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The U. S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
the capital was moved shorty after Washington took office as the first presedent of the United States of America -
The electors' votes for president are officially opened and counted in Congress
The votes for the race between Jefferson and Aaron Burr for the precedence are counted. -
Ohio outlaws slavery
A law is passed that makes slavery illegal in the state of Ohio -
Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson asks Congress for funds for an expedition to explore the Mississippi River and beyond in search of a route to the Pacific Ocean. -
The expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark departs
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were the ones assigned by Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Purchase and document their finds. -
Michigan Territory organizes
The Michigan Territory was organized however was not officially recognized as a US state. -
Burr Conspiracy
Jefferson receives further information that Aaron Burr is organizing a military expedition against Spanish possessions for the purpose of separating western territories from the United States -
Aaron Burr is captured near New Orleans
Following the events of the Aaron Burr Conspiracy he is captured. he escapes but is recaptured and imprisoned only to be acquitted and escapes to England. -
Congress prohibits importation of slaves
Congress passes a law that make is illegal to import slaves into the country. -
James Madison succeeds Thomas Jefferson as the President of the United States.
Madison succeeds Jefferson to become the 4th president of the United States of America -
Illinois passes 1st state vaccination legislation in US
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US Sen Thomas Pickering is 1st senator censured
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War of 1812
In the War of 1812, the United States took on the greatest naval power in the world, Great Britain, in a conflict that would have an immense impact on the young country’s future. Causes of the war included British attempts to restrict U.S. trade, the Royal Navy’s impressment of American seamen and America’s desire to expand its territory. -
1st US flag flown in battle on the Pacific, frigate Essex
The USS Essex, a thirty-two-gun frigate built in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1799, was not the most glorious vessel in the history of the American navy, yet she was unique. Sailors throughout the world remarked on her speed and beauty. She became the first American man-of-war to round the Horn into the Pacific, where her crew fought and lost one of the bloodiest sea battles in U.S. history. -
British burn Capitol building in Washington
On August 24, 1814, British troops recently arrived from the Napoleonic Wars in Europe easily overran the inexperienced U.S. militiamen tasked with defending Washington, D.C. They then set much of the city ablaze, thereby humiliating the administration of President James Madison. The British only occupied Washington for 24 hours, however, and soon after suffered major defeats of their own that helped bring the War of 1812 to an end -
Burned US Library of Congress re-established with Thomas Jefferson's 6,500 volumes
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Indiana becomes 19th state of the Union
On this day in 1816, President James Madison signed an act of Congress admitting Indiana to the Union as the 19th state. Its accession culminated a process that took nearly two decades. -
Mississippi Territory is divided into Alabama Territory & Mississippi
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Georgia prohibits Manumission
Manumission is the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. -
Alabama admitted as slave state
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missouri compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a United States federal statute devised by Henry Clay. It regulated slavery in the country's western territories by prohibiting the practice in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30′ north, except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri. -
New York gives free Blacks the right to vote
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Boston Massachusetts is incorporated as a city
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President Monroe appoints first US ambassadors to South America
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NY City's Fifth Avenue opens for business
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Erie Canal completed
The Erie Canal is a canal in New York that is part of the east-west, cross-state route of the New York State Canal System. Originally, it ran about 363 miles from Albany, on the Hudson River, to Buffalo, at Lake Erie -
Jefferson and Adams die
On July 4, 1826, at the age of 90, Adams lay on his deathbed while the country celebrated Independence Day. His last words were Thomas Jefferson still survives. He was mistaken: Jefferson had died five hours earlier at Monticello at the age of 82. -
Slavery illegal in New York
Historically, the enslavement of overwhelmingly African peoples in the United States, began in New York as part of the Dutch slave trade. The Dutch West India Company imported 11 African slaves to New Amsterdam in 1626, with the first slave auction being held in New Amsterdam in 1655. The last slaves were freed on July 4, 1827, although many black New Yorkers continued to serve as bound apprentices to their mothers' masters -
Election of Andrew Jackson
The United States presidential election of 1828 was the 11th quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, October 31, to Tuesday, December 2, 1828. It featured a re-match between incumbent President John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson, who won a plurality of the electoral college vote in the 1824 election. -
Georgia prohibits the Education of Slaves
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Underground Railroad established
The Underground Railroad was established to aid enslaved people in their escape to freedom. The railroad was comprised of dozens of secret routes and safe houses originating in the slaveholding states and extending all the way to the Canadian border, the only area where fugitives could be assured of their freedom. -
