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Slaves arrive in Jamestown, Virginia, on a Dutch Trading ship.
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The civil war begins in divided United States.
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Slavery is offically abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment.
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The Maple Leaf Rag if first published by Scott Joplin
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W.C. Handy views a man playing a guitar at a train station with a pocketknife. His description is regarded as the first documentation of the blues.
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“The Dallas Blues” by Harta Wand contains the first appearance of the word ‘blues’ in a piece of music:.
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This smashing hit helped Okeh records start producing many Blues songs.
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"Crazy Blues" is recorded by Mamie Smith. This is considered the first recording of music by a African American artists with a target audience of African Americans.
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Lemon Jefferson dies in Chicago. His music had a huge influence on the blues in America.
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Inventors come out with the first electric guitar, which would later change the blues forever.
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This song was later sung by Elvis, who used the famous blues song to create the new genre "Rock and Roll."
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Elvis records at Sun Studio a song that was later described as a combination of Blues and Hillbilly Country with a twist.
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The Rolling Stones is created as a blues band.
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James Meredith, an important civil rights leader, is shot during a civil rights march. This influenced later blues songs to convey the inequality in America.
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B.B. King releases the thrill is gone, one of the most popular blues songs of all time.
