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Jan 1, 700
Humans arrive in North America
12,000 BCE humans from Siberia cross the Bering Land Bridge ,due to lower sea levels from the current Ice Age, in search of new food sources and gradually expanded across the Americas and nearby islands. -
Jan 5, 1000
Vikings Arrive in N.A.
1000 C.E Leif Eriksson sails from Greenland and lands in Newfoundland, starting a period of viking colonization along the Northeastern coast of North America in search of resources. May have gotten as far as the Mississippi River before native resistance drove them to abandon their settlements. -
Period: Oct 12, 1492 to
Near Destruction of Native People of the Americas
With the "discovery" of the Americas, it opens the door to a flood of Europeans seeking plunder and land in the new lands. With them comes diseases that the natives have no immunity to and this wipes out 80-90% of the native population in the Americas along with war and slavery. Europeans find at least part of what they search for. -
Feb 3, 1519
Campaign against Aztec Empire begins
Seeking land for himself as he was too late to find any in the Caribbean, Hernan Cortes with a army of 500 men began to conquer the Aztecs and by1521, Cortes was victoriousover the Aztecs. -
Aug 29, 1533
Death of the Last Incan Emperor/ Fall of the Empire
In search of the great wealth of the South American Indians, Francisco Pizarro made a deal with another conquistador Diego de Almagro to send an expidition to map then invade the new land they would discover. Pizarro lead 180 men to the Incan town of Cajamarca in 1532, captured the Incan Emperor Atahuallpa, had a ransom paid to him for the emperor and then had Atahuallpa strangled to death. -
Founding of Jamestown
Jamestown was the first permanent British colony in North America. It was founded by the Virginia Company and the expidition was led by John Smith. The colony would languish with a very high mortality rate amoung the settlers from starvation, disease, and warfare with the naitve tribes. It was not until the farming of tobacco began in 1613 would cause the fortunes of the town to explode. -
First Slaves Brought to America
In Jamestown in 1619, a Dutch slave trader exchanged several African slaves for food. As the slaves were permently an under class, they were better than indentured servants used before. This exchange started a system of slavery that would cause a host of problems throughout American history culminating with the devastating American Civil War. The prejudices created during this period would continue even up to today. -
Period: to
French and Indian War/Seven Years' War
This was world war fought between the French and British empires mostly over control of North America for its raw resources and trade with the natives. France, Spain, and their native allies lost the war, leaving Britian in control of most of Eastern N.A. and increasing tensions between British colonists and native people. -
Proclamation line
A limit set by King George III at the Appalachian mountains to stop colonists from expanding into native territory; increases tension between colonists and king. -
Beginning of the Laki Eruption
The eruption was one of the largest flood basalt in recent history. The eruption lasted 8 months and produced 14.7 km3 of basaltic lava that came out of 140 vents in a seires of fissures and cones. Killed thousands of cattle in Iceland and many in Iceland died from eruption. Its caused global temperatures to fall by 4.8 degrees C. -
Treaty of Paris
It ended the American revolution. It also granted the America the thirteen states. -
Cotton Gin
Invented by Eli Whitney to sort cotton fiber from seeds easier. Makes cotton profitable and revitlizes slavery. -
Beginning of Lewis and Clark's Expedition
After purchasing 828,000 square miles from France, President Thomas Jefferson sent a 33 man team led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this newly aquired land. -
Eruption of Mt. Tambora
The eruption of mt. Tambora was the one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the last 10,000 years. It emptied more than 50 cubic kilometers of magma and ash into the atmosphere and created a caldera 6 km wide and over 1250 km deep. It killed more than 100,000 people world wide from tsunamis and its effects on the Earth's climate that causes "A Year Without a Summer" in most of the Northern Hemisphere and famine in Europe and North America. -
Alaska Bought by U.S.
Secretary of State William S. Seward works out a deal with Russia to buy Alaska for $7.2 million. Not well recived by public. Importance realized in 20th Century with gold, oil, and volcanos. -
Largest Eruption of Krakatoa
After several months of minor eruptions that shoke the island, volcanic debris plugged up the volcanic tube causing a bulid up of pressure until today, four massive explosions rocked the island and were heard in australia 2,800 miles away and ejecting 11 cubic miles of earth into the sky. pyroclastic flows and tsunamis killed over 36,000. -
Yosemite National Park Created
After campaigning for the establishment of a federal park, John Muir and his supporters got their wish when Congress set aside 1,500 miles of wilderness for protection. Big win for conservationists. -
Hawaii Annexed by American
Last monarch of Hawaii, Queen Liliuokalani is overthrown by U.S. marines and the islands' fertile valleys and warm, tropical seas are under American control. And with it, volcanos. -
Start of the Spanish Flu Outbreak
During the final months of WWI, a devastating flu strain began to sweep across the world and would go on to kill 50-100 million and would reach even remote islands and far to the North. -
Beginning of Oil Embargo
To protest the U.S. support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War member countries of OPEC enacted an embargo on oil against the U.S. Its effects were devastating with economic recession and a shortage of fuel. -
Mt. Pinatubo
The second largest eruption that takes place in the Philippines. 800 people were killed and houses were destroyed, leaving people who survived homeless. The eruption plume of Mount Pinatubo's various gases and ash reached high into the atmosphere within two hours of the eruption, attaining an altitude of 34 km (21 miles) high and over 400 km (250 miles) wide. -
Extinction comes to the Americas
10,000BCE to 8,500 BCE, early humans hunt the megafauna of the Americas to extinction. Animals such as, mammoths, mastodon, wooly rhino, short faced bear, dire wolves, and others all disappear at this time. -
Period: to Feb 11, 1000
Evolution of Native Culture
8500BCE-1450CE As humans fanned out across the Americas and nearby islands, the began to develop a multitude of diverse societies based on the terrain, climate and food sources of the area. Southwestern Natives relied extensivly on the cultivation of maize while people of the Plains hunted buffulo for food.
