|
1001 |
Leif Ericson explores North
America |
|
1492 |
Christopher Columbus
discovers America |
|
1497 |
John Cabot claims North
America for England |
|
1501 |
:Amerigo Vespucci explores
the coast of South America |
|
1519 |
Ferdinand Magellan is the
first to go around the world Alonzo de Pineda explores
gulf Coast of America
|
|
1524 |
Giovanni Verrazano discovers
New York Bay
|
|
1528 |
Panfilo de Narvaez conquers
Cuba and explores Florida
Alvar Cabeza de Vaca explores Texas, Arizona and New
Mexico
|
|
1534 |
:Jacques Cartier explores the
Great Lakes and the the St. Lawrence River |
|
1539 |
Hernando de Soto explores
south-eastern North America |
|
1540 |
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado
explores south-western North America
Discovery of the Grand Canyon by Garcia Lopez de
Cardenas
|
|
1541 |
Francisco Vásquez de
Coronado explores Kansas |
|
1542 |
Cabrillo explores and
discovers the Californian coast
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovers San Diego Bay,
California
|
|
1559 |
Tristan de Luna explores North
America |
|
1563 |
Francisco de Ibarra explores
New Mexico |
|
1576 |
Sir Martin Frobisher explores
Baffin Bay and the Hudson Strait
|
|
1577 |
Sir Francis Drake
circumnavigates the world - December 13 1577 to
September 26 1580 |
|
1584 |
Philip Amadas and Arthur
Barlowe (both in the service of Sir Walter Raleigh)
explore the coast of North Carolina
|
|
1585 |
March 25: Walter Raleigh
receives the patent to explore and settle in North
America June: Walter
Raleigh's fleet of seven vessels under Richard
Grenville and Ralph Lane, with 108 men, reach
Roanoke Island
June 4: Virginia colony of
Roanoke Island established by Walter Raleigh
|
|
1598 |
Juan de Archuleta explores
Colorado |
|
1607 |
Captain John Smith explorer
and founder of Jamestown |
|
1609 |
Henry Hudson explores North eastern North America
including the Hudson River
|
|
1763 |
February 10: Treaty of Paris
ends French and Indian War (1754-1763). Canada east
of the Mississippi River added to the British
empire. Pontiac's
Rebellion against the British
October 7: The Proclamation
of 1763 issued by King George III after the
end of the French and Indian War / Seven Years' War
to organize the new North American empire and
stabilize relations with Native Americans. No
British settlements allowed west of the Appalachian
mountains. Settlers already in these areas required
to return east
|
|
1764 |
February: James Otis urges a united response to the
recent acts imposed by England. The phrase "Taxation
without Representation is Tyranny" is usually
attributed to James Otis
July: James Otis publishes
"The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and
Proved."
August: Boston
merchants begin a boycott of British luxury goods
|
|
1765 |
March 22: The Stamp Act was
passed by the British Parliament.
March 24: The Quartering Act required American
colonists to house British troops and supply them
with food.
July: The Sons of Liberty is formed - a secret
organization opposed to the Stamp Act
December: Over 200 Boston merchants refuse to pay
the Stamp Tax
|
|
1766 |
1766 March 18. Stamp Act
repealed January: New York assembly
refuses to fully enforce the Quartering Act.
August: Violence breaks out in New York between
British soldiers and members of the Sons of Liberty.
|
|
1768 |
July: Merchants in Boston
and New York boycott British goods
September: English warships
sail into Boston Harbor leaving two regiments of
English troops to keep order.
|
|
1770 |
March: "The Boston Massacre" -
Four workers shot by British troops in Boston
|
|
1773 |
December 16: The Boston Tea
Party - Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk
Indians protest against the British Tea Act by
dumping crates of tea into Boston Harbor.
|
|
1774 |
March: The Coercive Acts
(called Intolerable Acts by Americans)
|
|
1775 |
February 9: English Parliament
declares Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion
April 19 Shots fired at
Lexington and Concord where weapons depot destroyed.
"Minute Men" force British troops back to Boston.
George Washington takes command of the Continental
Army.
June 15: George Washington
appointed general and commander-in-chief of the new
Continental Army.
