-
a charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor
-
The United States Declaration of Independence is the pronouncement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
-
Continental Congress adopts the "Dollar" and decimal coinage.
-
The constitution is an aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of the U.S. and commonly determine how it is to be governed.
-
Includes 1-10 Amendments
-
US Navy established on this date.
-
US Post Office established on this date
-
Makes states immune from suits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners not living within the state borders; lays the foundation for state sovereign immunity
-
US Marine Corps established on this date.
-
United States purchases the Louisiana Territory for $15 million, containing what's now Arkansas, part of Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, part of Minnesota, Missouri, part of Montana, part of North Dakota, part of Oklahoma, South Dakota, and part of Wyoming.
-
Revises presidential election procedures by having the president and vice president elected together as opposed to the vice president being the runner up in the presidential election
-
was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court held that the Constitution of the United States was not meant to include American citizenship for black people, regardless of whether they were enslaved or free, and therefore the rights and privileges it confers upon American citizens could not apply to them.
-
Confederate States of America formed.
-
The term has two applications: the first applies to the complete history of the entire country from 1865 to 1877 following the American Civil War; the second, to the attempted transformation of the 11 former Confederate states from 1863 to 1877, as directed by Congress.
-
Abolishes slavery, and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime
-
United States purchases the Alaska Territory from Russia for $7.2 million.
-
Defines citizenship, contains the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due Process Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and deals with post–Civil War issues
-
Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color or previous condition of servitude
-
Rejecting Plessy’s argument that his constitutional rights were violated, the Supreme Court ruled that a law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between whites and blacks was not unconstitutional.
-
Permits Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the various states or basing it on the United States Census
-
Woodrow Wilson sworn in as the 28th US President.
-
Establishes the direct election of United States senators by popular vote
-
World War I begins as the Ottoman Empire declares war on Bosnia.
-
Puerto Rico made a United States territory.
-
Prohibited the manufacturing or sale of alcohol within the United States
-
Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on sex
-
New York Stock Market crashes to an all time low (referred to as "Black Tuesday"), signaling the start of the Great Depression.
-
Changes the date on which the terms of the president and vice president and of members of Congress end and begin (to January 20 and January 3 respectively). States that if the president-elect becomes vacant, the vice president-elect is inaugurated as president in their place.
-
Franklin Roosevelt sworn in as the 32nd US President.
-
Repeals the 18th Amendment and makes it a federal offense to transport or import intoxicating liquors into U.S. states and territories where such transport or importation is prohibited by the laws of those states and territories
-
Germany invades Poland.
-
Franklin Roosevelt sworn in as President for a 3rd term.
-
United Nations established on this date.
-
United States drops the 1st atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
-
Philippines, a United States protectorate, gains its independence
-
Winston Churchill proclaims "an iron curtain has swept across the continent (Europe)," beginning the Cold War.
-
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States.
-
Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality.
-
Limits the number of times that a person can be elected president: a person cannot be elected president more than twice, and a person who has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected cannot be elected more than once
-
Grants the District of Columbia electors in the Electoral College, their number being not more than those of the least populous state
-
Prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to the non-payment of a poll tax or any other tax
-
Addresses succession to the presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the vice president, as well as responding to presidential disabilities
-
Prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens, eighteen years of age or older, to vote on account of age
-
United States and Russia sign a treaty officially ending the Cold War.
-
Delays laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect until after the next election of representatives
-
Panama gains control of the Panama Canal from the United States.
-
On September 11th Al Qaeda terrorists crash three planes into the New York's World Trade Center and Pentagon
-
In his State of the Union address of January 2002, President Bush defines an Axis of Evil, which includes North Korea, Iran and Iraq
-
The official number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. reaches 11 million
-
Barack Obama wins U.S. Presidential election
