| 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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| 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 | |
| 1647 | |
| 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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| | 31 Aug:
Peter Stuyvesant, governor of Nieuw-Nederland, refuses to accept the terms of surrender to the British.SotS |
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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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| 1786 | | 8 Jun:
The first advertisement for commercially-made ice cream in the U. S. is published in the New York Post Boy.NYTimes OAA |
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| 1789 | |
| 1790 | |
| 1796 | |
| 1807 | | 17 Aug:
Robert Fulton's steamboat, Clermont, begins its first successful trip up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany.PBS OHC |
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| 1811 | |
| 1817 | |
| 1825 | |
| 1837 | | 25 Feb:
Thomas Davenport receives a patent for the first practical DC electric motor.W I R E D MagLab |
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| 1843 | | 1 Feb:
MONY, the oldest continuous writer of insurance policies in the U. S. begins operation.FU 1Lib |
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| 1844 | | 15 Jun:
Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanized rubber.MassMoments SciAm |
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| 1850 | | 18 Mar:
American Express is founded by Henry Wells, William G. Fargo, and John Butterfield.CPRRPHM SI |
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| 1851 | |
| 1857 | | 23 Mar:
Elisha Otis installs the first modern passenger elevator in a public building, at a department store in New York City.W I R E D TIME |
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| 1863 | |
| 1870 | | 3 Jan:
Ground is broken and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.GG NY |
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| 1871 | | 27 Apr:
The American Museum of Natural History opens to the public.AMNH GoogleBooks |
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| 1872 | |
| 1876 | | 2 Feb:
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which comes to be more commonly known as the National League is formed.Reds SABR |
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| 1882 | | 4 Sep:
The Edison Electric Illuminating Company at 257 Pearl Street in New York City begins providing eletricity to homes and businesses.JAIA ETHW |
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| | 22 Dec:
For the first time, a Christmas tree is decorated using a string of electric lights.W I R E D DLG |
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| 1883 | | 24 May:
The Brooklyn Bridge opens to the public.LoC BWH |
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| 1885 | | 17 Jun:
The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor on board the French Navy ship Isère.NPS IBTimes |
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| 1886 | | 28 Oct:
The Statue of Liberty is dedicated.SoL NPS |
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| 1888 | | 11 Mar:
The Great Blizzard of March 1888 or the Great White Hurricane, hits the northeastern United States.HI LoC |
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| 1892 | | 1 Jan:
Ellis Island Immigration Station opens.EI LoC |
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| 1899 | | 10 Jan:
David Misell receives a patent for his "electric device" - better known as the flashlight, which is still almost unchanged from its original design.FF USPTO |
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| 1904 | |
| 1909 | | 5 Feb:
The first synthetic plastic, Bakelite, is announced to the world by its inventor, Leo Baekeland, during a presentation to the American Chemical Society in New York City.PN NYTimes |
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| 1910 | | 13 Jan:
The first public radio broadcast takes place with a live performance at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. SIMag WQXR |
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| 1911 | |
| 1913 | | 2 Feb:
Grand Central Terminal opens.GCT PBS |
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| | 31 Oct:
The first transcontinental highway, the Lincoln Highway, is dedicated.DOT ILH |
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| 1914 | | 29 Jul:
The first trans-continental telephone line is completed.Coloradoan TDiTH |
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| 1915 | | 27 Mar:
Mary Mallon - Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States, is put in her final quarantine at Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island, where she would remain for the rest of her life.PBS AH |
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| 1916 | | 11 Feb:
Emma Goldman, an American anarchist and feminist, advocate of free speech, the eight-hour work day and birth control, is arrested in New York City before giving a lecture on family planning.LoC PBS |
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| 1920 | | 12 Oct:
Construction begins on the Holland Tunnel.HHM PA |
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| 1927 | | 7 Jan:
