adams is elected Vice President. 

-1789-  Congress passes the first national tax

-1789-  The U.S. Army is created

-1789-  Congress passes resolution for a day of Thanksgiving, first official holiday

-1790-  Naturalization Act of 1790 grants rights of U.S. citizenship to all "free white persons."

-1790-  Census Act passed requiring a counting of the population every 10 years.  The first Census reveals a population of over 3.9 million people.  Whites accounted for 77 percent, blacks made up 19 percent of the population, 90 percent of whom live in the south, and native Indians accounted for 3 percent

-1791-  The Bill of Rights, composed of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, is ratified

-1794-  11th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, protects U.S. citizens from suits by foreign nationals

-1800-  Washington D.C. becomes official capital of the United States

-1803-  12th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, creates the electoral college as the means to elect the President

-1803-  Louisiana Purchase; the U.S. buys the Louisiana Territory from the French for $15 million, almost doubling the size of the U.S.  Slavery is prohibited in the territory

-1804-  The Louis and Clark Expedition begins on a quest to find a route to the Pacific

-1806-  The Louis and Clark Expedition returns home

-1808-  Importation of Slaves halted

-1812-  War of 1812 begins.  The U.S. vs. England over English interference with U.S. expansion and maritime activities

-1814-  The Treaty of Ghent officially ends the War of 1812

-1819-  Spain cedes Florida to the U.S.

-1820-  Missouri Compromise.  Massachusetts wanted to enter the Union as a free state, and in order to keep balance between free and slave states, Missouri is admitted as a slave state even though the Louisiana Purchase stipulated it could not

-1823-  Monroe Doctrine; the American continents are off limits to further European colonization

-1825-  Erie Canal opens connecting Lake Erie with the Hudson River

-1830-  Indian Removal Act; allows for forced removal to the west of native Indians living east of the Mississippi River.  Approximately 50,000 Indians are relocated

-1836-  Texas declares independence from Mexico

-1838-  Trail of Tears; native Indians are forced to march from Georgia to present day Oklahoma.  Thousands perish during the trek

-1840-  U.S. population:  17 million

-1844-  The first big wave of immigration into American begins.  It lasts 21 years and approximately 4.8 million people arrive

-1845-  Texas is made part of the union by Congressional resolution

-1846-  Oregon Treaty establishes U.S./Canadian border at the 49th. parallel, and the U.S. gains the Oregon Territory

-1846-  Mexican War: U.S. against Mexico.  Repeated attacks by Mexico against Texas requires the U.S. to declare war. 

-1848-  Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brings an end to the Mexican War.  A new U.S./Mexican border is set at the Rio Grande.  The U.S. pays Mexico $15 million for what is now the southwestern U.S.

-1848-  California Gold Rush

-1850-  Fugitive Slave Act is passed  requiring the return of runaway slaves

-1857-  Dread Scott decision by the Supreme Court finding Congress has no authority to ban slavery in the states, and that slaves are not citizens

-1860-  South Carolina secedes from the Union

-1861-  Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee secede from the Union.

-1861-  Confederate States of America is created, adopts a Constitution and elects Jefferson Davis as President

-1861-  The Apache Indians declare war on the United States of America

-1861-  President Lincoln declares a state of insurrections exists in the south

-1861-  The Civil War, north against the south, begins with the attack of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina by the Confederacy

-1863-  President Lincoln delivers the Emancipation Proclamation condemning slavery and freeing the slaves in the south 

-1863-  President Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address honoring the fallen soldiers from both sides who fought at Gettysburg

-1865-  General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, VA.  The north is victorious, and reconstruction of the Union begins. 

-1865-  President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth

-1865-  13th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, ends slavery

-1866-  Tennessee readmitted to the Union

-1867-  U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7 million

-1868-  President Andrew Johnson is impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives, but acquitted by the Senate

-1868-  14th. Amendment to the Constitution is ratified defining citizenship

-1868-  Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, North and South Carolina readmitted to the Union

-1869-  The Transcontinental Railroad is completed in Promontory, UT.

-1870-  U.S. population:  38.5 million

-1870-  15th. Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, gives blacks the right vote

-1870-  Virginia, Mississippi, Texas, and Georgia readmitted to the Union

-1876-  Battle of Little Big Horn in River, Montana, General George Custer's regiment suffers terrible defeat at the hands of the Sioux Indians led by Sitting Bull

-1877-  First telephone line is installed between Boston and Somerville, MA.

-1880-  U.S. population:  50.2 million

-1881-  President Garfield is inaugurated as the 20th President, and just a few months later, shot and killed by Charles Guiteau.  He was succeeded by Chester A. Arthur.

