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Oct 12, 1492
Columbus Arrives in America
Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492. Columbus thought he had founded the New World. -
Jun 7, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas is Signed
The Treaty of Tordesillas was agreed upon by the Spanish and the Portuguese to clear up confusion on newly claimed land in the New World. -
Aug 1, 1513
Claims of Balboa
Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a Spanish conquistador who claimed all lands touched by the Pacific Ocean for Spain. -
Sep 1, 1519
Cortes Conquers Mexico for Spain
Hernan Cortes led an expedition which caused the fall of the Aztec Empire. He was then able to claim large portions of Mexico for Spain. -
Oct 1, 1521
Ponce de Leon Explores Florida
Juan Ponce de Leon came to the United States of America on an expedition in search of gold and the Fountain of Youth. -
Nov 1, 1532
Pizarro Crushes Incas
Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador, conquered the Incan Empire and founded the modern day Republic of Peru. -
Dec 1, 1539
De Soto Explores the Southeast
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who lead the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern United States. He was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River. -
Nov 17, 1558
Elizabeth I Takes the Throne
Elizabeth I became the queen of England from November 17, 1558 until her death. She was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. -
Feb 1, 1577
Drake Circumnavigates the Globe
Sir Francis Drake was an English sea captain during the Elizabethan era. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada. He also carried out the second circumnavigation of the world. -
England Defeats Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada managed to regroup and withdraw north, before the English were able to completely take control. Spain's return voyage was broken up by severe storms, and they wrecked on the north and west coasts of Ireland. -
Virginia Colony Founded
Jamestown was a settlement located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony. It was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States of America, -
Spanish Found New Mexico
The Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire and took over the Mexican lands. -
John Rolfe
John Rolfe increased the productivity of tobacco in Virginia. He also married Pocohantas. -
First Africans Arrive in Jamestown
English settlers began to form southern colonies. They formed a worldwide slave trade system which began with importing Africans. -
Maryland Colony Founded
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America. Later on, it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland. -
Second Anglo-Powhatan War
The English military doctrine marched out nearly every summer for ten years making attacks on Powhattan settlements. The Powhatans gave up and retreated to the Englishmen in 1624. -
Charles II Takes Back the Throne
Charles was invited to return to Britain and received a public acclaim in London on his 30th birthday on this date. Charles established Charles's English Parliament shortly after he took the throne. -
Carolina Colony Created
Carolina was named in honor of King Charles I of England. The colony joined the United States of America in the year 1670, and divided into South Carolina and North Carolina in 1729. -
North Carolina Separates
North Carolina and South Carolina formally divided into separate states. They were no longer known as one area of Carolina. The actual date however, is subject to debate. -
Georgia Colony Founded
This state is named after King George II of Great Britain. It was established in 1733, the last of the original thirteen colonies. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. -
Zenger Free-Press Trial in New York
John Peter Zenger was a German immigrant who printed a publication called The New York Weekly Journal. His columns harshly highlighted the actions of the corrupt royal governor, William S. Cosby. He used his right to free-press as a U.S. citizen to focus on the corrupt government, and was tried for by the courts of New York. -
Porteous Rights
The Porteous Riots erupt in Edinburgh after the execution of smuggler Andrew Wilson, when town guard Captain John Porteous orders his men to fire at the crowd. Porteous is arrested later. -
War of Jenkin's Ear
The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Great Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Robert Jenkins captain of a British merchant ship, executed a severe ear in Parliament following the boarding of his vessel by Spanish coast guards. -
Jonathan Edwards Begins Great Awakening
This revival movement, unlike the earlier doctrine of the Puritans, promised the grace of God to all who could experience a desire for it. -
King George's War
King George's War which lasted from 1744-1748 is the name given to the operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession that lasted from 1740-1748. It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia. -
Princeton College Founded
Princeton College received a charter on this date in history to become a major institutuion in America. Three of the four founders were graduates of Yale. -
Granting the Ohio Company
King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River. -
Washingotn Battles French On Frontier
