Year |
1492 | Christopher Columbus discovers New World. |
| 1497 | John Cabot makes first voyage to North America for England. |
1499 | Florentine merchant Amerigo Vespucci visits New World. |
1507 | German mapmaker Martin Waldeseemuller names New World America after Amerigo Vespucci. |
1513 | Juan Ponce De Leon discovers Florida. |
1540 | Francisco Vasques De Corondo discovers the Grand Canyon while exploring the Southwest. |
1541 | Francisco Vasques De Coronado discovers the Mississippi Rivier. |
1565 | Spaniards establish St.Augustine, Florida, the first permanent European settlement in the United States |
1585 | Sir Walter Raleigh establishes England's first American colony at Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. |
1607 | Approximately 100 colonists establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent British settlement in America. |
1619 | Virginia establishes the House of Burgesses, the first representative legislature in America. |
1620 | Pilgrims establish Plymouth Colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts - the second permanent British settlement in America - and draw up Mayflower Compact. |
1636 | harvard - the first college in the colonies - is established. |
1647 | Massachusetts establishes the first colonial public school system. |
1649 | Maryland passes the first religious toleration act in North America |
1652 | Rhode Island becomes the first colony to outlaw slavery; the first American coins are minted in Boston |
1661 | Virginia becomes the first colony to recognize slavery as being legal. |
1690 | Massachusetts issues the first colonial paper money. |
1704 | The Boston News-Letter - the first sucessful colonial newspaper - begin publication. |
1752 | Benjamin Franklin flies a homemade kite during a strom, proving that lightning is a form of electricity. |
1754 | French and Indian War begins. |
1763 | French and Indian War ends with the treaty of paris |
1765 | British Parliament passes Stamp Act, taxing newspapers, legal documents, and other printed materials in the colonies. |
1770 | British troops kill five American civilians in the Boston Massacre. |
1773 | Boston Tea Party is staged when colonists dump British tea into Boston Harbor. |
1774 | Intolerable Acts close Boston Harbor to punish colonists for Boston Tea Party; First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
1775 | Revolutionary War begins; Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
1776 | Declaration of Independence is adopted; the United States of America is formed. |
1777 | Articles of Confederation are endorsed; Stars and Stripes flag is adopted; Washington's army winters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania |
1780 | Pennslvania becomes first state to abolish slavery. |
1781 | Last major battle of the Revolutionary War is fought between America and Britain in Yorktown, Virginia; Articles of Confederation take effect. |
1783 | Revolutionary War ends with the Treaty of Paris. |
1787 | Constitution is written by Founding Fathers. |
1789 | George Washington was elected as first president. |
1791 | Bill of Rights comes into effect; First Bank of the United States opens. |
1792 | Construction of White House begins |
1793 | Congress passes a fugitive slave law requiring the return of runaway slaves. |
1798 | Georgia becomes the last state to abolish slavery. |
1800 | Washington, D.C. becomes the national capital |
1803 | Louisiana Purchase nearly doubles the size of the United States. |
1804 | Lewis and Clark expedition departs from St.Louis, Missouri. |
1808 | African slave trade ends |
1812 | War of 1812 begins. |
1814 | Francis Scott Key writes "The Star-Spangled Banner"; War of 1812 ends with Treaty of Ghent. |
1823 | Monroe Doctrine warns Europeans against interfering in Western Hemisphere affairs. |
1835 | Samuel F.B.Morse invents the telegraph; |
1846 | Mexican War begins. |
1848 | Mexican War ends with Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo; discovery of gold in California triggers the Gold Rush. |
1856 | America's first kindergarten opens is Watertown Wisconsin. |
1858 | Lincoln-Douglas Debates focus on slavery. |
1860 | Pony Express is established. |
1861 | Civil War begins at Fort Sumter; Pony Express ends. |
1863 | Emancipation Proclamation declares all slaves freed from Confederate-held territory. |
1865 | Civil War ends with Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox, Verginia; 13th Amendment outlaws slavery throughout the United States. |
1867 | United State buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. |
1868 | 14th Amendment grants equality. |
1870 | 15th Amendment guarantees most male citizens the right to vote. |
1876 | Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone. |
1877 | Thomas Edison invents the phonograph. |
1879 | Thomas Edison invents the electric light bulb. |
1898 | Spanish-American War is fought. |
1906 | Theodore Roosevelt becomes first American to win Noble Peace Prize. |
1913 | 16th Amendment allows the federal government to collect income tax. |
1914 | World War I begins. |
1917 | United States enters World War I. |
1918 | Armistice Day ends World War I. |
1929 | Stock Market crashes; |
1939 | World War II BEGINS. |
1941 | Bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7 prompts United States to enter World War II. |
1945 | Japan surrenders - ending World War II - after bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. |
1950 | Korean War begins. |
1953 | Korean War ends with armistice. |
1957 | Vietnam War begins. |
1962 | Cuban Missile Crisis takes place. |
1964 | Civil Rights Act of 1964 allows all people to be served in restaurants, hotels, and businesses. |
1969 | On July 20, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo XI become first men to walk on the moon. |
1972 | Congress passes Equal Rights Amendment. |
1975 | Vietnam War ends with the surrender of South Vietnam to North Vietnam. |
1991 | Persian Gulf War or "Operation Desert Storm" begins. |
1992 | Operation Desert Storm ends. | 2001 | 9/11 Attack on world trade centre. | 2002 | War in Afganistan. |