American History Timeline

1587 Aug 18 Birth of Virginia Dare, First Child Born in the Americas
Raleigh had since decided that the Chesapeake Bay area was a better site for settlement, and he hired Simon Fernandes, a Portuguese pilot familiar with the area, to transport the colonist...
1620 Sep 16 The Mayflower Departs from Southampton, England
Initially, the plan was for the voyage to be made in two vessels, the other being the smaller Speedwell, which had transported some of the Pilgrims embarking on the voyage from Delfshaven...
1620 Nov 9 Pilgrims Aboard the Mayflower Sight Land
After reorganization, the final sixty-six day voyage was made by the Mayflower alone, leaving from a site near to the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England on September 6/16. With 102 pass...
1620 Nov 21 The Mayflower Drops Anchor at the Tip of Cape Cod
The intended destination was an area near the Hudson River, in "North Virginia". However the ship was forced far off-course by inclement weather and drifted well north of the intended Vir...
1623 Nov 29 Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony Proclaims a "Day of Thanksgiving" Often Cited as the First Official Thanksgiving Celebration
The Pilgrims did not hold a true Thanksgiving until 1623, after a switch from communal farming to privatized farming finally resulted in a larger harvest. Irregular Thanksgivings continue...
1718 Nov 22 Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach is Killed
The plan to surprise Teach and his crew worked; the pirates were apparently taken aback at his assault. Teach rallied his men and the two groups fought across the deck, which was already ...
1734 Dec Paul Revere Is Born
Revere was likely born in very late December, 1734, in Boston's North End, the son of a French Huguenot father and a Boston mother. Revere had numerous siblings with whom he appears to ha...
1754
to 1763
The French & Indian War
The Seven Years War (1689-1763) was a massive conflict involving Austria, England, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Sweden. The conflict was played out in Europe, India, and North Amer...
1760 Paul Revere Joins 'The Sons Of Liberty'
In Boston in early summer of 1765 a group of shopkeepers and artisans who called themselves The Loyal Nine, began preparing for agitation against the Stamp Act. As that group grew, it cam...
1770 Paul Revere Purchases His North End Home
As is typical of early Massachusetts Bay timber construction, the main block of the three-story dwelling consisted of four structural bays demarcated by heavy framing posts and overhead b...
1770 Mar 5 Boston Massacre
American opposition to the British authorities kept steadily rising as assemblies were dissolved, the houses of citizens searched, and troops distributed in increasing numbers among the c...
1773 Dec 16 Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an act of direct action protest by the American colonists against the British Government in which they destroyed many crates of tea belonging to the British East ...
1774 Paul Revere Becomes A Member of The First Patriot Intelligence Network, 'The Mechanics'
The first Patriot intelligence network on record was a secret group in Boston known as the "mechanics." The group apparently grew out of the old Sons of Liberty organization that had succ...
1774 Paul Revere Contributes Engravings to the 'Royal American Magazine'
The Royal American Magazine, or Universal Repository of Instruction and Amusement (January 1774 - March 1775) was a short-lived monthly periodical published in Boston, Massachusetts by Is...
1774 Sep 5
to 1774 Oct 26
 The First Continental Congress
The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, from September 5, to October 26, 1774. Carpenter's Hall was also the seat of the Pennsylvania Congress. All of the ...
1775 Paul Revere Is Sent To Philadelphia
The story is that Captain Morris did not have the public spirit Morris rather doubtfully hoped he had. he did not wish any ingenious Yankee setting up in competition with himself, even in...
1775 Mar 23 Patrick Henry Delivers "Give Me Liberty" Speech
Henry went on to serve as a member of the first Virginia Committee of Correspondence, which facilitated inter-colonial cooperation, and as a delegate to the Continental Congresses of 177...
1775 Apr 18 The Ride Of Paul Revere
The role for which he is most remembered today was as a night-time messenger on horseback just before the battles of Lexington and Concord. His famous "Midnight Ride" occurred on the nigh...
1775 Apr 19 Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachuse...
1775 May 10 Second Continental Congress
In May 1775, with Redcoats once again storming Boston, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. The questions were different this time. First and foremost, how would t...
1775 Jun 17 Battle of Bunker Hill
On the night of June 16, 1775, a detail of American troops acting under orders from Artemas Ward moved out of their camp, carrying picks, shovels, and guns. They entrenched themselves on ...
1776 Jul 4 United States Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve th...
1776 Nov Paul Revere is Stationed at Castle Island, Massachusetts
The island got its name from the fact that every fort located here was always informally known as "The Castle." Quickly appreciated for its strategic location for the protection of Bos...
1776 Dec 26 Washington Crosses the Delaware
Final preparation for the attack was begun on December 23. On December 24 Washington ordered that each man be provided with three days rations and that they keep their blankets handy. He ...
1777 Jul 2
to 1777 Jul 6
 Battle of Ticonderoga
The 1777 Battle of Ticonderoga occurred between 2 and 6 July 1777 at Fort Ticonderoga, near the southern end of Lake Champlain in the state of New York. In military maneuvers that more cl...
