America's Historical Facts

Year
1492Christopher Columbus discovers New World.
1497John Cabot makes first voyage to North America for England.
1499Florentine merchant Amerigo Vespucci visits New World.
1507German mapmaker Martin Waldeseemuller names New World America after Amerigo Vespucci.
1513Juan Ponce De Leon discovers Florida.
1540Francisco Vasques De Corondo discovers the Grand Canyon while exploring the Southwest.
1541Francisco Vasques De Coronado discovers the Mississippi Rivier.
1565Spaniards establish St.Augustine, Florida, the first permanent European settlement in the United States
1585Sir Walter Raleigh establishes England's first American colony at Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina.
1607Approximately 100 colonists establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent British settlement in America.
1619Virginia establishes the House of Burgesses, the first representative legislature in America.
1620Pilgrims establish Plymouth Colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts - the second permanent British settlement in America - and draw up Mayflower Compact.
1636harvard - the first college in the colonies - is established.
1647Massachusetts establishes the first colonial public school system.
1649Maryland passes the first religious toleration act in North America
1652Rhode Island becomes the first colony to outlaw slavery; the first American coins are minted in Boston
1661Virginia becomes the first colony to recognize slavery as being legal.
1690Massachusetts issues the first colonial paper money.
1704The Boston News-Letter - the first sucessful colonial newspaper - begin publication.
1752Benjamin Franklin flies a homemade kite during a strom, proving that lightning is a form of electricity.
1754French and Indian War begins.
1763French and Indian War ends with the treaty of paris
1765British Parliament passes Stamp Act, taxing newspapers, legal documents, and other printed materials in the colonies.
1770British troops kill five American civilians in the Boston Massacre.
1773Boston Tea Party is staged when colonists dump British tea into Boston Harbor.
1774Intolerable Acts close Boston Harbor to punish colonists for Boston Tea Party; First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1775Revolutionary War begins; Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1776Declaration of Independence is adopted; the United States of America is formed.
1777Articles of Confederation are endorsed; Stars and Stripes flag is adopted; Washington's army winters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
1780Pennslvania becomes first state to abolish slavery.
1781Last major battle of the Revolutionary War is fought between America and Britain in Yorktown, Virginia; Articles of Confederation take effect.
1783Revolutionary War ends with the Treaty of Paris.
1787Constitution is written by Founding Fathers.
1789George Washington was elected as first president.
1791Bill of Rights comes into effect; First Bank of the United States opens.
1792Construction of White House begins
1793Congress passes a fugitive slave law requiring the return of runaway slaves.
1798Georgia becomes the last state to abolish slavery.
1800Washington, D.C. becomes the national capital
1803Louisiana Purchase nearly doubles the size of the United States.
1804Lewis and Clark expedition departs from St.Louis, Missouri.
1808African slave trade ends
1812War of 1812 begins.
1814Francis Scott Key writes "The Star-Spangled Banner"; War of 1812 ends with Treaty of Ghent.
1823Monroe Doctrine warns Europeans against interfering in Western Hemisphere affairs.
1835Samuel F.B.Morse invents the telegraph;
1846Mexican War begins.
1848Mexican War ends with Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo; discovery of gold in California triggers the Gold Rush.
1856America's first kindergarten opens is Watertown Wisconsin.
1858Lincoln-Douglas Debates focus on slavery.
1860Pony Express is established.
1861Civil War begins at Fort Sumter; Pony Express ends.
1863Emancipation Proclamation declares all slaves freed from Confederate-held territory.
1865Civil War ends with Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox, Verginia; 13th Amendment outlaws slavery throughout the United States.
1867United State buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.
186814th Amendment grants equality.
187015th Amendment guarantees most male citizens the right to vote.
1876Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.
1877Thomas Edison invents the phonograph.
1879Thomas Edison invents the electric light bulb.
1898Spanish-American War is fought.
1906Theodore Roosevelt becomes first American to win Noble Peace Prize.
191316th Amendment allows the federal government to collect income tax.
1914World War I begins.
1917United States enters World War I.
1918Armistice Day ends World War I.
1929Stock Market crashes;
1939World War II BEGINS.
1941Bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7 prompts United States to enter World War II.
1945Japan surrenders - ending World War II - after bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
1950Korean War begins.
1953Korean War ends with armistice.
1957Vietnam War begins.
1962Cuban Missile Crisis takes place.
1964Civil Rights Act of 1964 allows all people to be served in restaurants, hotels, and businesses.
1969On July 20, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo XI become first men to walk on the moon.
1972Congress passes Equal Rights Amendment.
1975Vietnam War ends with the surrender of South Vietnam to North Vietnam.
1991Persian Gulf War or "Operation Desert Storm" begins.
1992Operation Desert Storm ends.
20019/11 Attack on world trade centre.
2002War in Afganistan.