| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1399 |
- 1399—1413: Henry IV. Ruler of England 1399-1413. House of Plantagenet, Lancastrian Line: Son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, 4th son of Edward III. Chosen by Parliment as successor to Richard II.HistoricUK
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| 2 | 1413 |
- 1413—1422: Henry V. Ruler of England 1413-1422. House of Plantagenet, Lancastrian Line: Eldest son of Henry IV, victor of Agincourt.HistoricUK
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| 3 | 1422 |
- 1422—1461: Henry VI. Ruler of England 1422-1461. House of Plantagenet, Lancastrian Line: 9-month old only son of Henry V, deposed 1461 by Edward IV (Duke of York) after defeat of Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross on Feb 2, 1461. Died in Tower.HistoricUK
|
| 4 | 1461 |
- 1461—1483: Edward IV. Ruler of England 1461-1483. House of York: Great-great-grandson of Edward III, son of Duke of York.HistoricUK
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| 5 | 1483 |
- 9 Apr 1483—25 Jun 1483: Edward V. Ruler of England 4/9/1483-6/25/1483. House of York: Eldest son of Edward IV, murdered in Tower of London.HistoricUK
- 26 Jun 1483—1485: Richard III, ruler of England 1483-1485, End of the War of Roses.HistoricUK
|
| 6 | 1485 |
- 1485—1508: Henry VII Gaunt. Ruler of England 1485-1508. House of Tudor: Son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, whose father had married the widow of Henry V; descended from Edward III through his mother, Mary Beaufort, via John of Gaunt. By marriage with daughter of Edward IV he united Lancaster and York.HistoricUK
|
| 7 | 1492 |
- 3 Aug 1492: Columbus sets sail to find a western route to Asia.
 GLIAH
- 12 Oct 1492: Christopher Columbus makes landfall in what is now the Bahamas.GLIoAH LoC
|
| 8 | 1493 |
- 15 Mar 1493: Christopher Columbus arrives back in Spain after his first voyage to the New World.GLIAH NYCParks
|
| 9 | 1497 |
- 2 May 1497: John Cabot sets sail from England on his first successful voyage to North America.CBC CMoH
- 24 Jun 1497: John Cabot discovers Newfoundland.NNDB CBC
|
| 10 | 1509 |
- 1509—1547: Henry VIII. Ruler of England 1509-1547. House of Tudor: Only surviving son of Henry VII by Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV.HistoricUK
|
| 11 | 1512 |
- 11 Apr 1512: French forces defeat the largely Spanish papal Holy League in the Battle of Ravenna in Italy.AIC WHN
|
| 12 | 1513 |
- 2 Apr 1513: Ponce de León discovers and names Florida.AJ FHC
- 22 Apr 1513: Ponce de León is credited with discovering the Gulf Stream.KH CR
|
| 13 | 1519 |
- 10 Aug 1519: Magellan sets sail from Seville on a journey around the world.Fordham SIMag
- 8 Nov 1519: New Spain is founded. This includes much of North, South and Central America.GMU npr
|
| 14 | 1521 |
- 13 Aug 1521: Tenochtitlán falls to Cortés' conquistadors.KWWL npr
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| 15 | 1524 |
- 17 Jan 1524—8 Jul 1524: Giovanni da Verrazanno sets sail from Madeira, Portugal to explore North America - from North Carolina north to Newfoundland.MM&P AJ
|
| 16 | 1534 |
- 20 Apr 1534: Jacques Cartier sets sail from France on his first exploration of the New World.PC LoC
- 9 Jun 1534: French navigator Jacques Cartier begins exploring the St. Lawrence River.LoC WHP
|
| 17 | 1535 |
- 19 May 1535: French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail for North America.MM&P CMoH
|
| 18 | 1539 |
- 1 Jun 1539: Hernando de Soto makes landfall in Florida beginning his exploration of North America.PGHMS HMdb
|
| 19 | 1541 |
- 8 May 1541: Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi.AotC tGLIoAH
|
| 20 | 1542 |
- 21 May 1542: Hernando de Soto dies of a fever of the banks of the Mississippi but the expedition goes on.MM&P FE
- 28 Sep 1542: João Rodrigues Cabrilho discovers California.LoC NPS
|
| 21 | 1547 |
- 1547—1553: Edward VI. Ruler of England 1547-1553. House of Tudor: Son of Henry VIII, by Jane Seymour, his 3rd queen. Ruled under regents. Was forced to name Lady Jane Grey his successor. Council of State proclaimed her queen July 10, 1553. Mary Tudor won Council, was proclaimed queen July 19, 1553. Mary had Lady Jane Grey beheaded for treason, Feb 1554.HistoricUK
- 16 Jan 1547: Ivan the Terrible becomes the first Czar of Russia.MU JC
|
| 22 | 1553 |
- 1553—17 Nov 1558: Mary I. Ruler of England 1553-1558 House of Tudor: Daughter of Henry VIII, by Catherine of Aragon.HistoricUK
|
| 23 | 1556 |
|
| 24 | 1558 |
- 17 Nov 1558—24 Mar 1603: Elizabeth I. Ruler of England 1558-1603. House of Tudor: Daughter of Henry VIII, by Anne Boleyn.HistoricUK E1
|
| 25 | 1562 |
- 1 Mar 1562—1598: A massacre of Huguenots at Vassy, France begins the French Wars of Religion which lasts until 1598.GoogleBooks W&W
|
| 26 | 1564 |
- 23 Apr 1564: William Shakespeare's birth is celebrated with this date. He also died this day 52 years later.Shakespeare TIME
|
| 27 | 1565 |
- 8 Sep 1565: The oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States, St. Augustine, Florida, is founded.SA LOC
- 20 Sep 1565: Spanish forces capture the French Huguenot settlement of Fort Caroline in the first European battle on American soil.SIMag PG
|
| 28 | 1568 |
|
| 29 | 1569 |
- 1569: Gerardus Mercator presents his cylindrical map projection.LOC
|
| 30 | 1570 |
- 20 May 1570: Abraham Ortelius publishes the first modern atlas entitled "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum".LoC Bonhams
- 10 Sep 1570: Spanish Jesuits land in present-day Virginia to establish the short-lived Ajacán Mission.EVA GoogleBooks
|
| 31 | 1572 |
- 24 Aug 1572: King Charles IX of France orders the assassination of Huguenot Protestant leaders in Paris that results in the massacre of tens of thousands of Huguenots all across France.MP CT
|
| 32 | 1577 |
- 13 Dec 1577: Francis Drake sets out from Plymouth, England in the Golden Hind on a mission to raid Spanish holdings on the Pacific coast of the New World and explore the Pacific Ocean, returning 3 years later as the first British explorer to circumnavigate the earth.History.com LOC
|
| 33 | 1579 |
|
| 34 | 1580 |
- 26 Sep 1580: Sir Francis Drake returns to England completing his circumnavigation of the World.LoC History.com
|
| 35 | 1582 |
- 4 Oct 1582: The Gregorian calendar is introduced. The next day is October 15th.Britannica UFL
|
| 36 | 1583 |
- 5 Aug 1583: The first English colony in North America is chartered at Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert but no settlement is made there until 1604.Fordham HF.uk
|
| 37 | 1587 |
- 8 Feb 1587: Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded.Scotsman TheMet
- 22 Jul 1587: An English colony is established on Roanoke Island off what is now the North Carolina coast.HM NCHist
- 18 Aug 1587: Virginia Dare is the first English child born in the Americas.OB NCMoH
|
| 38 | 1588 |
- 29 Jul 1588: The Spanish Armada is defeated.CBS-PC tNI
|
| 39 | 1590 |
- 18 Aug 1590: Governor John White returns to Roanoke colony and finds it abandoned.NPS tLC
|
| 40 | 1602 |
|
| 41 | 1603 |
- 1603: Martin Pring surveys the Maine coast and names the Fox Islands.NH
- 15 Mar 1603: Samuel de Champlain sets sail from France aboard the Bonne-Renommée on his first voyage to North America. MM&P OHT
- 24 Mar 1603—27 Mar 1625: James I Ruler of England 1603-1625. House of Stuart: Son of Mary, Queen of Scots, granddaughter of James IV and Margaret. First to call himself King of Great Britain. This became official with the Act of Union, 1707.HistoricUK
|
| 42 | 1604 |
- 26 Jun 1604: The French settle on Saint Croix Island in what is now Maine.tCE NPS
|
| 43 | 1605/6 |
- 31 Jan 1605/6: Guy Fawkes is executed for plotting against Parliament and James I of England.PSU UKNA
|
| 44 | 1605 |
- 5 Nov 1605: The Gunpowder Plot is foiled. Guy Fawkes is captured, tortured and executed.UKParliament
|
| 45 | 1606 |
- 10 Apr 1606: A charter is granted to the Virginia Company for settlement in America.Avalon tGLIoAH
- 19 Dec 1606: Three vessels - Susan Constant, of 100 tons, Capt Christopher Newport; Godspeed, of forty tons, Capt Bartholomew Gosnold; and Discovery, twenty tons, Capt John Ratcliffe - with 105 emigrants sail from the Downs, England destined for Virginia in the New World.LR MM
|
| 46 | 1607 |
- 1607: La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís, Santa Fe, New Mexico, is founded.HL PBS
- 13 May 1607: Three ships arrive with the first settlers of Virginia Colony.NPS LoA
- 14 May 1607: Jamestown is founded.LoC HJ
- 19 Aug 1607: Popham Colony is established in New England. It survives for only a year.CSM MFS
|
| 47 | 1608 |
- 7 Jan 1608: A fire breaks out in Jamestown destroying nearly the entire settlement.Google Books EVa
- 3 Jul 1608: Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.CT OHT
- 2 Oct 1608: Hans Lippershey demonstrates, and applies for a patent for, the first refracting telescope, the forerunner of the modern optical telescope.W I R E D SciHi
|
| 48 | 1609 |
- 25 Aug 1609: Galileo demonstrates the telescope.Astronomy SA
- 11 Sep 1609: Henry Hudson enters New York Bay in search of the Northwest Passage.IA NYSA
|
| 49 | 1613 |
- 21 Feb 1613—15 Mar 1917: The Romanov Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty to rule Russia, begins when 16 year old Mikhail Romanov is elected as Czar.Russiapedia Hillwood
- 27 Mar 1613: The first English child is born in Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.tCE MC
|
| 50 | 1614 |
- 11 Oct 1614: 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
|
| 51 | 1618 |
- 23 May 1618—24 Oct 1648: The Thirty Years War, a series of wars fought by European nations for various reasons, is initiated when the Holy Roman Emperor attempts to force Catholicism on most of Europe, and ends with the Peace of Westphalia.OSU CT
|
| 52 | 1619 |
- 30 Jul 1619: The first elected legislative assembly in the New World convenes in Jamestown.USHistory NPS
|
| 53 | 1620 |
|
| 54 | 1620/1 |
|
| 55 | 1621 |
|
| 56 | 1622 |
- 22 Mar 1622: 347 of Jamestown's settlers are massacred by the Powhatans.BoRI MM
|
| 57 | 1623/4 |
|
| 58 | 1624 |
|
| 59 | 1625 |
- 27 Mar 1625—30 Jan 1649: Charles I. Ruler of England 1625-1649. House of Stuart: Only surviving son of James I; beheaded Jan 30, 1649.HistoricUK
- 22 Apr 1625: The West India Company decrees the establishment of Fort Amsterdam and the creation of adjoining farms on the island of Manhates (Manhattan).GC HMdb
|
| 60 | 1626 |
|
| 61 | 1627 |
- 18 Jul 1627: A French missionary is the first European to mention the occurrence of petroleum in North America.GoogleBooks PA-Roots
|
| 62 | 1628 |
|
| 63 | 1630 |
|
| 64 | 1630/1 |
|
| 65 | 1631 |
|
| 66 | 1632 |
|
| 67 | 1633 |
- 13 Feb 1633: Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome to face an ecclesiastical court on charges of committing heresy.W I R E D DJ
- 22 Jun 1633: Galileo Galilei is forced to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe.UKMC Fordham
|
| 68 | 1634 |
|
| 69 | 1635 |
|
| 70 | 1636 |
|
| 71 | 1637 |
- 1 May 1637: General Court is convened in Hartford and war is declared against the Pequots.SCW ICT
- 26 May 1637: Colonists attack and destroy the Pequot village at Misistuck (Mystic).ZEP ICT
|
| 72 | 1638/39 |
|
| 73 | 1638 |
|
| 74 | 1639 |
- 25 Sep 1639: The first printing press in America is set up.BE AWD
|
| 75 | 1642 |
|
| 76 | 1643 |
|
| 77 | 1647 |
|
| 78 | 1648 |
- 15 Jun 1648: Margaret Jones, a midwife from Charlestown, is the first person to be executed for witchcraft in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.HoMA LoA
- 18 Oct 1648: The "Shoomakers of Boston" along with the coopers, form the first labor organization in America.jstor IA
- 24 Oct 1648: The Thirty Years War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia.LoC Avalon
|
| 79 | 1649 |
- 30 Jan 1649—3 Sep 1658: Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector. Ruler of England 1649-1658. Commonwealth & Protectorate.HistoricUK
- 30 Jan 1649: Charles I is beheaded.HRP RMG
|
| 80 | 1650 |
|
| 81 | 1652 |
|
| 82 | 1654 |
- 26 Jan 1654: 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
- 22 Aug 1654: The first Jews in North America arrive in Nieuw-Amsterdam.AJA Haaretz
|
| 83 | 1656 |
|
| 84 | 1658 |
- 1658: The first Jewish congregation is established in Newport, Rhode Island.Touro NPS
- 3 Sep 1658—25 May 1659: Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector. Ruler of England 1658-1659. Commonwealth & Proctorate: 3rd son of Oliver. Resigned May 25, 1659.HistoricUK
|
| 85 | 1660 |
|
| 86 | 1663 |
|
| 87 | 1664 |
- 27 Aug 1664: Four English warships arrive in Nieuw-Amsterdam to claim the colony under the orders of James, Duke of York.13 WDL
- 31 Aug 1664: Peter Stuyvesant, governor of Nieuw-Nederland, refuses to accept the terms of surrender to the British.SotS
- 8 Sep 1664: The Dutch surrender Nieuw-Amsterdam to the British who change the name to New York.LoC NYC
|
| 88 | 1665 |
|
| 89 | 1666 |
- 2 Sep 1666—5 Sep 1666: The Great Fire of London breaks out in the house of King Charles II's baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge.DD Smith
- 14 Nov 1666: English diarist Samuel Pepys records the first description of a blood transfusion, dog-to-dog.W I R E D
|
| 90 | 1673/4 |
|
| 91 | 1673 |
|
| 92 | 1674 |
- 19 Feb 1674: The signing of the Treaty of Westminster ends the Third Anglo-Dutch War.OUPLaw MW
- 10 Nov 1674: The Dutch cede New York City to the British for the final time with the end of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.GoogleBooks NYCourts
- 4 Dec 1674: Father Jacques Marquette sets up camp on the shores of Lake Michigan at what would later become the city of Chicago, Illinois.EC SNU
|
| 93 | 1675 |
|
| 94 | 1676 |
|
| 95 | 1679 |
- 27 May 1679: The Habeas Corpus Act, which required a court to examine the lawfulness of a prisoner's detention and thus prevent unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment, was passed by Parliament.AS LI
