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1492
Christopher Columbus makes his first voyage and discovers America.
The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he accidentally stumbled upon the Americas -
The Roanoke Colony is founded. It will disappear and become known as the "Lost Colony.
White took the letters to mean that the colonists had moved to Croatoan Island, some 50 miles away, but a later search of the island found none of the settlers. The Roanoke Island colony, the first English settlement in the New World, was founded by English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh in August 1585. -
Only 60 out of 500 settlers in Jamestown survive the winter of 1609-1610
Starving Time at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was a period of starvation during the winter of 1609–1610. There were about 500 Jamestown residents at the beginning of the winter. However, there were only 60 people still alive when the spring arrived. -
The first African slaves arrive in Jamestown.
In August 1619 "20 and odd Blacks" arrived on the Dutch Man-of-War ship at Jamestown colony. This is the earliest record of Black people in colonial America. These colonists were freemen and indentured servants. At this time the slave trade between Africa and the English colonies had not yet been established. -
Plymouth Colony is founded by the Pilgrims
Plymouth Colony First colonial settlement in New England (founded 1620). The settlers were a group of about 100 Puritan Separatist Pilgrims, who sailed on the Mayflower and settled on what is now Cape Cod bay, Massachusetts. -
The city of Philadelphia is founded
The written history of Philadelphia begins on October 27, 1682, when the city was founded by William Penn in the English Crown Province of Pennsylvania between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. -
The city of New Orleans is founded by the French
In August 1619 "20 and odd Blacks" arrived on the Dutch Man-of-War ship at Jamestown colony. This is the earliest record of Black people in colonial America. These colonists were freemen and indentured servants. At this time the slave trade between Africa and the English colonies had not yet been established. -
The first settlers arrive in Georgia.
In 1733, James Oglethorpe and a party of settlers crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the ship Anne to begin settlement of the colony of Georgia. They first arrived off the coast of Carolina, then negotiated permission to settle from Yamacraw Chief Tomochichi. -
The Revolutionary War begins
The American Revolutionary War was fought from 1775 to 1783. It was also known as the American War of Independence. The Revolutionary War began with the confrontation between British troops and local militia at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, on 19 April 1775.