Alabama makes it illegal for Blacks to preach
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Andrew Jackson reelected President
President Andrew Jackson, candidate of the Democratic Party, easily win re-election against Henry Clay of Kentucky, candidate of the National Republican Party, and Anti-Masonic Party candidate William Wirt. -
NY Anti-Slavery Society organized
The American Anti-Slavery Society was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison, and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, was a key leader of this society who often spoke at its meetings. William Wells Brown was also a freed slave who often spoke at meetings. By 1838, the society had 1,350 local charters with around 250,000 members. -
President Jackson orders first use of US troops to suppress a labor dispute
workers building the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal were rebelling because of persistent poor working conditions and low pay. as a result US troops were sent out to suppress the dispute -
Texas declares independence from Mexico
The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. -
Martin van Buren elected President
Martin van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States in 1836, but his policies were unpopular and he failed to win a second term -
Depression begins with "Panic of 1837"
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major recession that lasted until the mid-1840s. -
Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States
The first Prohibition law in the history of the United States is passed in Tennessee, making it a misdemeanor to sell alcoholic beverages in taverns and stores. -
1st US anti-slavery party, Liberty Party, convenes in NY
The Liberty Party was a minor political party in the United States in the 1830's and 40s. The party was an early advocate of the abolitionist cause. It broke away from the American Anti-Slavery Society to advocate the view that the Constitution was an anti-slavery document -
William Henry Harrison elected the 9th President of the United States of America
William Henry Harrison, an American military officer and politician, was the ninth President of the United States, the oldest President to be elected at the time. On his 32nd day, he became the first to die in office, serving the shortest tenure in U.S. Presidential history. -
Vice President John Tyler becomes the 10th President of the United States after the death of President William Henry Harrison
John Tyler became the tenth President of the United States (1841-1845) when President William Henry Harrison died in April 1841. He was the first Vice President to succeed to the Presidency after the death of his predecessor. -
1st US child labor law regulating working hours passed
Massachusetts limits children to working 10 hours per day. Many states do the same but are not consistent in enforcing their laws. -
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens is published
On this day in 1843, Charles Dickens’ classic story “A Christmas Carol” is published. -
James K. Polk elected President
An experienced speaker, Polk surprised everyone when he campaigned vigorously and won the presidency on November 5, 1844. He was called a "dark horse" candidate because he was not expected to beat his opponent, Henry Clay of the Whig Party, to become the 11th president of the United States. -
Uniform US election day for president & VP authorized
In the United States, Election Day is the day set by law for the general elections of federal public officials. It is statutorily set as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November -
War with Mexico
Mexican-American War, also called Mexican War, Spanish Guerra de 1846 or Guerra de Estados Unidos a Mexico ), war between the United States and Mexico stemming from the United States’ annexation of Texas in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River or the Rio Grande -
Michigan is 1st state to abolish capital punishment
Michigan's death penalty history is unusual, as Michigan was the first English-speaking government in the world to abolish the death penalty for ordinary crimes. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially entitled the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic -
Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman in US to earn medical degree
On this day Elizabeth Blackwell became the 1st woman in US to earn medical degree -
Compromise of 1850 admitted California as free state
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War -
1st US alcohol prohibition law enacted (Maine)
The Maine Law (or "Maine Liquor Law"), passed in 1851 in Maine, was one of the first statutory implementations of the developing temperance movement in the United States. -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin published
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is published. The novel sold 300,000 copies within three months and was so widely read that when President Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in 1862, he reportedly said, “So this is the little lady who made this big war. -
1st practical fire engine (horse-drawn) in US enters service
On this day the 1st practical fire engine (horse-drawn) in US enters service -
The first class of the United States Naval Academy students graduate.
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The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway.
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James Buchanan elected 15th US president
James Buchanan America's 15th president, was in office from 1857 to 1861 -
US Supreme Court rules Africans cannot be US citizens
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Minnesota admitted as 32nd US state
Minnesota is a state in the midwestern and northern regions of the United States. Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858, created from the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory -
Oregon admitted as 33rd state of the Union
Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd of the United States and as a "free state." This, along with the admission nine months before of the free state of Minnesota, was a significant signal to many as to the future direction of the nation. -
Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that is largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.