|
| 96 | 1681 |
- 4 Mar 1681: William Penn receives a charter for "New Wales", which became "Sylvania" and finally Pennsylvania.XPH HSP
|
| 97 | 1682 |
|
| 98 | 1683 |
|
| 99 | 1684 |
|
| 100 | 1685 |
- 6 Feb 1685—11 Dec 1689: James II. Ruler of England 1685-1689. House of Stuart (restored): 2nd son of Charles I. Deposed 1688, interregnum Dec 11, 1688, to Feb 13, 1689.HistoricUK
|
| 101 | 1687 |
- 19 Mar 1687: French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle is murdered by mutinous settlers.AJ TXL&L
- 26 Oct 1687: Sir Edmund Andros, governor of New England, attempts to force the Connecticut Colony to surrender its charter, which is then hidden away in an oak tree, the Charter Oak.NEHS JSTOR
|
| 102 | 1688/9 |
- 13 Feb 1688/9: After accepting the English Bill of Rights, William and Mary are proclaimed king and queen of England.UR NCC
|
| 103 | 1689 |
- 18 Apr 1689: Bostonians revolt against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of the Dominion of New England.MAState NEHS
- 17 May 1689—30 Oct 1697: King William's War; England declares war on France which lasts until the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick.HoMA MB
- 4 Nov 1689—8 Mar 1702: William III and Mary II. Rulers of England 1689-1702. House of Stuart (restored): Son of William, Prince of Orange, by Mary, daughter of Charles I. Mary eldest daughter of James II. She died 1694.HistoricUK
|
| 104 | 1690 |
|
| 105 | 1691 |
|
| 106 | 1692 |
- 20 Jan 1692: The Salem Witchcraft Hysteria begins.UMKC SWT
- 29 Feb 1692: The first witchcraft accusations take place and arrest warrants are issued for Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.LoA WSU
- 2 Jun 1692: The Salem Witch Trials begin.UVA FT
- 7 Jun 1692: The pirate haven of Port Royal, Jamaica is destroyed in a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami, portions sinking beneath the sea.UNESCO B B C
- 10 Jun 1692: Bridget Bishop becomes the first of the accused Salem witches to be executed.Salem SWM
- 19 Jul 1692: Salem "witches", Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe and Sarah Wildes are executed.SW PJ
- 22 Sep 1692: The last execution of the accused Salem witches is carried out.BostonMag LoA
|
| 107 | 1693 |
|
| 108 | 1697 |
- 20 Sep 1697: The Treaty of Ryswick settles the Nine Years War and ends hostilities in America, although that wouldn't happen for another two months.Jacobite theMet
|
| 109 | 1698 |
- 2 Jul 1698: Englishman Thomas Savery patents a steam engine.APS MSH
|
| 110 | 1700 |
- 26 Jan 1700: A magnitude 9.0 earthquake strikes off the west coast of North America producing a huge tsunami that sweeps across the Pacific.NRCan USGS
|
| 111 | 1702 |
- 8 Mar 1702—1 Aug 1714: Anne. Ruler of England 1702-1714. House of Stuart (restored): 2nd daughter of James II. Died with no living heirs.HistoricUK
- 17 Apr 1702: The Provinces of West New Jersey and East New Jersey merge to form New Jersey.GoogleBooks THS
- 4 May 1702—11 Apr 1713: Queen Anne's War: English Colonies vs France 1702-1713.CB CWCT
|
| 112 | 1704 |
|
| 113 | 1712 |
- 1712: Thomas Newcomen patents the atmospheric steam engine.JStor
|
| 114 | 1713 |
- 11 Apr 1713: The Treaty of Utrecht is signed ending the War of the Spanish Succession, also known as Queen Anne's War in North America.CHNC CBC
|
| 115 | 1714 |
- 1 Aug 1714—11 Jun 1727: George I. Ruler of England 1714-1727. House of Hanover: Son of Elector of Hanover, by Sophia, grand-daughter of James I. Proclaimed King under Act of Settlement.HistoricUK
|
| 116 | 1715 |
- 23 Jul 1715: The General Court of Massachusetts passes the Boston Light Bill which authorizes the construction of a lighthouse in Boston Harbor.MassMoments MM&P
- 31 Jul 1715: A hurricane sinks a fleet of treasure ships returning to Spain.CW IRMag
|
| 117 | 1716 |
|
| 118 | 1717 |
- 27 Feb 1717—7 Mar 1717: A series of four successive snowstorms create the Great Snow of 1717.NEHS NWS
|
| 119 | 1718 |
|
| 120 | 1719 |
- 11 Dec 1719: The first recorded sighting of the aurora borealis in North America occurs in New England.DE tOFA
|
| 121 | 1721 |
- 26 Jun 1721: During a smallpox outbreak in Boston, Dr. Zabdiel Boylston begins inoculating patients beginning with his own son.MassMoments CW
|
| 122 | 1722 |
|
| 123 | 1727 |
- 11 Jun 1727—25 Oct 1760: George II. Ruler of England 1727-1760. House of Hanover: Only son of George I, married Caroline of Brandenburg.HistoricUK
|
| 124 | 1729 |
|
| 125 | 1730 |
- 8 Apr 1730: The first synagogue in North America is the Mill Street Synagogue built by the Shearith Israel congregation in New York City.ShearithIsrael JWA
|
| 126 | 1733 |
- 12 Feb 1733: James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony, and its first city at Savannah.GHS OU
- 17 May 1733: 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
|
| 127 | 1734 |
- 1 Apr 1734: The first lighthouse in Canada begins operation.LLS CCN
|
| 128 | 1741 |
- 19 Dec 1741: Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer in service of Russia, dies after sighting Alaska.McGill MLP
|
| 129 | 1744 |
|
| 130 | 1752 |
- 10 May 1752: Thomas-François Dalibard validates Benjamin Franklin's conclusion that lightning is electricity.USNA APS
- 15 Jun 1752: Benjamin Franklin performs his kite experiment.PSU HC
- 14 Sep 1752: The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar.CSL CalWiz
|
| 131 | 1753 |
- 11 Feb 1753: The first patients are admitted to the first hospital in America, Pennsylvania Hospital, founded by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin in 1751.PennMed UMW
- 7 Jun 1753: The world's oldest public museum, the British Museum is founded by Act of Parliament.BM tSP
- 9 Sep 1753: The first steam engine in America arrives from London.NEHGS ASME
|
| 132 | 1754 |
|
| 133 | 1755 |
|
| 134 | 1758 |
- 8 Jun 1758: John Dollond reports on his development of the achromatic lens.Astro.it GoogleBooks
- 27 Jul 1758: British and colonial forces defeat French and Canadian forces at the Battle of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia.BB CTHist
- 25 Nov 1758: Fort Duquesne is captured from the French, which will later become Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.F&IWS
|
| 135 | 1759 |
|
| 136 | 1760 |
- 20 Mar 1760: A "Great Fire" begins at a tavern in Boston and destroys about 350 homes, shops and warehouses by the time it is over.MassMoments BFHS
- 25 Oct 1760—29 Jan 1820: George III. Ruler of England 1760-1820. House of Hanover: Grandson of George II, married Charlotte of Mecklenburg.HistoricUK LoC
|
| 137 | 1762 |
|
| 138 | 1763 |
|
| 139 | 1764 |
- 29 Oct 1764: The Connecticut Courant, today's Hartford Courant and the nation's oldest newspaper in continuous publication, prints its first issue.LoC Courant
|
| 140 | 1765 |
- 22 Mar 1765: The Stamp Act is passed by the British Parliament - a tax imposed on American colonists on any printed paper.GLIoAH Avalon
- 18 May 1765: A fire destroys much of Montreal, Canada.MG GoogleBooks
- 1 Nov 1765: The Stamp Act goes into effect - a tax on the Colonies to fund the British Military in America.CC SAH
|
| 141 | 1769 |
- 5 Jan 1769: James Watt patents his much improved steam engine.ACS WoWE
|
| 142 | 1770 |
- 5 Mar 1770: The Boston Massacre. British troops kill five colonists.LoC NPS
|
| 143 | 1772 |
- 9 Jun 1772: The British customs schooner Gaspée runs aground in Narragansett Bay and is burned by the Rhode Island colonists.Gaspee.org WH
|
| 144 | 1773 |
|
| 145 | 1774 |
|
| 146 | 1775 |
- 9 Feb 1775: British Parliament declares that Massachusetts is in a state of rebellion.LoA OAR
- 23 Mar 1775: Patrick Henry utters his most memorable words: "Give me liberty, or give me death" at the Second Virginia Convention.CW Avalon
- 14 Apr 1775: The first American abolition society is founded in Philadelphia.USNA LCP
- 18 Apr 1775: Paul Revere rides out to warn the colonists that the British troops were on the march.PRH LoC
- 19 Apr 1775: 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
- 10 May 1775: Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen capture Fort Ticonderoga.NPS VANY
- 7 Jun 1775: The proposal is put forth that the United Colonies become the United States of America.USNA LoC
- 14 Jun 1775: The Continental Army is established by the Second Continental Congress.USArmy USO
- 17 Jun 1775: The Battle of Bunker Hill takes place.LoC Yale
- 22 Jun 1775: The Continental Congress resolves to issue a paper currency backed by 2 million Spanish milled dollars in order to fund the fight with Britain.POLITICO LoC
- 30 Jun 1775: The Continental Congress attempts to notify the king of England that American colonists are unhappy with parliamentary policy by drafting the Articles of War.Avalon LoC
- 26 Jul 1775: The United States Post Service is established by the Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin is named Postmaster General.USPSOIG USNA
- 13 Oct 1775: Congress orders the formation of the Continental Navy, later to become the United States Navy.USNavy NPS
- 18 Oct 1775: Falmouth is burned by the British.MM UMaine
- 10 Nov 1775: A resolution is approved calling for two battalions of Marines able to fight for independence at sea and on shore.WHS USNI
- 13 Nov 1775: The American Continental Army takes Montreal, Canada, without opposition.History.com
- 3 Dec 1775: The first flag of the United States is flown by John Paul Jones on the ship Alfred.SIMag Navy
- 8 Dec 1775—31 Dec 1775: American forces begin the Seige of Québec.LoC History.com
- 31 Dec 1775: After nearly a month, Continental forces, under command of Montgomery and Arnold, are soundly defeated after attacking Québec.CMoH SIMag
|
| 147 | 1776 |
- 2 Jan 1776: The U. S. Congress publishes the Tory Act.LoC NYHS
- 9 Jan 1776: Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense.CC BookRags
- 24 Jan 1776: After several months, the cannons captured at Fort Ticonderoga make it to Boston.APC AHC
- 17 Mar 1776: The British evacuate Boston after learning that the Continental Army has cannon trained on them from Dorchester Heights.MassMoments MassHist
- 3 Apr 1776: Congress gives to commanders of private ships the authority to capture British ships and cargo.LoC CTDA
- 7 Apr 1776: The American warship Lexington captures the first British warship of the American Revolution, the HMS Edward.RW DoD
- 4 Jul 1776—1783: The United States is founded when the Second Continental Congress declares its independence from Great Britain.USHistory USNA
- 10 Aug 1776: Word of America's Declaration of Independence finally reaches London.TXSAR OSA
- 27 Aug 1776: The British defeat the Americans in the Battle of Long Island.BB MtVernon
- 7 Sep 1776: David Bushnell's invention, American Turtle, the first combat submarine, is deployed against the H.M.S. Eagle in New York harbor.USSNautilus Archaeology
- 9 Sep 1776: Congress gives the United Colonies a name change - the United States of America.ANSI USNA
- 16 Sep 1776: George Washington gets his first victory in the Battle of Harlem Heights.MtVernon RW
- 22 Sep 1776: Nathan Hale is executed by the British for spying.tAW LoC
- 28 Oct 1776: British and Hessian troops under Howe meet Americans under Washington in the Battle of White Plains.MtVernon BB
- 16 Nov 1776: British and Hession forces capture Fort Washington on the northern end of Manhattan.History.com BB
- 25 Dec 1776: Washington crosses the Delaware.History.com MtVernon
- 26 Dec 1776: Washington gets his first major victory at Trenton.MtVernon BB
|
| 148 | 1777 |
- 3 Jan 1777: Washington defeats the British in the Battle of Princeton.MtVernon BB
- 15 Jan 1777: 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
- 28 Jan 1777: British General Burgoyne submits a plan to cut off and isolate New England from the rest of the Colonies.History.com TXSAR
- 26 Apr 1777: Major General William Tryon, royal governor of New York, and 2000 British troops attack and destroy Danbury, Connecticut.DM ABT
- 14 Jun 1777: The Continental Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States of America.LoC SI
- 8 Jul 1777: Vermont abolishes slavery in its constitution.Avalon VT
- 9 Jul 1777: New York State elects its first, and longest serving, governor, George Clinton.POLITICO USNA
- 17 Oct 1777: British troops surrender at Saratoga.Saratoga AoC
- 15 Nov 1777: The Articles of Confederation are adopted by the Continental Congress.OurDocs LoC
- 29 Nov 1777: The first pueblo in California is established as San Jose, or El Pueblo de San Jose de Guadelupe.SJPL SJ.gov
|
| 149 | 1778 |
- 18 Jan 1778: The first Europeans make landfall in Hawaii.W I R E D NPS
- 22 Apr 1778: John Paul Jones raids Whitehaven, England.JotAR JPJCM
- 11 Nov 1778: The Cherry Valley Massacre - Tory and Mohawk forces murder 47 townsfolk, mostly by tomahawk.CN SotS
- 10 Dec 1778: John Jay is elected president of the Continental Congress.USHouse History.com
|
| 150 | 1779 |
|
| 151 | 1780 |
- 3 Feb 1780: The first mass murder in America changes the way criminals are perceived.Courant CTMag
- 4 May 1780: The American Academy of Arts & Sciences is founded.TiS AAoA&S
- 19 May 1780: Smoke from forest fires cause The Dark Day of 1780.NEHS HI
- 21 Sep 1780: Treasonous American General Benedict Arnold, believing that he was unrewarded for his military successes, meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British.NCC LoC
- 9 Oct 1780: An expedition sets off from Harvard College to observe a solar eclipse from Penobscot Bay in Maine which is still controlled by Britain.USNA JSTOR
|
| 152 | 1781 |
- 5 Jan 1781: Richmond, Virginia is captured and burned by American traitor and British general Benedict Arnold.AMN VAMoH&C
- 17 Jan 1781: the American militia, led by Colonel Daniel Morgan, defeat the British under Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton in the Battle of Cowpens.BB fold3
- 13 Mar 1781: British astronomer William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus while surveying the sky with his telescope.
