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Columbus began his first voyage on Aug. 3rd 1492, when he set sail from Palos, Spain with three ships: the Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta. he reached an island in the Bahamas on Oct. 12th, 1492, which he named Sn Salvador. He explored Cuba and HIspaniola before returning to Spain in March 1493.
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The first permanent English settlement in North America was Jamestown, Virginia. Established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London. The settlers, abroad the ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, arrived on May 13th and chose a peninsula on James river for it's defensible position. The settlement was named in honor of the King James the 1st. Fun facts: The introduction of West Indian tabacoo by Rofle spurred economic growth for the colony.
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The French and Indian war, which is the phase of the seven years war, began in 1754. the conflict arose from escalating tensions between the British and French over control the Ohio river Valley and other territories. while the formal declaration of war came later armed conflict came in 1754 with skirmishes. Both the French and British sought alliances with with various Native American tribes. Though the French relied more heavily on their Native allies.
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The Boston tea party was a political protest by the sons of Liberty in Boston Massachusetts, on Dec. 16th 1773. Colonists, disguised as Native Americans boarderd three British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act and taxation without representation. The British government responded the intolerable Acts, further tightening control over the colonies and leading to the first Continental Congress.
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The events of that day have been popularized by succeeding generations as the "shot heard round the world". The fighting began on April 19th, 1775 raged over 16 miles along the Bay Road from Boston to Concord and included some 1,700 British regulars and over 4,000 colonial militia. British casualties totaled 273; 73 killed, 174 wounded, 26 missing. Colonial casualties totaled 95; 49 killed, 41 wounded, and 5 missing.
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The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4th, 1776. While the resolution of independence was voted on July 2nd, and and the signing of the engrossed copy happened later the date celebrated as Independence Day is July 4th because that's when the Continental Congress approved the final document and ordered it printed.
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On Sep 28th-Oct 19th, 1781. The Battle of Yorktown proved to be the decisive engagement of the American revolution. The British surrender forecast the end of the British rule in the colonies and birth of a new nation the United States of America. supported by the French army and navy Washington's forces defeated Lord Cornwallis' veteran army dug in at Yorktown Virginia. Victory at Yorktown led directly to the peace negotiations.
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The Constitutional Convention started on May 25th, 1787 and went till Sep. 17th 1787. The primary purpose of of the Constitutional Convention which convened in Philadelphia in 1787, was to revise the articles the first governing document of the newly formed United States had proven ineffective in providing a strong central government capable of addressing nations challenges. Delegates decided to abandon the articles and draft a new constitution establishing a new Gov.
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The Cotton Gin was invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney. He received a patent for the Cotton Gin on March 14th 1794. The invention significantly reduced the time time and labor required to separate Cotton seeds from fiber, revolutionizing Cotton production in the U.S.A
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The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed in 1798, specifically between June 18th and July 14th. These four Acts were enacted during the period of heightened tension with France and concerned immigration and freedom of speech. Passed on June 18th 1798 it increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to fourteen years. Friends act: Enacted on July 6th 1798 it allowed the deportation of aliens from countries at war with the U.S. Sedition act: made a crime false writing.
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The first electric light was demonstrated by Humphry Davy in 1802 using an electric arc lamp. this early form of electric lighting used a high-voltage current to create a bright spark between two carbon rods. While not a practical solution for long-term lighting it paved the way for future inventions.
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The Louisiana purchase April 30th 1803 was a land deal between the U.S and France, in which the U.S acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of Mississippi River for $15 million.
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The war of 1812 began on on June 18th-Feb 17th 1815. The United States declared war on Great Britain. The conflict lasted until Feb 17th, 1815, with the ratification of the treaty Ghent the U.S Senate.
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The Missouri compromise was passed by the 16th United States Congress on March 3rd 1820. And signed into law by President James Monroe on March 6th 1820. it admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and prohibited slavery in the remaining Louisiana Purchase. lands north of the 360 parallel.