The Cooper Union speech or address, known at the time as the Cooper Institute speech, was delivered by Abraham Lincoln on February 27, 1860, at Cooper Union, in New York City. Lincoln was not yet the Republican nominee for the presidency, as the convention was scheduled for May. It is considered one of his most important speeches. Some historians have argued that the speech was responsible for his victory in the presidential election later that year. -
Abraham Lincoln declares slavery in Confederate states unlawful
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General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry in Tennessee
The Battle of Fort Henry was fought on February 6, 1862, in western Middle Tennessee, during the American Civil War. It was the first important victory for the Union and Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater -
Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent (54th Massachusetts Regiment)
Before Union forces could capture Charleston, South Carolina, they first had to take Fort Wagner, a Confederate stronghold guarding the harbor’s entrance. So shortly after 6:30 p.m. on July 18, 1863, Union Colonel Robert Gould Shaw readied 600 men of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment for an assault on the fort. Shaw, the 25-year-old son of Boston abolitionists, was white, as were all his officers. The regiment’s men were black. -
Ulysses S. Grant is appointed commander of Union Army
On this day in 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signs a brief document officially promoting then-Major General Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of lieutenant general of the U.S. Army, tasking the future president with the job of leading all Union troops against the Confederate Army -
General Robert E. Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies
Robert E. Lee served as a military officer in the U.S. Army, a West Point commandant and the legendary general of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War -
Jesse James holds up his first bank
Jesse James holds up his first bank, stealing $15,000 from the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri -
African American men granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
despite President Andrew Johnson's veto, African American men granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C. -
Ulysses Grant wins US presidential election over Horatio Seymour
United States presidential election of 1868, American presidential election held on Nov. 3, 1868, in which Republican Ulysses S. Grant defeated Democrat Horatio Seymour. -
15th Amendment guaranteeing right to vote sent to states to ratify
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". -
John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil
John D. Rockefeller founder of the Standard Oil Company, became one of the world’s wealthiest men and a major philanthropist. -
National Association of Professional Base-Ball players organized
The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players or simply the National Association was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season. -
1st patent list issued by US Patent Office
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Susan B. Anthony's trial
On June 18, 1873, the trial of Susan B. Anthony for casting her famous vote in the 1872 presidential election came to a dramatic conclusion – though not in the manner she had hoped. -
1st US Lifesaving Medal awarded (Lucian Clemons)
The 1st Lifesaving Medal was awarded to Lucian Clemons on June, 20th 1874 -
Alexander Graham Bell makes first sound transmission
On June 2, 1875, while working in one room with their experimental telegraphic device, Watson tried to free a reed that had been too tightly wound around the pole of its electromagnet. He inadvertently plucked the reed, which produced a twang that Bell heard on a second device in another room. -
Wild Bill Hickok assassinated by Jack McCall while playing poker.
Hickok was only 39 years old when he died. The most famous gunfighter in the history of the West died with his Smith & Wesson revolver in his holster, never having seen his murderer. According to legend, Hickok held a pair of black aces and black eights when he died, a combination that has since been known as the Dead Man’s Hand. -
Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain
The Battle of Wolf Mountain occurred January 8, 1877, in southern Montana Territory between soldiers of the United States Army against Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors during the Great Sioux War of 1876. It was fought about four miles southwest of modern-day Birney, along the Tongue River -
Thomas Edison patents the gramophone
The technology that made the modern music business possible came into existence in the New Jersey laboratory where Thomas Alva Edison created the first device to both record sound and play it back -
Doc Holliday kills for the first time after a man shoots up his New Mexico saloon.