UT EarthSky
- 15 Mar 1781: British troops under Cornwallis defeat a larger American force at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina.NPS BB
- 22 Aug 1781: The first slaves win their freedom in Massachusetts.MHS MassMoments
- 4 Sep 1781: The city of Los Angeles is founded.LACity LoC
- 6 Sep 1781: Benedict Arnold attacks and burns New London, Connecticut.CTHist FtGriswold
- 28 Sep 1781: The Siege of Yorktown begins. American and French forces surround British forces.BB MtVernon
- 19 Oct 1781: Cornwallis surrenders to Washington at Yorktown.AoC LoC
|
| 153 | 1782 |
- 7 Aug 1782: The Purple Heart is established by General George Washington at Newburgh, New York.NPHHoH USArmy
|
| 154 | 1783 |
|
| 155 | 1784 |
- 28 Feb 1784: John Wesley, an Anglican (Church of England) minister, charters the first Methodist Church in the United States.History.com IC
- 3 Jun 1784: The United States Army is established when Congress votes to form the 1st American Regiment for national service.USArmy HFS
- 21 Aug 1784: Benjamin Franklin makes mention of, in letters, bi-focal eyeglasses he had invented earlier about 1780.eNotes AS
- 23 Aug 1784—1788: The state of Franklin is created from parts of North Carolina and Tennessee.NCDNCR ETNHS
|
| 156 | 1785 |
- 7 Jan 1785: The first international flight occurs when Blanchard and Jeffries fly a balloon across the English Channel.StratoCat SI
- 6 Jul 1785: Congress adopts "dollar" as the U. S. currency name.LoC LCC
|
| 157 | 1786 |
- 8 Jun 1786: The first advertisement for commercially-made ice cream in the U. S. is published in the New York Post Boy.NYTimes OAA
- 8 Aug 1786: The value of a dollar is established by the U. S. Congress.LoC USHouse
- 29 Aug 1786: An armed uprising, Shays' Rebellion, begins in western Massachusetts when foreclosure processes are allowed to move forward against farmers who had previously served their country.STCC LH
|
| 158 | 1787 |
|
| 159 | 1788 |
|
| 160 | 1789 |
|
| 161 | 1790 |
|
| 162 | 1791 |
|
| 163 | 1792 |
|
| 164 | 1793 |
- 21 Jan 1793: Louis XVI, the last King of France, is executed by guillotine.LEF LoC
- 12 Sep 1793: Due to an outbreak of yellow fever, Philadelphia is quarantined.PBS IA
- 18 Sep 1793: The cornerstone to the U. S. Capitol building is laid by George Washington.USSenate AoC
- 16 Oct 1793: Marie-Antoinette is beheaded.CdV SIMag
|
| 165 | 1794 |
- 4 Feb 1794: France abolishes slavery in all of its colonies.GMU LoC
- 14 Mar 1794: Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin.OurDocs MassMoments
- 23 Jun 1794: Jews are once again allowed to settle in Kiev, by order of Catherine the Great, expanding the Pale of Settlement.NJOP SL
- 1 Aug 1794—25 Sep 1794: The Whiskey Rebellion occurs after Congress attempts to levy an excise tax on distilled goods.ABT PSU
- 26 Aug 1794: U. S. President Washington decides it's time to put down the Whiskey Rebellion.ORO LoC
|
| 166 | 1795 |
|
| 167 | 1796 |
|
| 168 | 1797 |
- 10 Mar 1797: Thomas Jefferson presents a scientific paper on a Megalonyx fossil to the American Philosophical Society that is considered the first American contribution to vertebrate paleontology.USNA SA
- 2 May 1797: Lorenzo Carter becomes the first permanent settler of Cleveland.CH TCD
- 21 Oct 1797: USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides", is launched.MassMoments UCM
- 22 Oct 1797: Frenchman André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first recorded parachute jump.TiS LoC
|
| 169 | 1798 |
- 14 Jul 1798: The Sedition Act becomes federal law, endangering liberty in the fragile new nation.OurDocs BoRI
|
| 170 | 1799 |
- 19 Jul 1799: The Rosetta Stone is found.tST ET
|
| 171 | 1800 |
- 24 Apr 1800: President John Adams approves $5,000 for the purchase of "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress" - the Library of Congress.LoC FedReg
- 1 Nov 1800: John Adams moves into the White House, the first President to do so.Whitehouse WHHA
- 17 Nov 1800: The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D. C.USSenate
|
| 172 | 1801 |
|
| 173 | 1802 |
|
| 174 | 1803 |
|
| 175 | 1804 |
- 26 Mar 1804: U. S. Congress allows for the "voluntary" removal of Indians east of the Mississippi River to Louisiana Territory in exchange for land, setting the stage for the Trail of Tears.Avalon USNA
- 14 May 1804: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and the Corps of Discovery begin their westward expedition.USArmy USBoR
- 11 Jul 1804: Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton have a pistol duel. Burr is unscathed, Hamilton dies the next day from his injuries.PBS LoC
- 10 Oct 1804: A "snow hurricane" strikes Massachusetts.MassMoments NEHS
|
| 176 | 1805 |
- 18 Nov 1805: Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific.L&C
|
| 177 | 1806 |
- 23 Sep 1806: Lewis and Clark complete their expedition.NPS SIMag
- 7 Oct 1806: Ralph Wedgwood receives the first patent for carbon paper.W I R E D
|
| 178 | 1807 |
- 2 Mar 1807: Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves is passed through the U. S. Congress in order to stop any new slaves being brought into the country.Avalon USState
- 25 Mar 1807: The slave trade is abolished in Great BritainGovTrack Canada
- 17 Aug 1807: Robert Fulton's steamboat, Clermont, begins its first successful trip up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany.PBS OHC
|
| 179 | 1808 |
|
| 180 | 1810 |
|
| 181 | 1811 |
|
| 182 | 1812 |
|
| 183 | 1813 |
- 16 Apr 1813: The first order for a product made with interchangeable parts in the U. S. goes to Simeon North, a pistol manufacturer in Berlin, Connecticut.W I R E D ASoAC
- 10 Sep 1813: The U. S. Fleet defeats the British Royal Navy in the Battle of Lake Erie.OHC NPS
- 26 Oct 1813: Canadian troops and their Mohawk allies win an important victory over invading American forces in the Battle of the Châteauguay.NPS MC
|
| 184 | 1814 |
|
| 185 | 1815 |
- 8 Jan 1815: An American force of 3000 men defeats a British force of around 8000 men in the Battle of New Orleans - even though the War of 1812 was already over with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.HBoNO LoC
- 10 Apr 1815: Mount Tambora begins the largest eruption in recorded history which causes the following year to be known as the "year without a summer".NASA SIMag
|
| 186 | 1816 |
|
| 187 | 1817 |
|
| 188 | 1818 |
|
| 189 | 1819 |
- 22 May 1819: The first steam powered vessel to cross the Atlantic, the S.S. Savannah, "put to sea with steam and sails" on a historic trip that would take her to England, Sweden and Russia with stops in Norway and Denmark before returning home.AAQ NSSavannah
- 23 Oct 1819: The first Protestant missionaries for Hawaii sail out of Boston. MassMoments TiCH
- 14 Dec 1819: Alabama becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
|
| 190 | 1820 |
- 29 Jan 1820—26 Jun 1830: George IV. Ruler of England 1820-1830. House of Hanover: Eldest son of George III, Prince Regent, from Feb 1811.HistoricUK
- 15 Mar 1820: Maine becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com MassMoments
- 28 Jun 1820: The tomato is demonstrated to be non-poisonous.GN B-F
- 20 Nov 1820: The whaling ship Essex is rammed and sunk by a sperm whale 2,000 miles off the west coast of South America, inspiring the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville.W I R E D
|
| 191 | 1821 |
- 7 Feb 1821: Captain John Davis, a seal hunter, is the first person to step foot in Antarctica.AC BHL
- 10 Aug 1821: Missouri becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 16 Nov 1821: The Santa Fe Trail opens for business.NPS SFT
|
| 192 | 1822 |
- 30 Mar 1822: Florida becomes an official U. S. territory.USF SSHB
- 11 Sep 1822: The Catholic Church finally agrees with science and allows that the Earth revolves around the Sun.W I R E D FT
- 30 Sep 1822: Joseph Marion Hernández, born José Mariano Hernández, becomes the first Hispanic elected to Congress.USHouse USCongress
|
| 193 | 1823 |
|
| 194 | 1824 |
- 11 Mar 1824: The Bureau of Indian Affairs is established.BIA USNA
- 21 Oct 1824: Joseph Aspdin, a stone mason from Yorkshire, England, receives a patent for Portland cement.CK Nature
|
| 195 | 1825 |
- 9 Feb 1825: John Quincy Adams is elected by Congress as the 6th president of the United States of America, 1825 - 1829.UVA LoC
- 11 May 1825: Gas lighting is installed along Broadway in New York City.TiS GoogleBooks
- 4 Jul 1825—1835: Ground is broken on the Farmington Canal and completed ten years later.CTHist FVTC
- 26 Oct 1825: The Erie Canal is completed.EC LoC
|
| 196 | 1826 |
- 27 Nov 1826: John Walker invents the modern friction match.TiS BH
|
| 197 | 1827 |
- 27 Feb 1827: A parade takes place during Mardi Gras in New Orleans beginning the tradition that continues today.History.com
- 7 Apr 1827: The first friction matches are sold by its inventor.MITTR S-o-T
|
| 198 | 1828 |
|
| 199 | 1829 |
- 2 Mar 1829: The Perkins School for the Blind is incorporated in Boston originally as New England Asylum for the Blind.MassMoments Perkins
- 17 Mar 1829: The Massachusetts Horticultural Society is organized with General Henry Dearborn elected its first president..GoogleBooks CA
- 16 Aug 1829: The original "Siamese Twins", Chang and Eng Bunker, arrive in Boston.CC Muse
- 29 Sep 1829: Scotland Yard begins operation.GAF AP
|
| 200 | 1830 |
- 26 Mar 1830: The first printed copies of the Book of Mormon are available for sale in Palmyra, New York.DN PBS
- 6 Apr 1830: Joseph Smith and his followers organize the Church of Christ, the Mormon Church.LDS PBS
- 28 May 1830: The Indian Removal Act is signed into law.LoC SI
- 26 Jun 1830—20 Jun 1837: William IV. Ruler of England 1830-1837. House of Hanover: 3rd son of George III, married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.HistoricUK
- 28 Aug 1830: The superiority of steam-power is demonstrated when the first American built locomotive, Tom Thumb, races a horse-drawn B&O rail car.FHWA B&ORRM
- 15 Sep 1830: The first railroad fatality occurs when a member of Parliament, William Huskisson, steps in front of George Stephenson's Rocket at the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway.AO tNM
- 29 Nov 1830—5 Oct 1831: The November Uprising begins when Poles rebel against Russian occupation.W&W GS
- 6 Dec 1830: The United States Naval Observatory is established, first as the Depot of Charts and Instruments.USNA NASA
- 25 Dec 1830: The Best Friend of Charleston begins the first regular passenger service in America.A-R SCM
|
| 201 | 1831 |
- 10 Mar 1831: The French Foreign Legion is created.FFL FFL2
- 31 Mar 1831: Both Montréal and Québec City are incorporated.BiogCA Montreal
- 21 Aug 1831: Nat Turner begins a bloody slave revolt in Virginia.ZEP
- 29 Aug 1831: Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetism.APS EDN
- 27 Dec 1831: The H.M.S. Beagle, with a crew of seventy-three men, sets sail out of Plymouth, England. On board is a young naturalist named Charles Darwin. SA
|
| 202 | 1833 |
- 27 Jun 1833: Prudence Crandall is arrested.NPS CTLib
|
| 203 | 1835 |
|
| 204 | 1836 |
|
| 205 | 1837 |
- 26 Jan 1837: Michigan becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 25 Feb 1837: Thomas Davenport receives a patent for the first practical DC electric motor.W I R E D MagLab
- 24 Mar 1837: Black men are granted the right to vote in Canada.BF
- 5 Jun 1837: Houston, Texas is incorporated as a city.TSHA HPOU
- 20 Jun 1837—22 Jan 1901: Victoria. Ruler of England 1837-1901. House of Hanover: Daughter of Edward, 4th son of George III; married (1840) her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who became Prince Consort.HistoricUK
|
| 206 | 1838 |
|
| 207 | 1839 |
- 24 Feb 1839: William Otis receives a patent for his steam shovel, a device that will shape the world.Google Books MFSW
|
| 208 | 1840 |
- 20 Jun 1840: Samuel Morse patents a system of dots and dashes used for telegraph communication - Morse Code.W I R E D SIMag
- 2 Dec 1840: William Henry Harrison is elected the 9th president of the United States of America. He dies of pneumonia on 4 Apr 1841 - the first President to die in office.PG USEA
|
| 209 | 1841 |
- 20 Jan 1841: China cedes Hong Kong to Britain which remains in British hands until 1997.History.com HK
- 4 Apr 1841: John Tyler becomes the 10th president of the United States of America upon the death of President William Henry Harrison. He serves from 1841 - 1845.WH LSU
|
| 210 | 1842 |
|
| 211 | 1843 |
- 1 Feb 1843: MONY, the oldest continuous writer of insurance policies in the U. S. begins operation.FU 1Lib
- 19 Jul 1843: The SS Great Britain, the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic, is launched in Bristol, England.Nature ASME
- 13 Oct 1843: The B'nai B'rith is founded in New York City.PM B'nai B'rith
|
| 212 | 1844 |
|
| 213 | 1845 |
|
| 214 | 1846 |
- 4 Feb 1846—13 Jun 1846: Brigham Young and 3000 Mormons leave Nauvoo, Illinois on the first leg of their journey, heading for Utah.PBS NPS
- 25 Apr 1846—2 Feb 1848: Mexican-American War 1846-1848.AHC PBS
- 13 May 1846: President James K. Polk signs a declaration of war against Mexico.UVA USState
- 14 Jun 1846: Anglo-Californians rebel against Mexican rule in the Bear Flag Revolt.BFM NPS
- 10 Aug 1846: The Smithsonian Institute is founded.SI USNA
- 10 Sep 1846: Elias Howe Jr. patents his sewing machine.ASME SI
- 23 Sep 1846: The planet Neptune is discovered.EarthSky" Astronomy
- 30 Sep 1846: Dentist William Morton uses ether to anesthetize a patient in Boston which begins its use for general anesthesia.W I R E D ASA
- 28 Dec 1846: Iowa becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
|
| 215 | 1847 |
- 4 Jan 1847: Samuel Colt makes the first sale of his revolver to the U. S. government.History.com UTX
