U.S. History Timeline of Historical Events from 1900-2020

William McKinley's second election to President

Nov 6, 1900

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1900

William McKinley's assassination by anarchist Leon Czolgosz

Sep 14, 1901

https://guide.loc.gov/chronicling-america-william-mckinley-assassination

United States acquired the Panama Canal Zone Treaty

Nov 8, 1903

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/panama-canal

Theodore Roosevelt's election as President of the United States

Nov 8, 1904

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1904

Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established

Jul 26, 1908

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fbi-founded

William Howard Taft elected President of the United States

Nov 3, 1908

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1908

Woodrow Wilson elected President

Nov 5, 1912

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1912

Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified

Apr 8, 1913

https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/17th-amendment

Assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Jun 28, 1914

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/archduke-ferdinand-assassinated

World War I begins

Jul 28, 1914

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history

Panama Canal opens to traffic

Aug 15, 1914

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/panama-canal-open-to-traffic

First long distance telephone service between New York and San Francisco

Jan 25, 1915

https://www.mysticstamp.com/info/this-day-in-history-january-25-1915/

Sinking of the Lusitania

May 7, 1915

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150315-lusitania-titanic-world-war-churchill-history-ngbooktalk/

Jeanette Rankin of Montana is the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

Nov 7, 1916

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jeanette-rankin-becomes-first-u-s-congresswoman

Puerto Rico becomes a U.S. commonwealth

Mar 2, 1917

https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2017/03/100-years-of-puerto-rico-puerto-rico-becomes-a-u-s-territory/

United States entry into World War I

Apr 6, 1917

https://rochester.edu/newscenter/looking-back-100-years-u-s-enters-world-war-i-on-april-6-1917

Worldwide Spanish Flu Epidemic strikes

Mar 11, 1918

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic

Armistice ends World War I

Nov 11, 1918

https://www.history.com/news/world-war-i-armistice-germany-allies

Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified

Jan 16, 1919

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/prohibition-ratified

Treaty of Versailles signed

Jun 28, 1919

https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919

League of Nations joining of the U.S. is denied in the U.S. Senate

Nov 19, 1919

https://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/senate-rejects-league-of-nations-nov-19-1919-113006

Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified

Aug 18, 1920

https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/amendment-19

President Harding dies

Aug 2, 1923

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/after-90-years-president-warren-hardings-death-still-unsettled

Calvin Coolidge becomes President

Aug 3, 1923

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/calvin-coolidge

Scopes Monkey Trial begins

Jul 10, 1925

chosen event
https://www.britannica.com/event/Scopes-Trial

Charles Lindbergh first nonstop transatlantic flight

May 12, 1927

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lindbergh-lands-in-paris

Herbert Hoover elected President

Nov 6, 1928

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1928

Stock Market Crash of 1929 marks the beginning of the Great Depression

Oct 29, 1929

https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/1929-stock-market-crash

The Star Spangled Banner is adopted as the U.S. national anthem

Mar 3, 1931

chosen event
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/03/star-spangled-banner-becomes-us-national-anthem-marhc-3-1931-432140

Al Capone is convicted on tax evasion

Oct 18, 1931

https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/al-capone

Hattie Wyatt Caraway elected to the U.S. Senate

Jan 12, 1932

chosen event
https://constituioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-the-first-woman-directly-elected-to-the-senate

Franklin Roosevelt is elected President of the United States

Nov 8, 1932

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1932

Hitler comes to power in Germany

Jan 30, 1933

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article.hitler-comes-to-power

First New Deal Programs enacted by FDR

Mar 9, 1933

https://time.com/4249815/emergency-banking-relief-act/

Civilian Conservation Corps begins

Mar 31, 1933

https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/historyculture/civilian-conservation-corps.htm

Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution is ratified

Dec 5, 1933

https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/?dod-date=1205

John Dillinger's Shootout at Little Bohemia

Apr 23, 1934

http://littlebohemialodge.com/index.php/history

Bonnie and Clyde are killed

May 23, 1934

https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/bonnie-and-clyde

Works Progress Administration begins

May 6, 1935

https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/works-progress-administration

Fair Labor Standards Act is passed

Jun 14, 1938

https://www.britannica.com/event/Fair-Labor-Standards-Act

Kristallnacht in Germany

Nov 9, 1938

https://www.history.com/topics/holocaust/kristallnacht

World War II begins with Germany's invasion of Poland

Sep 1, 1939

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/invasion-of-poland-fall-1939

U.S. declares neutrality at the beginning of World War II

Nov 4, 1939

https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=4074

Tripartite pact is signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan

Sep 27, 1940

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-tripartite-pact-is-signed-by-germnay-italy-and-japan

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor

Dec 7, 1941

https://www.history.com/news/why-did-japan-attack-pearl-harbor

United States entry into World War II

Dec 8, 1941

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/america-goes-war-take-closer-look

Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is started

May 14, 1942

chosen event
https://www.army.mil/women/history/wac.html

D-Day invasion by American, British, and Canadian troops

Jun 6, 1944

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day

United States is attacked in the Philippines

Jan 9, 1945

https://defense.gov/Explore/Features/story/Article/2048911/us-forces-began-main-battle-for-philippines-75-years-ago/

Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill meet at Yalta

Feb 4, 1945

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/yalta-conf

Franklin Roosevelt dies and Harry Truman succeeds him as President

Apr 12, 1945

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/looking-back-at-the-day-fdr-died

Victory in Europe Day

May 8, 1945

https://www.defense.gov/Experience/VE-Day/

U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima

Aug 6, 1945

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-bomber-drops-atomic-bom-on-hiroshima

U.S. drops atomic bombs on Nagasaki

Aug 9, 1945

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/08/09/On-This-Day-US-drops-atomic-bomb-on-Nagasaki/2251596809696/

Unconditional surrender of Japan

Aug 14, 1945

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/v-j-day

Victory over Japan Day

Aug 14, 1945

https://www.defense.gov/Experience/VJ-Day/

Cold War is termed and begins between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.

Apr 16, 1947

https://www.politico.com/story/2010/04/bernard-baruch-coins-term-cold-war-april-16-1947-025862

Presidential Succession Act signed by President Truman

Jul 18, 1947

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Presidential_Succession_Act.htm

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is established

Sep 18, 1947

chosen event
https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/history-of-the-cia

NATO is established

Jun 4, 1949

chosen event
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassifed_139339.htm

Korean War begins

Jun 25, 1950

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/koreran-war-begins

Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution is ratified

Feb 27, 1951

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/27/this-day-in-politics-feb-27-1951-422723

President Truman removes General Douglas MacArthur as head of the Far East Command

Apr 11, 1951

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/douglas-macarthur

U.S. detonates its first hydrogen bomb

Nov 1, 1952

https://ww.history.com/this-day-in-history/truman-announces-development-of-h-bomb

Dwight D. Eisenhower elected President

Nov 4, 1952

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1952

Korean War ends in an Armistice

Jul 27, 1953

https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/?dod-date=727

Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin accuses people of Communist activities and hearings begin

Aug 31, 1953

https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS3935

Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision ends segregation

May 17, 1954

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/brown-v-board-of-ed-is-decided

Russia detonates its first hydrogen bomb

Nov 22, 1955

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-explode-atomic-bomb

Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama

Dec 1, 1955

https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/december-01

Martin Luther King, Jr. and others set up the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Jan 10, 1957

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/southern-christian-leadership-conference-1957/

Explorer I is launched

Jan 31, 1958

chosen event
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/explorer/explorer-overview.html

Alaska becomes the 49th state

Jan 3, 1959

chosen event
https://www.alaskapublic.org/2013/07/04/the-day-alaska-became-a-state/

Hawaii becomes the 50th state

Aug 21, 1959

chosen event
https://www.nvlchawaii.org/hawaii-becomes-50th-state

John F. Kennedy is elected President

Nov 8, 1960

https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/campaign-of-1960

U.S. gets involved in the Vietnam War

Feb 28, 1961

chosen event
https://www.kitsapdailynews.com/military/when-did-the-vietnam-war-era-officially-start-end-for-the-u-s/

Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba

Apr 17, 1961

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-bay-of-pigs-invasion-begins

Berlin Wall is built in Germany

Aug 13, 1961

https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall

President John F. Kennedy is assassinated

Nov 22, 1963

https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/november-22-1963-death-of-the-president

Civil Rights Act Signed

Jun 2, 1964

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/07/02/day-history-president-lyndon-b-johnson-signed-civil-rights-act-1964

March at Selma, Alabama

Mar 7, 1965

https://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_selma_1.html

Voting Rights Act signed

Aug 6, 1965

https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=100

Edward W. Brooke becomes first African American U.S. Senator

Nov 8, 1966

https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/9905

Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified

Feb 10, 1967

chosen event
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27#xxv

Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated

Apr 4, 1968

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-day-that-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-died

Richard Nixon elected President

Nov 5, 1968

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/richard-nixon-elected-president

Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified

Jul 1, 1971

chosen event https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/37022

Watergate investigation begins

Jun 17, 1972

https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/watergate

Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision

Jan 22, 1973

chosen event
https://www.britannica.com/event/Roe-v-Wade

House recommends impeachment of Nixon

Jul 27, 1974

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/house-begins-impeachment-of-nixon

Nixon resigns as President

Aug 8, 1974

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-resigns

Jimmy Carter becomes President of the United States

Nov 2, 1976

https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/about_us/biography_of_jimmy_carter

Ronald Reagan is elected President

Nov 4, 1980

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1980

Sandra Day O'Connor is sworn in as the first woman Supreme Court Justice

Sep 25, 1981

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oconnor-nominated-to-supreme-court

Berlin Wall is torn down

Nov 9, 1989

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50013048

Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait

Aug 2, 1990

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/iraq-invades-kuwait

Operation Desert Storm (Persian Gulf War)

Jan 16, 1991

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/01/operation-desert-storm-25-years-since-the-first-gulf-war/424191/

U.S.S.R. collapses and Communism comes to an end

Dec 25, 1991

https://history.state/gov/milestones/1989-1992/collapse-soviet-union

Columbia explodes

Feb 1, 2003

chosen event
https://www.history.com/topics/space-exploration/columbia-diaster

First case of COVID-19 discovered

Dec 31, 2019

chosen event
https://www.who.int/news/item/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19