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Massacre at Mystic
The Mystic massacre took place on May 26, 1637 during the Pequot War, when Connecticut colonists under Captain John Mason and their Narragansett and Mohegan allies set fire to the Pequot Fort near the Mystic River. -
The Scalp Act
On April 8, 1756, “The 1756 Scalp Act was the result of close to 40 years of the Penn family lying to Delaware and Shawnees,” Pennsylvania Historian Norman Houser said. The act legalized the taking of scalps for money, paid by the Pennsylvania government. The Scalp Act passed as a means to get rid of the Delaware once and for all. -
The Boston Tea Party
a political protest that occurred at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists were frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation."The colonists dumped 342 chests of tea that was imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War were fought in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (Arlington), and Cambridge -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775 in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy, and Cambridge. -
The Declaration of Independence is Signed
The Declaration of Independence was signed. Not everyone signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th. The Declaration of Independence was later signed. One of the most famous signatures was John Hancock. -
Winter at Valley Forge
Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September of 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the British capture of the city. -
Articles of Confederation are Ratified
The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. -
The Battle of Yorktown
British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and his army surrendered to General George Washington’s American force and its French allies at the Battle of Yorktown. The outcome in Yorktown, Virginia marked the conclusion of the last major battle of the American Revolution and was the start of our nation's new independence. -
The 3/5ths Compromise
Three-fifths compromise, compromise agreement between delegates from the Northern and the Southern states at the United States Constitutional Convention (1787) that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives. -
The Constitution is Ratified
The ratification was hard and long. The constitution became the official framework of the government of the United States when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it. -
Inauguration of President George Washington
The first inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States was held on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, New York. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four year term of George Washington as President. -
Washington's Farewell Address
George Washington's farewell address is a letter written by President George Washington as a valedictory to "friends and fellow-citizens" after 20 years of public service to the United States. He wrote it near the end of his second term of presidency before retiring to his home at Mount Vernon in Virginia. -
The Death of George Washington
George Washington was the first president of the United States of America. He died in Mount Vernon from a throat infection and was buried 4 days later in the family vault in Mount Vernon. -
Election Day, 1800
The 1800 United States presidential election was the fourth presidential election. It was held from October 31 to December 3, 1800. -
Marbury vs. Madison
The U.S. Supreme Court first declared an act of Congress unconstitutional, establishing the doctrine of judicial review. The court’s opinion, written by Chief Justice John Marshall, is considered one of the foundations of U.S. constitutional law. -
Slave Trade Ends in the United States
The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807 is a United States federal law that provided that no new slaves were permitted to be imported into the United States. It took effect on January 1, 1808, the earliest date permitted by the United States Constitution. -
Battle of Tippecanoe
The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811 in Battle Ground, Indiana between American forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and Indian forces associated with Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (commonly known as "The Prophet"), -
The Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading British forces. -
The Missouri Compromise
In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. -
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was a series of forced relocations of approximately 60,000 Native Americans between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for white settlement of their ancestral lands. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
(also known as the Southampton Insurrection) was a rebellion of black slaves that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831, led by Nat Turner. The rebels killed between 55 and 65 people, at least 51 of whom were white. -
The Battle of the Alamo
An event in the Texas Revolution from February 23 – March 6, 1836 -
The Fugitive Slave Act
Passed on September 18, 1850 by Congress, The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of the Compromise of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves. -
13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on December 6, 1865 and proclaimed on December 18. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was an enslaved African American man in the United States who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857, popularly known as the "Dred Scott case" -
The Dead Rabbits Riot
The Dead Rabbits riot was a two-day civil disturbance in New York City evolving from what was originally a small-scale street fight between members of the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys into a citywide gang war, which occurred July 4–5, 1857. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free. -
The Ku Klux Klan is Established
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) extended into almost every southern state by 1870 and became a vehicle for white southern resistance to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for Black Americans. -
14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. -
John D. Rockefeller Creates Standard Oil
In 1870, he established Standard Oil, which by the early 1880s controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing and colluding with railroads to eliminate his competitors in order to gain a monopoly in the industry. -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It was ratified on February 3, 1870, as the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments. -
Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone
