Columbus inadvertently discovers America

1
1492
Columbus inadvertently discovers America on his
way to India
2
1607
First permanent English colony in Americas at
Jamestown, Virginia
3
1620
Pilgrims covenant with God in Mayflower Compact
off Plymouth, Massachusetts
4
1630
Governor John Winthrop establishes the
Massachusetts Bay Company Puritan settlement in
Boston, a "City Upon a Hill".
5
1636
Roger Williams was about to be deported to
England for disruptive behavior, when he fled
Massachusetts to found Rhode Island
6
1638
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut base first
constitution in the American colonies on the
Republican form of government Richard Hooker's
sermon
7
1692
Salem witch trials give Puritans a theological
black eye.
8
1742
Jonathan Edwards preaches his famous "Sinners In
the Hands of An Angry God" sermon to spark the
first Great Awakening
9
1754-63
The French Indian War, a climactic conflict
between Britain and France via their North
American colonial
10
1765

Stamp Act, requiring a tax
stamp on all official documents, provokes
colonies to protest "taxation without
Representation" and Quartering Act
required American families to House British
troops.
11
1770
Provoked by a flurry of snow balls British troops
fired into a crowd, killing five demonstrators in
the "Boston Massacre".
12
1773
American colonists dressed as Indians board 3
British ships and toss tea overboard in the
Boston Tea Party to protest a tax on tea
13
1775
Battles of Lexington and Concord open the
American Revolution against Britain with "the
shot heard round the world".
14
1776
American colonists declare independence from
Great Britain
15
1776-1777
Washington crosses the Delaware secretly by night
and within a single week achieves successive
victories at Trenton and Princeton
16
1777-1778
American army survives winter of testing at
Valley Forge and France subsequently joins
American Revolution against Britain
17
1779
"I have not yet begun to fight" declared John
Paul Jones as his Bonhomme Richard defeated the
Serapis
18
1781
British surrender to Washington at Yorktown
ending the American Revolution
19
1781
Articles of Confederation enacted by Continental
Congress and become effective under President
John Hanson
20
1789
Alien Sedition Laws enacted under Federalist
President, John Adams are a thinly veiled attempt
to suppress free speech and other activities of
Thomas Jefferson's opposition party (the
Republicans).
21
1791
The Constitution was enacted with the stipulation
that a Bill of Rights be added to protect
specific civil liberties. The first 10 Amendments
22
1794
Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin
23
1800
Cumberland or Cane Ridge revival in Logan County,
Kentucky initiates the 2nd Great Awakening
24
1803
Louisiana Purchase by Thomas Jefferson doubles
size of United States. Napoleon sells for bargain
2 cents an acre to finance his European war of
conquest
25
1803
Marbury vs. Madison establishes principle of
judicial review
26
1804-1806
Lewis Clark expedition to West coast surveys
Louisiana Purchase.
27
1807
Robert Fulton develops first commercially
successful steam boat, cutting the time from New
York to Albany by two-thirds
28
1814
Francis Scott Key pens American national anthem,
The Star Spangled Banner
29
1815
Andrew Jackson wins decisive victory in Battle
of New Orleans to end the War of 1812.
30
1819
Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States
(Feb. 22). McCulloch v. Maryland Landmark
Supreme Court decision upholds the right of
Congress to establish a national bank
31
1820
Missouri Compromise In an effort to maintain the
balance between free and slave states
32
1823
Monroe Doctrine In his annual address to
Congress, President Monroe declares that the
American continents are henceforth off-limits for
further colonization by European powers
33
1824
Gibbons v. Ogden Landmark Supreme Court decision
broadly defines Congress's right to regulate
interstate commerce (March 2).
34
1825
John Quincy Adams is inaugurated as the sixth
president (March 4). Erie Canal linking the
Hudson River to Lake Erie, is opened for traffic
(Oct. 26).