The first commercial transoceanic telephone service begins, using radio, between New York and London.EDN USNA |
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| | 23 Aug:
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti die in the electric chair.ZEP MA |
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| | 6 Oct:
"The Jazz Singer", the first talking movie, premieres.AISH MTV |
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| | 13 Nov:
At midnight, the Holland Tunnel opens to automobile traffic.NYCRoads PANYNJ |
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| 1928 | | 18 Nov:
Mickey Mouse makes his silver screen premier in Steamboat Willie.MoMA TIME |
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| 1929 | | 29 Oct:
The Great Depression in the United States begins with the crash of the stock market, Black Tuesday.TIME BT |
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| 1931 | | 1 May:
The Empire State Building opens.LoC HDC |
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| 1932 | |
| 1935 | |
| 1937 | | 22 Dec:
The center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel opens to automobile traffic.PANYNJ AH |
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| 1938 | | 22 Oct:
The first xerographic copy is made in a laboratory in Astoria, Queens, New York, the birth of Xerox. SIMag APS |
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| 1939 | | 28 Jun:
Pan Am's Dixie Clipper makes its inaugural passenger flight from New York to Europe.CFB Airways |
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| 1945 | | 28 Jul:
A B-25 Mitchell bomber, flying from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 people. NYCR&I npr |
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| | 24 Oct:
The United Nations is established.UN USState |
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| 1946 | |
| 1947 | | 16 Apr:
The first television zoom lens, the Zoomar lens, is demonstrated by NBC-TV in New York City, allowing close-up and distant camera shots from the same stationary camera, rather than moving the entire camera as had been done previously.TiS BH |
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| 1949 | | 3 Aug:
The NBA is born.NBA tPG |
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| 1950 | | 24 Sep:
Black Sunday occurs when smoke from forest fires in western Canada makes its way east, darkening the skies in the eastern United States and Canada and as far away as western Europe.BLM WR |
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| 1955 | | 5 Dec:
The labor organizations AFL and CIO merge to form one.AFL-CIO SI |
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| 1958 | | 4 Oct:
BOAC begins the first transatlantic jet aircraft passenger service.UA BA |
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| 1959 | | 9 Mar:
The Barbie doll is introduced at the International Toy Fair in New York.JWA BM |
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| 1962 | |
| 1964 | | 7 Feb:
The Beatles invade America.PHD TIME |
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| | 17 Apr:
The Ford Mustang makes its debut.AH AutoMag |
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| 1965 | | 9 Nov:
The Northeast Blackout of 1965 is caused by human error.SIMag NEHS |
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| 1968 | | 17 Nov:
With just 65 seconds left to play, NBC switches off an NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets in favor of the movie Heidi.History.com |
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| 1970 | | 22 Jan:
Pan Am airlines makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 747.PanAm PM |
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| 1973 | | 3 Apr:
The first cell phone call is made.AARP GWR |
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| 1974 | | 16 Aug:
The Ramones play their first public gig at CBGBs.Rhino VP |
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| 1975 | | 20 Jun:
The Talking Heads play their first gig at CBGBs, opening for the Ramones.PunkDiary CA |
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| 1978 | |
| 1980 | |
| 1981 | | 12 Aug:
The first IBM Personal Computer introduced.IBM ThoughtCo |
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| 1986 | |
| 1993 | | 26 Feb:
A massive truck bomb explodes in the parking garage of the World Trade Center, the first attempt by Islamist extremists to destroy buildings in America.
USState FBI |
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| 2001 | |
| 2003 | |
| | 24 Oct:
Concorde completes its last commercial passenger flight, ending three decades of supersonic travel.B B C GIZMODO |
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| 2012 | | 29 Oct:
Hurricane Sandy becomes Superstorm Sandy after moving up the east coast of the U. S. and takes a left turn towards shore that devastates many of the communities along the mid-Atlantic, especially New York and New Jersey.NASA LiveScience |
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| 2023 | | 30 Mar:
The twice impeached, former squatter of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue adds to his criminal resumé with an indictment - another first, I might add - he received in New York City over hush money payments to a porn star. Happy days are here again!CNN npr |
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| 2024 | |
New York, New York
