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Massacre at Mystic
A pre-dawn attack on Mystic Fort that left 500 adults and children of the Pequot tribe dead, the Pequot Massacre. It was the first defeat of the Pequot people by the English in the Pequot War, a three-year war instigated by the Puritans to seize the tribe's traditional land. -
The Scalp Act
Anyone who brought in a male scalp above age of 12 would be given 150 pieces of eight, ($150), for females above age of 12 or males under the age of 12, they would be paid $130. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and a protest by the sons of Liberty. This was a significant event and a growth of the American Revolution. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. This battle was important because it is also now as the American War of Independence. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. -
The Declaration of Independence is Signed
The Declaration of Independence is Signed is when 56 members of the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was one of the most important but least celebrated days in American history. -
The Winter at Valley Forge
The Winter at Valley Forge was a terrible day because hundreds of soldiers died from a disease. This war was important because this was a major Turing point in the American Revolutionary War. -
The Winter at 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. -
Benedict Arnold turns traitor
Revolutionary War hero Benedict Arnold turned his back on his country in a secret meeting with a top British official. -
The Battle of Cowpens
was an engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781 near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, between U.S. forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, as part of the campaign in the Carolinas. -
Article of Confederation are Ratified
Article of Confederation are Ratified was that Maryland finally signed the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. This is important because the articles were finally ratified by all the 13 states. -
The Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was the last battle of the American Revolution. The battle was important because it started a new nation's independence. -
The 3/5ths Compromise
It was part of a provision of the original Constitution that dealt with how to allot seats in the House of Representatives and dole out taxes based on population. -
The Constitution is Ratified
The Constitution is Ratified is the official framework of the government of the United States.The Constitution is Ratified is important because it served a necessary function of informing the public the provisions of a new government. -
Presidential Inauguration of George Washington
Presidential Inauguration of George Washington is The first inauguration of George Washington as the first president. Presidential Inauguration of George Washington is important because the government officially began operations under a new frame of government. -
Washington’s Farewell Address
Washington’s Farewell Address was that Washington was not going to go for his third term. This was important because George Washington was such a great president and he wasn't going to go for his third term. -
The Death of George Washington
The Death of George Washington was basically George Washington our 1st president dying. George was important because he was a national hero for leading the colonial forces to defeat the British. -
Election Day, 1800
it was an election between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. This was important because Thomas Jefferson was the first Democratic-Republican president. -
Marbury vs. Madison
Marbury vs. Madison was that they establish the principle of judicial review. This was important because the power of the federal courts declared the legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. -
Slave Trade Ends in the United States
A new Federal law made it illegal to import captive people from Africa into the United States. This date marks the end—the permanent, legal closure—of the trans-Atlantic slave trade into our country. -
Battle of Tippecanoe
A victory of a seasoned U.S. expeditionary force under Major General William Henry Harrison over Shawnee Indians led by Tecumseh's brother Laulewasikau (Tenskwatawa), known as the Prophet. -
The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere
was a battle between the two ships during the War of 1812, approximately 400 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. -
The Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore was a sea/land battle. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the port city of Baltimore, Maryland. The combatants first met at the Battle of North Point. -
The Battle of New Orleans
was fought between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson -
The Missouri Compromise
It was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. -
The Election of Andrew Jackson
The campaign of 1828 was a crucial event in a period that saw the development of a two-party system akin to our modern system, presidential electioneering bearing a closer resemblance to modern political campaigning, and the strengthening of the power of the executive branch. -
Indian Removal Act
Authorizing the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. -
Trail of Tears
The Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
This was an enslaved man who led a rebellion of enslaved people on August 21, 1831. His action set off a massacre of up to 200 Black people and a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of enslaved people. -
The Battle of the Alamo
It was a battle between the Republic of Texas and Mexico. It took place at a fort in San Antonio, Texas called the Alamo. The Mexicans won the battle, killing all of the Texan soldiers inside the fort. -
Mexico loses California, New Mexico, and Arizona
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, that brought an official end to the Mexican-American War, was signed on February 2, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a city north of the capital where the Mexican government had fled with the advance of U.S. forces. -
