Giovanni da Verrazano leads French expedition from Carolina to Nova Scotia and enters New York harbour.
1539
Hernando de Soto lands in Florida.
1540
Lopez de Cardenas reaches the Grand Canyon.
1565
St. Augustine in Florida is founded by Pedro Menendez.
1579
Francis Drake enters San Fransisco Bay and claims region for Britain.
1607
Captain John Smith lands on Virginia coast and starts first permanent English settlement at Jamestown.
1609
Spaniards settle in Santa Fe (New Mexico).
1619
First representative assembly (House of Burgesses) in the New world is elected in Jamestown (Virginia).
First black laborers in English North American colonies are brought to Jamestown by Dutch.
1620
Plymouth Pilgrims (separatists from the Church of England) sail on Mayflower to the New World.
1624
Dutch colonies are started under the name of New Netherlands in the New York and Albany region.
1626
Peter Minuit buys Manhattan for Dutch from Indians for $24 and names it New Amsterdam.
1630
Settlement of Boston by colonists led by John Winthrop.
1634
Maryland founded as a tolerant Catholic colony.
1636
Providence (Rhode Island) is founded by Roger Wiliams as a state-church seperated democracy.
1644
Harvard College is founded.
1664
The British seize New Netherlands including New Amsterdam from the Dutch who recapture the area in 1673 but cede it to the Britsh again a year later. New Amsterdam is renamed as New York after the Duke of York.
1676
Jamestown (Virginia) was burned during a planters riot led by Bacon.
Bloody Indian War in New England kills many Narragansett Indians.
1682
La Salle claims lower Mississippi country for France and calls it Louisiana.
1683
William Penn signs treaty with Delaware Indians and makes payment for Pennsylvania Islands.
1701
Beginning of Queen Anne's war between British and French colonial troops about Nova Scotia.
1704
Boston News Letter is the first regular newspaper.
1712
Slaves revolt in New York. Many were hanged or deported.
1713
France signs treaty giving Nova Scotia to British.
1716
First theater opens in Williamsburg (Virginia).
1740
Vitus Bering reaches Alaska.
1752
Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity.
1754
Beginning of French and Indian War between British and French colonial troops about territories in Canada and Midwest.
1763
End of French and Indian War which is won by the British.
1764
First of a series of taxes on goods such as tea and lumber ordered by the British.
1775
Battle of Bunker Hill. A revolt of colonials against British colonial power.
1776
July 4th. The Declaration of Independence is approved in which it is stated that the united colonies ought to have the right to be free and independent states.
1777
Continental Congress adopts Stars and Stripes.
1778
France (who recognised the independence of 13 colonies a year before) signs treaty of aid with U.S.
1782
New British cabinet agrees to recognize US independence.
1783
Massachusetts supreme court outlaws slavery in that state.
1789
Washington is elected as the first president of the U.S.
1795
University of Carolina becomes the first operating state university.
1800
Federal goverment moves from Philadelphia to Washington DC.
1803
Napoleon sells land from Louisiana to Canadian border to the US. Purchase doubles US area.
1804
Lewis and Clark start exploration of Northwest America ordered by president Jeffersson.
1807
Robert Fulton makes first practical steamboat trip from New York to Albany in 32 hrs.
Embargo act forbids trade with foreign countries.
1808
Slave importation is outlawed.
1812
War of 1812 with the British. War ends three years later.
1819
Spain cedes Florida to the US.
1820
First organized emigration of blacks to Africa.
1823
The Monroe Doctrine opposes European intervention in the Americas.
1825
Opening of the Erie Canal.
1831
Black slave revolt kills 57 whites and 100 slaves. Revolt leader Nat Turner is hanged.
1838
Cherokee Indians make Trail of Tears as they are being removed from Georgia to Oklahoma.
1842
Settlement of Oregon begins with Oregon Trail.
1844
First message over telegraph line is sent from Washington to Baltimore.
1845
Texas is added to the union of the United States.
1846
Mexican War after border clash in Texas.
1847
Mormons settle in Salt Lake City after long journey led by Brigham Young.
First US postage stamps on sale.
1848
Gold discovered in California. 80000 prospectors emigrate to area.
