American History Timeline

Timeline of Wars Indian Wars Timeline Wars of America Timeline Colonial America

		1001	Leif Ericson explores North America
		1492	Christopher Columbus discovers America
		1497	John Cabot claims North America for England
		1501	:Amerigo Vespucci explores the coast of South America
		1519	Ferdinand Magellan is the first to go around the world Alonzo de Pineda explores gulf Coast of America
		1524	Giovanni Verrazano discovers New York Bay
		1528	Panfilo de Narvaez conquers Cuba and explores Florida Alvar Cabeza de Vaca explores Texas, Arizona and New Mexico
		1534	:Jacques Cartier explores the Great Lakes and the the St. Lawrence River
		1539	Hernando de Soto explores south-eastern North America
		1540	Francisco Vázquez de Coronado explores south-western North America Discovery of the Grand Canyon by Garcia Lopez de Cardenas
		1541	Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores Kansas
		1542	Cabrillo explores and discovers the Californian coast Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovers San Diego Bay, California
		1559	Tristan de Luna explores North America
		1563	Francisco de Ibarra explores New Mexico
		1576	Sir Martin Frobisher explores Baffin Bay and the Hudson Strait
		1577	Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the world - December 13 1577 to September 26 1580
		1584	Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe (both in the service of Sir Walter Raleigh) explore the coast of North Carolina
		1585	March 25: Walter Raleigh receives the patent to explore and settle in North America June: Walter Raleigh's fleet of seven vessels under Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane, with 108 men, reach Roanoke Island June 4: Virginia colony of Roanoke Island established by Walter Raleigh
		1598	Juan de Archuleta explores Colorado
		1607	Captain John Smith explorer and founder of Jamestown
		1609	Henry Hudson explores North eastern North America including the Hudson River
		1688	The Glorious Revolution in England leads to a constitutional monarchy and passing of the Bill of Rights
		1763	February 10: Treaty of Paris ends French and Indian War (1754-1763). Canada east of the Mississippi River added to the British empire. Pontiac's Rebellion against the British October 7: The Proclamation of 1763 issued  by King George III after the end of the French and Indian War / Seven Years' War to organize the new North American empire and stabilize relations with Native Americans. No British settlements allowed west of the Appalachian mountains. Settlers already in these areas required to return east
		1764	February: James Otis urges a united response to the recent acts imposed by England. The phrase "Taxation without Representation is Tyranny" is usually attributed to James Otis July: James Otis publishes "The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved." August:  Boston merchants begin a boycott of British luxury goods
		1765	March 22: The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament. March 24: The Quartering Act required American colonists to house British troops and supply them with food. July: The Sons of Liberty is formed - a secret organization opposed to the Stamp Act December: Over 200 Boston merchants refuse to pay the Stamp Tax
		1766	1766 March 18. Stamp Act repealed January: New York assembly refuses to fully enforce the Quartering Act. August: Violence breaks out in New York between British soldiers and members of the Sons of Liberty.
		1768	July: Merchants in Boston and New York boycott British goods September: English warships sail into Boston Harbor leaving two regiments of English troops to keep order.
		1770	March: "The Boston Massacre" - Four workers shot by British troops in Boston
		1773	December 16: The Boston Tea Party - Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians protest against the British Tea Act by dumping crates of tea into Boston Harbor.
		1774	March:  The Coercive Acts (called Intolerable Acts by Americans)
		1775	February 9: English Parliament declares Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion April 19 Shots fired at Lexington and Concord where weapons depot destroyed. "Minute Men" force British troops back to Boston. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army. June 15: George Washington appointed general and commander-in-chief of the new Continental Army. June 17:  Battle of Bunker Hill July 6: Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms stating that Americans are "resolved to die free men rather than live as slaves." The American Revolution, the American War of Independence, led by George Washington was fought between Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.
		1776	May 2: The American revolution gains support  from King Louis XVI of France 1776 July 4. Thomas Jefferson presents the United States Declaration of Independence
		1777	November 15: Articles of Confederation - Congress is made sole authority of the new national government.
		1778	February 6:  France signs a treaty of alliance with the United States and the American Revolution soon becomes a world war. September 14: Benjamin Franklin appointed American representative in France.
		1779	September 27: John Adams is appointed to negotiate peace with England.
		1780	September 23:  Plans discovered indicating Benedict Arnold intends to turn traitor and surrender West Point. Benedict Arnold joins the British
		1781	October 17: American victory at Yorktown terms discussed for the British surrender. October 19:  The British army surrenders at Yorktown - a devastating effect on the British