-1885-  Second big wave of immigration into American begins.  It would last nearly 30 years and approximately 23.3 million people would arrive

-1886-  The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, celebrating America's foundations of liberty and the rule of law, is dedicated

-1890-  The Sherman Act is passed prohibiting monopolies

-1890-  Indian wars come to an end with the last major conflict occurring at Wounded Knee in South Dakota 

-1890-  The Census bureau announces the frontier is settled

-1893-  Grover Cleveland becomes first President to serve two non-consecutive terms

-1896-  Plessy vs. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court rules segregation is not unconstitutional

-1898-  Spanish-American War begins after the USS Maine is attacked while anchored in Havana harbor in Cuba 

-1898-  Treaty of Paris brings a quick end to the Spanish-American War after the American Navy overwhelms the Spanish Navy in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.  America gains Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines

-1898-  By Act of Congress the U.S. annexes the Hawaiian Islands

-1900-  American population 75 million

-1901-  President McKinley is shot by Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, NY, he died a week later succeeded by Teddy Roosevelt

-1903-  U.S. secures the Panama Canal Zone in Central America

-1903-  The Wright Brothers are first to fly

-1913-  The 17th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, allows Senators to be elected by the popular vote rather than by state legislators

-1913-  Federal Reserve Act is passed.  Establishes the national Federal Reserve banking system

-1914-  The Start of WWI

-1914-  U.S. Army Air Corp is created

-1914-  Panama Canal opens

-1915-  Girl Scouts established

-1916-  Boy Scouts established

-1916-  The U.S. purchases the Virgin Islands for $25 million

-1916-  Jeannette Rankin from Montana is first woman elected to Congress

-1917-  The Start of WWI for the U.S. joining the allies against Germany and Austria-Hungary

-1917-  U.S. National Guard created

-1918-  18th Amendment to the Constitution ratified, prohibition, no more alcohol

-1918-  WWI comes to an end.  The U.S. and our allies are victorious

-1919-  19th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified allowing woman to vote

-1919-  Treaty of Versailles brings WWI to an end

-1920-  U.S. population:  106 million

-1927-  Charles Lindbergh makes fist solo flight non-stop across the Atlantic

-1929-  Stock Market collapses marking the starting point of the great depression

-1931-  Star Spangled banner officially named national anthem

-1933-  20th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, changes inauguration date for President from March 4, to January 20

-1933-  New Deal plan is enacted by Congress

-1933-  21st Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, repeals the 18th Amendment

-1935-  Social Security Act is passed

-1935- FBI is established

-1938-  Fair Labor Standards Act, allows for first minimum wage, 25 cents an hour

-1939-  Germany Invades Poland

-1939-  WWII begins, France and England declare war on Germany,  U.S. stays on sidelines

-1941-  President Roosevelt becomes the first US President elected to a third term

-1941-  Japan attacks Pearl Harbor.  U.S. declares war on Japan and enters WWII

1941-  Germany and Japan declare war against the U.S.

-1945-  Germany surrenders, the U.S. and the Soviets armies meet in Berlin.  WWII ends in Europe

-1945-  Yalta Conference, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet to divide up Germany

-1945-  Potsdam Conference, Truman, Churchill and Stalin meet to discuss Japan's unconditional surrender and how to handle post war responsibilities

-1945-  First atomic bomb dropped on Japan at Hiroshima

-1945-  Second atomic bomb dropped on Japan at Nagasaki

-1945-  Japan surrenders unconditionally aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, WWII ends

-1945- U.N. is established

-1946- U.S. gives independence to the Philippines

-1947-  CIA established

-1948-  Marshall Plan, allows for financing the rebuilding of Western Europe after WWII

-1948-  Berlin Airlift, U.S. air force supplies West German citizens from the air after the Soviets blockade Berlin

-1949-  North American Treaty Organization (NATO) established

-1950- Cold War begins, the West led by the U.S. vs. the East led by the Soviet Union

-1950-  Korean War begins; the U.S. along with U.N. forces, in support of South Korea vs. North Korea supported by China and to a lesser degree the Soviet Union

-1951-  The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, limiting Presidents to two terms

-1951-  First coast to coast live television broadcast

-1952-  Puerto Rico officially becomes a commonwealth

-1952-  First Hydrogen bomb demonstrated by the U.S.

-1953-  Korean War comes to an end through negotiations, no clear victor

-1953-  Julius and Ethel Rosenberg put to death for passing secret information on the U.S. nuclear weapons program to the Soviet Union

-1954-  The McCarthy hearings; an effort led by Senator Joe McCarthy to root out communists in Hollywood, and the media

-1954-  U.S. Supreme Court in Brown vs. the Board of Education rules racial segregation unconstitutional

-1958-  First U.S. satellite is put in space, the Explorer I

-1960-  U.S. population:  179.3 million

-1961-  Bay of Pigs; a failed effort by dissident Cubans backed by the U.S. military to over throw Fidel Castro in Cuba

-1962-  John Glenn becomes first American to orbit the earth

-1962-  Cuban missile crisis; U.S. discovers the Soviet Union is basing nuclear weapons in Cuba just 90 miles from the continental U.S.

-1963-  President John Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, TX., succeeded by Lyndon Johnson

-1964-  Civil Rights Act is passed

-1964-  The Vietnam War begins when a U.S. destroyer is attacked by North Vietnam while anchored in the Gulf of Tonkin in South Vietnam.  The U.S. in support of the South Vietnamese vs. North Vietnam supported by China

-1965-  Immigration Act of 1965: Legal immigration levels increased, primarily from Latin American and Asia, family reunification now guiding principle

-1965-  The Voting Rights Act is signed into law

-1967-  The 25th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified; lays out procedures for filling vacancies in the executive branch

-1967-  USS Liberty attacked by the Israeli Air force in the Mediterranean

-1968-  Third big wave of immigration into the U.S. begins.  As of 2003 it hasn't stopped with over 34 million people having arrived.

-1968-  Martin Luther King is assassinated

-1968-  Senator Robert Kennedy is assassinated

-1969-  Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin are the first men on the moon

-1970-  U.S. population:  203.3 million

-1971-  The 26th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, makes 18 legal voting age

-1973-  U.S. signs a cease fire agreement with the Viet Cong of North Vietnam.  The last U.S. troops leave Vietnam

-1973-  U.S. Supreme Court, in Roe vs. Wade, makes abortion in first trimester legal

-1974-  U.S. House of Representatives votes to recommend impeachment of President Nixon in the fallout of  the Watergate scandal

-1974-  President Nixon resigns the office of Presidency to avoid impeachment. He is succeeded by Gerald Ford

-1977-  President Jimmy Carter agrees to hand over control of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama in 1999

-1979-  Iran Hostage Crisis; Iranian students take over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran and hold 66 Americans captive

-1980-  President Carter declares a U.S. boycott of the Olympics in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

-1980-  Cuban boat lift.  Fidel Castro releases tens of thousands of criminals allowing them to go by boat to South Florida.

-1980-  U.S. population:  227 million

-1981-  On the day of President elect Reagan's Inauguration, the hostages in Iran are released after 444 days in captivity

-1981-  President Reagan survives assassination attempt by John Hinckley

-1983-  U.S. invades the Caribbean Island of Grenada in response to a Marxist coup

-1986-  The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lift off, all 7 crewmembers are killed

-1987-  Iran Contra investigation begins.  Investigates the connection between arms sales to Iran in an effort to bypass the U.S. Congress in order to financially support anti communists efforts in Central America

-1989-  Savings and Loan bailout, U.S. government steps in to support over 800 nearly bankrupt financial institutions. 

-1989-  U.S. invades Panama and captures the corrupt leader General Noriega indicted on U.S. drug charges

-1990-  U.S. population:  250 million

-1990-  Iraq invades Kuwait

-1991-  Persian Gulf War, U.S. with international support invades Iraq to turn back their aggression upon Kuwait.  War ends quickly and Kuwait is freed

-1992-  President Bush, and President Yeltsin of Russia meet at Camp David to officially announce the end of the Cold War

-1992-  U.S. sends troops to Somalia as part of a UN mission

-1993-  First attack on World Trade Center as bomb explodes in underground garage

-1993-  President Clinton attacks Iraq with cruise missiles in response to an attempt on former President Bush's life while he was in Kuwait

-1993-  18 U.S. soldiers killed and dozens injured in an ambush in Mogadishu, Somalia while trying to arrest war lord in support of UN efforts

-1993-  North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law

-1995-  Federal office building is bombed in Oklahoma, 168 dead

-1998-  The Lewinski scandal breaks in Washington as President Clinton denies having a sexual relationship with the intern

-1998-  U.S. attacks Sudan and Afghanistan with cruise missiles in response to terrorist attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

-1998-  U.S. House of Representatives votes to impeach President Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice

-1999-  Panama takes back control and ownership of the Panama Canal Zone

-1999-  The U.S. Senate acquits President Clinton of impeachment charges

-1999-  The U.S., with the help of NATO, attacks Yugoslavia over the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in the southern part of the country

-2000-  U.S. population reaches 283 million

-2000-  U.S. Supreme Court decides outcome of the 2000 Presidential election between Al Gore and George Bush as a result of election chaos in Florida.  Bush wins

-2001-  9/11 terrorists strike American hard.  Two jets slam into and collapse the World Trade Center towers, another jet attacks the Pentagon building, and a third drops from the sky before it can do any more damage.  Over 3000 people are killed

-2001-  U.S. attacks Afghanistan in response to 9/11 terror attacks in an effort to bring down the Taliban Government and to capture Osama Bin Laden

-2002-  The Bush administration pushes through the creation of the largest government agency ever in response to the terror attacks, the Homeland Security Department

-2003-  Space shuttle Columbia breaks up during reentry, all seven crew members are killed

-2003-  U.S. attacks Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein, the major combat ends quickly, the clean up and reconstruction are underway

-2003-  President Saddam Hussein of Iraq captured hiding in a hole dug in the dessert

-2004-  The US Military hands control of Iraq back to the new Iraqi Interim Government

Sources:  The History Place.com; Infoplease.com; Geocities.com