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Oct 12, 1492
The Discovery of America by Columbus
Early in the morning of October 12, 1492, a sailor on board the Pinta sighted land, beginning a new era of European exploration and expansion. (google search) -
Period: Oct 12, 1492 to
US History: A Timeline - Jude Higerd
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The Settlement of Jamestown
On May 14, 1607, the Virginia Company settlers landed on Jamestown Island to establish an English colony 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
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The French and Indian War date
The French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years' War. The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. (google search) -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party took place on the winter night of Thursday, December 16, 1773. According to eyewitness testimonies, the Boston Tea Party occurred between the hours of 7:00 and 10:00 PM and lasted for approximately three hours. (google search) -
The Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775, the famous 'shot heard 'round the world', marked the start of the American War of Independence (1775-83). Politically disastrous for the British, it persuaded many Americans to take up arms and support the cause of independence. (google search) -
The Declaration of Independence
By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence. (google search) -
The Battle of Yorktown
Virginia | Sep 28 - Oct 19, 1781. The Battle of Yorktown proved to be the decisive engagement of the American Revolution. The British surrender forecast the end of British rule in the colonies and the birth of a new nation—the United States of America. (google search) -
The Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The point of the event was to decide how America was going to be governed. Although the Convention had been officially called to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, many delegates had much bigger plans. (google search) -
The invention of the cotton gin
A modern mechanical cotton gin was created by American inventor Eli Whitney in 1793 and patented in 1794. Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin on March 14, 1794.(google search) -
The Alien and Sedition Acts
An Act respecting alien enemies of July 6, 1798, "Alien Enemies Act" An Act in addition to the act, entitled "An Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States" of July 14 1798, "Sedition Act" (google search) -
The invention of the electric light
Humphry Davy, an English chemist, invented the first electric light in 1802. After experimenting with electricity, he invented an electric battery which, when he connected wires to the battery and a piece of carbon, made the carbon glow and produce light. (google search) -
The Louisiana Purchase
In this transaction with France, signed on April 30, 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. (google search) -
The War of 1812
War of 1812, (June 18, 1812–February 17, 1815), was a conflict fought between the United States and Great Britain over British violations of U.S. maritime rights. It ended with the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty of Ghent. (google search) -
The Missouri Compromise
On March 3, 1820, the decisive votes in the House admitted Maine as a free state, Missouri as a slave state, and made free soil all western territories north of Missouri's southern border.Jul 17, 2023 (google search) -
Andrew Jackson’s Election
The 1828 United States presidential election was the 11th quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, October 31 to Tuesday, December 2, 1828. (google search) -
The Trail of Tears
In the 1830s the United States government forcibly removed the southeastern Native Americans from their homelands and relocated them on lands in Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). This tragic event is referred to as the Trail of Tears. The Trails of Tears date starts in May of 1830 and ends in March of 1839. (google search) -
The Panic of 1837
This ailing economy of early 1837 led investors to panic – a bank run ensued – giving the crisis its name. The run came to a head on May 10, 1837, when banks in New York City ran out of gold and silver. They suspended specie payments and would no longer redeem commercial paper in specie at full face value. (google search) -
The invention of the telegraph
Samuel Morse independently developed and patented a recording electric telegraph in 1837. Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message "What hath God wrought?" from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844, there were signaling systems that enabled people to communicate over distances. (google search) -
The Mexican-American War
The immediate cause of the Mexican-American War was a disputed boundary between the United States and Texas on the Nueces Strip. Mexico did not recognize Texas as legitimate American territory and Texas admission to the United States antagonized Mexican officials and citizens. The dates of the start and finish are April 25, 1846 – February 2, 1848. (google search) -
The Compromise of 1850
The resolution introduced by Senator Henry Clay in relation to the adjustment of all existing questions of controversy between the states arising out of the institution of slavery (the resolution later became known as the Compromise of 1850), January 29, 1850; Senate Simple Resolutions, Motions, and Orders of the 31st Congress. (google search) -
The Firing on Fort Sumter
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. (google search) -
The Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, announcing, "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious areas "are, and henceforward shall be free." (google search) -
13th amendment
Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. (google search) -
Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
After the fall of Richmond, the Confederate capital, on April 2, 1865, officials in the Confederate government, including President Jefferson Davis, fled. The dominoes began to fall. The surrender at Appomattox took place a week later on April 9. (google search) -
Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination
On the evening of April 14, 1865, while attending a special performance of the comedy, "Our American Cousin," President Abraham Lincoln was shot. Accompanying him at Ford's Theatre that night were his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, a twenty-eight year-old officer named Major Henry R. Rathbone, and Rathbone's fiancée, Clara Harris. After the play was in progress, a figure with a drawn derringer pistol stepped into the presidential box, aimed, and fired. (google search) -
Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment
Johnson vetoed legislation that Congress passed to protect the rights of those who had been freed from slavery. This clash culminated in the House of Representatives voting, on February 24, 1868, to impeach the president. (google search) -
14th amendment
Passed by the Senate on June 8, 1866, and ratified two years later, on July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States," including formerly enslaved people, and provided all citizens with “equal protection under the laws,” extending the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states. (google search) -
15th amendment
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869, and ratified February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote. (google search) -
Invention of the telephone
On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell successfully received a patent for the telephone and secured the rights to the discovery. Days later, he made the first ever telephone call to his partner, Thomas Watson. (google search) -
The Organization of Standard Oil Trust
On January 2, 1882, they combined their disparate companies, spread across dozens of states, under a single group of trustees. (google search) -
The Pullman and Homestead Strikes
In 1892, the Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, Pennsylvania discharged workers from the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers Union. A bloody confrontation ensued between the workers and the hired Pinkerton security guards, ultimately killing 16 people and causing many injuries. Pullman Strike (May 11, 1894–c. July 20, 1894) in U.S. history, widespread railroad strike and boycott severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest of the United States in June–July 1894. (google search) -
The Spanish-American War
The duration of the Spanish-American War was April 21, 1898 – December 10, 1898 (google search) -
Invention of the airplane
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers inaugurated the aerial age with their successful first flights of a heavier-than-air flying machine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. (google search) -
Theodore Roosevelt becomes president
The presidency of Theodore Roosevelt started on September 14, 1901, when Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th president of the United States upon the assassination of President William McKinley, and ended on March 4, 1909. Roosevelt had been the vice president for only 194 days when he succeeded to the presidency. (google search)