| 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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| 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 |  | 
| 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 | |  | 27 Aug: 
Four English warships arrive in Nieuw-Amsterdam to claim the colony under the orders of James, Duke of York.13 WDL | 
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| 1665 |  | 
| 1673 |  | 
| 1674 | |  | 19 Feb: 
The signing of the Treaty of Westminster ends the Third Anglo-Dutch War.OUPLaw MW | 
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| 1730 | |  | 8 Apr: 
The first synagogue in North America is the Mill Street Synagogue built by the Shearith Israel congregation in New York City.ShearithIsrael JWA | 
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| 1753 |  | 
| 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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|  | |  | 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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|  | |  | 16 Sep: 
George Washington gets his first victory in the Battle of Harlem Heights.MtVernon RW | 
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|  | |  | 22 Sep: 
Nathan Hale is executed by the British for spying.tAW LoC | 
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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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| 1783 |  | 
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