| 1524 | | 17 Jan:
Giovanni da Verrazanno sets sail from Madeira, Portugal to explore North America - from North Carolina north to Newfoundland.MM&P AJ |
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| 1609 | | 11 Sep:
Henry Hudson enters New York Bay in search of the Northwest Passage.IA NYSA |
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| 1614 | | 11 Oct:
Adriaen Block and 12 Amsterdam merchants petition the States General of the Dutch Republic for exclusive trading rights in the Nieuw-Nederland colony.SCW ND-Coins |
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| 1624 | |
| 1625 | | 22 Apr:
The West India Company decrees the establishment of Fort Amsterdam and the creation of adjoining farms on the island of Manhates (Manhattan).GC HMdb |
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| 1626 | |
| 1627 | | 18 Jul:
A French missionary is the first European to mention the occurrence of petroleum in North America.GoogleBooks PA-Roots |
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| 1635 | | 25 Aug:
The Great Colonial Hurricane plows through New England destroying anything in its path.NEHS HS |
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| 1637 | | 1 May:
General Court is convened in Hartford and war is declared against the Pequots.SCW ICT |
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| | 26 May:
Colonists attack and destroy the Pequot village at Misistuck (Mystic).ZEP ICT |
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| 1638 | |
| 1654 | | 26 Jan:
Portugal decrees that Jewish and Dutch settlers have three months to leave Brazil. Many of the refugees go on to establish the first Jewish community in Nieuw-Amsterdam.LoC JVL |
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| 1664 | | 31 Aug:
Peter Stuyvesant, governor of Nieuw-Nederland, refuses to accept the terms of surrender to the British.SotS |
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| 1665 | |
| 1674 | | 19 Feb:
The signing of the Treaty of Westminster ends the Third Anglo-Dutch War.OUPLaw MW |
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| 1675 | |
| 1676 | |
| 1689 | | 17 May:
King William's War; England declares war on France which lasts until the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick.HoMA MB |
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| 1733 | | 17 May:
Britain passes the Molasses Act putting high tariffs on rum and molasses imported to the Colonies from anyplace other than Britain and its possessions.GoogleBooks JotAR |
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| 1744 | |
| 1752 | | 14 Sep:
The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar.CSL CalWiz |
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| 1758 | | 27 Jul:
British and colonial forces defeat French and Canadian forces at the Battle of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia.BB CTHist |
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| 1765 | | 22 Mar:
The Stamp Act is passed by the British Parliament - a tax imposed on American colonists on any printed paper.GLIoAH Avalon |
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| | 1 Nov:
The Stamp Act goes into effect - a tax on the Colonies to fund the British Military in America.CC SAH |
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| 1774 | |
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| 1775 | | 19 Apr:
The first battles of the American Revolution. British troops fight American Minutemen at Lexington, killing eight. The British then move to Concord where they again engage the colonials. By the end of the battle, 93 colonists are dead. The British, having lost 273, retreat to Boston.LoC NPS |
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| | 10 May:
Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen capture Fort Ticonderoga.NPS VANY |
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| 1776 | | 4 Jul:
The United States is founded when the Second Continental Congress declares its independence from Great Britain.USHistory USNA |
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| | 27 Aug:
The British defeat the Americans in the Battle of Long Island.BB MtVernon |
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| | 7 Sep:
David Bushnell's invention, American Turtle, the first combat submarine, is deployed against the H.M.S. Eagle in New York harbor.USSNautilus Archaeology |
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| | 28 Oct:
British and Hessian troops under Howe meet Americans under Washington in the Battle of White Plains.MtVernon BB |
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| | 16 Nov:
British and Hession forces capture Fort Washington on the northern end of Manhattan.History.com BB |
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| 1777 | | 15 Jan:
New Connecticut declares its independence from Great Britain and the colony of New York. The name is changed to Vermont in June of that year.History.com UND |
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| 1778 | | 11 Nov:
The Cherry Valley Massacre - Tory and Mohawk forces murder 47 townsfolk, mostly by tomahawk.CN SotS |
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| 1782 | | 7 Aug:
The Purple Heart is established by General George Washington at Newburgh, New York.NPHHoH USArmy |
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| 1783 | |
| 1788 | |
New York