June 17: Battle of Bunker Hill
July 6: Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of
Taking Up Arms stating that Americans are "resolved
to die free men rather than live as slaves."
|
|
1776 |
May 2: The American
revolution gains support from King Louis XVI
of France 1776 July 4. Thomas
Jefferson presents the United States Declaration of
Independence
|
|
1777 |
November 15: Articles of
Confederation - Congress is made sole authority of
the new national government.
|
|
1778 |
February 6: France signs
a treaty of alliance with the United States and the
American Revolution soon becomes a world war.
September 14: Benjamin Franklin appointed American
representative in France.
|
|
1779 |
September 27: John Adams is appointed to negotiate
peace with England.
|
|
1780 |
September 23: Plans discovered indicating
Benedict Arnold intends to turn traitor and
surrender West Point. Benedict Arnold joins the
British
|
|
1781 |
October 17: American
victory at Yorktown terms discussed for the British
surrender.
October 19: The British army surrenders at
Yorktown - a devastating effect on the British
|
|
1782 |
February 27: English
Parliament votes against further war in America.
November 10: The final battle of the Revolutionary
War when Americans retaliate by attacking a Shawnee
village in Ohio
November 30: Preliminary peace treaty signed in
Paris recognising American independence and the
British withdrawal from America.
|
|
1783 |
February 4: England
officially declares an end to hostilities in America
September 3: The Treaty of Paris is signed by the
United States and Great Britain
|
|
1784 |
January 14: The Treaty of
Paris is ratified by Congress and the American
Revolutionary War officially ends
|
|
1789 |
First President of the US is George Washington
1789-1797 The first
thirteen states were Delaware, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts,
Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia,
New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island
Judiciary Act of 1789
|
|
1791 |
Bill of Rights ratified
|
|
1793 |
Fugitive Slave Act passed
|
|
1795 |
Vermont and Kentucky were
admitted to the US
|
|
1794 |
Whiskey Rebellion
|
|
1797 |
Second President of the US is John Adams 1797-1801 |
|
1799 |
Logan Act |
|
1800 |
Library of Congress founded
|
|
1801 |
Third President of the US is Thomas Jefferson
1801-1809 |
|
1803 |
Louisiana Purchase Treaty
|
|
1804 |
Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark explore the Louisiana Territory |
|
1805 |
Barbary Wars |
|
1807 |
Act Prohibiting Importation of
Slaves |
|
1808 |
U.S. slave trade with Africa
ends |
|
1809 |
Fourth President of the US is James Madison 1809-1817 |
|
1811 |
Battle of Tippecanoe |
|
1812 |
War of 1812 begins |
|
1814 |
Treaty of Fort Jackson ends
Creek War |
|
1817 |
Fifth President of the US is James Monroe 1817-1825
Harvard Law School founded
|
|
1818 |
Jackson Purchase in Kentucky
1818 Five more states were
admitted to the US - Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana,
Indiana, and Mississippi
|
|
1819 |
Adams-Onis Treaty, including
acquisition of Florida
Illinois admission to the US
|
|
1820 |
Alabama and Maine admission to
the US |
|
1822 |
Missouri admission to the US |
|
1825 |
Sixth President of the US is John Quincy Adams
1825-1829 |
|
1829 |
Seventh President of the US is Andrew Jackson
1829-1837 |
|
1830 |
Indian Removal Act
Oregon Trail opens
|
|
1831 |
Nat Turner's revolt |
|
1832 |
Black Hawk War
Seminole War begins
Department of Indian Affairs established
|
|
1835 |
Texas War for Independence
begins |
|
1836 |
Texas War for Independence
begins Arkansas
admission to the US
|
|
1837 |
Battle of the Alamo
Panic of 1837
Michigan admission to the
US
|
|
1838 |
1838-1839: The Trail of Tears |
|
1841 |
Ninth President of the US is William Henry Harrison
1841 |
|
1841 |
Tenth President of the US is John Tyler 1841-1845 |
|
1845 |
Eleventh President of the US
is James Knox Polk
1845-1849 Texas
admission to the US
Florida admission to the US
|
|
1846 |
