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Diseases strike
1616-1619 An infectious disease, difficult to identify, almost eliminated coastal New Hampshire’s native population, in effect facilitating European settlement -
1623, oldest settlement
The oldest permanent settlement in New Hampshire is Dover, which was settled in 1623. This was the seventh settlement in the United States. -
New Hampshire was named
1629 Capt. John Mason, a partner in a large 1622 grant including Maine, received in 1629 a grant of all land between the Merrimack and Piscataquis, which he named “New Hampshire” -
It was also once named North Virginia.
The original residents liked the name North Virginia because they found the land similar to the description of Virginia written by Captain John Smith, the website said. Despite their insistence of likeness between the two colonies, King George designated the area New England hoping to keep it as British as possible. New Hampshire would become the namesake of the original Hampshire County in England.1640 -
In 1641, the Massachusetts colony claimed the territory that was New Hampshire.
New Hampshire became known as the “Upper Province” of Massachusetts. It remained the Upper Province until 1679 when it became a “Royal Province”. Once again, it was reunited with Massachusetts in 1698. Finally, in 1741, New Hampshire gained its independence and elected its own governor – Benning Wentworth, who governed the colony until 1766. -
Longest meeting
1713 A three-day meeting in Portsmouth between Governor Joseph Dudley, his councilors, and representatives of the Abenaki resulted in the first Treaty of Portsmouth -
declaration was signed
Of the thirteen original colonies, New Hampshire was the first to declare its independence from Mother England -- a full six months before the Declaration of Independence was signed. July 4, 1776 -
Embargo act
1807 Jefferson’s Embargo Act of 1807, forbidding U.S. vessels to leave for foreign ports, crippled New Hampshire trade while at the same time encouraging local industry -
Bennington battle
1809 For an upcoming anniversary of the Battle of Bennington, John Stark penned the famous words: “Live free or die, death is not the greatest of evils.” -
Toleration act
1819 Legislation known as the Toleration Act guaranteed separation of church and state, resulting in increased, rather than decreased, private support for religion -
Woman employed
1828 About 400 women employed at Dover’s Cocheco mills, disturbed by reduced wages and new regulations, organized the nation’s first entirely female strike -
Concord
1835 Incited by an anti-abolitionist rally in Concord, a mob developed, preventing noted abolitionists George Thompson and John Greenleaf Whittier from speaking there -
The railroad
1838 The first 5.25 miles of railroad in New Hampshire, part of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad, began operation, in effect linking Nashua with Boston by rail -
Hospital?
1842 The New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane (now the New Hampshire State Hospital) opened its first building for the reception of patients -
New Hampshire and New England
New Hampshire was a part of the New England colonies it was one out of4 that were a part of the colonies. -
The American Civil War.
In 1859 John Brown raided Harpers Ferry and set in motion events that led directly to the outbreak of the Civil War. Outbreak of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, was elected president and in 1861 the South Secedes. -
Democratic standard
1861 Soldiers of the First New Hampshire Regiment, just back in Concord from the South, attacked and destroyed the office of the anti-war Democratic Standard -
Society
1911 The New Hampshire Historical Society opened a new Beaux Arts building in Concord, funded through the generosity of its leading benefactor, Edward Tuck -
Babe Ruth?
1916 Babe Ruth and his Red Sox teammates visited the Draper-Maynard sporting goods factory in Plymouth after winning their third consecutive World Series -
Services
1933 The first 2,400 young men out of an eventual 37,000 began service in New Hampshire in the Depression-era public works program known as the Civilian Conservation Corps -
Scientists on duty
1934 Scientists on duty at the Mount Washington Observatory, using an anemometer, measured a world-record wind speed of 231 miles per hour, not exceeded until 1996 -
Railroad destroyed
1959 Due to a further decline in railroad use with the expansion of the interstate highway system, Concord’s 1885 railroad station was demolished for a shopping center -
Olympics
1960 The first American to win an Olympic downhill skiing medal was 21-year-old Penny Pitou of Gilford, who earned silver medals in both downhill and giant slalom -
American in space
1961 Derry native Alan Shepard, one of the original seven astronauts, became the first American in space and the first person of any nation to pilot a vehicle in space -
1936 Damage from spring flooding
Determined through geologic evidence to be the worst in 14,000 years, and spurred passage of the Flood Control act of 1936. -
Jonathan Daniels
1965 Keene native, 25-year-old Jonathan Daniels was shot and killed in Alabama, while trying to save the life of an African-American co-worker in the Civil Rights movement -
Clamshell Alliance
1994 Clamshell Alliance leader Guy Chichester, charged with “criminal mischief” for an act of protest against Seabrook, was acquitted on grounds of “The Right of Revolution” -
Jeanne Shaheen
1996 Jeanne Shaheen became the first woman to be elected governor of New Hampshire and only the fourth person to serve in that office three consecutive terms -
Lots of money lost
2005 Torrential rains caused roads, bridges to be wiped out, over 1,000 evacuated, seven died, property damages exceeded $15.8 million -
The vote for woman
2012 Almost a century after women obtained the vote, New Hampshire became the first state ever to be represented by an all-female Congressional delegation