Doc Holliday commits his first murder, killing a man for shooting up his New Mexico saloon. -
Thomas Edison patents electric incandescent lamp
On January 27, 1880, Thomas Edison received U.S. Patent No. 223,898, which was simply titled “Electric Lamp.” -
James A. Garfield inaugurated as the 20th President of the United States of America
James Abram Garfield was the 20th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881, until his assassination later that year -
Jesse James is killed
Jesse James was killed by Robert Ford at his home in St Joseph -
The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires
Built by Thomas Edison,The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires begins service at Roselle, New Jersey. -
US adopts Standard Time
Four standard time zones for the continental United States were introduced on November 18, 1884. -
Mark Twain publishes the "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in the US
On this day in 1885, Mark Twain publishes his famous–and famously controversial–novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. -
Haymarket riot in Chicago
On May 4, 1886, a labor protest rally near Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police. At least eight people died as a result of the violence that day. -
Anne Sullivan begins teaching 6 year old blind-deaf Helen Keller
On this day in 1887, Anne Sullivan begins teaching six-year-old Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing after a severe illness at the age of 19 months. -
Great blizzard of '88 strikes northeastern US
On this day in 1888, one of the worst blizzards in American history strikes the Northeast, killing more than 400 people and dumping as much as 55 inches of snow in some areas. -
Benjamin Harrison inaugurated as 23rd president
Benjamin Harrison was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 23rd President of the United States from 1889 to 1893 -
Ellis Island, New York, designated as an immigration station
Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the United States as the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station for over sixty years from 1892 until 1954. -
1st game of basketball, based on rules created by James Naismith, played by 18 students in Springfield, Massachusetts
James Naismith was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, chaplain, sports coach and innovator. He invented the sport of basketball in 1891 -
Grover Cleveland elected 24th US President
The first Democrat elected after the Civil War in 1885, our 22nd and 24th President Grover Cleveland was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later -
Lizzie Borden acquitted of the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts
Lizzie Andrew Borden was an American woman who gained infamy in being tried and acquitted for the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. -
1st US steel sailing vessel, Dirigo, launched at Bath, Maine
Dirigo, America's 1st US steel sailing vessel, launched at Bath, Maine -
1st rolling lift bridge opens, Chicago
A bascule bridge (sometimes referred to as a drawbridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or "leaf", throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. -
Henry Ford takes his 1st Ford through streets of Detroit
At approximately 4:00 a.m. on June 4, 1896, in the shed behind his home on Bagley Avenue in Detroit, Henry Ford unveils the “Quadricycle,” the first automobile he ever designed or drove. -
William McKinley inaugurated as 25th president
William McKinley was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 25th President of the United States from March 4, 1897 until his assassination in September 1901 -
The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.
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1st auto repair shop opens (Boston)
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American Hall of Fame founded
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery, located on the grounds of Bronx Community College in the Bronx, New York City. Completed in 1900 as part of the University Heights campus of New York University, the 630-foot stone colonnade half-encircles the university library and houses 98 bronze portrait busts -
William McKinley inaugurated for 2nd term as US president
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J C Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming
James Cash "J. C." Penney Jr. was an American businessman and entrepreneur who founded the J. C. Penney stores in 1902. -
1st Teddy Bear introduced in America, made by Morris & Rose Michtom
Morris Michtom with his wife Rose, invented the Teddy Bear. They founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which after Michtom's death became the largest doll-making company in the United States. -
Theodore Roosevelt, appoints 7-man Panama Canal Commission to proceed with completing a canal at the Isthmus
This Day in History– Theodore Roosevelt, appoints 7-man Panama Canal Commission to proceed with completing a canal at the Isthmus -
1st automobile to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A G MacDonald, Daytona Beach
A G MacDonald drove at 161 kph in Daytona Beach -
US President Theodore Roosevelt denounces "muckrakers" in US press, taken from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
The term muckraker was used in the Progressive Era to characterize reform-minded American journalists who attacked established institutions and leaders as corrupt. -
US President Theodore Roosevelt shakes a record number of hands
US President Theodore Roosevelt shakes a record 8,513 hands in 1 day -
1st horror movie (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde) premieres in Chicago
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1908 Selig Polyscope Company silent horror motion picture starring Hobart Bosworth, and Betty Harte in her film debut. -
William Howard Taft inaugrated as 27th US President
William Howard Taft served as the 27th President of the United States and as the 10th Chief Justice of the United States, the only person to have held both offices. -
1st junior high schools in US opens (Berkeley California)
Berkeley High School is a public high school in the Berkeley Unified School District, and the only public high school in the city of Berkeley, California. It is located one long block west of Shattuck Avenue and three short blocks south of University Avenue in Downtown Berkeley, and is recognized as a Berkeley landmark -
Walter Johnson pitches a record tying 4 strike outs in an inning
On April 15, 1911, Walter Johnson, the famous pitcher of the Washington Senators, struck out four Red Sox players in one inning. -
RMS Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as the band plays on
The sinking of the RMS Titanic occurred on the night of 14 April through to the morning of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into the ship's maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest passenger liner in service at the time, Titanic had an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at around 11:40 on Sunday -
US President Taft agrees not to intervene in Mexico
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Henry Ford introduces an assembly line for Model T
On this day in 1913, Henry Ford installs the first moving assembly line for the mass production of an entire automobile. His innovation reduced the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to two hours and 30 minutes. -
Woodrow Wilson becomes first US President to attend a World Series game
Woodrow Wilson was a serious fan and during his freshman year at Davidson College he played baseball. Wilson was the first President to ever attend a World Series and he never once used his Presidential Pass — choosing instead to pay for every game he attended -
American oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller becomes the world's first billionaire
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American oil industry business magnate and philanthropist, who is considered to be the wealthiest American of all time by virtually every source and—largely—the richest person in modern history