Mexican-American War begins
Texas admission to the US
Oregon Treaty signed
|
|
1847 |
Treaty of Cahuenga ends
Mexican-American War
Iowa admission to the US
|
|
1848 |
Gold discovered in California
Wisconsin admission to the US
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
ends the Mexican-American War
|
|
1849 |
Twelfth President of the US is Zachary Taylor
1849-1850 |
|
1850 |
Thirteenth President of the US
is Millard Fillmore
1850-1853 |
|
1851 |
California admission to the US |
|
1853 |
Fourteenth President of the US
is Franklin Pierce
1853-1857 Gadsden
Purchase
|
|
1856 |
Sack of Lawrence, Kansas
Pottawatomie Massacre
|
|
1857 |
Fifteenth President of the US
is James Buchanan
1857-1861 |
|
1858 |
Minnesota admission to the US |
|
1859 |
Oregon admission to the US
Harper's Ferry Raid
|
|
1860 |
Pony Express begins |
|
1861 |
Sixteenth President of the US
is Abraham Lincoln
1861-1865 Kansas
admission to the US
Confederate States of
America (the Confederacy) established under
President Jefferson Davis
American Civil War begins
at Fort Sumter ( See American Civil War Timeline )
First Battle of Bull Run
|
|
1863 |
Battle of Gettysburg
West Virginia admission to
the US
|
|
1864 |
Sand Creek Massacre |
|
1865 |
Abraham Lincoln assassinated
Seventeenth President of
the US is Andrew Johnson
1865-1869
Nevada admission to the US
United States Civil War
ends
|
|
1866 |
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Ku Klux Klan founded
|
|
1867 |
Nebraska admission to the US
Alaska Purchase from Russia
|
|
1869 |
Eighteenth President of the US
is Ulysses Simpson
Grant 1869-1877 |
|
1871 |
Great Chicago Fire
Treaty of Washington with
Great Britain regarding the Dominion of Canada
|
|
1872 |
Yellowstone National Park
established |
|
1874 |
Red River Wars |
|
1875 |
Civil Rights Act of 1875
|
|
1876 |
Battle of Little Bighorn
|
|
1877 |
Nineteenth Rutherford Birchard
Hayes 1877-1881
Colorado admission to the US
Nez Perce War
|
|
1881 |
Twentieth President of the US
is James Abram Garfield
1881 |
|
1881 |
Twenty - First President of
the US is Chester Alan
Arthur 1881-1885 |
|
1882 |
Chinese Exclusion Act and
European Restriction Act |
|
1885 |
Twenty-Second President of the
US is Grover Cleveland
1885-1889 Washington
monument completed
|
|
1889 |
Twenty - Third President of
the US is Benjamin
Harrison 1889-1893 |
|
1890 |
North Dakota, South Dakota,
Montana, Washington, and Idaho admission to the US
Yosemite National Park
created
Wounded Knee Massacre
|
|
1891 |
Wyoming admission to the US
|
|
1893 |
Twenty - Fourth President of
the US is Grover
Cleveland 1893-1897 |
|
1896 |
Utah admission to the US
Gold discovered in the Yukon's
Klondike
|
|
1897 |
Twenty - Fifth President of
the US is William
McKinley 1897-1901 |
|
1898 |
Spanish-American War |
|
1900 |
Boxer Rebellion in China |
|
1901 |
Twenty - Sixth President of
the US is Theodore
Roosevelt 1901-1909 |
|
1903 |
Ford Motor Company formed
1903 - First World Series
|
|
1904 |
Panama Canal Zone acquired
|
|
1908 |
Oklahoma admission to the US
Ford Model T marketed
Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) established
|
|
1909 |
Twenty - Seventh President of
the US is William
Howard Taft 1909-1913 |
|
1912 |
Arizona, Alaska and New Mexico
admission to the US
Titanic sinks
|
|
1913 |
Twenty - Eighth President of
the US is Woodrow Wilson
1913-1921 |
|
1915 |
The Birth of a Nation movie
directed by D.W. Griffith opens |
|
1917 |
US enters World War I
U.S. Virgin Islands purchased
from Denmark
|
|
1919 |
Treaty of Versailles |
|
1920 |
First radio broadcast in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
|
1921 |
Twenty- Ninth President of the
US is Warren Gamaliel
Harding 1921-1923 |
|
1923 |
Thirtieth President of the US
is Calvin Coolidge
1923-1929 |
|
1924 |
Indian Reorganization Act
|
|
1927 |
Indian Reorganization Act
Charles Lindbergh
makes first trans-Atlantic flight
The Jazz Singer starring Al
Jolson is the first "talkie" to be released
|
|
1929 |
Thirty- First President of the
US is Herbert Clark
Hoover 1929-1933 St.
