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Jamestown is settled
King James I granted a charter to the Virginia Company to establish a settlement in North America in June of 1606. The Virginia Company landed on May 14, 1607 and set to work settling the first English colony in America. Though the settlement faced many difficulties and was even abandoned at one point, it eventually grew into a robust town and the capital of Virginia. That it remained until its major statehouse was burned in 1699. From then it slowly began to disappear and be greatly cultivated. -
Industrial Revolution begins
The Industrial Revolution took place from the 18th to 19th centuries in America and Europe. Though historians argue on the exact dates of its influence, many agree that it must of began around 1760 and ended anywhere between 1820 and 1840. This period of nearly a hundred years was the most progressive period in U.S. History. -
The Revolutionary War begins
This war of independence arose from conflict and tension between Great Britain and its American colonies. War officially began due to violent skirmishes in Lexington and Concord in 1775 and continued on until 1781 when the British surrendered in Yorktown and America won its independence. The armed conflict, however, continued on into 1783 before it formally ceased. -
The Civil War begins
On April 12, 1861 - after years of conflict between the industrial North and rural South on ideas of slavery - the Confederate army opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay, forcing them to surrender the garrison to the Confederates - who had just recently seceded from the Union. This kicked off instense bloody battle that went on until the spring of 1865. -
President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer by the name of John Wilkes Booth while going to see a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. He died the following morning on April 15th, just mere days after the Civil War's end. -
World War I commences
Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914, a series of threats led to the start of World War I in August. The war pitted the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire) against the Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, and - eventually - the U.S. in 1917.) By its end in November 1918, 9 million soldiers had been killed and 21 million others wounded all over the world - carnage before unseen in any other war. -
The Great Depression sets in motion
The Great Depression was a decade of the deepest and most disasterous economic downturns that industrialized America had ever and has ever faced. After the great stock market crash in 1929, industrial output declinded, Wall Street investors were hurt, and the rate of unemployment raised drastically. At the Depression's peak, between 13 and 15 million Americans were out of work. The beginning of World War II in 1939, however, helped to restart the American economy and industry. -
World War II commences
The second world war came just two decades after the first one ended, in 1939, sparked by Adolf Hilter's invasion of Poland. It went on for six tragic years until the defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan in 1945. It was the most globally disasterous and deadliest war in history that resulted in over 50 million deaths worldwide. -
Cold War begins
The Cold War was a period of time from 1947 to 1991 that resulted from tensions between the United States and Soviet Union after the second World War. The suspicion, tension, and various incidents between them resulted in much fear and disaster within the two nations. -
Vietnam War begins
The Vietnam War was a very long and expensive war pitting North Vietnam and the "Viet Cong" against South Vietnam and the United States. It began in 1954 after Ho Chi Minh and his communist party (the Viet Minh party) rose to power. During its 21 years, the war caused great division among American citizens and, by its end in 1975, over 3 million people had died.