On the morning of May 28, 1754, George Washington attacked a force of about 30 French soldiers who had been following the Virginians' movements for several days. The French eventually, planned an attack on Washington and gained control of Ohio. -
Braddock Lands in Virginia
General Braddock lands in Virginia to take command of the British forces against the French in North America. -
Braddock's Defeat
A failed British military expedition which attempted to capture the French Fort Duquesne in the summer of 1755 during the French and Indian War. Survivors of the Battle of Monongahela, led by Edwad Braddock whom was killed in his efforts, finally retreated. -
Wreck At Port Elizabeth
In a convoy of ships from Great Britain, returning to India for the East India Company, the lead ship Dodington wrecks at Port Elizabeth, losing a chest of gold coins from Robert Clive, -
Battle of Prague
Frederick the Great's 67,000 Prussians forced 60,000 Austrians to retreat, but having lost 14,300 men, decided he was not strong enough to attack Prague. He spent years devising plans to finally attack Austria, and eventuslly forced the Prussians into retreating. -
Pitt Emeres As Leader of British Government
William Pitt, is best known as the wartime political leader of Britain in the Seven Years War, especially for his own devotion to victory over France. -
Siege of Louisburg
James Wolfe's attack at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia settles. It was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years' War in 1758 which ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year. -
Battle of Quebec
The British and American armies formed an alliance and fought against their opponents in the French and Canadians. This was only a battle among the Seven Year War between the French and Indians. -
HMS Royal Katherine
The British Royal Navy ship HMS Royal Katherine runs aground off Bolt Head in England with the loss of 699 lives. -
Capturing of Pondicherry, India
The British were finally able to capture this area of India from the French through small battle. -
Catherine II Takes Control
Catherine II becomes empress of Russia upon the deposition of her husband Peter III. The Russo-Prussian alliance falls apart, but Russia does not rejoin the war. -
Treaty of Paris
The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Canada to Great Britain. -
Peace of Paris Pontiac's Uprising Proclamation
Also known as the Royal Proclamation was a simple solution which declared the boundaries of settlement for inhabitants of the colonies to Appalachia. -
Sugar Act
Parliament passed the first ever act by the body for raising tax revenue throughout the colonies in order to strengthen the British crown. -
Stamp Act Passed
Parliament drops one of the first levied taxes on the colonies by passing the Stamp Act. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying a revenue stamp. -
Quartering Act
The colonial assemblies were forced to house the British soldiers fighting in the war, but the issues were disputed during the peacetimes. -
Declaratory Act
Reassured that the British crown still had complete and absolute sovereignty over its North American colonies. It assured that the British crown had the power to pass any laws or acts under their own will. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts passed New York legislature were suspended by Parliament. In June of 1767, the English decided to cut British land taxes, inorder to make up for the difference and to continue to finance their troops in the colonies. Charles Townshend, the British Treasurer, promised he would tax the colonists. -
British Troops Conquer
Washington began to pull himself out of debt in the mid 1760s. Witha a new primary cash crop, he was able to build up his troops and lead them through Mount Vernon. The troops were finally able to occupy Boston and hault any uproars by the colonists in 1768. -
Founding of New Zealand
Captain James Cook of Britain founded an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean. The country is lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. -
Boston Massacre
British troops had been stationed in Boston since 1768 in order to protect and support crown-appointed colonial officials attempting to enforce unpopular Parliamentary legislation. Boston colonists had finally harassed the British troops to the put of retaliation, and they result ended in the killing of five civilian men. -
Falkland Islands
Spain submits the Falkland Islands to the powerful British army out of resentment. -
Forming of Committees of Correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies at the start of the American Revolution. They set up networks to identify disloyal problems, displaced royal officials, and helped tackle the entire imperial system in each colony. -
Tea Monopoly Granted
The officers of theBritish East India Company were now allowed to return to Britain and establish spreading estates and businesses, and to obtain political power. The Company developed a lobby in the English parliament. Under pressure from tradesmen and associates of the Company who wanted to establish private trading firms in India, acts were eventually passed that allowed any English firm to trade with India. -
"Intolerable Acts"
The Intolerable Acts or the Coercive Acts are names used to describe a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 relating to Britain's colonies in North America. The acts began resistance in the Thirteen Colonies that later became the United States, and were important developments in the growth of the American Revolution. -