Valentine's Day massacre
Immigration Act
Great Depression begins
|
|
1931 |
Empire State Building opens |
|
1932 |
Amelia Earhart flies across
Atlantic Ocean |
|
1933 |
Thirty - Second President of
the US is Franklin
Delano Roosevelt 1933-1945
Japan and Germany withdraw
from League of Nations
|
|
1934 |
Thirty - Third President of
the US is Harry S. Truman
1945-1953 Dust Bowl
begins
Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act
John Dillinger killed
Indian Reorganization Act
|
|
1935 |
Social Security Act |
|
1936 |
London Conference on
disarmament |
|
1937 |
Hindenburg disaster |
|
1939 |
Germany invades Poland; World
War II begins |
|
1941 |
Attack on Pearl Harbor
U.S. enters World War II
|
|
1944 |
D-Day
Battle of the Bulge
|
|
1945 |
Thirty - Third President of
the US is Harry S. Truman
1945-1953 U.S. takes
Okinawa
U.S. joins the United Nations
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Germany and Japan surrender, ending World War II
|
|
1946 |
Atomic Energy Act |
|
1948 |
Nuremberg trials
Berlin Blockade
|
|
1949 |
NATO formed
Germany divided into East and
West
|
|
1950 |
Senator Joseph McCarthy gains
power and start Communist witch hunts (1950-1954)
Korean War begins
|
|
1953 |
Thirty - Fourth President of
the US is Dwight David
Eisenhower 1953-1961
Armistice in Korea
|
|
1954 |
SEATO alliance |
|
1955 |
Warsaw Pact |
|
1956 |
US installs Diem as leader of
South Vietnam |
|
1957 |
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Russians launch Sputnik
|
|
1958 |
NASA formed |
|
1959 |
Cuban Revolution |
|
1960 |
Greensboro sit-in
Civil Rights Act of 1960
Hawaii, the last state was admitted giving the
American flag 50 stars
|
|
1961 |
Thirty - Fifth President of
the US is John Fitzgerald
Kennedy 1961-1963
Peace Corps
Vietnam War officially begins with 900 military
advisors landing in Saigon
OPEC formed
|
|
1962 |
Cuban Missile Crisis |
|
1963 |
President J Kennedy
assassinated Thirty -
Sixth President of the US is Lyndon Baines
Johnson 1963-1969
March on Washington; Martin
Luther King, Jr. "I have a dream" speech
|
|
1964 |
Civil Rights Act of 1964
|
|
1965 |
Detroit race riot |
|
1968 |
Presidential candidate Robert
F. Kennedy assassinated
Civil Rights Act of 1968
|
|
1969 |
Thirty - Seventh President of
the US is Richard
Milhous Nixon 1969-1974
Vietnam
Neil Armstrong walks on the
moon
|
|
1970 |
Kent State shootings |
|
1972 |
Watergate burglary
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
with USSR
|
|
1973 |
Skylab first space station
launched |
|
1974 |
Richard Nixon resigns
Presidency over Watergate
Thirty - Eighth President of
the US is Gerald Rudolph
Ford 1974-1977
|
|
1977 |
Thirty - Ninth President of
the US is Jimmy Carter
1977-1981 |
|
1979 |
Three Mile Island nuclear
accident
1979 - Iran hostage crisis
begins
|
|
1981 |
Fortieth President of the US
is Ronald Wilson Reagan
1981-1989 Attempted
assassination of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley
|
|
1986 |
Iran-Contra scandal breaks
Space Shuttle Challenger accident
|
|
1990 |
Forty - First President of the
US is George Herbert
Walker Bush 1989-1993
Hubble Space Telescope placed in orbit
Iraq invades Kuwait leading to 1991 Gulf War
|
|
1991 |
Gulf War |
|
1992 |
Los Angeles riots
Hurricane Andrew causes devastation in Florida and
Louisiana
|
|
1993 |
Forty - Second President of
the US is William
Jefferson Clinton 1993-2001
World Trade Center bombing
Waco siege
|
|
1995 |
Oklahoma City bombing |
|
1999 |
President Clinton is acquitted
in impeachment trial by U.S. Senate |
|
2001 |
Forty - Third President of the
US is George Walker
Bush September 11,
2001 Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center and
The Pentagon
Invasion of Afghanistan
Operation "Enduring Freedom"
|
|
2004 |
Occupation of Iraq, 2003-2004 |
|
2005 |
Hurricane Katrina |