- 13 Jan 1847: The signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga puts an end to the fighting in the Mexican-American War in California.KCET NXTGOV
- 9 Mar 1847—29 Mar 1847: The American military attack the Mexican city of Veracruz.SotS UTA
- 5 Apr 1847—24 Jul 1847: Brigham Young leads the first Mormon wagon train bound for Utah on the final leg of their journey.Utah NPS
- 5 May 1847: The American Medical Association is founded.NEJM AMJMS
- 1 Oct 1847: Maria Mitchell is the first American to record a comet sighting.NEHS Nature
|
| 216 | 1848 |
|
| 217 | 1849 |
- 23 Jan 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman in the U. S. to receive a medical doctorate.NIH LoC
|
| 218 | 1850 |
|
| 219 | 1851 |
- 12 Aug 1851: Isaac Merritt Singer is granted a patent for a sewing machine.SI PG
- 22 Aug 1851: The yacht America wins the first America's Cup.LoC NYYC
- 14 Nov 1851: Moby Dick is first published in the U. S..Melville NBWM
- 24 Dec 1851: A fire at the Library of Congress destroys nearly two thirds of the books purchased from Thomas Jefferson.LoC AoC
- 29 Dec 1851: The first American YMCA is founded in the Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts.YMCA UMN
|
| 220 | 1852 |
- 16 Feb 1852: Henry and Clement Studebaker found a blacksmith and wagon building business, the company that will eventually produce that famous car.MotorTrend SILib
- 20 Mar 1852: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.NCC SIMag
- 28 Apr 1852: The first municipal electric fire alarm system using call boxes with automatic signaling to indicate the location of a fire was placed into operation in Boston, Massachusetts.ETHW CI
- 2 Nov 1852: Franklin Pierce is elected the 14th president of the United States of America, 1853 - 1857.NEHS KCET
|
| 221 | 1853 |
|
| 222 | 1854 |
- 28 Mar 1854—1 Apr 1856: Britain and France declare war on Russia beginning their involvement in the Crimean War.SLSA HK
- 29 Apr 1854: The Ashmun Institute, the first black college, is chartered in Pennsylvania.Lincoln Columbia
|
| 223 | 1855 |
- 28 Jan 1855: A train runs from the Atlantic Ocean across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.PCM SBH&RM
- 8 Mar 1855: The first train crosses the Niagara Railway Suspension Bridge, the first such bridge in the U. S..NFT NG
- 2 Jun 1855: The Portland Rum Riot begins.MHS NEHS
|
| 224 | 1856 |
|
| 225 | 1857 |
- 23 Mar 1857: 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
- 19 May 1857: An electromagnetic fire alarm telegraph system is patented by William Channing of Boston and Moses Farmer of Salem, Massachusetts.SI GP
|
| 226 | 1858 |
|
| 227 | 1859 |
|
| 228 | 1860 |
- 22 Feb 1860: More than 20,000 shoemakers go on strike in Lynn, Massachusetts.MassMoments PEM
- 3 Apr 1860—26 Oct 1861: The Pony Express mail delivery service is established.PX NPX
- 29 Jun 1860: The final stone is laid completing the Minot's Ledge Lighthouse, still in use today.US-L H2G2
- 18 Jul 1860: The first photographs of a solar eclipse are taken.HA EclipseMaps
- 6 Nov 1860: Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States of America, 1861 - 1865.SIMag LoC
- 20 Dec 1860: Confederate States begin to secede from the Union.Tulane SI
|
| 229 | 1861 |
- 29 Jan 1861: Kansas becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 4 Feb 1861: The Confederate States of America is formed.CWH LoVA
- 18 Feb 1861: Jefferson Davis becomes the President of the Confederate States of America.ACW LoC
- 19 Feb 1861: Serfdom is abolished in Russia by Alexander II.SHU LoC
- 28 Feb 1861—1 Aug 1876: Colorado Territory is organized.COEnc Politico
- 12 Apr 1861—14 Apr 1861: Fort Sumter is attacked.
NPS
LoC
- 21 Jul 1861: The first major land battle of the Civil War occurs, the first Battle of Bull Run.USSenate ABT
- 5 Aug 1861: President Abraham Lincoln imposes the first income tax in order to afford the Civil War.NCC NPS
- 19 Nov 1861: The U. S. exports its first oil shipments to London.AOGHS
|
| 230 | 1862 |
- 9 Mar 1862: The first naval engagement between ironclad ships, the USS Monitor fights the CSS Virginia to a draw.ACW NPS
- 8 Apr 1862: John D. Lynde receives the first patent for an aerosol dispenser.DC GooglePatents
- 20 Apr 1862: The first pasteurization test, aimed at disproving the theory of spontaneous generation and proving food could be preserved by applied heat, is completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard.HP AZDHS
- 29 Apr 1862: Union Admiral David Farragut forces the surrender of New Orleans, Louisiana.History.com HoW
- 15 May 1862: The United States Department of Agriculture is established.USDA USNA
- 1 Jul 1862: The Revenue Act of 1862 establishes the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, what will become the IRS in 1918.USNA Treasury
- 4 Nov 1862: Dr. Richard Gatling patents the machine gun ushering in the age of high powered weaponry.IN GooglePatents
- 5 Nov 1862: More than 300 Santee Sioux are sentenced to hang in Minnesota.History.com NDStudies
- 13 Dec 1862: Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee defeat the Union forces under Ambrose Burnside, who abandoned his campaign 2 days later.LoC ABT
- 26 Dec 1862: 38 members of the Sioux nation are executed in Mankato, Minnesota in the largest mass hanging in U. S. history.UNA UDM
|
| 231 | 1863 |
- 1 Jan 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation is issued.USNA OurDocs
- 10 Jan 1863: The first stretch of the London Underground opens.Telegraph DM
- 3 Mar 1863: The National Academy of Sciences is established.NAS Harvard
- 20 Jun 1863: West Virginia becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 1 Jul 1863—3 Jul 1863: Confederate forces meet Union forces at the Battle of Gettysburg.NPS ABT
- 13 Jul 1863: The New York City Draft Riots begin.UChicago CUNY
- 17 Sep 1863—18 Sep 1863: The Battle of Antietam gives the Union a "victory", even though it is militarily a draw.ABT NPS
- 3 Oct 1863: Lincoln issues his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation establishing Thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November.NPS WAPO
- 19 Nov 1863: President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.LoC
|
| 232 | 1864 |
|
| 233 | 1865 |
- 1 Feb 1865: President Abraham Lincoln signs the 13th Amendment which abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude.LoC OurDocs
- 8 Feb 1865: Gregor Mendel first presents his works on plant hybridization.Nature NIH
- 9 Apr 1865: Lee surrenders to Grant at the Appomattox Court House ending the Civil War.LoC USNA
- 14 Apr 1865: President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre.LoC Ford's
- 15 Apr 1865: President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot by John Wilkes Booth the previous day.PBS LoC
- 15 Apr 1865: Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th president of the United States of America upon President Lincoln's death. He serves from 1865 - 1869.NPS LoC
- 9 May 1865: Dr. Richard Gatling receives a patent for his machine gun.USNA SAWar
- 2 Jun 1865: Confederate forces west of the Mississippi sign the terms of surrender, officially ending the Civil War.NPS DC
- 19 Jun 1865: Union soldiers land at Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War was over and that the enslaved were now free.SI PBS
|
| 234 | 1866 |
- 27 Jul 1866: Cyrus W. Field finally succeeds in laying the first working trans-Atlantic Telegraph cable from Ireland to Newfoundland.N&LH PBS
- 6 Oct 1866: The Reno brothers pull off the first train robbery in the United States.History.com
|
| 235 | 1867 |
|
| 236 | 1868 |
|
| 237 | 1869 |
- 11 Jan 1869: The synthesis of alizarin, the standard for red dyes and pigments, is announced as it is also being prepared in front of the audience.GoogleBooks
- 26 Feb 1869: Physician Friedrich Miescher reports that he isolated DNA from white blood cells, naming it nuclein.SciDir RalfDahm
- 6 Mar 1869: Dmitri Mendeleev presents his Periodic Table of Elements to the Russian Chemical Society.PopSci BYLib
- 10 May 1869: The first transcontinental railroad is complete when the Union and Central Pacific Railroads join rails in Promontory Summit, Utah.W-F CA
- 23 Jul 1869: The French-Atlantic cable is landed at Duxbury, Massachusetts.DRHS DH
- 16 Oct 1869: The Cardiff Giant, a 10 foot petrified body of a man, is "discovered" in Cardiff, New York.WRVO Hoaxes
- 3 Nov 1869: Ulysses S. Grant is elected the 18th president of the United States of America, 1869 - 1877.USEA
- 28 Dec 1869: William Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio receives a patent for chewing gum.OHC OTC
|
| 238 | 1870 |
- 3 Jan 1870: Ground is broken and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.GG NY
- 9 Feb 1870: President Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress authorizing the Secretary of War to establish a national weather service.NOAA NWS
- 13 Apr 1870: The Metropolitan Museum of Art is incorporated in New York City.MetMuseum ArtNet
- 31 May 1870: The modern asphalt paving process is issued a patent.GoogleBooks McVey
- 22 Jun 1870: The U. S. Department of Justice is established.USNA DOJ
- 1 Nov 1870: The National Weather Service makes its first forecast.NWS PBS
|
| 239 | 1871 |
- 27 Apr 1871: The American Museum of Natural History opens to the public.AMNH GoogleBooks
- 8 Oct 1871—10 Oct 1871: A fire starts in a barn that spreads into the Great Chicago Fire. Architecture
|
| 240 | 1872 |
- 20 Feb 1872: New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art opens its doors to the public for the first time.TheMet ArtStor
- 10 Apr 1872: Nebraskans plant more than a million trees on the first Arbor Day.LoC ArborDay
- 9 Jul 1872: Sea captain, John F. Blondel of Thomaston, Maine, patents the doughnut cutter.tFT CBSNews
- 9 Nov 1872—10 Nov 1872: A great fire destroys structures across 65 acres in the city of Boston.BFHS LoC
- Dec 1872: The first Rand McNally map is published.NA.gov
|
| 241 | 1873 |
- 20 May 1873: Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.W I R E D LS&Co
|
| 242 | 1874 |
- 10 Feb 1874: Lewis Latimer, the son of slaves and an inventor who worked closely with Edison on the incandescent light bulb, receives his first patent - a railroad car water closet.MassMoments RtG
- 16 May 1874: A dam bursts on the Mill River in western Massachusetts killing 139 people.MassMoments NEHS
- 7 Nov 1874: The first depiction of the Republican party as an elephant appears in Harper's Weekly in a Thomas Nast cartoon.SIMag LoC
|
| 243 | 1875 |
- 9 Feb 1875: The first train passes through the Hoosac Tunnel, at the time, the second longest tunnel in the world.HT MassMoments
|
| 244 | 1876 |
- 2 Feb 1876: The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which comes to be more commonly known as the National League is formed.Reds SABR
- 7 Mar 1876: Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.USNA PBS
- 10 Mar 1876: Alexander Graham Bell makes the first telephone call, telling his associate "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you".LoC W I R E D
- 25 Jun 1876: Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and all of his men are killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn.SIMag NPS
- 31 Jul 1876: The Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction is founded in New Bedford, Massachusetts, later to become the United States Coast Guard Academy.MassMoments SPW
- 1 Aug 1876: Colorado becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 19 Sep 1876: Melville Bissell patents the carpet sweeper.BH GooglePatents
- 9 Oct 1876: Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson have the first "long distance" telephone conversation.Atlantic UILibs
- 7 Nov 1876: Rutherford Birchard Hayes is elected the 19th president of the United States of America, 1877 - 1881.USEA
- 23 Nov 1876: After being captured in Spain, "Boss" Tweed is delivered to authorities in New York City.History.com
- 5 Dec 1876: Daniel C. Stillson of Somerville, Massachusetts receives a patent for the first practical wrench used in plumbing applications.DATAMP GooglePatents
|
| 245 | 1877 |
- 8 Jan 1877: Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their final losing battle against the U. S. Cavalry in Montana.History.com ICT
- 13 Mar 1877: 15 year old Chester Greenfield of Farmington, Maine patents the earmuff.MIT ME
- 6 May 1877: Due to constant harassment by the U. S. Army and a shortage of food, Crazy Horse finally surrenders.ALMCC AHC
- 24 Jul 1877: For the first time, federal troops are used against striking workers.POLITICO WVCulture
- 5 Sep 1877: Crazy Horse is killed.CHM NPS
- 21 Nov 1877: Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a way to record and play back sound. History.com
|
| 246 | 1878 |
- 11 Feb 1878: The first bicycle club in the U. S. is formed - the Boston Bicycle Club.1878 ASU
- 12 Feb 1878: Fred Thayer, the captain of the Harvard baseball team, receives a patent for his invention - the catcher's mask.MLB NBHoF
- 19 Feb 1878: Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.LoC Signals
- 21 Feb 1878: The first telephone book is produced in New Haven, Connecticut.OTB SIMag
|
| 247 | 1879 |
- 18 Feb 1879: A design patent is granted for the Statue of Liberty.GIZMODO MIT
- 3 Mar 1879: The United States Geological Survey is established.USGS USCapitol
- 8 Apr 1879: Milk is sold for the first time in glass containers.W I R E D CI
- 10 May 1879: The Archaeological Institute of America is founded in Boston.GoogleBooks AIA
- 31 Dec 1879: Thomas Edison demonstrates the incandescent light bulb to the public.LoC HFM
|
| 248 | 1880 |
- 27 Jan 1880: Thomas Edison receives his patent for the incandescent light bulb.OurDocs USNA
