-
Colonists form First Continental Congress as Britain closes down Boston harbour and deploys troops in Massachusetts. -
American Revolution: George Washington leads Continental Army to fight against British rule. -
Rebel states form loose confederation after defeating the British at the Battle of Yorktown. -
Founding Fathers draw up new constitution for United States of America. Constitution comes into effect in 1788. -
War of 1812 between the US and Britain, partly over the effects of British restrictions on US trade during the Napoleonic Wars. -
US acquires vast tracts of Mexican territory in wake of Mexican War including California and New Mexico. -
Opponents of slavery, or abolitionists, set up Republican Party. -
Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves in Confederate states to be free. -
US gains Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Cuba following the Spanish-American war. US annexes Hawaii. -
US intervenes in World War I, but rejects membership of League of Nations in its aftermath. -
More than 13 million people are unemployed after the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 triggers the Great Depression. President Herbert Hoover rejects direct federal relief. -
Racial segregation in schools becomes unconstitutional; start of campaign of civil disobedience to secure civil rights for Americans of African descent. -
US compels Soviet Union to withdraw nuclear weapons from Cuba in what has become known as the Cuban missile crisis. -
President John F Kennedy assassinated; Lyndon Johnson becomes president. -
Republican Party's Ronald Reagan elected president, and goes on to adopt a tough anti-communist policy abroad and tax-cutting policies at home. -
Democratic Party candidate Bill Clinton elected president. -
11 September - Co-ordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda terror group prompts the US to embark on a ''war on terror'' that includes invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. -
Democratic Senator Barack Obama becomes the first black president of the United States. -
Republican candidate Donald Trump wins presidential election, defeating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in one of the biggest political upsets in US history. He is inaugurated in January. -
Joe Biden inaugurated president amid unprecedented security, a week after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington DC.