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Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the U.S from March 4th 1829 to March 4th 1837. Jackson took office after defeating John Quincy Adams, the incumbent president, in the bitterly contested 1828 presidential election.
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The forced move of the Cherokee people know as the 'Trail of Tears' primarily occurred in 1838 and 1839. While broader Indian Removal Act was passed in 1830, the forced marches and displacement of the Cherokee people took place later. The Cherokee were forced from their ancestral lands in the southern eastern U.S and relocated to Indian territory (present day Oklahoma)
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The Invention of the Telegraph is generally attributed to Samuel Morse, who received a patent for his Telegraph system in 1837. While others had explored the concept earlier, Morse's system, including his code for transmitting messages, gained widespread adoption. The first message sent over a Telegraph line using Mores's system was on My 24th, 1844, between Washington D.C, and Baltimore, Maryland.
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The Panic of 1837 began sometime in Spring of 1837 with it's effects lasting till into the mid 1840's. It was an economic recession in the U.S it was characterized by bank failures, currency devaluation, and widespread financial hardship for individuals and businesses.
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The American Mexican war began on April 25th 1846. On this date, Mexican calvarly attacked a U.S Army unit in the disputed zone between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. This attack, and subsequent skirmishes, led to the U.S Congress officially declaring war on Mexico on May 13th 1864.
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The Compromise of 1850 was a series of laws passed by the U.S Congress in and attempt to resolve the issue of slavery and avert the potential dissolution of the Union. it addressed the status of slavery in the newly acquired territories from the Mexican American war and included provisions like admitting California as a free state, establishing Utah and New Mexico territories where residents could decide on slavery. and enacting a stricter Fugitive Slave Act. while being a success also failed.
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The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1st 1863 declared that all enslaved people in the Confederate states to be free. While not a complete end to slavery, it was a crucial turning point in the civil war, transforming the conflict into a fight for human freedom and impacting the legal status of over 3.5 million enslaved people.
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The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S Constitution were passed during the reconstruction of the Civil war. The 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, was ratified in 1865. the 14th, defining citizenship and guaranteeing equal protection under the law was ratified in 1868, the 15th, protecting voting rights rights regardless of race color, or previous condition of servitude was ratified in 1870.
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The surrender that effectively ended the civil war, known as 'The surrender at Appomattox Court House' took place on April 9th 1865. This event marked the end of the conflicts major fighting phase, and surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to Union Generals Ulysess S. Grant occurred at the home of Wilmer McLean in the the village of Appomattox Courthouse
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Abraham Lincoln was asassinated on April 14th 1865. He was shot at Ford's theater in Washington D.C, by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died early the next morning at 7:22 a.m on April 15th 1865.
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The Impeachment Andrew Johnson for "high crimes and misdemeanors" was initiated by the U.S House of representatives on Feb 24th 1868. The alleged high crimes and misdemeanors were afterwards specified in eleven articles of impeachment adopted by the House on March 2nd and 3rd, 1868.
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The standard Oil Trust was organized on January 2nd, 1882. this trust was created by John D. Rockefeller and his associates to consolidate their various oil companies under one central management. the trust agreement combined 40 companies and 41 investors placing them under the control of nine trustees. this move centralized the control of the oil industry. With the trust eventually controlling a large percentage of the nations refineries and pipelines.
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The Pullman workers who had formed grievance committee to negotiate with company, were getting nowhere, and, though ARU leadership advised against it, a strike broke out at the Pullman factories on May 11th 1894.
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The Spanish American war took place in 1898 specifically from April to August. The war concluded with the signing treaty of Paris on December 10th 1898. The conflict was relatively short, lasting about four months, but it had significant and lasting impacts for both the United States and Spain.
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Theodore Roosevelt became president of the U.S following the assassination of President William McKinley in September 1901. McKinley was shot on September 6th and died on September 14th. Roosevelt who was vice president at the time was sworn into office the same day. He was 42 years old making him the youngest president to assume the U.S presidency.