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Thomas Jefferson President
Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Previously, he had been elected the second Vice President of the United States, serving under John Adams from 1797 to 1801 -
Louisiana Purchase
President Thomas Jefferson doubles the size of the United States of America with his purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon's France, thus paving way for the western expansion that would mark the entire history of the 19th century from Missouri to the Pacific Coast. -
First Dictionary
Noah Webster publishes his first American English dictionary. -
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War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a conflict fought between the United States, the United Kingdom, and their respective allies from June 1812 to February 1815. Historians in Britain often see it as a minor theater of the Napoleonic Wars; in the United States and Canada, it is seen as a war in its own right. -
Texas attempts to Secede
Group of Texas settlers make first attempt to secede from Mexico in the Fredonian Republic. Republic of Fredonia lasts one month, causes Mexican government to curb immigration from U.S. to region and increased dissatisfaction that leads to eventual Texas Revolution. -
Invention: Typewriter
American, W.A. Burt invents a typewriter. -
The Circus
P.T. Barnum begins his first circus tour of the United States. -
Annexation ofTexas
The Congress of Texas votes for annexation to the United States of America with the majority of voters in Texas approving a constitution on October 13. These actions followed the signing of a bill by President Tyler on March 1, authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas and led to the United States adding the Republic of Texas into the Union as the 28th state on December 29. -
California Gold Rush
Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. After news spread that gold had been discovered there, thousands of Americans dropped everything they had and moved to California. By 1849, it was the peak of the Gold Rush, thus, creating the name forty-niners for the many miners that searched for gold there. This event greatly increased America's westward expansion. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest and most remembered presidents of the America, was elected on this day. His election spurred on the most brutal and deadliest war in American history. Soon after he was elected, South Carolina seceded from the Union and was then followed by the Civil War.