Quebec Act
The Quebec Act of 1774 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain setting procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec. Some of its principles included free practice of Catholic faith and the territory expanded to take over Indian reserve. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in theMassachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America. -
Boston Evacuation
British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington commands the placement of artillery overlooking the city at Dorchester Heights. -
America Takes Control
At the Battle of Bennington in New York during the American Revolution, an amry of British forces were defeated by a host of American troops which proved to be an initial victory for America. -
War On France
During the cruel and fierce battles of the American Revolution, Britain decided to seige war on France for aiding the Americans in times of need. -
First Anglo-Maratha War
The First Anglo-Maratha War was the first of three Anglo-Maratha wars fought between the British East India Company and Maratha Empire in India. The war began with the Treaty of Surat and ended with the Treaty of Salbai. -
The League of Armed Neutrality
During the American Revolution, Russia formed the League of Armed Neutrality which intended to protect neutral shipping against the British Royal Navy's wartime policy of unlimited search of neutral shipping for French product. -
Richmond, Virginia Burned
Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States, and an independent city was burned to the ground by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold during the American Revolution. -
British Defeat
The Spanish army is able to defeat British forces and capture the Minorca territory, one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea. -
Pitt Enters Parliament
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24. Pitt was an outstanding ;eader who worked for reform, bringing in a new generation of local leaders. He raised taxes to pay for the great war against France, and cracked down on radicalism. -
Treaty of Fort Stanwix
An agreement reached during this year with certain members of the Iroquois who surrendered claims to lands in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. -
Land Ordinance of 1785
Law passed by Congress that allowed for sales of land in the Northwest Territory and set up new standards and boundaries for land sale. An example being selling mile-square sections of land. -
Shay's Rebellion
Daniel Shays, an outraged farmer by the denial of paper money to prevent foreclosure on the lands of hardworking farmers, led a rebellion against the government to prove how serious the other farmers of the time were.They were losing their land and property due to the depression from the war. -
Washington Takes Office
George Washington was unanimously elected as the 1st President of the United States. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was passed, which included the first 10 amendments granted to the Constitution. These beginning amendments guaranteed American citizens various liberties and rights. -
Battle of Fallen Timbers
The United States Army was able to defeat the Miami Confederacy under "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The Native Americans suffered a major setback during this period of time. -
Pinckney's Treaty
Spain and the United States signed this treaty recognizing borders on the Mississippi and granting Americans the right to deposit goods for transport at New Orleans. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
President Adams issued the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Sedition Act provided for fines or imprisonment for individuals who criticized the government. The Alien Act increased the process of naturalization from 5 years to 14 years. -
Election of 1800
The Federalist elect, John Adams was defeated by the Democratic-Republicans. However, this proves to be the most confluential election in history due to a tie between Thomas Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr. This was the first year for the president along with a vice-president. -
Tripolitan War
Yusuf Karamanli, pasha of Tripoli, opened the Tripolitan War by the symbolic act of ordering his soldiers to cut down the flagpole at the U.S. consulate challenging the U.S. because the nation would no longer pay bribes for protection from their pirates. President Jefferson sent in the marines to stomp on the revolt. -
Midnight Judges
The "Midnight Judges" were 42 Federalist justices President John Adams appointed immediately before his administration ended and Thomas Jefferson's began. They were appointed because Adams realized the Federalist party was losing power and control in government to the Democratic-Republicans. -
Judiciary Act of 1801
One of the most controversial acts in the history of the federal judicial system allowing President John Adams to nominate members of his own Federalist party to sixteen positions and five new District judge positions. These "midnight appointments" of judges and other court officials occurred just before he left office. Jefferson was quick to repeal the act with Congress. -
Marbury v. Madison
Newly appointed position judge, Marbury decided to sue Secretary of State, James Madsion for not issuing him respectively his commission as justice of the peace in the District of Columbia. -