35
1828
Construction is begun on the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, the first public railroad in the
U.S.(July4)
36
1830
President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act,
which authorizes the forced removal of Native
Americans
37
1831
Nat Turner, an enslaved African American
preacher, leads the most significant slave
uprising in American history
38
1836
Texas declares its independence from Mexico Texan
defenders of the Alamo are all killed during
siege by the Mexican Army
39
1838
Approximately 4,000 die from starvation and
disease along the Trail of Tears
40
1841
William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the
ninth president .He dies one month later
41
1845
U.S. annexes Texas by joint resolution of
Congress
42
1846
Oregon Treaty fixes U.S.-Canadian border at 49th
parallel U.S. acquires Oregon territory
43
1846-1848
Mexican War U.S. declares war on Mexico in
effort to gain California and other territory in
Southwest (May 13, 1846).
44
1848
Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California
45
1850
the Compromise of 1850 California is admitted
as a free state, Utah and New Mexico territories
are left to be decided by popular sovereignty,
and the slave trade in Washington, DC, is
prohibited
46
1852
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin
is published
47
1853
Gadsden Purchase treaty is signed U.S. acquires
border territory from Mexico for 10 million
48
1854
Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act,
establishing the territories of Kansas and
Nebraska
49
1857
Dred Scott v. Sanford Landmark Supreme Court
decision holds that Congress does not have the
right to ban slavery in states and, furthermore,
that slaves are not citizens
50
1859
Abolitionist John Brown and 21 followers capture
federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va
51
1860
Abraham Lincoln is elected president (Nov. 6).
South Carolina secedes from the Union (Dec. 20).
52
1861
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and
Louisiana secede (Jan.). Confederate States of
America is established (Feb. 8). Jefferson Davis
is elected president of the Confederacy (
53
1865
Lincoln is assassinated (April 14) by John
Wilkes Booth in Washington, DC, and is
succeeded by his vice president, Andrew Johnson
54
1867
U.S. acquires Alaska from Russia for the sum of
7.2 million
55
1868
President Johnson is impeached by the House of
Representatives (Feb. 24), but he is acquitted
56
1869
The first transcontinental railway is completed
with the driving of the "Golden Spike" at
Promontory Point,Utah.
57
1870
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is
ratified, giving blacks the right to vote
58
1871
Chicago fire kills 300 and leaves 90,000 people
homeless
59
1872
Crédit Mobilier scandal breaks, involving several
members of Congress
60
1876
Lt. Col. George A. Custer's regiment is wiped out
by Sioux Indians under Sitting Bull at the Little
Big Horn River, Mont
61
1877
The first telephone line is built from Boston to
Somerville, Mass. the following year, President
Hayes has the first telephone installed in the
White House.
62
1881
James A. Garfield is inaugurated as the 20th
president (March 4). He is shot (July 2) by
Charles Guiteau in Washington, DC, and later
dies from complications of his wounds in Elberon,
N.J.
63
1886
Statue of Liberty is dedicated (Oct. 28).
American Federation of Labor is organized (Dec.).
64
1887
Dawes Severalty Act provides for 160 acres to be
given to each Indian family, breaking up the
system of communal land holdings.
65
1890
National American Woman Suffrage Association
(NAWSA) is founded, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton
as president. Sherman Antitrust Act is signed
into law, prohibiting commercial monopolies
66
1893
Grover Cleveland is inaugurated a second time, as
the 24th president (March 4). He is the only
president to serve two nonconsecutive terms.
67
1896
Plessy v. Ferguson Landmark Supreme Court
decision holds that racial segregation is
constitutional, paving the way for the repressive
Jim Crow laws in the South
68
1898
Spanish-American War USS Maine is blown up in
Havana harbor prompting U.S. to declare war on
Spain U.S. annexes Hawaii by an act of Congress
69
1899
U.S. acquires American Samoa by treaty with Great
Britain and Germany
70
1900
Galveston hurricane leaves an estimated 6,000 to
8,000 dead (Sept. 8).
71
1901
McKinley's second inauguration (March 4). He is
shot (Sept. 6) by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in
Buffalo, N.Y., and later dies from his wounds
72
1903
U.S. acquires Panama Canal Zone (treaty signed
Nov. 17). Wright brothers make the first
controlled, sustained flight in heavier-than-air
aircraft at Kitty Hawk, N.C.