- 3 Jun 1880: Alexander Graham Bell transmits the first wireless telephone message on his newly invented photophone.LoC Vice
- 2 Nov 1880: James Abram Garfield is elected the 20th president of the United States of America. Garfield is wounded by an assassin's bullet on 3 Jul 1881 and dies on 19 Sep 1881.USEA USHouse
- 6 Nov 1880: Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, a French army surgeon, discovers the malaria parasite.CDC NIH
|
| 249 | 1881 |
|
| 250 | 1882 |
- 24 Mar 1882: Robert Koch, a German physician and scientist, announces his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB).CDC PBS
- 29 Mar 1882: The Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, is founded in New Haven, Connecticut.CTHist KoC
- 5 Jun 1882: The baggage claim check as it exists today is patented.WK CIPO
- 4 Sep 1882: The Edison Electric Illuminating Company at 257 Pearl Street in New York City begins providing eletricity to homes and businesses.JAIA ETHW
- 22 Dec 1882: For the first time, a Christmas tree is decorated using a string of electric lights.W I R E D DLG
|
| 251 | 1883 |
- 19 Jan 1883: The first electrical transmission system utilizing overhead wires is put in place by Thomas Edison.fold3 USSI
- 24 May 1883: The Brooklyn Bridge opens to the public.LoC BWH
- 26 Aug 1883: Krakatoa begins erupting.ArcGIS NOAA
- 27 Aug 1883: Krakatoa blows its top, making the loudest noise ever heard, then collapses into a caldera.Nautilus NOAA
- 22 Oct 1883: The Metropolitan Opera House opens in New York City.LoC NYPAP
- 18 Nov 1883: Canadian and U. S. railroads standardize on five time zones.W I R E D TCE
|
| 252 | 1884 |
- 16 Jun 1884: The first amusement-park roller coaster ride in America opens at Coney Island.W I R E D WB
- 13 Oct 1884: The Greenwich meridian is officially adopted globally as the prime meridian, the imaginary north-south line where the longitude is 0 degrees.W I R E D MAA
- 14 Oct 1884: George Eastman patents paper-strip photographic film.PatentYogi Eastman
- 1 Nov 1884: Greenwich Mean Time is adopted universally when the International Meridian Conference meets in Washington, DC.GMT OFA
- 4 Nov 1884: Stephen Grover Cleveland is elected the 22nd president of the United States of America, 1885 - 1889.USEA
|
| 253 | 1885 |
- 28 Feb 1885: The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, or AT&T, is chartered in New York.A-C GPM
- 26 Mar 1885: In Saskatchewan, Louis Riel leads the local Métis people and farmers for control of Fort Carlton beginning the North-West Resistance against Canada.CFP EoS
- 15 Apr 1885: Cree Uprising - 200 Anishinabe soldiers attack Fort Pitt, commanded by Francis Dickens, son of Charles Dickens, in western Saskatchewan.A-H CMA
- 17 Jun 1885: The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor on board the French Navy ship Isère.NPS IBTimes
- 30 Aug 1885: Gottlieb Daimler patents the first gas-engined motorcycle.W I R E D IH
- 1 Dec 1885: Dr Pepper® is served for the first time at a drugstore in Waco, Texas.WH BH
|
| 254 | 1886 |
- 20 Mar 1886: Shops and hotels are lit up along Main Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts as a demonstration of AC electricity's capabilities. HMdb WM
- 4 May 1886: A peaceful labor demonstration erupts into violence and death at Haymarket Square in Chicago.ILHS PBS
- 8 May 1886: After John Pemberton invents Coca-Cola earlier in the year, the first sales are made at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta.Coca-Cola LoC
- 31 Aug 1886: The largest earthquake in South Carolina history occurs.EARTH USC
- 4 Sep 1886: Geronimo finally surrenders in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona.AO ICT
- 28 Oct 1886: The Statue of Liberty is dedicated.SoL NPS
- 30 Nov 1886: The Westinghouse Electrical Company begins the first commercially successful transmission of A/C electricity.Google Books ETHW
|
| 255 | 1887 |
- 2 Feb 1887: Groundhog Day! Six more weeks of winter if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow.GD 3RP
- 8 Feb 1887: The Dawes Act grants land to individual Native Americans.OurDocs PBS
- 27 Apr 1887: The first deliberate appendectomy in the U. S. is performed.GoogleBooks BMJ
- 27 May 1887: 34 Chinese gold miners are murdered on the Snake River.AM LT
- 8 Jun 1887: Herman Hollerith files for a patent for the punch card.WDN GooglePatents
|
| 256 | 1888 |
- 27 Jan 1888: The National Geographic Society is incorporated. WHP
- 11 Mar 1888—14 Mar 1888: The Great Blizzard of March 1888 or the Great White Hurricane, hits the northeastern United States.HI LoC
- 22 Sep 1888: The National Geographic Society begins publishing its magazine. Biblio
- 30 Oct 1888: John J. Loud of Weymouth, Massachusetts receives the first patent for a ball-point pen.Pens tBPP
- 6 Nov 1888: Benjamin Harrison is elected the 23rd president of the United States of America, 1889 - 1893.USEA
- 9 Dec 1888: Statistician Herman Hollerith's computing device is installed at the U. S. War Department.RJ GoogleBooks
- 23 Dec 1888: Artist Vincent Van Gogh cuts off his ear.SIMag VGG
|
| 257 | 1889 |
|
| 258 | 1890 |
- 3 Jul 1890: Idaho becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 10 Jul 1890: Wyoming becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 6 Aug 1890: The first execution by electric chair is carried out.DPI ABA
- 23 Sep 1890: The first automatic fire alarm is patented.SD GooglePatents
- 11 Oct 1890: The Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.DAR FairPark
- 15 Dec 1890: Sitting Bull is killed during a confrontation with Indian police in Grand River, South Dakota.ICT SI
- 29 Dec 1890: On Wounded Knee Creek, near the Pine Ridge agency, the Seventh Cavalry of the U. S. Army opens fire on an encampment of Big Foot's band of Miniconjou Sioux killing nearly 300 of the original 350 men, women, and children.LoC ICT
|
| 259 | 1891 |
- 17 Aug 1891: U.S. Government rainmaking experiments begin in Texas.SIMag
- 21 Dec 1891: James Naismith, a physical education instructor at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, introduces a new game to his class, basket ball.HoopHall MassMoments
|
| 260 | 1892 |
- 1 Jan 1892: Ellis Island Immigration Station opens.EI LoC
- 15 Jan 1892: The first rules of basketball are published by Dr. James Naismith.USAB OCLC
- 19 Apr 1892: Charles Duryea becomes the first American to build and sell a gasoline-powered automobile.Hemmings DPL
- 28 May 1892: The Sierra Club is incorporated.SierraClub UCB
- 4 Aug 1892: Lizzie Borden kills her father and stepmother with a hatchet.CM SIMag
- 27 Sep 1892: Book matches receive a patent.PSU Hagley
|
| 261 | 1893 |
|
| 262 | 1894 |
- 14 Aug 1894: The first wireless transmission of information using Morse code is demonstrated by Oliver Lodge during a meeting of the British Association at Oxford.RSP NS
|
| 263 | 1895 |
- 11 Jun 1895: The first U. S. patent for a gasoline-driven automobile by a U. S. inventor was issued to Charles E. Duryea of the Duryea Motor Wagon Co. in Springfield.USNA HFM
- 27 Jun 1895: The first rail system in the U. S. using electric locomotives begins operating in Baltimore.HMdb A-R
- 26 Aug 1895: Water is diverted from Niagara Falls to begin the first large scale generation of electricity.SI BAH
- 8 Nov 1895: William Roentgen (Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen) discovers X-rays.NobelPrize APS
- 28 Nov 1895: The first American automobile race takes place in Chicago.LoC THF
- 28 Dec 1895: The world's first commercial movie screening takes place in Paris. Variety
|
| 264 | 1896 |
- 4 Jan 1896: Utah becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 29 Jan 1896: Émil H. Grubbe becomes the first to use radiation to treat a patient with recurrent breast cancer.ASCoPost RK
- 11 Aug 1896: Harvey Hubbell of Bridgeport, Connecticut receives a patent for the first on-and-off pull chain, electric light bulb socket.CTHist F-a-G
- 16 Aug 1896: Gold is discovered in Rabbit Creek in the Yukon. The Klondike Gold Rush is on when word reaches civilization almost a year later.UoW PBS
- 3 Nov 1896: William McKinley Jr. is elected the 25th president of the United States of America, 1897 - 1901. William McKinley dies in Buffalo, New York on 14 Sept 1901.USEA USSenate
- 12 Dec 1896: Marconi demonstrates the radio and 5 years later, on this same day, transmits the first trans-Atlantic radio signal.W I R E D
|
| 265 | 1897 |
- 7 Mar 1897: The first bowl of flaked corn is served by Dr. John Kellogg at his sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan.W I R E D F&W
- 12 Jun 1897: The Swiss Army Knife is patented.Victorinox KP
- 20 Aug 1897: World Mosquito Day marks the discovery of the malaria parasite.Mosquito EM
- 1 Sep 1897: The first subway system in America opens in Boston.Boston MassMoments
- 23 Nov 1897: John Lee Love of Fall River, Massachusetts receives a patent for a pencil sharpener.GooglePatents BI
|
| 266 | 1898 |
- 15 Feb 1898: "Remember the Maine!" The U.S.S. Maine explodes in Havana harbor after striking a mine. 260 sailors are lost leading to the Spanish-American War.SIMag LoC
- 17 Mar 1898: John P. Holland launches what will become the U. S. Navy's first modern submarine.NavHist USSNautilus
- 21 Apr 1898: The U. S. declares war on Spain.NPS MoAGI
- 25 Apr 1898—Jul 1902: Spanish-American War: War is formally declared between the United States and Spain.LoC PBS
- 30 May 1898: Superman beware, Krypton is discovered.JLab NIH
- 1 Jul 1898: Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders make the charge up San Juan Hill.PBS USArmy
- 30 Jul 1898: William Kellogg, understanding the value of the flaked cereal served at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, invents Cornflakes.TiS WCSA
- 29 Aug 1898: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is incorporated.Goodyear OHC
- 26 Nov 1898—27 Nov 1898: New England experiences a a severe storm, The Portland Gale.HazeGray NOAA
- 18 Dec 1898: The first recorded land speed record is set when Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat travels 39.252 miles per hour in a Jeantaud, a French electric automobile.WoS AC
|
| 267 | 1899 |
- 10 Jan 1899: 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
- 14 Mar 1899: Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin receives a United States patent for his rigid airship design.W I R E D AW
- 13 Sep 1899: The first U. S. traffic fatality occurs after Henry Bliss is struck by a cab in New York City.W I R E D SIMag
- 2 Nov 1899—7 Sep 1901: The Boxer Rebellion, an uprising against foreigners in China, occurs.TW GoogleBooks
|
| 268 | 1900 |
- 14 Mar 1900: Gold becomes the official standard of United States currency.NYTimes POLITICO
- 11 Apr 1900: The U. S. Navy acquires its first modern submarine, the Holland, designed by Irish immigrant John P. Holland, propelled by gasoline while on the surface and by electricity when submerged.LoC DoD
- 2 Jul 1900: Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, with five passengers, flies the world's first untethered rigid airship, the LZ-1 near Lake Constance in Germany.Airships CoF
- 8 Sep 1900: A hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing over 6000 people.1900Storm NPS
- 15 Oct 1900: Boston Symphony Hall is opened.BSO NET
|
| 269 | 1901 |
- 10 Jan 1901: The oil industry gets underway in Texas with the Spindletop well.TXAlmanac TSHA
- 22 Jan 1901—6 May 1910: Edward VII. Ruler of England 1901-1910. House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: Eldest son of Victoria, married Alexandra, Princess of Denmark.HistoricUK
- 21 May 1901: Connecticut enacts the first speed limit law for automobiles in the U. S..W I R E D CTHist
- 6 Sep 1901: U. S. President William McKinley is shot while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.LoC BN
- 14 Sep 1901: Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th president of the United States of America upon the death of President McKinley. He serves 1901 - 1909.LoC NCC
- 10 Dec 1901: The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.NP NPP
|
| 270 | 1902 |
- 4 Mar 1902: The American Automobile Association is established in Chicago.AAA C&R
- 6 Mar 1902: The permanent United States Census Bureau is established through a legislative act.Census USFR
- 20 Apr 1902: Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate radioactive radium salts from the mineral pitchblende in their laboratory in Paris.SN DTE
- 9 Jun 1902: The first fast food restaurant in the United States, the Automat, opens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.W I R E D PE
- 10 Jun 1902: Americus F. Callahan of Chicago receives a patent for the window envelope.NDM GooglePatents
- 17 Jul 1902: Willis Carrier completes the design for the world's first successful air-conditioning system.WC W I R E D
|
| 271 | 1903 |
- 18 Jan 1903: The first two-way transatlantic wireless communication occurs.CapeCod TRC
- 15 Feb 1903: The first Teddy bears go on sale.History.com Politico
- 23 Feb 1903: The Treaty of Cuba is signed by President Roosevelt giving the United States the right to Guantanamo Bay.Avalon USState
- 15 Jul 1903: The newly formed Ford Motor Company takes its first order.Ford HF
- 11 Aug 1903: The first patent in the United States for instant coffee is received by Chicago chemist Satori Kato.W I R E D GooglePatents
- 1 Oct 1903—13 Oct 1903: The first baseball World Series begins - the Boston Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates.MLB BA
- 17 Dec 1903: The Wright brothers fly the first gas-powered, human-controlled, heavier-than-air aircraft.NASA LoC
|
| 272 | 1904 |
|
| 273 | 1905 |
- 25 Jan 1905: The world's largest diamond is found in a South African mine.GIA IS
