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The 1600s
Origin of the State name - Named after the Delaware River whose name was given by Captain Samuel Argall from that of Sir Thomas West (Lord de la Warr) who was Virginia Company's first governor. -
The 1609
Henry Hudson, an Englishman, under commission the Dutch East India Company and seeking a Northwest passage to China and Japan, discovered Delaware Bay -
The 1651
the Dutch West India Company sold the region to the city of Amsterdam. -
The 1655
- The Dutch defeat the Swedes on the Delaware, ending the New Sweden Colony. Delaware becomes a part of New Netherland
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The 1655
Sep 26, Peter Stuyvesant recaptured Dutch Ft. Casimir from Swedish in Delaware -
The 1644
England took over the area in 1664, and it was transferred to William Penn as the lower Three Counties -
The 1682
Aug 24, Duke James of York gave Delaware to William Penn -
The 1682
Oct 26, William Penn accepted the area around the Delaware River from Duke of York -
The 1703
Delaware was so called, in 1703, from Delaware Bay, on which it lies, and which received its name from Lord De la War. -
The 1763
Legal battles were settled by a survey, which resulted in the Mason-Dixon line, surveyed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon -
The 1787
Dec 7, Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. -
The 1787
John Dickinson served as Delaware’s delegate to the Constitutional Convention -
The 1812
The War of 1812 between U.S. and Great Britain, ended in a stalemate but confirmed America's Independence -
The 1861
Jan 3, Delaware rejected a proposal that it join the South in seceding -
The 1861
Jun 5, Federal marshals seized arms and gunpowder at Du Pont works in Delaware -
The 1861
Jun 5, Federal marshals seized arms and gunpowder at Du Pont works in Delaware -
The 1893
Jan 17, A state record temperature of 17F, -27C, was recorded in Millsboro, -
The 1903
John Dickinson served as Delaware’s delegate to the Constitutional Convention -
The 1903
Du Pont established the Experimental Station for research in Wilmington. -
The 1912
Louisa d’Andelot du Pont Copeland spearheaded the founding of the Delaware Art Museum -
The 1939
Oct 24, Nylon stockings were sold publicly for the first time, in Wilmington, Del. -
The 1983
A tanker ran aground near Claymont, Del., spilling 300,000 gallons of heating oil into the Delaware River. -
The 2001
Jan 3, In Delaware a fire at an Oak Orchard rural home killed 11 Wright-Shelton family members including 7 children. -
The 2001
Jan 3, In Delaware a fire at an Oak Orchard rural home killed 11 Wright-Shelton family members including 7 children. -
The 2013
May 7, Delaware’s state senate voted 12-9 to allow same-sex marriage. Within an hour Gov. Jack Markell signed it into law making Delaware the 11th US state to support same-sex marriage.
