14 May 1607 :English colonists establish Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, in what is now Virginia.
20 Aug 1619 :The first documented Africans arrive in the English colonies, marking the beginning of slavery in North America.
11 Nov 1620 :Pilgrims sign the Mayflower Compact, establishing a basis for self-government in the Plymouth Colony.
01 Nov 1621 :The Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians celebrate the first Thanksgiving, a feast of gratitude for the harvest.
08 Apr 1630 :Puritans found the Massachusetts Bay Colony, seeking religious freedom and establishing a theocratic society.
25 Mar 1634 :The Maryland Colony is founded as a haven for Catholics, promoting religious tolerance.
01 Jun 1636 :Roger Williams founds Rhode Island, advocating for religious freedom and separation of church and state.
08 Sep 1636 :Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, is founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
01 Jun 1664 :The English seize New Netherland from the Dutch, renaming it New York and expanding British control.
24 Jun 1675 :An armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native allies.
01 Jun 1676 :An armed rebellion in 1676 by Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against the rule of Governor William Berkeley
04 Mar 1682 :William Penn founds Pennsylvania, a colony based on Quaker principles of peace, equality, and religious tolerance.
01 Jun 1688 :The Glorious Revolution in England affects the American colonies, leading to changes in governance and power dynamics.
01 Jun 1689 :The first of six colonial wars fought between New France and the British colonies and their respective Native allies.
01 Feb 1692 :The Salem witch trials begin in Massachusetts, resulting in the unjust persecution and execution of innocent people accused of witchcraft.
01 Jun 1696 :The British government increases enforcement of the Navigation Acts, restricting colonial trade and sparking resentment.
01 Jun 1733 :An Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a tax on molasses, sugar, and rum imported from non-British foreign colonies.
01 Jan 1735 :John Peter Zenger, a New York printer, is acquitted of libel, establishing a precedent for freedom of the press.
19 Jun 1754 :Colonial representatives meet to discuss forming a unified front against the French and Native American threats.
15 May 1756 :Great Britain formally declares war on France, escalating the conflict in North America known as the French and Indian War.
10 Feb 1763 :The Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian War, with France ceding vast territories in North America to Great Britain.
07 Oct 1763 :The British government issues the Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.
05 Apr 1764 :The British Parliament passes the Sugar Act, increasing duties on imported sugar and other goods, angering colonists.
22 Mar 1765 :The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act, imposing a direct tax on the American colonies and causing widespread protests.
01 May 1765 :Required colonists to provide housing and supplies for British troops stationed in America, heightening tensions.
07 Oct 1765 :Delegates from nine colonies meet to protest the Stamp Act and assert their rights as British subjects.
29 Jun 1767 :The British Parliament passes the Townshend Acts, imposing new taxes on goods imported into the American colonies.
05 Mar 1770 :British soldiers fire on a crowd in Boston, killing several colonists and further inflaming tensions with Britain.
16 Dec 1773 :Colonists protest British taxation policies by dumping tea into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party.
01 Jun 1774 :British Parliament passes the Intolerable Acts in response to the Boston Tea Party, further restricting colonial rights.
05 Sep 1774 :Delegates from twelve colonies meet in Philadelphia to discuss grievances with Great Britain and coordinate a response.
19 Apr 1775 :The Battles of Lexington and Concord mark the start of the American Revolutionary War, these battles ignite armed conflict between American colonists and British forces.
10 May 1775 :The Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia, assuming responsibility for the war effort and eventually declaring independence.
17 Jun 1775 :The Battle of Bunker Hill takes place near Boston, resulting in a costly British victory but demonstrating colonial resolve.
09 Jan 1776 :Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense, advocating for American independence and influencing public opinion.
04 Jul 1776 :The Continental Congress formally adopts the Declaration of Independence, declaring the thirteen American colonies independent from British rule.