1852
Uncle Tom's Cabin by H.B. Stowe published.
1854
Republican Party is formed in Ripon (Wisconsin).
1856
First Republican nominee Fremont (for whom Lincoln had written 50 speeches) is defeated.
1858
First Atlantic cable completed
1859
First commercial oil well drilled.
1860
Abraham Lincoln elected president.
1861
Start of the Civil War after seven southern states declare the Confederate States of America.
1862
Union forces take New Orleans.
1863
Major Union victory at Battle of Gettysburg.
1864
General Sherman marches through Georgia and takes Atlanta.
1865
Confederate troops surrender. End of Civil War.
President Lincoln is shot by J.W. Booth.
Ratification of thirteenth amendment abolishing all slavery.
1866
Ku Kux Klan is secretly formed to terrorize blacks who voted.
1867
Alaska sold to the US by Russia for 7 million dollars.
1869
The transcontinental railway is completed.
1871
Great fire destroys Chicago.
1872
The first national park (Yellowstone) is founded.
1875
Civil rights act gives equal rights to blacks in accommodations and jury duty.
1876
Colonel Custer dies in 'last stand' battle of Sioux Indian war. Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer is published.
1877
President Hayes sends troops in violent national railroad strike.
1878
First commercial telephone exchange opens in New Haven (Connecticut).
1881
President James A. Garfield is shot in Washington DC.
Helen Hunt Jackson publishes the book 'A Century of Dishonor' about mistreatment of Indians.
1883
Brooklyn Bridge opens.
1886
Labor battles in Chicago.
The Statue of Liberty is dedicated.
The American Federation of Labor is formed.
1888
Great blizzard in eastern US kills 400 people.
1890
First execution by electrocution.
The Battle of Wounded Knee is the last major conflict between Indians and US troops.
1898
US declares war on Spain in order to force independence for Cuba. Spain agrees and also cedes Philippines and Puerto Rico.
1900
International Ladies Garment Workers Union is founded in New York.
1901
President William McKinley is shot by an anarchist.
1903
Panama declares independence with US support and signs canal treaty.
First automobile trip across the US from San Fransisco to New York.
The Wright brothers make first propelled flight with airplane.
1906
San Fransisco earthquake kills 500 people.
1908
Henry Ford introduces his Model T.
1909
Adm. Robert E. Peary reaches the North pole.
1910
Boy scouts of America is founded.
1911
First transcontinental airplane flight (with numerous stops) from New York to Pasadena.
1913
US blockades Mexico in support of revolutionaries.
1914
Opening of Panama Canal.
US marines occupy Veracruz (Mexico).
President Wilson proclaims neutrality in European War (1st World War).
1915
First telephone talk from New York to San Fransisco by Graham Bell and Thomas Watson.
Haiti becomes a US protectorate.
1916
US buys Virgin Islands from Denmark.
First US congresswoman (Jeanette Rankin) elected.
1917
US declares war with Germany.
First US troops arrive in Europe.
1918
First World War ends with more than one million US troops in Europe.
Influenza epidemic kills 20 million people world wide including half a million in the US.
1919
First transatlantic flight (with stops at Newfoundland and Azores) from Rockaway (New York) to Lisbon (Portugal).
1920
More than 2700 people (communists anarchists and other radicals) are arrested during 'Red Scare'.
First regular national broadcating begins.
19th Amendment gives right to women to vote.
1921
Congress sharply curbs immigration by setting national quota system.
1923
First 'phonofilm' (movie with sound) is shown in Rivoli theatre New York.
1924
All Indians made citizens by law.
N.T. Ross is the first women governor (in Wyoming).
1927
Charles A. Lindbergh makes first nonstop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.
1929
Stock market crash marks end of postwar prosperity.
1931
Empire State Building opens in New York.
1933
Congress passes 'New Deal' social and economical measures.
1934
US troops pull out of Haiti.
1938
National minimum wage enacted.
1939
US declares its neutrality in European war (second world war).
1940
US sells surplus of war material to Britain.
1941
Japan attacks US navy at Pearl Harbour. War is declared on Japan and Germany.
1942
More than 100.000 Japanese Americans are moved to detention camps.