73
1906
San Francisco earthquake leaves 500 dead or
missing and destroys about 4 sq mi of the city
74
1913
Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution is
ratified, providing for the direct election of
U.S. senators by popular vote rather than by the
state legislatures
75
1914
American built Panama Canal opens, eliminating
the ocean voyage around Cape Horn
76
1915
America enters World War I after the sinking of
the Lusitania with the loss of 128 American lives
provokes sentiment against Germany.
77
1916
U.S. agrees to purchase Danish West Indies
(Virgin Islands) for 25 million Jeannette Rankin
of Montana is the first woman elected to the U.S.
House of Representatives
78
1918
Worldwide influenza epidemic strikes by 1920,
nearly 20 million are dead. In U.S., 500,000
perish
79
1919
Eighteenth Amendment prohibiting the manufacture,
sale, and transportation of liquor. Nineteenth
Amendment to the Constitution is ratified,
granting women the right to vote
80
1921
Warren G. Harding (29th) inaugurated
as the president . He signs resolution declaring
peace with Austria and Germany
81
1925
Coolidge's second inauguration (March 4).
Tennessee passes a law against the teaching of
evolution in public schools (March 23), setting
the stage for the Scopes Monkey Trial
82
1927
Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo nonstop
transatlantic flight in his plane The Spirit of
St. Louis
83
1929
Herbert Hoover is inaugurated as the 31st
president (March 4). Stock market crash
precipitates the Great Depression
84
1931
The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the
national anthem
85
1931
The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the
national anthem
86
1932
Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas is the first
woman elected to the U.S. Senate .Amelia Earhart
completes first solo nonstop transatlantic flight
by a woman
87
1933
Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution,
sometimes called the Lame Duck Amendment, is
ratified, moving the president's inauguration
date from March 4 to Jan. 20
88
1935
Social Security Act is passed .Bureau of
Investigation (established 1908) becomes the
Federal Bureau of Investigation under J. Edgar
Hoover
89
1938
Fair Labor Standards Act is passed, setting the
first minimum wage in the U.S. at 25 cents per
hour
90
1941
America enters World War II with the Japanese
bombing of Pearl Harbor.
91
1945
Harry Truman orders two atomic bombs dropped on
non-combatant, civilian populations (Hiroshima
Nagasakito end WW II
92
1951-53
U.S. enters Korean War to resist Chinese
Communist expansion
93
1953
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed for
passing secret information about U.S. atomic
weaponry to the Soviets
94
1954
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans.
Landmark Supreme Court decision declares that
racial segregation in schools is unconstitutional
95
1958
Explorer I, first American satellite, is launched
96
1959
Alaska becomes the 49th state (Jan. 3) and Hawaii
becomes the 50th
97
1962
Lt. Col. John Glenn becomes first U.S. astronaut
to orbit Earth Cuban Missile Crisis
98
1963
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his I
Have a Dream speech before a crowd of 200,000
during the civil rights march on Washington, DC
(Aug. 28). President Kennedy is assassinated in
Dallas, Tex
99
1966
Miranda v. Arizona Landmark Supreme Court
decision further defines due process clause of
Fourteenth Amendment and establishes Miranda
rights
100
1967
Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution is
ratified, outlining the procedures for filling
vacancies in the presidency and vice presidency
101
1968
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in
Memphis, Tenn. (April 4). Sen. Robert F. Kennedy
is assassinated
102
1969
Neil Armstrong becomes first man to walk on the
moon's surface in the successful American
103
1971
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution is
ratified, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18
104
1972
Five men, are caught breaking into rival
Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex
in Washington, DC
105
1973
Roe v. Wade Landmark Supreme Court decision
legalizes abortion in first trimester of
pregnancy
106
1974
House Judiciary Committee recommends to full
House that Nixon be impeached
107
1978
Sadat and Begin sign Camp David Accord, ending
30-year conflict between Egypt and Israel
108
1980
The Supreme Court ruled that the 10 Commandments
cannot be dis- played in public schools on the
grounds that it "may induce school children to
read, meditate upon, and perhaps venerate or obey
them".
109
1981
President Reagan is shot in the chest by John
Hinckley, Jr. (March 30). Sandra Day O'Connor is
sworn in as the first woman Supreme Court justice
110
1986
Space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds
after liftoff, killing all seven crew members