Louisiana Purchase
Napoleon Bonaparte envisioned a great French empire in the New World. Napoleon sold the entire Louisiana Territory for a mere $15 million due to his fear of losing this territory after devoting a hufe amount of his money and troops to put down a rebellion in South America. -
Louis & Clark
President Jefferson issued an expedition under the commission of Meriwether Louis and William Clark to explore the American Northwest. They made important strides for the Americas by taking detailed notes on the unknown land. -
Peace Treaty with Tripoli
The United States conducts a peace treaty with former enemy Tripoli. Jefferson retains his section of the Navy as part of the United States Navy. -
Embargo Act of 1807
Law passed by Congress and signed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807. This law stopped all trade between America and any other country. The goal was to get Britain and France, who were fighting each other at the time, to stop restricting American trade. -
Battle of Tippecanoe
This famous battle featured United States forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and Native American warriors associated with the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawan otherwise known as the Prophet were notable leaders of a confederacy of Native Americans from various tribes that opposed U.S. expansion into Native territory. The states were able to gain the upper hand as the Prophet led his troops along Wildcat Creek without further say. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 had begun which pitted Britain against the United States in another fight for freedom. The war would end with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium, with neither side gaining or losing anything. -
Hartford Convention
There were 26 delegates, 12 were from Massachusetts, 7 from Connecticut, 4 from Rhode Island, 2 from New Hampshire, and 1 from Vermont. The delegates drafted proposals for constitutional amendments that would challenge the president. They discussed greivances and redresses that they might have suffered. -
Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans along with other territory America gained from the Louisiana Purchase. -
Jefferson Founds University of Virginia
Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia in 1819. He wished upon school supported by the public to have a national character and stature. Jefferson envisioned a new kind of university, one dedicated to educating leaders in everyday affairs and public service rather than for professions in the classroom. -
Missouri Compromise
Henry Clay put forth an agreement that allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine to enter the Union as a free state. The Compromise also drew an imaginary line at 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude which divided the new Louisiana Territory into two areas. -
Willard Establishes Female Seminary
In 1821, Emma Hart Willard founded the Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York. The seminary was the first American educational institution to offer young women a college education equal to young men. -
Secretary Adams Proposes Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine is a policy of the United States which stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression. The Doctrine noted that the United States would neither interfere with existing European colonies or conflict with the internal concerns of European countries. -
Russo-American Treaty
The agreement was ratified by both Russia and the U.S. giving Russian claims on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America south of parallel 54°40' and north over what Americans known as the Oregon Country to the United States. -
New Harmony Commune Established
New Harmony resulted from the utopian vision of one man, Robert Owen. Owen based his conception of a utopian society on the belief that an individual's character was shaped by his or her environment. In 1825, the New Harmony was established. -
Erie Canal Completed
The Erie Canal was proposed in 1808 and completed in 1825. The canal links the waters of Lake Erie in the west to the Hudson River in the east. An engineering marvel when it was built, some called it the Eighth Wonder of the World. -
American Temperance Society Founded
The American Temperance Society, first known as the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance, was established in Boston, Massachusetts. It marked the beginning of the first formal national temperance movement in the U.S. -
Webster Publishes the Dictionary
Noah Webster published the first American Dictionary of the English Language during the years when the American home, church, and school were established upon a Biblical and patriotic basis. -
Tariff of Abominations
The Tariff of 1828 was a protective tariff passed by the Congress of the United States designed to protect industry in the northern United States. It was labeled the Tariff of Abominations by its southern critics due to the effects it had on the Southern economy. -
Smith Founds Mormom Church
Mormonism, known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was officially founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. While living in Palmyra New York, Smith claimed at the age of 15 to have had a personal visit from God, who introduced him to Jesus Christ. He was supposedly told that he was chosen to restore the true church. -