		1782	February 27: English Parliament votes against further war in America. November 10: The final battle of the Revolutionary War when Americans retaliate by attacking a Shawnee village in Ohio November 30: Preliminary peace treaty signed in Paris recognising American independence and the British withdrawal from America.
		1783	February 4: England officially declares an end to hostilities in America September 3: The Treaty of Paris is signed by the United States and Great Britain
		1784	January 14: The Treaty of Paris is ratified by Congress and the American Revolutionary War officially ends
		1789	First President of the US is George Washington 1789-1797 The first thirteen states were Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island  Judiciary Act of 1789
		1791	Bill of Rights ratified
		1793	Fugitive Slave Act passed
		1795	Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the US
		1794	Whiskey Rebellion
		1797	Second President of the US is John Adams 1797-1801
		1799	Logan Act
		1800	Library of Congress founded
		1801	Third President of the US is Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809
		1803	Louisiana Purchase Treaty
		1804	Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explore the Louisiana Territory
		1805	Barbary Wars
		1807	Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
		1808	U.S. slave trade with Africa ends
		1809	Fourth President of the US is James Madison 1809-1817
		1811	Battle of Tippecanoe
		1812	War of 1812 begins
		1814	Treaty of Fort Jackson ends Creek War
		1817	Fifth President of the US is James Monroe 1817-1825 Harvard Law School founded
		1818	Jackson Purchase in Kentucky 1818 Five more states were admitted to the US - Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi
		1819	Adams-Onis Treaty, including acquisition of Florida Illinois admission to the US
		1820	Alabama and Maine admission to the US
		1822	Missouri admission to the US
		1825	Sixth President of the US is John Quincy Adams 1825-1829
		1829	Seventh President of the US is Andrew Jackson 1829-1837
		1830	Indian Removal Act Oregon Trail opens
		1831	Nat Turner's revolt
		1832	Black Hawk War Seminole War begins Department of Indian Affairs established
		1835	Texas War for Independence begins
		1836	Arkansas admission to the US
		1837	Battle of the Alamo Panic of 1837 Michigan admission to the US
		1838	1838-1839: The Trail of Tears
		1841	Ninth President of the US is William Henry Harrison 1841
		1841	Tenth President of the US is John Tyler 1841-1845
		1845	Eleventh President of the US is James Knox Polk 1845-1849 Texas admission to the US Florida admission to the US
		1846	Mexican-American War begins and ends in 1848 Texas admission to the US Oregon Treaty signed
		1847	Treaty of Cahuenga ends Mexican-American War Iowa admission to the US
		1848	Gold discovered in California Wisconsin admission to the US Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War
		1849	Twelfth President of the US is Zachary Taylor 1849-1850
		1850	Thirteenth President of the US is Millard Fillmore 1850-1853
		1851	California admission to the US
		1853	Fourteenth President of the US is Franklin Pierce 1853-1857 Gadsden Purchase
		1856	Sack of Lawrence, Kansas Pottawatomie Massacre
		1857	Fifteenth President of the US is James Buchanan 1857-1861
		1858	Minnesota admission to the US
		1859	Oregon admission to the US Harper's Ferry Raid
		1860	Pony Express begins
		1861	Sixteenth President of the US is Abraham Lincoln 1861-1865 Kansas admission to the US Confederate States of America (the Confederacy) established under President Jefferson Davis  American Civil War begins at Fort Sumter. The American Civil War, also called the War between the States, was waged from April 1861 until April 1865. The four year war was between the federal government of the United States and 11 Southern states that asserted their right to secede (withdraw) from the Union. Abraham Lincoln was the central figure of the American Civil War. First Battle of Bull Run
		1863	Battle of Gettysburg  West Virginia admission to the US
		1864	Sand Creek Massacre
		1865	Abraham Lincoln assassinated  Seventeenth President of the US is Andrew Johnson 1865-1869 Nevada admission to the US United States Civil War ends
		1866	Civil Rights Act of 1866 Ku Klux Klan founded
		1867	Nebraska admission to the US Alaska Purchase from Russia
		1869	Eighteenth President of the US is Ulysses Simpson Grant 1869-1877
		1871	Great Chicago Fire  Treaty of Washington with Great Britain regarding the Dominion of Canada
		1872	Yellowstone National Park established
		1874	Red River Wars
		1875	Civil Rights Act of 1875
		1876	Battle of the Little Bighorn
		1877	Nineteenth Rutherford Birchard Hayes 1877-1881 Colorado admission to the US Nez Perce War
		1881	Twentieth President of the US is James Abram Garfield 1881
		1881	Twenty - First President of the US is Chester Alan Arthur 1881-1885
		1882	Chinese Exclusion Act and European Restriction Act
		1885	Twenty-Second President of the US is Grover Cleveland 1885-1889 Washington monument completed
		1889	Twenty - Third President of the US is Benjamin Harrison 1889-1893
		1890	North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, and Idaho admission to the US  Yosemite National Park created  Wounded Knee Massacre
		1891	Wyoming admission to the US
		1893	Twenty - Fourth President of the US is Grover Cleveland 1893-1897
		1896	Utah admission to the US Gold discovered in the Yukon's Klondike
		1897	Twenty - Fifth President of the US is William McKinley 1897-1901
		1898	Spanish-American War
		1900	Boxer Rebellion in China
		1901	Twenty - Sixth President of the US is Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909