17 Oct 1777 :American forces win a crucial victory at Saratoga, leading to French recognition of American independence.
19 Oct 1781 :American and French forces defeat the British at Yorktown, effectively ending the Revolutionary War.
03 Sep 1783 :Great Britain formally recognizes American independence, ending the Revolutionary War.
01 Sep 1786 :Delegates from several states meet to discuss interstate commerce issues, leading to the call for a constitutional convention.
17 Sep 1787 :Delegates sign the United States Constitution, establishing a new form of government for the newly formed nation.
03 Mar 1791 :Farmers in western Pennsylvania rebel against a federal tax on whiskey, testing the authority of the new government.
15 Dec 1791 :The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, are ratified, guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms.
01 Jun 1793 :The cotton gin is invented by Eli Whitney, revolutionized the cotton industry in the United States.
19 Sep 1796 :George Washington delivers his Farewell Address, warning against political factions and foreign entanglements.
18 Jun 1798 :A series of laws passed by the Federalist Congress that restricted immigration and curtailed criticism of the government.
24 Feb 1803 :The Supreme Court establishes the principle of judicial review, asserting its power to declare laws unconstitutional.
02 May 1803 :The United States acquires a vast territory from France in the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the nation.
02 Mar 1807 :President Jefferson signs the Embargo Act, prohibiting American ships from trading with foreign ports, damaging the US economy.
18 Jun 1812 :The United States declares war on Great Britain due to trade restrictions and impressment of American sailors.
03 Mar 1820 :Congress passes the Missouri Compromise, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining balance.
02 Dec 1823 :President Monroe articulates the Monroe Doctrine, warning European powers against interfering in the affairs of the Americas.
28 May 1830 :Authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders.
01 Jan 1831 :Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion in Virginia, resulting in the deaths of dozens of white people and increased fear among slaveholders.
06 Mar 1836 :Texan defenders are defeated at the Alamo, fueling the Texas Revolution against Mexico.
04 Mar 1837 :A financial crisis known as the Panic of 1837 begins, leading to a major economic depression.
01 Jan 1838 :The Cherokee and other Native American tribes are forcibly removed from their lands in the southeastern United States.
29 Dec 1845 :The Republic of Texas is annexed by the United States, leading to tensions with Mexico.
25 Apr 1846 :Conflict arises over territory, leading to significant expansion for the U.S. southwest.
02 Feb 1848 :The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War, with Mexico ceding vast territories to the United States.
19 Jul 1848 :The Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention in the United States, is held in Seneca Falls, New York.
24 Jan 1849 :Gold is discovered in California, leading to a massive influx of people seeking fortune and accelerating western expansion.
18 Sep 1850 :The Fugitive Slave Act is passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, requiring citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves.
20 Mar 1852 :Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin, galvanizing anti-slavery sentiment and increasing sectional tensions.
30 May 1854 :The Kansas-Nebraska Act allows for popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery in the Kansas and Nebraska territories.
06 Mar 1857 :The Supreme Court rules in Dred Scott v. Sandford that slaves are not citizens and Congress cannot prohibit slavery in the territories.
16 Oct 1859 :John Brown leads a raid on Harpers Ferry, attempting to start a slave rebellion, further escalating tensions.
06 Nov 1860 :Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States, leading to the secession of several Southern states.
12 Apr 1861 :Confederate forces attack Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, initiating the American Civil War.
20 May 1862 :The Homestead Act provides settlers with 160 acres of public land in the West in exchange for improving it.
01 Jan 1863 :President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves free in Confederate-held territory during the Civil War.
01 Jul 1863 :Union forces defeat Confederate forces at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, marking a turning point in the Civil War.
19 Nov 1863 :Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address, dedicating the Gettysburg battlefield as a national cemetery.
02 Sep 1864 :Union General William Tecumseh Sherman leads his troops on a destructive march through Georgia, employing total war tactics.
09 Apr 1865 :Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, ending the Civil War.
14 Apr 1865 :President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
18 Dec 1865 :The 13th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery in the United States.
09 Jul 1866 :The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, granting citizenship and equal protection under the law.