On March 7, 1876, Bell was granted his telephone patent. A few days later, he made the first-ever telephone call to Watson, allegedly uttering the now-famous phrase, “Mr. Watson, come here. I want you.” -
Battle of Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between -
The Great Oklahoma Land Race
Central Oklahoma, also known as Oklahoma Land Rush. The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land rush into the Unassigned Lands. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part of the Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the US state of Oklahoma. -
Battle of Wounded Knee
The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, was a domestic massacre of nearly three hundred Lakota people, by soldiers of the United States Army. -
Ellis Island Opens to Process Immigrants
More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954 with a whopping of 1,004,756 entering the United States in the year 1907, alone. Yet, even during these days, most passengers hoping to establish new lives in the United States, the process of entering the country was over and done relatively quickly, in a matter of a few hours. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal". -
The sinking of the USS Maine
Sent to havana harbor to protect U.S. interests. Was mysteriously exploded thought it was spain. -
The Wizard of Oz (Book) is Published
The story chronicles the adventures of a young farm girl named Dorothy in the magical Land of Oz, after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their Kansas home by a cyclone. -
Teddy Roosevelt Becomes President of the United States
Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901 and assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated the following September. He remains the youngest person to become President of the United States. -
J.P. Morgan Founds U.S. Steel
J. P. Morgan formed U.S. Steel on March 2, 1901 (incorporated on February 25) by financing the merger of Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company with Elbert H. Gary's Federal Steel Company and William Henry "Judge" Moore's National Steel Company for $492 million ($15.12 billion today). -
Ford Motor Company is Founded
The Ford Motor Company was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand, and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. ... At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe. -
Ida Tarbell Publishes Her Article About Standard Oil
Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company. Her study of Rockefeller's practices as he built Standard Oil into one of the world's largest business monopolies took many years to complete. McClure's Magazine published it in 19 installments. -
The 16th Amendment is Passed
16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax (1913) Passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913, the 16th amendment established Congress's right to impose a Federal income tax. -
Angel Island Opens to Process Immigrants
In January 1910, over the late objections of Chinese community leaders, this hastily built immigration station was opened on the northeastern edge of Angel Island, ready to receive its first guests. The first stop on disembarking at the pier on Angel Island was the Administration Building. -
The 17th Amendment is Passed
The 17th amendment was passed by Congress May 13, 1912, and ratified April 8, 1913, the 17th amendment modified Article I, section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. Senators. Prior to its passage, Senators were chosen by state legislatures. -
The Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order say it is “the national anthem of the United States.” In 1931, more than 100 years after it was composed, Congress passed a law declaring “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the official national anthem. -
J.Edgar Hoover Becomes Head of the FBI
He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation – the FBI's predecessor – in 1924 and was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director for another 37 years until his death in 1972 at the age of 77. -
Mein Kampf is Published
Mein Kampf is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became anti semitic and outlines his political principles and future plans for Germany. -
Stock Market Crash Begins Great Depression
The stock market crash of 1929 – considered the worst economic event in world history – began on Thursday, October 24, 1929, with skittish investors trading a record 12.9 million shares. On October 28, dubbed “Black Monday,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 13 percent -
The Dust Bowl Begins
tarted in 1930 and lasted for about a decade, but its long-term economic impacts on the region lingered much longer. Severe drought hit the Midwest and Southern Great Plains in 1930. Massive dust storms began in 1931. -
The Empire State Building Opens
Empire State Building: The Empire State Building is a symbol of everything New York City is known for: ambition, innovation, a competitive spirit, and sheer will. Construction began on March 17, 1930, and President Herbert Hoover officially opened it on May 1, 1931. -
Franklin Roosevelt is Elected President (1st Time)
He served as governor from 1929 to 1933, promoting programs to combat the economic crisis besetting the United States. In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated Republican President Herbert Hoover in a landslide. -
Adolf Hitler Become Chancellor of Germany
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933 following a series of electoral victories by the Nazi Party. He ruled absolutely until his death by suicide in April 1945. -
CCC is Created
Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, with an executive order on April 5, 1933. The CCC was part of his New Deal legislation, combating high unemployment during the Great Depression by putting hundreds of thousands of young men to work on environmental conservation projects. -
WPA is Created
Roosevelt on April 8, 1935. On May 6, 1935, FDR issued executive order 7034, establishing the Works Progress Administration. The WPA superseded the work of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which was dissolved. -
J.J. Braddock Wins Heavyweight Boxing Title
Instead, on June 13, 1935, at Madison Square Garden Bowl, Braddock won the Heavyweight Championship of the World as the 10-to-1 underdog in what was called "the greatest fistic upset since the defeat of John L. Sullivan by Jim Corbett". -
Olympic Games in Berlin
The Summer Olympic Games open in Berlin, attended by athletes and spectators from countries around the world. The Olympic Games were a propaganda success for the Nazi government, as German officials made every effort to portray Germany as a respectable member of the international community -
Kristallnacht
a pogrom against Jews carried out by SA paramilitary forces and civilians throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938. The German authorities looked on without intervening. -
