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Benjamin Franklin was born.
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The American Revolutionary War begins at this time.
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The 13 colonies becomes the United States of America
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A historical timeline of the United States political landscape from 1784-2017
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A historical timeline of the United States political landscape from 1784-2017
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The first 10 amendments were approved and became what is known as the Bill of Rights.
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John Adams is elected second president of the U.S. Jefferson is elected vice president, having received the second largest number of electoral votes.
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George Washington dies.
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he United States Library of Congress is founded.
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The U. S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
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John Marshall is appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
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Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president in Washington, DC
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The first edition of the New York Post is published.
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Martha Washington, the first First Lady of the United States, passes.
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New Jersey becomes the last northern state to abolish slavery.
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The Michigan Territory is established.
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The Illinois Territory is created.
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James Madison is inaugurated as the fourth president
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U.S. declares war on Britain over British conflict with American maritime shipping and westward expansion on June 18, 1812. British capture Washington, DC, and set fire to White House and Capitol on Aug. 1814.
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James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president.
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Supreme Court decision upholds the right of Congress to establish a national bank, a power implied but not specifically given by the Constitution.
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Spain cedes Florida to America.
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In an effort to maintain the balance between free and slave states, Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) is admitted as a free state so that Missouri can be admitted as a slave state; except for Missouri, slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana Purchase lands north of latitude.
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President Monroe declares that the American continents are henceforth off-limits for further colonization by European powers.
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Supreme Court decision broadly defines Congress's right to regulate interstate commerce.
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John Quincy Adams is inaugurated as the sixth president.
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Construction began on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at this time, this became the first public railroad in the U.S.
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President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, which enforces the forced removal of Native Americans living in the eastern part of the country to lands west of the Mississippi River.
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Nat Turner, an enslaved African American preacher, leads the most significant slave uprising in American history. He and his band of about 80 followers launch a bloody, day-long rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. The militia quells the rebellion, and Turner is eventually hanged. As a consequence, Virginia institutes much stricter slave laws.
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William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth president
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William Henry Harrison dies one month later after becoming president and is succeeded in office by his vice president, John Tyler.
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U.S. declares war on Mexico in effort to gain California and other territory in Southwest.
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Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as the 12th president.
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Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act, establishing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The legislation repeals the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and renews tensions between anti- and proslavery factions.
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Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president of the United States.
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President Lincoln gets assassinated at the Petersen House.
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Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, prohibiting slavery.
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U.S. gets Alaska from Russia for the sum of $7.2 million treaty.
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Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving black men the right to vote.
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We receive Lady Liberty as a gift from France.
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Ellis Island becomes the main place for immigration for the United States
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Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Spanish-American War. Spain gives up control of Cuba, and cedes Puerto Rico, Guam, and (for $20 million) the Philippines to the U.S.
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U.S. receives American Samoa by treaty with Great Britain and Germany.
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President McKinley was assassinated at this time
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This bill that was passed by congress, created regulations on food and water.
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William Howard Taft is inaugurated as the 27th president.
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Woodrow Wilson is inaugurated as the 28th president.
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World War I began at this time.
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World War I ends at this time.
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The Palmer Raids begin, launching a period of intense government persecution of radical political dissidents in response to the postwar Red Scare sweeping the nation.
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The Great Steel Strike of 1919 ends with capitulation by the steelworkers
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The Nineteenth Amendment is ratified, granting women the right to vote.
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FDR was diagnosed with polio at the age of 39 around this time.
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The market capitalization of Ford Motor Company exceeds $1 billion.
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Forty thousand Ku Klux Klansmen march on Washington, their white-hooded procession filling Pennsylvania Avenue.
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With all possible avenues of appeal now exhausted, Italian immigrant radicals Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed by electric chair.
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The stock market crashes on Black Tuesday, resulting in the Great Depression.
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In the "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre," the single bloodiest incident in a decade-long turf war between rival Chicago mobsters fighting to control the lucrative bootlegging trade, members of Al Capone's gang murder six followers of rival Bugs Moran.
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The Hoover dam begins construction. This created thousands of jobs, for company's and workers during the depression.
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The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the national anthem.
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Also known as the “Lame Duck Amendment,” is ratified, moving the president's inauguration date from March 4 to Jan. 20.
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FDR becomes 32th president of the United States.
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President FDR begins massive socialist-like reforms for the government, the economy, and the condition of the people.
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President FDR delivers his first Fireside chat. This was a radio show which the president uses to address the nation about the countries condition.
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Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, repealing Prohibition.
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Fair Labor Standards Act is passed, setting the first minimum wage in the U.S. at 25 cents per hour.
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WW II has begun at this time.
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F. Roosevelt's third inauguration. He is the first and only president elected to a third term.
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Eisenhower sends federal troops to Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., to enforce integration of black students.
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John F. Kennedy is elected 35th president of the United States
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JFK wins presidency in tightest election since 1884
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John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States.
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JFK issues an executive order establishing the Peace Corps. The Corps aims to disseminate good will and practical knowledge by enlisting volunteers, most under age 30, to two-year terms of service.
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Pres. JFK signs legislation raising the minimum wage in stages from its current $1 per hour to $1.25 per hour by September 1963.
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In a congressional address, JFK pledges to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
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President JFK is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. VP Lyndon Baines Johnson is sworn in as president the same day.
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In President Lyndon Johnson’s first inaugural address, he declares war on poverty and outlines an ambitious domestic agenda aimed at reducing unemployment, increasing support for education and job training, and expanding public services for the poor.
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President Lyndon Johnson signs the Tax Reduction Act lowering income tax rates from a range of 20-91% to 14-70%. Corporate rates are reduced from 52% to 48%.
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President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act.
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Johnson signs the Urban Mass Transit Act. This puts away $375 million dollars for the construction of urban transit systems.
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Pres. LBJ signs the Economic Opportunity Act, one of the centerpieces of his domestic agenda.
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The legislation end discrimination at the polls.
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Johnson signs the Higher Education Act. This creates the first federally funded college scholarships.
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Supreme Court decision further defines due process clause of Fourteenth Amendment and establishes Miranda rights.
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The minimum wage is raised in stages from its current $1.25 per hour to $1.60 by February 1968.
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400,000 march to the U.N. and hear speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King and Dr. Benjamin Spock
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Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.
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Richard Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th president.
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Kent State shooting occurs at this time.
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The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.
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Nixon resigns from presidency.
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Pres. Carter announces that U.S. athletes will not attend Summer Olympics in Moscow unless the Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan.
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Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as 40th president of the United States.
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George H. W. Bush is inaugurated as the 41st president.
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U.S. annexes Hawaii by an act of Congress.
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George W. Bush is inaugurated as the 43rd president.
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Two hijacked jetliners ram twin towers of World Trade Center in worst terrorist attack against U.S.; a third hijacked plane flies into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashes in rural Pennsylvania. More than 3,000 people die in the attacks.
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The minimum wage in the U.S. increases to $5.85, up from $5.15. It's the first increase in 10 years.
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Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President, with 52.8% of the vote.
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Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was elected president of the United States
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Obama gets re-elected.
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Hurricane Sandy causes at least 132 deaths and an estimated 82 billion in damages, making it the second costliest hurricane in the U.S., behind Katrina.
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Bernie Sanders posts a Youtube video, announcing his run for president.
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Donald Trump becomes 45th president of the United States on this day.
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Millions of people march on this day for human rights. Specifically, human rights.
