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The emancipation proclamation in 1863 introduced sharecroppers and 'Juke Joints'. This is where African Americans would listen to music.
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Scott Joplin releases "Maple Leaf Rag". This is important because ragtime had a large influence on the blues.
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This song was one of the first widely accepted blues songs.
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Mamie Smith, Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, Ralph Peer, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, establish themselves as some of the first Blues artists.
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The term "Race Recording refered to a 78-rpm phonograph record marketed to African Americans. The majority of this music was the blues.
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Electrical recording technology is introduced and blues music is available for wider audience
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Delta bluesman Charley Patton records his first song.
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The wall street crash of 1929 sets the Great Depression into motion. This caused Record and ad sales to dive.
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Economic growth and military mobilization allowed African Americans to promote and spread their music.
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Muddy Waters creates his first recordings.
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The term "Race" Records is changed to "Rhythm and Blues" by Jerry Wexler, an editor at Billboard magazine.
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The first U.S. tour by the Rolling Stones marks the invasion of British blues rock bands
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Muddy Waters and B.B. King perform in New York City to mostly white audiences.
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Congress declares 2003 the "Year of the Blues". Commemorating the 100th anniversary of W.C. Handy's inspiration from an unknown bluesman at a train station in Mississippi.