Grapes of Wrath is Published
The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. -
Wizard of Oz Premiers in Movie Theaters
When a tornado rips through Kansas, Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her dog, Toto, are whisked away in their house to the magical land of Oz. They follow the Yellow Brick Road toward the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, and en route they meet a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) that needs a brain, a Tin Man (Jack Haley) missing a heart, and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) who wants courage. The wizard asks the group to bring him the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) to earn his help. -
Germany Invades Poland
Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe. German forces broke through Polish defenses along the border and quickly advanced on Warsaw, the Polish capital. -
The Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. -
The Four Freedoms Speech
The four freedoms he outlined were freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. -
the bombing of pearl harbor
The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, just before 08:00, on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 -
The Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was an epic clash between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy that played out six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
In the Battle of Stalingrad, Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. While the French colonies formally aligned with Germany via Vichy France, the loyalties of the population were mixed. Reports indicated that they might support the Allies. -
Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program
The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program under the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections of the Allied armies was established in 1943 to help protect cultural property in war areas during and after World War II. -
The Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a Second World War engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk in the Soviet Union, during July and August 1943. -
D-Day (June 6th, 1944)
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. -
The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, was a major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II, and took place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was an epic military campaign between U.S. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan in early 1945. ... In some of the bloodiest fighting of World War II, it's believed that all but 200 or so of the 21,000 Japanese forces on the island were killed, as were almost 7,000 Marines. -
The Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. -
The Death of FDR
On April 12, 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died from a Cerebral hemorrhage (brain hemorrhage), during World War II. This meant that vice president Truman was in charge now and he had to take care of America during World War II and The Great Depression. -
The Death of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party, Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Führer ('Leader') of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He committed suicide by gunshot on 30 April 1945 in his Führerbunker in Berlin. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, the United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. -
Atomic Bombing Nagasaki
On August 9, 1945, a second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan's unconditional surrender. The devastation wrought at Hiroshima was not sufficient to convince the Japanese War Council to accept the Potsdam Conference's demand for unconditional surrender. -
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hired George Wein to organize the first festival and bring jazz to Rhode Island. -
Nixon-Kennedy Debates (1st on Television)
In 1960, the first presidential debate ever happened on television. It was the Nixon vs. Kennedy Debate. Kennedy won. -
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the USA, was assassinated on November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m. while riding in a motorcade in Dallas during a campaign visit. He died at 46 years old. -
The Beatles Appear for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show
For the first time ever the Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show. The beatles were a very popular boy band in the 60's. If they would perform three shows then they could come to America. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
On August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the codename for an American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War. U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam from March 1965 to October 1968. -
March on the Pentagon
The March on the Pentagon was a massive demonstration against the Vietnam War on October 21, 1967. The protest involved more than 100,000 attendees at a rally by the Lincoln Memorial. Later about 50,000 people marched across the city to The Pentagon and sparked a confrontation with paratroopers on guard. -
Chicago 8 Trial
A riot breaks out during the Democratic National Convention of 1968. A group of eight men are arrested and put on trial for conspiring to incite the riot, including Abbie Hoffman (Michael Lembeck), the noted political prankster. Throughout his court battle, Hoffman frequently feuds with Judge Julius. -
Mai Lai Massacre
The Mai Lai massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War. A group of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people—women, children and old men—in the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968. -
Riots at the Chicago Democratic Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. ... The convention was held during a year of violence, political turbulence and civil unrest, particularly riots in more than 100 cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. -
Woodstock
Woodstock was a music festival held August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, 40 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music" and alternatively referred to as the Woodstock Rock Festival, it attracted an audience of more than 400,000. -
The Beatles Break Up
On 10 April 1970, McCartney issued a press release that stated he was no longer working with the group, which sparked a widespread media reaction -
Kent State Protest
The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre, were the killings of four and wounding of nine other unarmed Kent State University students by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970 in Kent, Ohio, 40 miles south of Cleveland. -
Roe vs. Wade
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.
