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Elizabeth I grants a charter to merchants who had been trading to the East Indies, establishing the British East India Company.
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The colonists establish the first lasting British settlement in the New World and name it Jamestown.
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Henry Hudson anchored off the Manhattan Island and traveled up what would be called the Hudson River in order to find a way to the Far East.
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The first meeting was held between elected representatives from Virginia, establishing the House of Burgesses.
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The Pilgrims establish their first colony after landing in the New World and name it Plymouth
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John Winthrop selects the site for Boston, the first settlement in Massachusetts.
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Charles I is beheaded on a scaffold in London's Whitehall.
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Parliament votes to abolish the monarchy in England, calling it "unnecessary, burdensome, and dangerous" on February 7, 1649. The act was officially passed on March 17.
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The English Regime renames New Amsterdam to New York.
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Robert de la Salle sails the Mississippi River to its mouth claiming the region for France and calling it Louisiana.