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850
invention of gunpowder
Experimenting with life-lengthening elixirs around A.D. 850, Chinese alchemists instead discovered gunpowder. Their explosive invention would become the basis for almost every weapon used in war from that point on, from fiery arrows to rifles, cannons and grenades. -
the great epidemic
In 1616, devastating diseases carried by European fishermen and traders swept down the Maine coast into Massachusetts. ... In some affected Native communities, between 50 and 90 percent of the population died. -
land of the free? slavery begins
The first Africans to reach the colonies that England was struggling to establish were a group of some 20 enslaved people who arrived at Point Comfort, Virginia, near Jamestown, in August 1619, brought by British privateers who had seized them from a captured Portuguese slave ship. -
freedom of worship - roger williams
Rhode Island was the first place to have separation of church and state and freedom of religion. Roger Williams founded Providence on that principle in 1636 and got a charter from England in 1644, which created a completely secular government with no provision for a religious establishment. -
yearning to breathe free - immigration
In 1654 Brazil passed from Dutch to Portuguese rule, and Jewish settlers were expelled. Most returned to Holland or moved to Protestant-ruled colonies in the Caribbean. A group of 23 Jewish refugees, including women and children, arrived in New Amsterdam hoping to build a new home for themselves. -
near disaster - king philips war
King Philip's War was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England colonists and their indigenous allies. -
iroquois confederacy
The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee are an indigenous confederacy in northeast North America. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy. The English called them the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. -
the freedom of the press - the zenger trial
The governor of New York secured an indictment of seditious libel against John Peter Zenger for publishing articles criticizing him. At this time in history and based on English common law, truth was not a defense for libel. But after a compelling defense by Andrew Hamilton, a jury acquitted Zenger. -
liberty! the boston tea party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
we out this bitch - declaring independence
The Declaration of Independence was the first formal statement by a nation's people asserting their right to choose their own government. ... The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence—written largely by Jefferson—in Philadelphia on July 4, a date now celebrated as the birth of American independence. -
game changer - the battle of saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga occurred in September and October, 1777, during the second year of the American Revolution. It included two crucial battles, fought eighteen days apart, and was a decisive victory for the Continental Army and a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War -
toward a constitution - shay’s rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts and Worcester in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry and in opposition to the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades. The fight took place mostly in and around Springfield during 1786 and 1787. -
samuel slater - the industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States, in the period from between 1760 to 1820 and 1840. ... The development of trade and the rise of business were among the major causes of the Industrial Revolution. -
peaceful transfer - the election of 1800
In what is sometimes referred to as the "Revolution of 1800", Vice President Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party defeated incumbent President John Adams of the Federalist Party. The election was a political realignment that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican leadership -
supreme authority - marbury v. madison
Marbury v. Madison strengthened the federal judiciary by establishing for it the power of judicial review, by which the federal courts could declare legislation, as well as executive and administrative actions, inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution (“unconstitutional”) and therefore null and void. -
get in bitch we’re going shopping - transportation revolution
The expansion of internal American trade greatly increased with the adoption of canals, steamboats, and railroads. These collective advances in technology became known as the Transportation Revolution. -
one man (ew) one vote - expanding sufferage
In the early nineteenth century, political participation rose as states extended voting rights to all adult white men. During the 1820s, the Second Party system formed in the United States, pitting Jacksonian Democrats against Whigs. -
reborn - the second super great awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant revival movement during the early nineteenth century. The movement started around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. ... The Second Great Awakening led to a period of antebellum social reform and an emphasis on salvation by institutions. -
the righteous crusade - abolition
The abolitionist movement began as a more organized, radical and immediate effort to end slavery than earlier campaigns. It officially emerged around 1830. Historians believe ideas set forth during the religious movement known as the Second Great Awakening inspired abolitionists to rise up against slavery. -
what’s new baby boo? - the communication revolution
The ability to communicate across long distances improved dramatically during the Industrial Revolution. It began with the invention of the electrical telegraph by Samuel Morse in 1844. This system allowed for messages to be transmitted much quicker and cheaper than old methods. -
the ultimate american game i guess - baseball woo
The first recorded Baseball game was played on October 6, 1845 at Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey by fourteen members of the New York Knickerbockers Club. One team may have been captained by Alexander Cartwright and the other by club president Duncan Curry. -
land and gold - the mexican war
The Mexican-American War was a conflict between the United States and Mexico, fought from April 1846 to February 1848. ... It stemmed from the annexation of the Republic of Texas by the U.S. in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (the Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (the U.S. claim). -
go west cowboy! - the homestead act
The Homestead Act, enacted during the Civil War in 1862, provided that any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land. Claimants were required to “improve” the plot by building a dwelling and cultivating the land. -
terrible reality - the battle of antietam
Beginning early on the morning of September 17, 1862, Confederate and Union troops in the Civil War clash near Maryland's Antietam Creek in the bloodiest single day in American military history. The Battle of Antietam marked the culmination of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the Northern states. -