The Fugitive Slave Act
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. -
Dred Scott Decision
In its 1857 decision that stunned the nation, the United States Supreme Court upheld slavery in United States territories, denied the legality of black citizenship in America, and declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional. -
The Dead Rabbits Riot
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. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
The 1860 United States presidential election was the 19th quadrennial presidential election. -
South Carolina secedes from the United States
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union on December 20, 1860. The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding South. -
The First Battle of Bull Run
It's also known as the Battle of Manassas, marked the first major land battle of the American Civil War. The engagement began when about 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. -
Emancipation Proclamation
This was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, during the Civil War. -
The Battle of Gettysburg
The most important engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in late June 1863. -
13th Amendment
It was abolished slavery “within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." -
The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse
A military surrender of an army which was surrounded. The Confederate government never surrendered and even had it wanted to the United States government would likely not have accepted. -
The Ku Klux Klan is Established
a group of Confederate veterans convenes to form a secret society that they christen the “Ku Klux Klan.” -
14th Amendment
It granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States," -
John D. Rockefeller Creates Standard Oil
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
Is “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” -
Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone
The U.S. Patent Office awarded Bell with the first patent for a telephone, US Patent Number 174,465 rather than honor Gray's caveat. However, some authors dispute this story and suggest that there was malfeasance by certain individuals at Patent Office, and possibly Bell himself. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
A fight along the ridges, steep bluffs, and ravines of the Little Bighorn River, in south-central Montana on June 25-26, 1876. -
The Great Oklahoma Land Race
It was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of former Indian Territory, which had earlier been assigned to the Creek and Seminole peoples. -
Battle of Wounded Knee
The climax of the U.S. Army's late 19th-century efforts to repress the Plains Indians. -
Ellis Island Opens to Process Immigrants
Due to the economic depression at the time, immigration was light and Ellis Island inspectors had no difficulty in processing the fewer than 20,000 immigrants who arrived annually. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
A landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. -
The sinking of the USS Maine
An explosion of unknown origin sank the battleship U.S.S. Maine in the Havana, Cuba harbor, killing 266 of the 354 crew members. The sinking of the Maine incited United States' passions against Spain, eventually leading to a naval blockade of Cuba and a declaration of war. -
The Wizard of Oz (Book) is Published
This was a musical extravaganza based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. -
J.P. Morgan Founds U.S. Steel
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 -
Teddy Roosevelt Becomes President of the United States
Roosevelt took office as vice president in 1901 and assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated the following September. -
Ford Motor Company is Founded
The first Ford car was assembled at the Mack Avenue plant in July 1903. Five years later, in 1908, the highly successful Model T was introduced. -
Ida Tarbell Publishes Her Article About Standard Oil
Her work was a sensation and the installments became a two-volume book entitled, The History of the Standard Oil Company, published in 1904. Tarbell meticulously documented the aggressive techniques Standard Oil employed to outmaneuver and, where necessary, roll over whoever got in its way. -
Angel Island Opens to Process Immigrants
The new detention facility on Angel Island was considered ideal because of its isolation. Access to and from the Island was very important to control and enforce the relatively new immigration laws and deal with the threat of disease from the many new people arriving daily to America. -
The 16th Amendment is Passed
Congress's right to impose a Federal income tax. -
The 17th Amendment is Passed
By allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. Senators. -
Sacco and Vanzetti arrested for armed robbery and murder
On one subject, however, there should be no debate. Sacco and Vanzetti did not receive a fair trial. Sacco and Vanzetti were charged with committing robbery and murder at the Slater and Morrill shoe factory in South Braintree. -
KDKA goes on the air from Pittsburgh
First commercial radio station was KDKA in Pittsburgh, which went on the air in the evening of Nov. 2, 1920, with a broadcast of the returns of the Harding-Cox presidential election. -
1st Miss American Pageant
Margaret Gorman, winner of the 1921 “Inter-City Beauty” contest and the first Miss America. -
Teapot Dome Scandal
A scandal was a bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. -
1st Winter Olympics Held
The International Olympic Committee gave its patronage to a Winter Sports Week to take place in 1924 in Chamonix, France. This event was a great success, attracting 10,004 paying spectators, and was retrospectively named the First Olympic Winter Games. -
J.Edgar Hoover Becomes Head of the FBI
Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone appointed the 29-year-old Hoover acting director of the Bureau, and by the end of the year Mr. Hoover was named Director. As Director, Mr. Hoover put into effect a number of institutional changes to correct criticisms made of his predecessor's administration. -