02 Mar 1867 :Congress passes the Reconstruction Acts, dividing the South into military districts and outlining the process for readmission to the Union.
10 May 1869 :The first transcontinental railroad is completed, connecting the East and West Coasts of the United States.
03 Mar 1873 :A federal act that prohibited the circulation of obscene literature and birth control information, reflecting Victorian era morals.
25 Jun 1876 :Native American forces, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, defeat General Custer and his troops at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
02 Mar 1877 :An unwritten deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election, resulted in the withdrawal of federal troops.
06 May 1882 :The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibits Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States.
04 May 1886 :A labor protest at Haymarket Square in Chicago turns violent, leading to a backlash against the labor movement.
08 Feb 1887 :The Dawes Act authorizes the federal government to break up tribal lands and distribute them to individual Native Americans.
02 Jul 1890 :Congress passes the Sherman Antitrust Act, attempting to regulate monopolies and promote competition.
29 Dec 1890 :US Army kills hundreds of Lakota people, primarily women and children, at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota.
06 Jul 1892 :A labor dispute at the Carnegie Steel Company's Homestead plant in Pennsylvania turns violent.
18 May 1896 :The Supreme Court upholds segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson, establishing the 'separate but equal' doctrine.
15 Feb 1898 :The USS Maine explodes in Havana harbor, contributing to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War.
25 Apr 1898 :The U.S. defeats Spain, acquiring territories including Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, marking a shift in global power.
06 Sep 1901 :President William McKinley is shot by an anarchist and dies eight days later; Theodore Roosevelt becomes president.
30 Jun 1906 :The Pure Food and Drug Act is passed, prohibiting the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs.
04 Mar 1913 :Marking the beginning of the 'New Freedom' era, prioritizing economic and social reforms.
28 Jun 1914 :Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated, triggering World War I; US initially remains neutral.
04 Aug 1914 :President Woodrow Wilson declares the United States neutral in the escalating European conflict.
07 May 1915 :A German U-boat sinks the British passenger liner Lusitania, killing over 1,000 people, including Americans.
16 Jan 1917 :Germany proposes a military alliance with Mexico against the U.S., intercepted and published, further swaying US sentiment.
06 Apr 1917 :The United States joins World War I, siding with the Allied Powers against Germany and its allies.
18 May 1917 :The Selective Service Act is passed, authorizing the federal government to raise a national army for World War I.
08 Jan 1918 :President Wilson outlines his Fourteen Points, a vision for a post-war world with lasting peace.
01 Jun 1918 :The tide turns for the Allies as the German offensive is halted, marking a turning point in WWI.
28 Jun 1919 :The Treaty of Versailles is signed, officially ending World War I, but also laying the groundwork for future conflicts.
16 Jan 1920 :The 18th Amendment goes into effect, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.
18 Aug 1920 :The 19th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, granting women the right to vote in the United States.
26 May 1924 :Limits immigration based on national origins, especially targeting Southern and Eastern Europeans.
10 Jul 1925 :John Scopes is tried for teaching evolution in Tennessee, highlighting the clash between science and religion.
29 Oct 1929 :The Stock Market crashes on 'Black Tuesday', triggering the Great Depression, a severe economic downturn in the United States.
20 Feb 1933 :The 20th Amendment to the Constitution ratified, changing the dates of presidential and congressional terms.
04 Mar 1933 :President Roosevelt implements the First New Deal to combat the Great Depression with reforms and job creation.
05 Dec 1933 :The 21st Amendment is ratified, repealing Prohibition and ending the ban on alcohol.
14 Aug 1935 :The Social Security Act is signed into law, establishing a system of old-age benefits for workers.
01 Sep 1939 :Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe; U.S. declares neutrality again.
16 Sep 1940 :First peacetime conscription in US history.
11 Mar 1941 :Allows U.S. to provide military aid to Allies without immediate payment.
07 Dec 1941 :Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, prompting the United States to enter World War II against the Axis powers.
