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1342
black plague
The Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s. The plague arrived in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina. -
yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The "yellow" in the name refers to the jaundice that affects some patients. Symptoms of yellow fever include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. -
chicken pox
Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). It can cause an itchy, blister-like rash among other symptoms. The rash first appears on the chest, back, and face, and then spreads over the entire body. -
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American Revolution began/end
This was the event of which the 13 North American colonies broke free. They got free from the British rule and then became the U.S.A. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was made for the 13 colonies. It announced the separation from the 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain -
The US Constitution was ratified
It ended on September 17, 1787, the day the Frame of Government drafted by the convention's delegates. To replace the Articles was adopted and signed, and ended when the final state, Rhode Island signed. -
Louisiana Purchase was made
In this transaction with France, signed on April 30, 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. -
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Lewis and Clark explored the western lands
The Lewis and Clark Expedition began in 1804, when President Thomas Jefferson tasked Meriwether Lewis with exploring the lands west of the Mississippi River that comprised the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chose William Clark as his co-leader for the mission. The excursion lasted over two years. -
Abraham Lincoln is assassinated
Abraham Lincoln was killed on April 14, 1865. He was the 16th president and was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while attending they play of our American cousin at Ford's theater in D.C. -
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American Civil War (beginning and end)
The Civil War was fought over the moral issue of slavery. Political control of that system that was central to the conflict. A key issue was states' rights. -
Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Address is a short speech reminding why the Civil War was fought and honoring the sacrifice of the many men who had died fighting it. -
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The Gilded Age begins/ends
While historians disagree on an exact start and end date for the gilded era, it lasted from roughly 1870-1900. The policies implemented during the Progressive Era in 1901 marked the gradual end of the Gilded Age. The railroad industry was key to the development of the Gilded Age. -
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell successfully received a patent for the telephone and secured the rights to the discovery. Days later, he made the first ever telephone call to his partner, Thomas Watson. -
Thomas Edison perfects the lightbulb
The Incandescent Light Bulb (1879): October 22-23, 2023
According to the Thomas Edison National Historical Park. “In 1879, he made an incandescent bulb that burned long enough to be practical, long enough to light a home for many hours. -
The Wright Brothers invent the airplane
Wilbur and Orville Wright spent four years of research and development to create the first successful powered airplane, the 1903 Wright Flyer. It first flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, with Orville at the controls. -
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World War I
For four years, from 1914 to 1918, World War I raged across Europe's western and eastern fronts. After growing tensions and then the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria ignited the war. -
18th Amendment
Amendment Eighteen to the Constitution was ratified on January 16, 1919. Its legal provisions brought about the Prohibition Era of the United States. -
19th Amendment
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle—victory took decades of agitation and protest. -
Great Depression begins
The Great Depression began in August 1929, when the economic expansion of the Roaring Twenties came to an end. A series of financial crises punctuated the contraction. -
World War II begins
On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland from the west; two days later, France and Britain declared war on Germany, beginning World War II. On September 17, Soviet troops invaded Poland from the east. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Since early 1941 the U.S. had been supplying Great Britain in its fight against the Nazis. It had also been pressuring Japan to halt its military expansion in Asia and the Pacific -
D-Day
In fact, it does not stand for anything. The 'D' is derived from the word 'day'. 'D-Day' means the day on which a military operation begins. The term 'D-Day' is still used for military operations, but to the general public it is generally used to refer to the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944. -
hiroshima and nagasaki/WW2 ends
It was the deployment of a new and terrible weapon, the atomic bomb, which forced the Japanese into a surrender that they had vowed never to accept. Harry Truman would go on to officially name September 2, 1945, V-J Day, the day the Japanese signed the official surrender aboard the USS Missouri. -
first moon landing
On July 20, 1969, millions of people gathered around their televisions to watch two U.S. astronauts do something no one had ever done before. Wearing bulky space suits and backpacks of oxygen to breathe, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first human beings to walk on the moon. -
9/11
“9/11” is shorthand for four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001.