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Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in the New World
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Benjamin Franklin is born on this day; he made many contributions to establishing modern-day America
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Eli Whitney later created the cotton gin, which brought tremendous changes to the cotton industry.
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"The shot heard around the world" begins the Battle of Lexington and Concord, which in turn begins the Revolutionary War
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The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, is signed
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The Constitution was signed. By the summer of 1788, 12 out of 13 states had voted for ratification
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Jefferson purchases Louisiana Territory from French emperor Napoleon for $15 million
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The Trail of Tears was the 800 mile journey by the Cherokee Indians from Georgia to Oklahoma.
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Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860. Six weeks later, South Carolina- followed by Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas- seceded from the Union.
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The Homestead Act offered 160 acres of land to anyone who met the requirements.
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The Confederate forces (led by Lee) surrenders to the Union forces (led by Grant), ending the Civil War.
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Thomas Edison patents his light bulb invention, which significantly affects the entire world.
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Upton SInclair published his book, The Jungle, which led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act
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President Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany, which in turn entered the U.S. into World War 1
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The stock market crashes, starting the Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to 1941
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Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932, and he promised to create a New Deal.
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The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, killing almost 24 hundred people; this caused the U.S. to declare war on Japan.
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Japan decided to surrender on August 14, and the formal surrender was signed on the deck of the battleship Missouri.
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The Soviet Union launches the first satellite, Sputnik, beginning the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
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The U.S. is attacked when hijackers crash several planes into important buildings.