19 Feb 1942 :Authorizes the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
30 May 1943 :American military campaign to expel occupying Japanese forces from the Aleutian Islands.
06 Jun 1944 :Allied forces invade Normandy, France, marking the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.
16 Dec 1944 :Germany launches a major counteroffensive in Belgium, creating a bulge in the Allied lines.
19 Feb 1945 :Marines land on Iwo Jima, facing fierce resistance.
08 May 1945 :Victory in Europe Day; Germany surrenders, ending World War II in Europe.
06 Aug 1945 :The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, hastening the end of World War II.
09 Aug 1945 :The U.S. drops a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
02 Sep 1945 :Victory over Japan Day; Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II.
25 Jun 1950 :North Korea invades South Korea, leading to the Korean War and US intervention to contain communism.
17 May 1954 :The Supreme Court rules that state-sponsored segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.
01 Dec 1955 :Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, spurring the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
16 Oct 1962 :The US discovers Soviet missiles in Cuba, leading to a tense standoff and near nuclear war.
22 Nov 1963 :President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas; Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president.
02 Jul 1964 :Landmark legislation outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
08 Mar 1965 :US Marines land in South Vietnam, marking a major escalation of American involvement in the Vietnam War.
06 Aug 1965 :This act outlaws discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War.
04 Apr 1968 :Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, sparking riots across the country.
06 Jun 1968 :Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles after winning the California Democratic primary.
20 Jul 1969 :Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
15 Aug 1969 :The Woodstock Music and Art Fair takes place in New York, becoming a symbol of the counterculture movement.
17 Jun 1972 :Burglars break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, leading to the Watergate scandal.
22 Jan 1973 :The Supreme Court recognizes a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, legalizing it nationwide.
27 Jan 1973 :A ceasefire agreement is signed in Paris, officially ending US involvement in the Vietnam War.
06 Oct 1973 :A war fought by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel, which had major implications.
09 Aug 1974 :Richard Nixon resigns from the presidency due to the Watergate scandal; Gerald Ford becomes president.
04 Jul 1976 :The United States celebrates its 200th anniversary of independence.
04 Nov 1979 :Iranian students seize the US embassy in Tehran, taking American diplomats hostage for 444 days.
20 Jan 1981 :The Iranian hostage crisis ends as the American hostages are released.
28 Jan 1986 :The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
09 Nov 1989 :The Berlin Wall falls, symbolizing the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany.
17 Jan 1991 :The US leads a coalition to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in the Persian Gulf War.
26 Feb 1993 :A truck bomb explodes in the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring over a thousand, signalling early stage terrorism on US soil.
01 Jan 1994 :NAFTA comes into effect, creating a free trade zone between the US, Canada, and Mexico.
19 Apr 1995 :A domestic terrorist bomb destroys the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, claiming 168 lives, domestic terrorism emerges.
19 Dec 1998 :President Bill Clinton is impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice.
01 Jan 2000 :Worldwide concern as computers approach the year 2000, fears abound of massive system failures, minimal disruption occurs.
11 Sep 2001 :Terrorists associated with al-Qaeda hijack and crash four airplanes, killing nearly 3,000 people at World Trade Center and Pentagon.
07 Oct 2001 :US and coalition forces invade Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, aimed at removing the Taliban and dismantling al-Qaeda.
20 Mar 2003 :The US and coalition forces invade Iraq, initiating the Iraq War, aimed at removing Saddam Hussein and discovering weapons of mass destruction.
29 Aug 2005 :Hurricane Katrina devastates the US Gulf Coast, causing widespread destruction and a major humanitarian crisis, particularly in New Orleans.
15 Sep 2008 :Investment bank Lehman Brothers collapses, triggering a global financial crisis, leading to bank bailouts and economic recession.
02 May 2011 :US Navy SEALs kill Osama bin Laden in a raid on his compound in Pakistan, marking a major victory in the War on Terror.