united states historic events By alyssa.881 Aug 20, 1497 italian born john cabot claims north Ameriva for england Period: Oct 24, 1497 to Oct 24, 2003 united states Nov 18, 1534 jacques cartier of france explores the great lakes and the st. lawrence river Aug 9, 1607 captain john smith founds the english colony of jamestown Apr 2, 1609 henry hudson explores northeastern north america including the hudson river May 1, 1763 treaty of paris ends french and indian war Jan 31, 1776 colonists declare their independence from england with the declaration of independence Dec 11, 1803 louisiana purchase treaty sighed with france Oct 24, 1812 war of 1812 between united states and great britain Sep 26, 1846 oregon treaty sighed and the boundery between canada and the united states established at the 49th parallel line of latitude Oct 24, 1861 civil war began Sep 24, 1865 civil war ends Oct 24, 1867 alaska is purchased from russia Feb 7, 1896 gold is discovered in the yukon's klondike Apr 13, 1917 united states enters wwi fighting with the british and french Aug 13, 1929 great depression begins in the U.S Jun 13, 1941 japan attacks U.S. at pearl harbor, U.S. enters wwll with the allies. Mar 7, 1945 U.S. drops atomic bonb on hiroshima and nagasaki. Jun 12, 1969 neil armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon Aug 10, 1989 united states sign a free trade agreement with canada Sep 16, 1991 persian gulf war Jun 7, 1994 north american free trade agreement NAFTA is signed between canada the united states and mexico Sep 12, 2003 occupation of iraq by the united states