“equal” protection - the 14th amendment
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. -
open spaces - the national parks
The United States Congress established Yellowstone National Park in 1872 and on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law. The world's first national park was born. -
bloody sunday - ending reconstruction
The Colfax massacre, sometimes referred to by the euphemism Colfax riot, occurred on Easter Sunday, April 13, 1873, in Colfax, Louisiana, the seat of Grant Parish. -
how the west was won and lost - custer
George Armstrong Custer was a Union cavalry officer in the American Civil War (1861–65) and a U.S. commander in wars against Native Americans over control of the Great Plains. He led his men in one of U.S. history's most controversial battles, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, on June 25, 1876. -
the first red scare - haymarket
The First Red Scare was a period during the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of far-left extremism, including but not limited to Bolshevism and anarchism, due to real and imagined events; real events included the Russian 1917 October Revolution and anarchist bombings. -
the end of isolastion - war with spain
The Spanish–American War was an armed conflict between Spain and the United States. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence -
the promised land - the great migration
The Great Migration was the relocation of more than 6 million African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North, Midwest and West from about 1916 to 1970. wtf -
that damned cowboy! - theodore roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr., often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer, who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. -
the second transportation revolution
The Second Transportation Revolution involved the development of the automobile. Europe was the hearth for the first automobiles which were powered by steam and could reach speeds as high as 15 miles per hour. ... Founded in 1899, the Locomobile Company of America manufactured affordable small steam cars until 1903 -
the scourge of the south - hookworm
By 1985, hookworm had all but disappeared in the South, thanks to a combination of factors: a rise in cheap but relatively healthy food, an increase in indoor plumbing, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, a push toward urbanization, the end of sharecropping following World War II -
votes for women! - the 19th amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920. It declares that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” -
strikes and bombs - the year of upheaval
1919 was a world-shaking year. America was recovering from World War I and black soldiers returned to racism so violent that that summer would become known as the Red Summer. The suffrage movement had a long-fought win when women gained the right to vote. -
bold experimentation- the new deal
The New Deal included new constraints and safeguards on the banking industry and efforts to re-inflate the economy after prices had fallen sharply. New Deal programs included both laws passed by Congress as well as presidential executive orders during the first term of the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
einstein’s letter- the manhatton project
The Manhattan Project was the code name for the American-led effort to develop a functional atomic weapon during World War II. ... The Manhattan Project was started in response to fears that German scientists had been working on a weapon using nuclear technology since the 1930s—and that Adolf Hitler was prepared to use it. -
surprise- the battle of midway
The U.S. Navy's decisive victory in the air-sea battle (June 3-6, 1942) and its successful defense of the major base located at Midway Island dashed Japan's hopes of neutralizing the United States as a naval power and effectively turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific. -
the land of lawns- suburbanization
In 1945, experts estimated a shortage of 5 million homes nationwide. Veterans returned to “no vacancy” signs and high rents. As late as 1947, one-third were still living doubled up with relatives, friends, and strangers. American family life was on hold. -
the berlin airlift and the cold war
The Berlin Airlift could be called the first battle of the Cold War. It was when western countries delivered much needed food and supplies to the city of Berlin through the air because all other routes were blocked by the Soviet Union. -
tuning in- the birth of television
Television was introduced to Americans in 1939 and began to gain a foothold after World War II (1939–45). ... In 1950, just under 20 percent of American homes contained a TV set. Ten years later, nearly 90 percent of homes contained a TV—and some even had color TVs. -
the power to choose- the pill
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the world's first commercially produced birth-control pill–Enovid-10, made by the G.D. ... On May 9, 1960, the FDA approved the pill, granting greater reproductive freedom to American women. -
showdown in birmingham- civil rights
The Birmingham campaign, also known as the Birmingham movement or Birmingham confrontation, was an American movement organized in early 1963 by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to bring attention to the integration efforts of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama -
losing vietnam- the tet offensive
The Tet Offensive was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. The offensive was an attempt to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to scale back its involvement in the Vietnam War -
disaster- the birth of environmentalism
In the 1960s and 1970s, the environmental movement focused its attention on pollution and successfully pressured Congress to pass measures to promote cleaner air and water. In the late 1970s, the movement increasingly addressed environmental threats created by the disposal of toxic waste. -
an age of crisis- watergate
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. ... The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to release the Oval Office tapes to government investigators. -
the digital age- the personal computer
The first personal computers, introduced in 1975, came as kits: The MITS Altair 8800, followed by the IMSAI 8080, an Altair clone. (Yes, cloning has been around that long!) Both used the Intel 8080 CPU. That was also the year Zilog created the Z-80 processor and MOS Technology produced the 6502. -
collapse- the end of the cold war
During 1989 and 1990, the Berlin Wall came down, borders opened, and free elections ousted Communist regimes everywhere in eastern Europe. In late 1991 the Soviet Union itself dissolved into its component republics. With stunning speed, the Iron Curtain was lifted and the Cold War came to an end. -
the age of terror- the 9/11 attacks
The September 11 attacks were a series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 terrorists associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda. It was the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil; nearly 3,000 people were killed