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After sailing to the New World on the Halve Maen, Henry Hudson explored the mighty river that would later be named for him. Samuel de Champlain explored the northeastern region of the area now called New York and discovered his namesake, Lake Champlain.
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King Charles the ll decided that his brother, the duke of York, should drive the dutch out of new Netherlands and he could have what will be new York.
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The first Dutch settlement was established; for 40 years the Dutch ruled over the colony of New Netherland.
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The French and Indian War, a fierce contest to gain control of the New World, changed the course of history. The British and American colonists fought against the French and Canadians, with Native American allies on both sides. By uniting the colonies and building their military strength and confidence, this war set the stage for the American Revolution.
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The Revolutionary War. On May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold and 83 “Green Mountain Boys” surprised the sleeping British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga and took the fort called the Key to a Continent without firing a shot. This was the first American victory of the Revolutionary War.
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Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat traveled from New York to Albany. This first voyage of significant distance made by a steamboat began a new era in transportation.
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The Erie Canal opened in 1825, linking the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and leading to greater development in the western part of the state.
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New York outlawed slavery. At the forefront of the Underground Railroad movement, New York had more anti-slavery organizations than any other state and strong abolitionist leaders such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and John Brown. From the early 1800s until the end of the Civil War in 1865, thousands of people passed through New York as they traveled to freedom in Canada.
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and more than 300 women and men gathered in Seneca Falls, for the nation's first women's rights convention.
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The Brooklyn Bridge, a wonder of design and engineering, opened. P.T. Barnum led a parade of 21 elephants back and forth across the bridge, to demonstrate its sturdiness to skeptics.
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When President William McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo, Theodore Roosevelt (born in New York City), was hurriedly sworn in as the 26th president of the US. Not quite 43 years old, TR became the youngest president in the nation's history.
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On August 26, the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution extended the right to vote to women. After a long struggle, women could vote in the fall elections, including the Presidential election.
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The Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building were completed, and the George Washington Bridge opened, all adding to the New York City's burgeoning skyline.
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Lake Placid hosted the Olympic Winter Games. The Whiteface Lake Placid Olympic Center at the site features an Olympic Museum and Sports Complex.
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World War II. Three WWII ships on display at the Buffalo/Erie County Naval and Military Park include the Destroyer USS The Sullivans, named for five brothers who lost their lives on November 13, 1942 following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal; the guided missile cruiser USS Little Rock; and the submarine USS Croaker.