1777 Sep 27 Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the Capital of the United States for One Day
Lancaster was named after Lancashire, England, and its symbol is the red rose, from the House of Lancaster. In the period from the 1760's through the early 1800's, this was the largest in...
1780 Sep 21 Benedict Arnold Commits Treason
Arnold and André finally met on September 21 at Joshua Hett Smith's house. On the morning of September 22, James Livingston, the colonel in charge of the outpost at Verplanck's Point, fir...
1787 Paul Revere Opens Bell Foundry In Boston
Though best-known for his "midnight" ride and his work in silver and gold, several of Revere's most significant accomplishments came later in his life. Eager to begin manufacturing other ...
1787 Sep 17 United States Constitution Signed by Members of the Constitutional Convention
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. The first three Articles of the Constitution establish the rules and separate powers of the three...
1789 Sep 2 The United States Department of the Treasury is Established
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government r...
1801 Paul Revere Opens The Revere Copper Company
The Revere Copper Company was North America's first rolled copper mill. It was started by Paul Revere in 1801 in Canton, Massachusetts and developed a commercially viable process for manu...
1805 Dec 23 Joseph Smith Jr. Is Born
Born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, to Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith Jr. grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Though in his y...
1809 Feb 12 Abraham Lincoln is Born
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, two uneducated farmers, in a one-room log cabin on the 348-acre (1.4 km2) Sinking Spring Farm, in southea...
1810 Jul 5 P. T. Barnum Is Born
Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut, the son of inn keeper, tailor and store-keeper Philo Barnum (1778-1826) and second wife Irene Taylor, who had ten children. He was the third great ...
1811 Nov 7 Battle of Tippecanoe
The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811, between United States forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and forces of Tecumseh's growing Amer...
1812 Jun 18
to 1815 Mar 23
 War of 1812
The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire (particularly Great Britain and British North America), was fought from 1812 to 1815. There were several im...
1814 Dec 24 The Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, in Ghent, currently in Belgium, was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingd...
1818 May 10 Paul Revere Dies
Revere died on May 10, 1818, at the age of 83, at his home on Charter Street in Boston. He is buried in the Old Granary Burying Ground on Tremont Street. Paul Revere appears on the $5,00...
1820 Nov 20 A 20-Ton Sperm Whale Sinks the Whaling Ship Essex
On 20 November, The Essex sighted a school of whales, and all three boats set off in pursuit. But Chase had bad luck again, as a whale immediately holed his boat. Cutting the line on the ...
1826 Joseph Smith Jr. Is Put On Trial As A 'Disorderly Person'
The evidence from published accounts and public records seem to allow one to be fairly certain in concluding that JS was detained and brought before Judge Neely under the disorderly perso...
1827 Jan 18 Joseph Smith Jr. Elopes With Emma Hale
Emma first met her future husband, Joseph Smith, Jr., in 1825. Smith lived near Palmyra, New York, but boarded with the Hales in Harmony while he was employed in a company of men hoping t...
1829 Apr 5 Joseph Smith Jr. Meets Oliver Cowdery
Cowdery met Joseph Smith, Jr. on April 5, 1829, (one year and a day before the official founding of the church) and heard from him how he had received the golden plates containing ancient...
1830 Mar 26 Book Of Mormon Is Published
In late March of 1830, the first copies of the Book of Mormon were published, and the first official missionary work began, as Joseph Smith instructed his brother, Samuel Harrison Smith, ...
1831 Jan Joseph Smith Jr. Moves To Kirtland, Ohio
As the nation's population westered to more distant frontiers, Joseph decided to move his church from its New York origins to northern Ohio and the community of Kirtland Mills. This strat...
1831 Aug 21
to 1831 Aug 22
 Nat Turner's Rebellion
It was Sunday, August 21, deep in the woods near the Travis house at a place called Cabin Pond. Around a crackling fire Turner’s confederates feasted on roast pig and apple brandy. With t...
1835 Aug 10 P. T. Barnum Begins Career As Showman
In 1835 P. T. Barnum began as a showman with his purchase and exhibition of a blind and almost completely paralyzed slave woman, Joice Heth, claimed by Barnum to have been the nurse of Ge...
1835 Aug 25
to 1835 Aug 31
 The Great Moon Hoax
During the final week of August 1835, a long article appeared in serial form on the front page of the New York Sun. It bore the headline: GREAT ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES LATELY MADE ...
1836 Mar 27 Joseph Smith Jr. Dedicates The Kirtland Temple
The historic building stands on a hill south of the east fork of the Chagrin River, about three miles southeast of Willoughby, Ohio, and about nine miles southwest of Painesville, about s...
1836 Nov 2 The Mormon Community Forms The Kirtland Safety Society
A bank illegally organized by Joseph Smith and other LDS leaders in 1836, The Kirtland Safety Society, failed in November 1837, loosing “a hornet's nest. Creditors swarmed in upon J...
1838 Dec 1
to 1839 Apr 6
 Joseph Smith Jr. Is Imprisoned In Liberty Jail
The Historic Liberty Jail is where Joseph Smith and five other Mormon leaders were held from December 1838 to April 1839. They were helpless while knowing that the Latter-day Saints were ...