Finney Conducts Eastern City Revivlas
America educator, Charles Finney moved to upstate New York where he received his early education in frontier schools.He immediately began witnessing for Christ and was conducting revival meetings. Finney used the practices of the New Testament and was soon filling buildings available with followers. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson which was strongly supported in the South where states were eager to gain access to lands that were currently owned by the Five Civilized Tribes. -
Tariff of 1832
The Tariff of 1832 was a protection tariff in the United States. It was largely written by former President John Quincy Adams, who had been elected to the House of Representatives. He reduced tariffs to help the conflict created by the Tariff of 1828, but it was still decided unsatisfactory by some in the South. -
Compromise Tariff of 1833
The "Compromise" Tariff of 1833 was proposed by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun as a resolution to the Nullification Crisis. It was adopted to gradually reduce the rates after southerners objected to the protection found in the Tariff of 1832 along with the 1828 Tariff of Abominations which resulted in South Carolina threatening secession from the Union. -
Texas Wins Independence
The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution which was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos. -
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation. This was based on the assumption by former president, Andrew Jackson that the government was selling land for state bank notes of questionable value. The Panic was followed by a five-year depression. -
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States mainly to Africa. This movement lasted from 1838-1839. -
Independent Treasury Established
In 1840, the Independent Treasury Act was passed which was a system for the retaining of government funds in the United States Treasury. This was independent of the national banking and financial systems. -
Reducing the Work Day
President Van Buren reduced the work day to a maximum of ten hours for federal employees. -
Battle of Buena Vista
Scott captures Mexico City at the Battle of Buena Vista. -
California Gold Rush
The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came from the east overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidlago
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the fighting between the Mexicans and the Americans in the Mexican War. -
Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850 admits California as free state but Fugitive Slave Law enacted. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The first establishment of Uncle Tom's Cabin appeared on June 5, 1851 in the anti-slavery newspaper, The National Era. Harriet Beecher Stowe published the novel in 1852. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. -
Dred Scott Case
The case before the court was one of Dred Scott, a slave who had lived in the free state of Illinois and the free territory of Wisconsin before moving back to the slave state of Missouri, had appealed to the Supreme Court in hopes of being granted his freedom. -
First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas was fought in Virginia. It was the first major land battle of the American Civil War. -
Morrill Act
Public lands began being set aside for several State Colleges. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
The Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Manassas was fought as part of the American Civil War. It was an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union General John Pope's Army of Virginia, and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run. -
Battle of Antietam
The result of the battle was a draw, but the North did win a strategic advantage. This was the bloodiest battle of the war with 23,100 casualties. -
Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Union General George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North. This is often considered the war's turning point. -
The Union Party
Duing the election of 1864, the war democrats and the republicans formed a new party called the Union party. -
Wade-Davis Bill
This legislation requried that 50% of a state's voters take the oath of allegiance. Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill. -
Sherman's March
Sherman's March to the Sea is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign conducted around Georgia from November 15, 1864 to December 21, 1864 by General William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army in the American Civil War. -
Lincoln's Assassination
Lincoln was shot in the back of the head at point blank range by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater. -
Appomattox Courthouse
Northern troops captured Richmond and cornered Lee at Appomatox Courthouse, Virginia. Lee surrendered to Grant, ending the Civil War. -
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan was founded by William Bedford Forest. This was a racist group trying to stop blacks from voting and society from changing. -
Tenure of Office Act
It intended to deny the president the power to remove any executive officer who had been appointed by a past president, without the advice and consent of the Senate, unless the Senate approved the removal during the next full session of Congress.