First nuclear chain reaction is produced at University of Chicago.
1943
Race riots in Detroit and Harlem kill 40 people.
US troops invade Italy.
1944
US and allied troops land at Normandy.
US invades occupied Philippines.
1945
President Roosevelt dies. Harry Truman becomes president.
Germany surrenders to US and Allies.
First atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders and general MacArthur takes over supervision of Japan.
1946
Philippines are given independence by US.
1947
Pres. Truman asks congress to support Greece and Turkey against communism (Truman doctrine).
Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier in major league baseball.
Mashall Plan (extended aid to European countries) goes through congress.
1948
US and British planes fly food to blockaded Berlin.
1949
NATO is established with Canada and ten West European countries.
Eleven leaders of US Communist Party are convicted.
1950
US sends troops to South Korea after invasion of North Korea.
US sends military advisers to South Vietnam.
1951
General MacArthur is removed from his post in Korea for unauthorised policy statements.
1954
The first atomic-powered submarine (named Nautilus) is launched.
1955
US agrees to train South Vietnamese army.
1957
Federal troops enforce the right of black students to enter High School in Little Rock (Arkansas).
1958
First US satellite sent into orbit.
1959
Alaska and Hawaii become 49th and 50th US states.
1960
U2 reconnaisance airplane shot down in Russia.
1961
Invasion at Cuba's 'Bay of Pigs' by US trained exiles fails.
1962
John Glenn is the first American in orbit.
Cuba crisis when Russians plan to station nuclear missiles on the island. After threats of US the missile bases are dismantled.
1963
President Kennedy is shot in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Big demonstration in Washington for equal rights for blacks. Martin Luther King speaks famous words 'I have a dream...'.
1965
President Johnson orders bombing of North Vietnam below 20th parallel.
1966
Bombing of Hanoi (north Vietnam capitol ) by US planes.
1968
Martin Luther King assassinated in Memphis.
1969
Neil Armstrong becomes first man on the moon.
Woodstock music festival attracts almost half million people.
Anti Vietnam War protests reach peak with demonstrations in Washington DC.
1970
US and South Vietnamese troops cross Cambodian border to atack hostile bases.
1971
Voting age is lowered to 18.
1972
North Vietnam launches biggest attacks in four years. US bombing of Hanoi resumes.
1973
Top Nixon aides resign in Watergate case.
1974
President Nixon resigns in Watergate case. President Ford becomes new President.
1975
Us civilians are evacuated from Saigon as communist forces complete takeover of South Vietnam.
1976
NASA spaceship Viking set down on Mars.
1977
President Carter pardons most Vietnam War draft evaders.
1978
US senate plans to turn over the Panama canal to Panama.
1979
In Iran 63 Americans are taken hostage by anti-Shah militants.
1980
USA does not take part in Moscow Olympics after Soviet invasion of Afganistan.
St. Helena erupts violently killing 60 people.
John Lennon shot dead in New York.
1981
The 52 Americans held hostage in Iran are released after 444 days.
President Reagan was shot in his chest by a would-be assassin.
Space Shuttle is first sent into space.
1982
Unemployment rate rises to 10.8% the highest since 1940.
1983
Sally Ride becomes the first woman in space.
1984
Ronald Reagan reelected in biggest republican landslide.
1985
'Live Aid' rock concert raises 70 milion dollars for starving people in Africa.
1986
US warplanes bomb targets in Lybia to end Lybian support to anti-US terrorists.
1987
Wall street crash lets Dow Jones go 22% down.
1988
US navy ship shoots down Iranian airliner by accident killing 290 people.
1989
Earthquake strikes San Fransisco killing 59 people.
Pennsylvania becomes the first state to restrict abortions.
US troops invade Panama and overthrow Noriega goverment.
1990
Operation Desert Shield is activated to protect Saudi Arabia after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
1991
US and allies defeat Iraq in operation Desert Storm.
1992
Bill Clinton is elected president.
US troops arrive in Somalia to ensure the delivery of foods in the country.
1993
IBM announces a 5 billion loss. The biggest one year loss in history for a US coorperation.
1996
Bill Clinton is reelected as president of the United States.