- 5 Aug 1905: Teddy Roosevelt gathers up the Russian and Japanese peace delegates in Oyster Bay, herds them aboard the yacht Mayflower, and heads off to Portsmouth.GoogleBooks GLIAH
- 5 Sep 1905: The Treaty of Portsmouth ends the Russo-Japanese War.MMN PPT
- 27 Sep 1905: Albert Einstein publishes the Theory of Relativity and makes famous the equation, E = mc2.Dummies EarthSky
|
| 274 | 1906 |
- 18 Apr 1906: San Franciscans are shaken out of bed by the Great San Francisco Earthquake. The city is further destroyed by an uncontrolled inferno the rages for four days and nights.USGS USNA
- 21 Apr 1906: The Canada-Alaska border is established.GoogleBooks USNA
- 24 Sep 1906: President Roosevelt establishes the first National Monument, Devils Tower in Wyoming.NPS NPF
- 3 Nov 1906: The distress signal S.O.S. becomes the worldwide standard at the 2nd International Radiotelegraphic Convention.SIMag GA&C
|
| 275 | 1907 |
|
| 276 | 1908 |
- 30 Jun 1908: A large meteorite, presumed to be about 120 feet across, enters the atmosphere above Siberia and explodes, destroying about 80 million trees and lighting up the sky. NASA EarthSky
- 26 Jul 1908: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is founded.FBI USNA
- 3 Aug 1908: The first nearly complete skeleton of a Neanderthal is found.LS PNAS
- 16 Sep 1908: General Motors is founded by William "Billy" Durant.AH Forbes
- 6 Oct 1908: Henry S. Winzeler founds the Ohio Art Company, makers of the Etch-A-Sketch.GoogleNews
- 29 Dec 1908: A patent is granted for a 4-wheel automobile braking system.365DoM BH
|
| 277 | 1909 |
- 16 Jan 1909: Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.W I R E D EarthSky
- 5 Feb 1909: 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
- 12 Feb 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,or NAACP, is founded.NAACP LoC
- 7 Apr 1909: Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first non-native men to reach the North Pole.USNA Bowdoin
- 19 Aug 1909: The first automobile race is held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.IMS FSS
- 30 Aug 1909: Charles Walcott of the Smithsonian Institute discovers the Burgess Shales, one of the world's richest fossil troves.ESCONI tCE
- 3 Nov 1909: William Howard Taft is elected 27th president of the United States of America, 1909 - 1913.USEA
|
| 278 | 1910 |
- 13 Jan 1910: The first public radio broadcast takes place with a live performance at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. SIMag WQXR
- 8 Feb 1910: The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated.LoC BSA
- 28 Mar 1910: Engineer Henri Fabre takes off in the Canard, the first airplane to lift off from water under its own power.SI W I R E D
- 6 May 1910—20 Jan 1936: George V. Ruler of England 1910-1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of Edward VII, married Princess Mary of Teck. Accession, Jan 20, abdication, Dec 10.HistoricUK
|
| 279 | 1911 |
- 17 Feb 1911: The first electric "self-starter" is installed in a Cadillac.Hemmings EC
- 23 May 1911: The New York Public Library opens.NYPL LoC
- 30 May 1911: The first Indianapolis 500 is run.AH IN
- 16 Jun 1911: The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, the precursor to IBM, is founded in New York.IBM CHM
- 4 Jul 1911: The highest temperature recorded in Vermont is 105°F at Vernon.NetState CW
- 4 Jul 1911: The highest temperature recorded in New Hampshire is 106°F at Nashua.NetState CW
- 10 Jul 1911: The highest temperature recorded in Maine is 105°F at North Bridgton.NetState RCS
- 24 Jul 1911: The ancient city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, is discovered by Hiram Bingham, a professor at Yale University.TiC Andina
- 25 Sep 1911: Ground is broken for Fenway Park in Boston.MLB
- 23 Oct 1911: An airplane is used for the first time in war.W I R E D A&SMag
- 14 Dec 1911: Raold Amundsen and four others are the first to reach the South Pole.SP SA
|
| 280 | 1912 |
|
| 281 | 1913 |
- 2 Feb 1913: Grand Central Terminal opens.GCT PBS
- 13 May 1913: Igor Sikorsky's Ilya Mourometz, the world's first 4-engine airplane, takes flight.AFMag SA
- 13 Aug 1913: The first stainless steel is produced.W I R E D QSeals
- 7 Oct 1913: Ford debuts the assembly line to speed up Model-T production.BI Hemmings
- 31 Oct 1913: The first transcontinental highway, the Lincoln Highway, is dedicated.DOT ILH
|
| 282 | 1914 |
|
| 283 | 1915 |
- 19 Jan 1915: The first air raid against civilian targets takes place when German Zeppelins attack Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn, England.1stWW WHO
- 27 Mar 1915: 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
- 7 May 1915: The RMS Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat.1stWW LoC
- 17 Aug 1915: Charles F. Kettering, co-founder of DELCO in Dayton, Ohio, is issued a patent for his "engine-starting device".OAC AN
- 6 Sep 1915: The first military tank rolls off the assembly line.ACA USArmy
|
| 284 | 1916 |
- 11 Feb 1916: 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
- 15 Mar 1916: General John Pershing leads an invasion of Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa.1stWW USArmy
- 24 Apr 1916—29 Apr 1916: Easter Rising - Ireland rises up against British rule and proclaims its independence.B B C IC
- 6 Jul 1916: "Uncle Sam" is created by James Montgomery Flagg as the cover of Leslie's Weekly.TIME DoD
- 15 Sep 1916: Tanks are introduced into battle for the first time.SA MotAGI
|
| 285 | 1917 |
- 24 Feb 1917: The Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany offers United States western territory to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the U. S., is presented to Woodrow Wilson, effectively bringing America into the war.USNA OurDocs
- 18 May 1917: The U. S. passes the Selective Service Act.NAF USNA
- 15 Oct 1917: Mata Hari is executed for spying. PBS
- 6 Nov 1917: The Bolshevik Revolution begins (October 24th, old style calendar).IWM MSU
- 26 Nov 1917: The National Hockey League is founded.NHL
- 6 Dec 1917: The Mont-Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes in Halifax, Nova Scotia harbor after a collision, killing over 1800, injuring 9000 and entirely obliterating parts of the city.SIMag CanGeo
- 12 Dec 1917: Father Flanagan founds Boys Town.BoysTown
|
| 286 | 1918 |
- 6 Jan 1918: The Bolsheviks take control of the Russian government.UoS UCA
- 9 Jan 1918: The last battle of the American Indian Wars occurs at the Battle of Bear Valley.RCH BYU
- Feb 1918—Dec 1920: The Spanish Flu pandemic kills at least 3% of the World's population.VLib npr
- 21 Feb 1918: The last known Carolina Parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.Audubon USC
- 11 Mar 1918: At Fort Riley in Kansas, one of the first cases of what will become known as the Spanish Flu is recorded.WHO ACEP
- 12 Mar 1918: Moscow becomes the capital of the Soviet state of Russia.BYPLib TASS
- 19 Mar 1918: Time Zones and Daylight Savings Time are established by the Standard Time Act.POLITICO USDoD
- 21 Apr 1918: Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, is shot down and killed in the skies over the Somme River in France.PBS CoF
- 16 May 1918: The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed curtailing the free speech rights of U. S. citizens during time of war.ZEP MTSU
- 27 Aug 1918: U. S. Army forces trade shots with Mexican troops and their German advisors in the only battle of World War I fought on American soil.BYU Tucson
- 26 Sep 1918—1 Oct 1918: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive begins.1stWW USArmy
- 29 Sep 1918: Allied forces break through the Hindenburg Line.NCDCR AWM
- 8 Oct 1918: Acting Corporal Alvin C. York kills 28 Germans and takes 132 of them as prisoners in the Battle of the Argonne.GWPDA SgtYork
- 7 Nov 1918: Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard demonstrates tube-launched solid-propellant rockets at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the forerunners to the bazooka.ESA AFHF
- 11 Nov 1918: Germany signs the Armistice.GHDI LoC
- 27 Dec 1918: Greater Poland Uprising - Poles begin their push for independence from Prussian control in the city of Poznań, which quickly spreads.PolandIn PC
|
| 287 | 1919 |
- 15 Jan 1919: A tank of molasses ruptures in Boston's North End killing 21 people - the Great Molasses Flood.MassMoments SIMag
- 16 Jan 1919: The eighteenth amendment is ratified, Prohibition in the United States begins.LoC NCC
- 5 Feb 1919: Hollywood stars Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin, along with director D. W. Griffith, get together to form United Artists.CSL WHP
- 8 May 1919—27 May 1919: The Navy's NC-4 flying boat makes the first successful transatlantic flight.SI A&SMag
- 4 Jun 1919: The 19th Amendment is passed by Congress giving women the right to vote.OurDocs ZEP
- 28 Jun 1919: World War I ends.WW1.net USNavy
- 16 Sep 1919: The American Legion is issued a federal charter by the U. S. Congress.AL ALP224
- 2 Oct 1919: U. S. President Woodrow Wilson suffers a stroke that will leave him incapacitated until the end of his presidency.PBS JNS
- 17 Oct 1919: Radio Corporation of America, better known as RCA, is incorporated.LoVA VTInc
|
| 288 | 1920 |
- 24 Jul 1920: The Boston Post runs a story that exposes Charles Ponzi and his financial scheme.MassMoments SIMag
- 18 Aug 1920: With the passing of the nineteenth amendment, women win the right to vote.USCensus OurDocs
- 20 Aug 1920: Seven men, including legendary all-around athlete and football star Jim Thorpe, meet to organize a professional football league in Canton, Ohio.OHC DT
- 12 Oct 1920: Construction begins on the Holland Tunnel.HHM PA
- 2 Nov 1920: Warren Gamaliel Harding is elected the 29th president of the United States of America. He dies of a heart attack in San Francisco on 2 August 1923. USEA LoC
|
| 289 | 1921 |
- 26 Apr 1921: The first U. S. weather report to be broadcast on the radio is made from station WEW in St. Louis, Missouri.Current MBA
- 31 May 1921—1 Jun 1921: A white mob attacks residents, homes and businesses in the predominantly black affluent Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. SIMag TH
- 21 Jul 1921: Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell demonstrates the ability of aircraft to sink enemy warships.CoF SI
- 25 Aug 1921—2 Sep 1921: The Battle of Blair Mountain, striking coal miners take on strike breakers and police.WVU CH
|
| 290 | 1922 |
- 11 Jan 1922: Insulin is first used to successfully treat diabetes.MNT WHP
- 20 Mar 1922: The United States Navy's first aircraft carrier, USS Langley, is commissioned.USNA USDoD
- 5 Apr 1922: Firestone begins production of the first low-pressure balloon tires in Akron, Ohio.AF Bridgestone
- 14 Nov 1922: The BBC begins broadcasting from London.B B C
- 21 Nov 1922: Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office becoming the first woman to serve in the U. S. Senate.USSenate
- 26 Nov 1922: Howard Carter and Lord Carnavon enter King Tut's tomb.History.com
- 30 Dec 1922: The Soviet Union is established.LoC MSU
|
| 291 | 1923 |
- 16 Feb 1923: King Tut's tomb is unsealed.NYTimes
- 12 Mar 1923: The Phonofilm movie process, a sound track added to the movie film, is demonstrated to the press.W I R E D WZ
- 18 Jun 1923: The first Checker Cab rolls off the assembly line in Kalamazoo, Michigan.AH Hagerty
- 13 Jul 1923: The Hollywoodland (now just Hollywood) sign is officially dedicated.CAW&P SD
- 3 Aug 1923: John Calvin Coolidge Jr. becomes the 30th president of the United States of America the day after President Warren G. Harding dies - from 1923 - 1929.Whitehouse LoC
- 16 Oct 1923: Walt and Roy Disney found the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Hollywood, California.D23 Disney
- 24 Dec 1923: A U. S. national Christmas tree is lit for the first time.NPS WHHA
|
| 292 | 1925 |
- 19 Jan 1925: The lowest temperature recorded in Maine is -48°F at Van Buren - which has since been broken with a -50°F at Black Bear River on 16 Jan 2009.NetState CC
- 28 Feb 1925: An earthquake measuring approximately 7 on the Richter scale strikes the Charlevoix-Kamouraska area of eastern Canada.NRCan MM
- 13 Mar 1925: Tennessee bans the teaching of evolution in all public schools.NIH CERC
- 25 May 1925: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwinian evolution theory.LHL ABAJ
- 10 Jul 1925: Jury selection begins for the Scopes Monkey Trial.npr MTSU
|
| 293 | 1926 |
- 26 Jan 1926: Television is demonstrated to the public for the first time.HoI TIME
- 16 Mar 1926: Robert H. Goddard, a physics professor at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, launches the world's first liquid fueled rocket from a field in Auburn, Massachusetts.MassMoments NASA
- 9 May 1926: Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett, in a Fokker Trimotor, fly over the North Pole.PBS AFMag
- 12 May 1926: The Norge, a semi-rigid Italian-built airship, just misses being the first aircraft to fly over the North Pole.NYCGP TH
- 23 Jun 1926: The first Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is administered.PBS SIMag
- 31 Oct 1926: Escape artist Harry Houdini dies.tGHH SIMag
|
| 294 | 1927 |
- 7 Jan 1927: The first commercial transoceanic telephone service begins, using radio, between New York and London.EDN USNA
- 20 May 1927—21 May 1927: Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.MNHS PBS
- 26 May 1927: After 19 years, production of the Ford Model T ceases.AH HFM
- 23 Aug 1927: Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti die in the electric chair.ZEP MA
- 7 Sep 1927: Philo Taylor Farnsworth transmits the first electronic image - television.ThePilot tHoTV
- 4 Oct 1927: Work begins on Mount Rushmore.History.com
- 6 Oct 1927: "The Jazz Singer", the first talking movie, premieres.AISH MTV
- 13 Nov 1927: At midnight, the Holland Tunnel opens to automobile traffic.NYCRoads PANYNJ
- 21 Nov 1927: Striking coal miners are gunned down by state police in Serene, Colorado, killing six and wounding twenty others.WU CU
|
| 295 | 1928 |
- 13 Jan 1928: The first television sets are installed in Schenectady, New York.MIT RM
- 18 Sep 1928: The Graf Zeppelin takes off on its maiden flight.Airships WingNet
- 28 Sep 1928: Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.NIH PBS
- 12 Oct 1928: A young polio sufferer at Children's Hospital in Boston becomes the first person to use the iron lung artificial respirator.W I R E D BMag
- 6 Nov 1928: Herbert Clark Hoover is elected 31st president of the United States of America, 1929 - 1933.USEA
- 18 Nov 1928: Mickey Mouse makes his silver screen premier in Steamboat Willie.MoMA TIME
|
| 296 | 1929 |
- 8 Aug 1929: The Graf Zeppelin begins its round-the-world flight.WingNet TDiA
- 29 Oct 1929: The Great Depression in the United States begins with the crash of the stock market, Black Tuesday.TIME BT
|
| 297 | 1930 |
- 18 Feb 1930: Pluto is discovered.Lowell EarthSky
- 13 Mar 1930: The discovery of the planet Pluto is announced by its discover Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory.APS Lowell
- 6 Apr 1930: The Twinkie is invented.NPR Trib
- 21 Apr 1930: 320 inmates die in a fire at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus, many burning to death when their cell doors are not unlocked.OHC QRFS
- 12 May 1930: The first planetarium in the U. S., the Adler Planetarium, opens to the public.Adler CCT
- 15 May 1930: The first female flight attendant takes off.AJC UAHF
- 24 Jun 1930: Preliminary testing of what will later become Radar begins.I&T GoogleBooks
- 7 Jul 1930: Construction of the Hoover Dam begins.Tucson CC
- 9 Aug 1930: Betty Boop makes her first appearance.VN KF
- 12 Aug 1930: Clarence Birdseye receives a patent for the production of quick-frozen fish.MassMoments npr
- 20 Aug 1930: W2XCR begins broadcasting from Jersey City, New Jersey, with first demonstration of home reception of television.ET GoogleBooks
- 8 Sep 1930: 3M rolls out Scotch© Brand Cellulose Tape, later renamed Scotch Transparent Tape.ACS FV
|
| 298 | 1931 |
- 19 Mar 1931: Gambling becomes legal in Nevada.NRA LoA
- 1 May 1931: The Empire State Building opens.LoC HDC
|
| 299 | 1932 |
- 12 Jan 1932: Hattie Caraway becomes the first women elected to the U. S. Senate.USCongress SIMag
- 1 Mar 1932: Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the 20-month-old son of the famous aviator and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is kidnapped during the night.FBI CM
- 31 Mar 1932: Ford unveils its new flathead V8 engine.AH JJ
- 28 Apr 1932: A vaccine for yellow fever is introduced.NIH
- 8 Nov 1932: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected the 32nd president of the United States of America, 1933 - 1945. He died in office on 12 April 1945.USEA
- 27 Dec 1932: Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City.LoC NYPAP
|
| 300 | 1933 |
- 5 Jan 1933: Construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge.SIMag GGB
- 25 Feb 1933: The USS Ranger, the first purpose-built aircraft carrier, is launched at Newport News, Virginia.NI&SHM USNavy
- 12 Mar 1933: Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first "fireside chat" is broadcast.npr MC-UVA
- 6 Jun 1933: The first drive-in movie theater opens in Camden, New Jersey.History.com DIT
- 10 Jun 1933: The Immigration and Naturalization Service is established.USCitizenship USNA
- 12 Jul 1933: The first Dymaxion is produced.AH tVN
- 22 Jul 1933: American aviator Wiley Post lands at Floyd Bennett Field in New York, completing the first solo flight around the world in 7 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes.A&SMag PopMech
- 17 Oct 1933: Albert Einstein, his wife, his assistant and his collaberator/assistant arrive in New York harbor aboard the Westernland on his way to Princeton.IRC EDN
- 24 Oct 1933: Charles Brace Darrow copyrights his Monopoly game.LLG PI
- 12 Nov 1933: Hugh Gray takes the first photograph of the Loch Ness Monster.Nessie Hoaxes
- 5 Dec 1933: Prohibition ends.History.com TIME
- 30 Dec 1933: The lowest temperature in Vermont, -50°F, is recorded at Bloomfield.NetState UVM
|
| 301 | 1934 |
- 29 Jan 1934: The lowest temperature in New Hampshire is -47°F recorded on Mount Washington.NetState WA
- 12 Apr 1934: The highest surface wind measured anywhere on earth was clocked by the staff of the Mount Washington Observatory at 231 mph.MWOBS WU
- 23 May 1934: Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are ambushed and killed by police officers in Louisiana ending their crime spree.FBI TXArchive
- 2 Aug 1934: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer.USHMM JVL
- 15 Aug 1934: Otis Barton and William Beebe make the first deep sea dive in their Bathysphere.NOAA APS
|
| 302 | 1935 |
- 11 Jan 1935—12 Jan 1935: Amelia Earhart takes off on the first solo flight from Hawaii to California. PBS
- 24 May 1935: Major League Baseball plays its first night game.SABR NBHoF
- 2 Jun 1935: Babe Ruth retires.TIME ESPN
- 16 Jul 1935: The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City.GIZMODO ExpiredMeter
- 14 Aug 1935: The Social Security Act is passed establishing a system of old-age benefits.SSA OurDocs
- 15 Aug 1935: The Social Security Act becomes law.OurDocs USNA
- 17 Dec 1935: The Douglas DC-3, the most successful passenger airliner ever, takes its first flight.A&S AFMag
|
| 303 | 1936 |
- 20 Jan 1936—11 Dec 1936: Edward VIII. Ruler of England 1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Eldest son of George V.HistoricUK
- 5 Mar 1936: The prototype of the British Supermarine Spitfire flies for the first time.SI Bonhams
- 21 Mar 1936: Snow melt and ice blocks causes flooding along the Connecticut River Valley saving the worst for Springfield, Massachusetts.MassMoments USNI
- 7 Jul 1936: Henry F. Phillips receives patents for a new kind of screw and the new screwdriver needed to make it work.W I R E D F-a-P
- 7 Sep 1936: The last known Tasmanian Tiger dies in captivity.NMA AusGeo
- 9 Oct 1936: The Hoover Dam begins sending electricity to Los Angeles.LoC W&PA
- 23 Nov 1936: The first issue of Life Magazine is published.LIFE WHP
- 11 Dec 1936—6 Feb 1952: George VI. Ruler of England 1936-1952. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of George V, Duke of York; married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.HistoricUK
|
| 304 | 1937 |
- 16 Feb 1937: Linear Condensation Polymer, better known as Nylon, is patented by Wallace Carothers of DuPont.SN AH
- 26 Apr 1937: Nazis test their new air force, destroying the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain, inspiring the Picasso anti-war painting.Zinn PBS
- 6 May 1937: The Hindenburg, a rigid airship, explodes while attempting to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey.Airships SIMag
- 28 May 1937: The Golden Gate Bridge opens to vehicular traffic.GGB PBS
- 4 Jun 1937: The first shopping cart rolls out at the Humpty Dumpty supermarket in Oklahoma City.W I R E D SI
- 2 Jul 1937: Amelia Earhart disappears on her quest to be the first person to fly around the world.TIME USNA
- 21 Dec 1937: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first animated full-length movie, premieres.History.com Disney
- 22 Dec 1937: The center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel opens to automobile traffic.PANYNJ AH
|
| 305 | 1938 |
- 24 Feb 1938: The first nylon-bristled toothbrushes, the first modern toothbrushes, go on sale.W I R E D SM.UK
- 6 Apr 1938: DuPont chemist Roy Plunkett accidentally invents Teflon.W I R E D Teflon
- 21 Sep 1938: The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 slams into Long Island and southern New England.NOAA NEHS
- 22 Oct 1938: The first xerographic copy is made in a laboratory in Astoria, Queens, New York, the birth of Xerox. SIMag APS
- 30 Oct 1938: Orson Welles broadcasts "The War of the Worlds," from a New York City studio causing a panic.SIMag WotW.org
- 16 Nov 1938: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is first synthesized by Dr. Albert Hofmann.CV PSR
- 23 Dec 1938: A coelacanth, previously known only from fossil evidence, is caught in the Chalumna River, near East London, South Africa. Nature SD
|
| 306 | 1939 |
|
| 307 | 1940 |
- 27 Feb 1940: Carbon-14 is discovered by scientists Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben working at the University of California at Berkeley making it now possible to date once living material.W I R E D BerkLab
- 15 May 1940: The first McDonald's restaurant opens in San Bernardino, California.RestMag LoC
- 26 May 1940—4 Jun 1940: British forces begin evacuation of France through Dunkirk.EB TheTelegraph
- 10 Jul 1940: The Battle of Britain begins.FWR
- 12 Sep 1940: The Lascaux Cave paintings are discovered.VVD YouTube
- 27 Sep 1940: Germany, Italy and Japan sign a treaty of mutual assistance - the Tripartite Pact.Avalon WHP
- 26 Oct 1940: The P-51 Mustang takes its maiden flight with test pilot Vance Breese.MM DW
- 7 Nov 1940: "Galloping Gertie", the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, collapses due to high winds.WSDOT KIRO7
|
| 308 | 1941 |
- 12 Feb 1941: The first human trials of penicillin begin.Forbes NIH
- 12 May 1941: The first fully functional, programmable computer is unveiled.W I R E D CHM
- 9 Jul 1941: The Enigma key is broken.MSN History.com
- 30 Oct 1941: FDR approves $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid for the USSR.USState JVL
- 31 Oct 1941: Mt. Rushmore is completed.NPS
- 1 Dec 1941: The Civil Air Patrol is established.GovInfo CAP
- 7 Dec 1941: The forces of the Japanese Empire attack the U. S. Fleet while it lies at anchor at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.USNavy NPS
- 8 Dec 1941: The U. S. declares war on Japan.Avalon USNA
- 12 Dec 1941: Adolf Hitler personally orders the mass extermination of European Jews during a meeting of Nazi German regional governors in the chancellery.AH.dk SIMag
- 26 Dec 1941: Thanksgiving is established as the 4th Thursday in November.USNA LoC
|
| 309 | 1942 |
- 14 Jan 1942: FDR orders that "enemy aliens" must register with the government.History.com UCSB
- 19 Feb 1942: President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 resulting in the forcible internment of people of Japanese ancestry. USNA OurDocs
- 18 Apr 1942: Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle leads an air raid against Tokyo and other Japanese cities in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor.USNavy SIMag
- 13 Aug 1942: The Manhattan Project begins.AHF NWWIIM
- 9 Sep 1942: A submarine-based Japanese seaplane fire bombs the Oregon forest.SitOS USDA
- 21 Sep 1942: The B-29 Superfortress takes its maiden flight.AFHF MoF
- 28 Nov 1942: A fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts kills 492 people.CB BFHS
|
| 310 | 1943 |
- 20 Feb 1943—1952: The Parícutin volcano begins to erupt in Parícutin, Mexico, marking the first time scientists are able to observe the complete life cycle of a volcano. SDSU SIArchives
- 16 Apr 1943: Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the psychedelic properties of LSD.W I R E D DW
- 19 Apr 1943—16 May 1943: Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto begin uprising against the Nazis.USHMM JVL
- 10 Jun 1943: Brothers László and Georg Bíró, Hungarian refugees living in Argentina, patent the ballpoint pen.W I R E D FPN
|
| 311 | 1944 |
- 23 Apr 1944—4 May 1944: Sikorsky's R4 helicopter becomes the first used in a combat role.A&SMag VTOL
- 6 Jun 1944—7 Jun 1944: D-Day - allied forces begin the invasion of continental Europe.USArmy IWM
- 6 Jul 1944: A fire in the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus tent takes 168 lives in Hartford, Connecticut.HCF CTHist
- 20 Jul 1944: Hitler survives an assassination attempt.UoC JVL
- 9 Aug 1944: The first poster of Smokey the Bear is created.StB TIME
- 21 Oct 1944: The first individual kamikaze attack occurs when a Japanese plane attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island.RDunn NHSA
- 25 Oct 1944: Kamikaze are used en masse for the first time against Allied forces in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.NNAM AFMag
- 12 Nov 1944: Avro Lancasters of the British Royal Air Force sink the German battleship Tirpitz off Håkøya Island near Tromsø, Norway.KBismarck BCM
- 16 Dec 1944—31 Jan 1945: The Battle of the Bulge, a surprise offensive by the German Army pushes Allied forces back through Belgium and Luxembourg.USArmy PBS
- 27 Dec 1944: The federal government takes control of Montgomery Ward.UCSB AHC
|
| 312 | 1945 |
- 25 Jan 1945: Fluoridation is introduced to drinking water.W I R E D ADA
- 12 Apr 1945: Harry S. Truman becomes the 33rd president of the United States of America upon the death of FDR, 1945 - 1953.Whitehouse LoC
- 1 May 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicide.JVL tPCfM
- 5 May 1945: A Japanese balloon bomb kills 6.W I R E D OE
- 7 May 1945: Germany unconditionally surrenders, effectively ending World War II in Western Europe. Soviet surrender terms were signed the next day.DoD USHMM
- 8 May 1945: V-E Day is celebrated, Germany is defeated.DoD NWWIIM
- 16 Jul 1945: "Trinity", the first atomic bomb, explodes in the early morning hours near Alamogordo.B B C DoE
- 28 Jul 1945: 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
- 30 Jul 1945: The USS Indianapolis is sunk by a Japanese submarine, killing 883 sailors.USSIndianapolis USNavy
- 6 Aug 1945: The first atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.B B C CTBTO
- 9 Aug 1945: The atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.OSTI USNA
- 2 Sep 1945: World War II ends, Japan surrenders to the United States aboard the USS Missouri.CNN WAPO
- 26 Sep 1945: The first American soldier is killed in Vietnam.History.com ANC
- 24 Oct 1945: The United Nations is established.UN USState
- 20 Nov 1945—1 Oct 1946: Nazi officials are put on trial in Nuremburg, Germany.USHMM LoC
- 5 Dec 1945: U. S. Navy Flight 19, consisting of 5 Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle off the coast of Florida, never to be seen again.Navy NASFM
- 6 Dec 1945: The microwave oven is invented by Percy Spencer of the Raytheon Corporation.NASA Web+
|
| 313 | 1946 |
- 13 Feb 1946: ENIAC, the first Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electronics.KurzweilAI AA
- 14 Feb 1946: ENIAC, the first large scale, general purpose, digital computer is announced to the public.UPenn CH
- 22 Feb 1946: Rutgers University Professor Selman A. Waksman announces a second (after penicillin) clinical application of antibiotics - streptomycin against tuberculosis.JC BALLYA
- 8 Mar 1946: The Bell Model 47 becomes the first helicopter to be certified for civilian use.GoogleBooks TW
- 16 May 1946: Jack Mullin gives the first public demonstration of a professional quality tape recorder in the U. S..MoB LATimes
- 6 Jun 1946: The National Basketball Association is founded in New York.NBA NBAHO
- 5 Jul 1946: The world is introduced to the bikini swimsuit.WAPO CR
- 8 Aug 1946: The first true intercontinental bomber, the B-36, makes its first flight.SACM FAS
- 13 Nov 1946: The first man-made snowfall is produced over Mt. Greylock in western Massachusetts.MassMoments NWS
- 11 Dec 1946: UNICEF is founded.UNICEF History.com
|
| 314 | 1947 |
- 21 Feb 1947: Edwin Land demonstrates his instant camera and film - the Polaroid.SI ACS
- 16 Apr 1947: 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
- 16 Apr 1947: A French ship loaded with fertilizer explodes, killing almost 600 people in Texas City, Texas.Chron TSHA
- 28 Apr 1947: Thor Heyerdahl and Kon-Tiki set sail from Peru on a course for French Polynesia.SIMag K-TBC
- 11 May 1947: The B.F. Goodrich Co. announces the development of the tubeless tire.History.com DA
- 6 Jul 1947: The world's most popular assault rifle, the AK-47, begins production.SN W I R E D
- 7 Jul 1947: The Roswell Incident occurs.Space RAM
- 8 Jul 1947: The U. S. Army Air Force announces that it had captured a flying saucer.AJ W I R E D
- 7 Aug 1947: After 101 days, Thor Heyerdahl completes his voyage with Kon-Tiki.MLP AO
- 18 Sep 1947: The CIA is established through the National Security Act of 1947.HSDL USNA
- 18 Sep 1947: The United States Air Force is established as the Department of the Air Force, a new agency within the Department of Defense.USAF AFHF
- 26 Sep 1947: Personnel from the Army Air Forces are transferred from the Department of the Army to the Department of the Air Force.USAF
- 5 Oct 1947: President Harry Truman makes the first-ever televised presidential address from the White House.History.com
- 14 Oct 1947: U. S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.USNA Space
- 20 Oct 1947: The House Un-American Activities Committee opens an investigation of communism in Hollywood.N TIME
- 24 Nov 1947: The "Hollywood 10" are charged with contempt by the U. S. Congress.ABAJ CUNY
- 29 Nov 1947: The United Nations votes to partition Palestine.Knesset JCPA
|
| 315 | 1948 |
- 21 Jan 1948: The fleur-de-lis flag becomes the official flag of Québec.CBC QC
- 30 Jan 1948: Gandhi is assassinated.History.com BP
- 21 Feb 1948: The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, NASCAR, is incorporated.Hemmings HR
- 7 Apr 1948: The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.WHO AJC
- 14 May 1948: The State of Israel is established.Israel USState
- 3 Jun 1948: The 200 inch Hale Telescope goes into operation at the Palomar Observatory.NPS UC
- 21 Jun 1948: Columbia Records introduces the 12" LP (long playing) record.W I R E D 33Audio
- 30 Jun 1948: Bell Labs holds a press conference to announce their latest invention, the transistor.PBS CHM
- 28 Nov 1948: The first commercial instant camera, Polaroid Land camera Model 95, goes on sale at the Jordan Marsh department store in Boston.Haaretz TDiTH
- 24 Dec 1948: The first completely solar heated house, the Peabody house in Dover, Massachusetts, is ready for occupancy.TiS OTD
|
| 316 | 1949 |
- 6 Jan 1949: The first photograph of genes was taken at the University of Southern California by Dr. Daniel Chapin Pease and Dr. Richard Freligh Baker. TiS DE
- 10 Jan 1949: The 45-rpm record, cheaper and more portable than other record formats, is introduced by RCA.W I R E D CNYNews
- 26 Feb 1949—2 Mar 1949: The first non-stop round-the-world flight takes place in a Boeing B-50A, the Lucky Lady II, lasting 94 hours and 1 minute.AFMag PBS
- 4 Apr 1949: NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is founded.USNA Avalon
- 27 Jul 1949: The world's first jet-propelled airliner, the British De Havilland Comet, makes its maiden test-flight in England.AFMag CoF
- 3 Aug 1949: The NBA is born.NBA tPG
|
| 317 | 1950 |
- 17 Jan 1950: A group of armed, masked men rob the Brink's depot in Boston, getting away with $2.7 million.FBI NEHS
- 31 Jan 1950: President Truman announces plans for the U. S. to develop the hydrogen bomb.PBS AHF
- 14 Mar 1950: The FBI Ten Most Wanted list makes its debut.FBI CMag
- 19 May 1950: As a munitions barge is being loaded in South Amboy, New Jersey, it explodes, destroying the waterfront and much of the town.Hagley HMdb
- 25 Jun 1950: Korean War: The United States (as part of the United Nations) and South Korea vs. North Korea and Communist China 1950-1953.PBS USNA
- 24 Jul 1950: Cape Canaveral launches its first rocket.W I R E D CoF
- 24 Sep 1950: 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
- 2 Oct 1950: The comic strip Peanuts is first published.TIME GoComics
- 25 Nov 1950—29 Nov 1950: The "Storm of the Century" strikes the eastern U. S..History.com NOAA
|
| 318 | 1951 |
- 31 Mar 1951: UNIVAC I, the first commercially produced computer, is delivered to the United States Census Bureau.Census ETHW
- 10 Nov 1951: Mayor M. Leslie Downing of Englewood, New Jersey and Mayor Frank Osborne of Alameda, California make the first direct-dialed, transcontinental telephone call.CSL BH
- 20 Dec 1951: A nuclear reactor produces useful electricity for the first time. DoE APS
|
| 319 | 1952 |
- 6 Feb 1952: Elizabeth II. Ruler of England 1952-present.House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Elder daughter of George VI, acceded Feb 6, 1956.HistoricUK
- 15 Apr 1952: The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress makes its first flight and is still in service today.KAFB Boeing
- 3 May 1952: The first airplane lands at the North Pole.HC ASN
- 15 Jul 1952—31 Jul 1952: The first transatlantic helicopter flight begins.RH PP
- 25 Jul 1952: Puerto Rico becomes a Commonwealth of the United States.tPR USState
- 20 Sep 1952: Geneticists Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase publish their conclusion that DNA is where life's hereditary data is found.OSU RUP
- 4 Nov 1952: Dwight David Eisenhower is elected the 34th president of , 1953 - 1961.USEA
|
| 320 | 1953 |
- 28 Feb 1953: At Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announce that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA.NIH GO
- 26 Mar 1953: The success of the polio vaccine is announced on the radio.NIH WAPO
- 29 Apr 1953: The ABC affiliate KECA-TV broadcasts the show Space Patrol in 3-D but it can only be viewed using special polarized lenses.EDN Signals
- 29 May 1953: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay become the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest. PBS
- 9 Jun 1953: The Worcester tornado takes 94 lives.NEHS TT
- 19 Jun 1953: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed after being convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.SI JWA
- 26 Jul 1953—1 Jan 1959: Fidel Castro leads a revolt against the United States backed Batista regime.npr LaHabana
- 27 Jul 1953: The Korean War ends.OurDocs USNA
- 20 Nov 1953: Piltdown Man is reported to be a hoax in the bulletin of the British Natural History Museum.PBS
- 30 Dec 1953: The first color televisions go on sale in the U. S..S&V EoaG
|
| 321 | 1954 |
- 21 Jan 1954: The USS Nautilus, the first operational nuclear powered submarine, is launched at Groton, Connecticut.Nautilus USNA
- 27 Jan 1954: The atomic battery is unveiled.RCA NYTimes
- 15 Feb 1954: The governments of Canada and the U. S. agree to jointly build a line of radar stations in defense against a possible air Soviet attack, the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line.1370th T&G
- 18 Feb 1954: The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles based upon the religious philosophy of writer L. Ron Hubbard.EAEC CoS
- 23 Feb 1954: A group of Pennsylvania school children receive the first injections of the new Salk polio vaccine.History.com TIME
- 25 Mar 1954: Production of RCA's first commercial color television set begins.W I R E D TVTech
- 6 Apr 1954: Swanson introduces us to the TV Dinner.GoogleNews TMC
- 17 May 1954: The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules for school integration in the landmark initiative, Brown v. Board of Education.OurDocs SI
- 14 Jun 1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill inserting the words "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance.tGLIoAH CNY
- 27 Jun 1954: The world's first nuclear power plant goes online.W I R E D PT
- 16 Aug 1954: Sports Illustrated makes its debut.SI SHT
- 24 Aug 1954: U. S. President Eisenhower signs the Communist Control Act into law, making the Communist Party illegal.UCSB IA
- 11 Sep 1954: The first broadcast of the Miss America pageant occurs.IMDb Tango
- 29 Sep 1954: The CERN Convention is entered into force.CERN SA
- 18 Oct 1954: The first transistor radio, the Regency TR1, is introduced to the world.PBS EDN
- 30 Nov 1954: A meteorite crashes through the roof and strikes a napping Ann Hodges in Sylacauga, Alabama, the only documented injury from an extra-terrestrial object.Space SIMag
- 23 Dec 1954: The first successful human organ transplant occurs.npr NIH
|
| 322 | 1955 |
- 12 Apr 1955: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine to the world.UMich CDC
- 15 Apr 1955: Ray Kroc opens his first McDonald's restaurant in Chicago, Illinois.CL McDonald's
- 11 Jun 1955: Disaster occurs at the Le Mans 24 hour race.Hagerty Hemmings
- 17 Jul 1955: The happiest place on Earth, Disneyland opens.DD T&L
- 19 Aug 1955: Hurricane Diane becomes the first storm to top $1 billion in damages in the U. S..NEHS NWS
- 31 Aug 1955: GM demonstrates the first solar-powered car.EEW GMA
- 1 Dec 1955: Seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating racial segregation laws.LoC THF
- 5 Dec 1955: The labor organizations AFL and CIO merge to form one.AFL-CIO SI
|
| 323 | 1956 |
- 29 Jun 1956: The Federal-Aid Highway Act authorizes funding for an interstate highway system.DOT USNA
- 23 Jul 1956: While gathering data on aerodynamic heating, "Fastest Man Alive", Pete Everest, achieves a speed of Mach 2.87 at 68,000 feet in the Bell X-2 rocket plane setting the world aircraft speed record.NASA ChiTrib
- 25 Jul 1956: The Stockholm rams the Andrea Doria about 50 miles south of Nantucket.MassMoments CIMM
- 30 Jul 1956: "In God We Trust" becomes the national motto of the United States of America.Politico USTreasury
- 13 Sep 1956: IBM introduces the first computer hard disk drive.RN EDN
- 25 Sep 1956: The first transatlantic telephone is opened for business.CBC A-C
- 22 Dec 1956: A gorilla named Colo is born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio - the first gorilla in the world born in captivity.CZ OHC
|
| 324 | 1957 |
- 3 Jan 1957: The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first battery operated, electric watch, the Ventura.W I R E D VHW
- 4 Sep 1957: Ford unveils the Edsel.EP AHM
- 27 Sep 1957—24 Oct 1958: Capelinhos Volcano - a volcano begins erupting off the west coast of Faial, Azores lasting 13 months, causing an economic disaster and forcing a mass migration to the United States.PAJ PM
- 4 Oct 1957: The Soviet Union successfully launches the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I.NASA
- 3 Nov 1957: Laika the dog becomes the first animal launched into orbit.Space NASA
|
| 325 | 1958 |
- 31 Jan 1958: Explorer I, the first U. S. satellite, is launched into earth orbit.NASA SI
- 5 Feb 1958: A B-47 accidentally drops an unarmed thermonuclear bomb at the mouth of Georgia's Savannah River.npr AA
- 10 Feb 1958: MIT's Lincoln Laboratory bounces radar waves off Venus from their facility at Millstone Hill in Westford, Massachusetts.NASA Space
- 17 Mar 1958: Vanguard 1, the first solar-powered satellite, is launched.NASA Space
- 2 Apr 1958: U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower calls for a civilian National Aeronautics and Space Agency to oversee the US space program, NASA.NASA SCD
- 12 May 1958: NORAD is established.NORAD CAGov
- 29 Jul 1958: President Eisenhower authorizes creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).DDE-PL NASA
- 4 Aug 1958: The premier of the Billboard Hot 100.Billboard MEAWW
- 4 Oct 1958: BOAC begins the first transatlantic jet aircraft passenger service.UA BA
- 9 Dec 1958: The right-wing John Birch Society is founded.History.com
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