		1903	Ford Motor Company formed 1903 - First World Series
		1904	Panama Canal Zone acquired
		1908	Oklahoma admission to the US Ford Model T marketed Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)  established
		1909	Twenty - Seventh President of the US is William Howard Taft 1909-1913
		1912	Arizona, Alaska and New Mexico admission to the US Titanic sinks
		1913	Twenty - Eighth President of the US is Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921
		1914	WW1 started 28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918
		1915	The Birth of a Nation movie directed by D.W. Griffith opens
		1917	US enters World War I U.S. Virgin Islands purchased from Denmark
		1919	Treaty of Versailles
		1920	First radio broadcast in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
		1921	Twenty- Ninth President of the US is Warren Gamaliel Harding 1921-1923
		1923	Thirtieth President of the US is Calvin Coolidge 1923-1929
		1924	Indian Reorganization Act
		1927	Indian Reorganization Act  Charles Lindbergh makes first trans-Atlantic flight  The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson is the first "talkie" to be released
		1929	Thirty- First President of the US is Herbert Clark Hoover 1929-1933 St. Valentine's Day massacre Immigration Act Great Depression begins
		1931	Empire State Building opens
		1932	Amelia Earhart flies across Atlantic Ocean
		1933	Thirty - Second President of the US is Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1933-1945 Japan and Germany withdraw from League of Nations
		1934	Dust Bowl begins Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act John Dillinger killed Indian Reorganization Act
		1935	Social Security Act
		1936	London Conference on disarmament
		1937	Hindenburg disaster
		1939	Germany invades Poland; World War II begins
		1941	Attack on Pearl Harbor U.S. enters World War II
		1944	D-Day Battle of the Bulge
		1945	Thirty - Third President of the US is Harry S. Truman 1945-1953 U.S. takes Okinawa U.S. joins the United Nations Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Germany and Japan surrender, ending World War II
		1946	The Cold War began between the United States and the Soviet Union
		1946	Atomic Energy Act
		1948	Nuremberg trials Berlin Blockade
		1949	NATO formed Germany divided into East and West
		1950	Senator Joseph McCarthy gains power and start Communist witch hunts (1950-1954) Korean War begins
		1953	Thirty - Fourth President of the US is Dwight David Eisenhower 1953-1961 Armistice in Korea
		1954	SEATO alliance
		1955	Warsaw Pact
		1956	US installs Diem as leader of South Vietnam
		1957	Civil Rights Act of 1957 Russians launch Sputnik
		1958	NASA formed
		1959	Cuban Revolution
		1960	Greensboro sit-in Civil Rights Act of 1960 Hawaii, the last state was admitted giving the American flag 50 stars
		1961	Thirty - Fifth President of the US is John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1961-1963 Peace Corps Vietnam War officially begins with 900 military advisors landing in Saigon OPEC formed
		1962	Cuban Missile Crisis
		1963	President J Kennedy assassinated Thirty - Sixth President of the US is Lyndon Baines Johnson 1963-1969 March on Washington; Martin Luther King, Jr. "I have a dream" speech
		1964	Civil Rights Act of 1964
		1965	Detroit race riot
		1968	Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy assassinated Civil Rights Act of 1968
		1969	Thirty - Seventh President of the US is Richard Milhous Nixon 1969-1974 Vietnam Neil Armstrong walks on the moon
		1970	Kent State shootings
		1972	Watergate burglary Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with USSR
		1973	Vietnam War ends with US pulling out in 1973 Watergate Scandal breaks in 1973 Skylab first space station launched
		1974	Richard Nixon resigns Presidency over Watergate Thirty - Eighth President of the US is Gerald Rudolph Ford 1974-1977
		1977	Thirty - Ninth President of the US is Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
		1979	Three Mile Island nuclear accident  1979 - Iran hostage crisis begins
		1981	Fortieth President of the US is Ronald Wilson Reagan 1981-1989 Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley
		1986	Iran-Contra scandal breaks Space Shuttle Challenger accident
		1990	Forty - First President of the US is George Herbert Walker Bush 1989-1993 Hubble Space Telescope placed in orbit Iraq invades Kuwait leading to 1991 Gulf War
		1991	Gulf War
		1992	Los Angeles riots Hurricane Andrew causes devastation in Florida and Louisiana
		1993	Forty - Second President of the US is William Jefferson Clinton 1993-2001 World Trade Center bombing Waco siege
		1995	Oklahoma City bombing
		1999	President Clinton is acquitted in impeachment trial by U.S. Senate
		2001	Forty - Third President of the US is George Walker Bush September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon Invasion of Afghanistan Operation "Enduring Freedom"
		2004	Occupation of Iraq, 2003-2004
		2005	Hurricane Katrina
		2009	Forty - Fourth President of the US  is BarackObama

 

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United States History: Timelines

Absorbing and referring to a time line (or better, yet, making your own) is an effective way of learning the sequential course of events and often the timeline can reveal the possibility of the relationship between causes, people and events that occurred in the same time period, while not in the same geographical area. This is particularly true in surveying a discrete subject, which exists in relationship to many other events and background in United States History. To 1600 1600 - 1700 The American Revolution 1700 - 1800 1800 - 1900 1900 - 2000 The Cold War