1866 The Ku Klux Klan was founded

Informally known as the "Hooded Order", is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism and anti-immigration.

1865 Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

He was shot on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination of Lincoln was planned and carried out by the well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth.

1864 Sand Creek massacre

700-man force of Colorado Territory militia attacked and destroyed a peaceful village of Cheyenne and Arapaho, killing and mutilating an estimated 70–163 Indians, about two-thirds of whom were women and children.

1860 Abraham Lincoln

Was the 16th President of the United States. The election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860 and served as the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War, because of slavery and the rights of slave owners.

1860 The Pony Express

Was a mail service delivering messages, newspapers, mail, even small packages from St. Joseph, Missouri. It reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days.

1858 Transatlantic telegraph cable

The first was laid across the floor of the Atlantic from Telegraph Field, Foilhommerum Bay, Valentia Island in western Ireland to Heart's Content in eastern Newfoundland. It reduced the communication from ten days – the time to deliver a message by ship – to a matter of minutes.

1848 California Gold Rush

Began when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad.

1846 Mexican–American War

Was conflict between the United States and Mexico in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory despite the 1836 Texas Revolution. Mexico accepted the loss of Texas and thereafter cited the Rio Grande as its national border.

1841 The shortest tenure in US presidential history

William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States. He died on his 32nd day in office of complications from pneumonia. John Tyler became president on the death of Harrison in April 1841.

1836 Van Buren elected President

The election of 1836 is principally remembered for strategy of the Whig party, which ran four candidates in different parts of the country in hopes that each would be popular enough to defeat Democrat Martin Van Buren in their respective regions.

 

1831 The Liberator newspaper

Was anti-slavery newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison, published weekly issues from Boston continuously for 35 years.

 

1830 Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail is a 2,000-mile (3,200 km) historic east-west large wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon.

1829 Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson State Park, South Carolina state park established in 1952 to honor the only South Carolina born president, who was born nearby in 1767.On the last day of the presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun."

1826 Former Presidents

Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other on Independence Day.

1824 John Quincy Adams

No candidate had received a majority of the Presidential Electoral votes, so election of the new president was decided by the House of Representatives in what was termed the Corrupt Bargain. 

1819 Financial crisis in the United States

The Panic of 1819 was the first major peacetime financial crisis in the United States followed by a general collapse of the American economy persisting through 1821.

1817 Harvard Law School

Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world.

1817 5th President of the United States

James Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, the third of them to die on Independence Day.

 

1814 Burning of Washington

On August 24, 1814, after defeating the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg, a British force led by Major General Robert Ross occupied Washington City and set fire to many public buildings.

1812 The war began

Between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, its North American colonies and its Indian allies.

1809 James Madison inaugurated

As the 4th President of the United States (1809–1817). He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for being instrumental in the drafting of the US Constitution and author of the US Bill of Rights.

1801 Thomas Jefferson elected President

The principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (1801–1809).

1797 US presidential election

Was the 3rd presidential election. George Washington refused a third term in office. Vice President John Adams from Massachusetts won the presidency.

1793 Yellow fever

A serious outbreak afflicted Philadelphia in 1793. The only known hosts of the virus are primates and several species of mosquito. In the 19th century, yellow fever was deemed one of the most dangerous infectious diseases.

1793 The Cotton gin was invented

It was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution. Eli Whitney's invention made upland short cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery in the United States.

1791 US Bill of Rights ratified

The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. The amendments were introduced by James Madison.

1789 The First President of the United States

The first inauguration of George Washington took place on April 30, 1789. The inaugural ceremony took place on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City.

1783 Treaty of Paris

Ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States of America. The Peace of Paris was the set of treaties which ended it. The United States gained more than it expected.

1776 United States Declaration of Independence

Was ratified on July 4, 1776. It announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states - the United States of America. The principal author of the Declaration is Thomas Jefferson.

1776 Great Fire of New York

Was a devastating fire that burned through the night of September 21. It broke out in the early days of the military occupation of the city by British forces during the American Revolutionary War.

1773 Boston Tea Party

Disguised as Indians, the demonstrators destroyed the entire supply of tea sent by the East India Company in defiance of the American boycott of tea carrying a tax the Americans had not authorized.

1770 Boston Massacre

Was an incident in which British Army soldiers killed five civilian men and injured six others. Along with Battle of Golden Hill and the Gaspée Affair, the events become the American Revolution.

 

1764 Sugar Act

"An act for the better securing and encouraging the trade of his Majesty’s sugar colonies in America." It is also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act.

1763 Pontiac's War

Is named after the Ottawa leader Pontiac, the most prominent of many native leaders in the conflict. The war began when Native Americans attacked a number of British forts and settlements.

1752 Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment

As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

1732 First Great Awakening

Was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America leaving a permanent impact on American religion.

1690 Schenectady massacre

Was a Canadien attack against the village of Schenectady in the colony of New York on 8 February 1690. It was related to the Beaver Wars.

 

1682 René-Robert Cavelier

Explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico, which is surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba.

1640 The Iroquois Wars

Also known as The Beaver or French and Iroquois Wars. The wars are considered one of the bloodiest series of conflicts in the history of North America.

 

1636 Harvard College

Founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as The "New College", is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.

1626 New Amsterdam

Served as seat of the Dutch colonial government. In June 1665, New Amsterdam was reincorporated under English law as New York City, named after the Duke of York, who was the brother of the English King Charles II.

 

1570 Iroquois Confederacy

The Five Nations (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk) are surviving and historically important Native American people who formed the Iroquois Confederacy. Tuscarora were accepted as the Sixth Nation after 1722.

 

1565 St. Augustine, Florida

San Agustín (Spanish) was founded in 1565 by Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and subsequently served as the capital of Spanish Florida for two hundred years.



1542 Mississippi River

Was discovered by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. It is the fourth longest and tenth largest river in the world. Lake Itasca is headwaters of the Mississippi.

1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano

Giovanni da Verrazzano was first European since the Norse expeditions to explore the Atlantic coast of North America.

1520 The Maya civilization

Spanish colonization of The Maya civilization began in 1520. The Maya calendar begins on a date equivalent to 11 August 3114 BC.

1513 Isthmus of Panama

In September 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed land between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, known as the Isthmus of Panama.

1492 Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus lands in the Bahamas. He named first land island in the New World as San Salvador.