The Great Gatsby published by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. -
Mein Kampf is Published
It is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. -
Scopes Monkey Trial
Also known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in July 1925 in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. -
Charles Lindberg completes solo flight across the Atlantic
Charles A. Lindbergh completed the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in history, flying his Spirit of St. Louis from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France. -
The Jazz Singer debuts (1st movie with sound)
The first commercially successful full-length feature film with sound, debuts at the Blue Mouse Theater at 1421 5th Avenue in Seattle. The movie uses Warner Brothers' Vitaphone sound-on-disc technology to reproduce the musical score and sporadic episodes of synchronized speech. -
Stock Market Crash Begins Great Depression
A sharp decline in U.S. stock market values in 1929 that contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Great Depression lasted approximately 10 years and affected both industrialized and nonindustrialized countries in many parts of the world. -
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
It was the 1929 murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park garage on the morning of that feast day, February 14th. -
Black Tuesday (Stock Market Crash)
Black Tuesday hit Wall Street as investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. -
The Dust Bowl Begins
It started 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 Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem
It was recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889, and by U.S. president Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931. -
The Empire State Building Opens
President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington, D.C., and on came the lights in the world's tallest skyscraper. Before that, the Chrysler Building briefly held the record at 1046 feet. -
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. -
Franklin Roosevelt is Elected President (1st Time)
Roosevelt defeated Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover in a landslide. -
CCC is Created
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a voluntary public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. Robert Fechner was the first director of this agency, succeeded by James McEntee following Fechner's death. -
WPA is Created
It was an American New Deal agency, employing millions of job-seekers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. -
J.J. Braddock Wins Heavyweight Boxing Title
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. -
Kristallnacht
It was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung paramilitary forces along with 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 has captured the American imagination, pulling back the curtain on a way of life that most of us could scarcely imagine, and showing us the powerful ways that literature can touch society. -
Wizard of Oz Premiers in Movie Theaters
The Wizard of Oz, which will become one of the best-loved movies in history, opens in theaters around the United States. Based on the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. -
Germany Invades Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September campaign, 1939 defensive war and Poland campaign, was an attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. -
The Battle of Britain
The successful defense of Great Britain against unremitting and destructive air raids conducted by the German air force (Luftwaffe) from July through September 1940, after the fall of France. -
The Four Freedoms Speech
A short closing portion describing the President's vision in which the American ideals of individual liberties were extended throughout the world. -
The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
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 -
Battle of the Philippines
the invasion of the Philippines by the Empire of Japan and the defense of the islands by United States and the Philippine Armies during World War II. -
The Battle of Midway
World War II naval battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft, in which the United States destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
A successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia, U.S.S.R. , during World War II. ... It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favour of the Allies. -
Operation Torch
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
An international group established in 1943 that worked under the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections to help protect cultural property during and after World War II. -
The Battle of Kursk
A unsuccessful German assault on the Soviet salient around the city of Kursk, in western Russia, during World War II. ... At the height of the battle on July 12, the Soviets began to counterattack, having built up by then a marked preponderance of both troops and tanks. -
D-Day (June 6th, 1944)
More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. -
The Battle of the Bulge
Also called Battle of the Ardennes, (December 16, 1944–January 16, 1945), the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War II—an unsuccessful attempt to push the Allies back from German home territory. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
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
It's also known as Operation Iceberg, took place in April-June 1945. It was the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific theater of World War II. It also resulted in the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 casualties for the Allies. -
The Death of FDR
FDR died from a haemorrhagic stroke. -
The Death of Adolf Hitler
Holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict. -
Atomic Bombing Nagasaki
The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict.