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776 BCE
The First Olympic Games
Ancient Greece introduced formal sports, with the first Olympic Games in 776 BC, that included sports such as human and chariot races, wrestling, jumping, disk and javelin throwing, and more. Source: Thought Co. -
1492
Columbus Discovers the New World
Columbus sets sail on his first voyage and discovers the Americas. he sails into what he thinks is the Indian Sea but it is really the Carribean Sea. Source: Columbus's letter to King Ferdinand -
1500
Ice Skating was Invented
Around the 14th Century, the Dutch started using wooden platform skates with flat iron bottom runners. The skates were attached to the skater's shoes with leather straps. Poles were used to propel the skater. Source: ThoughtCo. -
Jamestown
The Virginia Company of London sends three ships of colonist to the New World. They landed specifically at Chesapeake Bay. They called this settlement Jamestown. Source: America Story of US -
Golf was Invented
Golf originated from a game played on the coast of Scotland during the 15th century. Golfers would hit a pebble instead of a ball around the sand dunes using a stick or club. After 1750, golf evolved into the sport as we recognize it today. Source: Thought Co. -
The French and Indian War Begins
In 1753, the French began building forts to back their land claim. That is when the French and Indian War began, Source: America: History of Our Nation -
The Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was a document issued by the King of England that prohibited American settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. Native Americans had claimed these lands and they did not want to have a war with each other. Source: Preston, David L. "Proclamation of 1763." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2015. Web. 10 Aug. 2015. -
The Virginia Stamp Act
The British Government passed a law that taxed all paper in the 13 colonies. This enraged the colonists. -
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. Source: History.com -
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 declared that all lands north of the Ohio River would be free of slaves, leaving slavery allowable in lands to the south. This law helped make the creation of new western states easier for a time. But it did not solve the problem of slavery. -
The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisana Purchase is when America bought the Louisana Territory from France. They bought it for a low price of 15 million dollars. Source: History.com -
Swimming was Invented
Swimming pools did not become popular until the middle of the 19th century. By 1837, six indoor pools with diving boards were built in London, England. Source: ThoughtCo. -
Frederick Douglass Escaped Slavery
Frederick Douglass escaped his Maryland plantation in 1838. He escaped to New York City. Source: Frederick Douglass Case Study -
Baseball was Invented
Alexander Cartwright (1820-1892) of New York invented the modern baseball field in 1845. Alexander Cartwright and the members of his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club devised the first rules and regulations that were accepted for the modern game of baseball. Source: Thought Co. -
Cricket was Invented
The cricket bat was invented around 1853, the blade made of willow, and a cane handle layered with strips of rubber, tied with twine and covered with rubber to make a grip. Source: ThoughtCo. -
The Battle of Antietam
After crossing the Potomac River, Lee's army clashed with Union forces on September 17, 1862, at Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest one-day battle in American history, with more than 20,000 soldiers killed or wounded. Source: TCI -
the 13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary work. Source: Mrs. Reyes -
Tennis was Invented
Tennis originated from a 12th-century French game called paume (meaning palm); it was a court game where the ball was struck with the hand. Paume evolved into jeu de paume and rackets were used. Source: ThougtCo. -
Football was Invented
Derived from the English game of rugby, American football was started in 1879 with rules instituted by Walter Camp, player and coach at Yale University. Source: Thought Co. -
Softball was Invented
In 1887, George Hancock, a reporter for Chicago Board of Trade, invented softball. He invented the game as a form of indoor baseball on a cold winter day inside the warm Farragut Boat Club. Source: ThoughtCo. -
Basketball was Invented
The first formal rules were devised in 1892. Initially, players dribbled a soccer ball up and down a court of unspecified dimensions. Points were earned by landing the ball in a peach basket. Source: Thought Co. -
Volleyball was Invented
William Morgan invented volleyball in 1895 at the Holyoke, Massachusetts, YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) where he served as Director of Physical Education. -
The Jungle was Published
Upton Sinclair posted The Jungle and exposed the meatpacking industry -
Assassination of the Archduke Austria
Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie Duchess of Hohenberg, are killed by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo Source: Outbreak of WWI Slideshow -
Water Skiing was Invented
Water skiing came about on June 28, 1922, when eighteen-year-old Ralph Samuelson of Minnesota, proposed the idea that if you could ski on snow, then you could ski on water. Source: ThoughtCo. -
D-Day
Troops would cross the English Channel by ship and land on the beaches of Normandy, in northern France. D-Day—the day the invasion began—was June 6, 1944. Eisenhower sent off his first wave of 156,000 troops with a message of hope Source: TCI -
Windsurfing was Invented
Windsurfing or boardsailing is a sport that combines sailing and surfing and uses a one-person craft called a sailboard. The basic sailboard is composed of a board and a rig. Source: ThoughtCo. -
The Berlin Blockade Starts
The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. Source: Berlin Airlift Slideshow. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Source: The Vietnam Era Textbook -
The Hackey Sack was Invented
Hacky sack or footbag, as we know it today, is a modern American sport invented in 1972, by John Stalberger and Mike Marshall of Oregon City, Oregon. -
Paintball was Invented
A milestone in the history of Paintball occurred in 1981 when twelve friends played a version of "Capture the Flag" using the tree-marking guns. The twelve friends decided to buy into a tree marking gun manufacturer called Nelson and started promoting and selling the guns to the public for use with the new recreational sport. Source: ThoughtCo. -
The Bombing of 9/11
The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Source: My Knowledge
