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History Of The USA And Canada

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Introduction

Some Historical Periods

Colonial: Between the founding of the American colonies and the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Antebellum: Before the American Civil War began in 1861. The word is also often used to refer to pre-Civil War mansions in the South.

Prohibition: The period of time during which alcohol sales were prohibited in the USA, from 1920 to 1933.

Historical Events

700	The Mound Builder culture in what is now the upper Midwest constructs numerous earth mounds in the form of animal effigies.

1000	Leif Ericsson the Viking discovers North America.

1200-1300

The Anasazi culture at Mesa Verde and the surrounding areas is at its height.

1492	Christopher Columbus discovers the West Indies.
1497	John Cabot discovers the island of Newfoundland.

1540	Francisco de Coronado begins explorations in North America.
8-Sep-1565	Pedro Menendez de Aviles founds St Augustine, Florida, the oldest permanent European settlement in the USA.
1585	Raleigh claims the East Coast from Cape Cod to Florida for England; "The Lost Colony".
1595 ?	Birth of Pocahontas.

1607	Virginia colonised, Jamestown founded.
1608	Québec founded.
1614	New York settled by the Dutch as the New Netherlands.
1620	The Pilgrim Fathers land at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
4-May-1626	Native Americans sell Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth and buttons.
1632	Maryland colonised by England.
1636	Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, the oldest institution of higher education in the USA, is founded.
1639	Connecticut breaks away from Massachusetts.
1644	Rhode Island breaks away from Massachusetts.

1663	Founding of the North and South Carolina English colonies.
1664	New York taken by the English from the Dutch.
1664	Colonising of New Jersey by England.
Early 1670's	La Salle explores the Ohio River.
1672	Joliet and Marquette explore the upper Mississippi.
1681	Founding of the Pennsylvania colony.

1701	Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut is founded as the Collegiate School in Branford, Connecticut. It moved to Killingworth in 1702, to Saybrook in 1707 and to its present site in 1716. It adopted its present name in 1718.
1704	Delaware breaks away from Pennsylvania (but does not become a separate state until after Independence).
1713	The King of Spain grants monopoly of the American slave trade to England.
14-Sep-1716	The first lighthouse in the USA, in Boston Harbour, comes into service.
1733	Commencement of the settling of Georgia as a military buffer between the English colonies and those of France and Spain.
1740	The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia is founded by Benjamin Franklin as the Charity School. In 1750 it was renamed the Academy of Philadelphia and in 1755 it was renamed the College of Pennsylvania. It adopted its present name in 1779.
1746	Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey is founded as the College of New Jersey in Elizabeth. It moved to Newark in 1747 and to its current location in 1756. It adopted its current name in 1896.

1750	French fur trade at its height, extending in a V-shape across eastern and central Canada through the Ohio and Mississippi valleys to present-day Louisiana.
1750	English colonies hemmed in by the Appalachian Mountains and the French.
1750	Start of the war between the French and English colonies.
1754	Columbia University, New York City is founded as King's College. Its name was changed to Columbia College when it reopened after the American War Of Independence. It was originally located in lower Manhattan but moved in 1897 to Morningside Heights on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
1754	Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire is founded as Moor's Indian Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut. It moved to its present site and adopted its present name in 1769.
1759	Québec captured by the English from the French.
1763	Pontiac's Conspiracy; failure of the Native Americans to destroy British power.
3-Sep-1763	The Treaty of Paris: Canada and French territory east of the Mississippi is ceded from France to Britain; Florida is ceded from Spain to Britain; Louisiana (in its old sense, meaning most of the west) is sold by France to Spain.
1764	Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island is founded as Rhode Island College in Warren, Rhode Island. It moved to Providence in 1770 and adopted its present name in 1804.
1763-1767	Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon survey the original Mason-Dixon Line.
16-Dec-1773	The Boston Tea Party.
1775	Daniel Boone creates the Wilderness Road into Kentucky.
1775	First action in the War of Independence.
4-Jul-1776	American Declaration of Independence.
17-Sep-1776	The Presidio of San Francisco is founded as Spanish fort.
1783	Britain recognises American Independence.
21-Sep-1784	The first daily newspaper in the US begins publication in Pennsylvania.
25-May-1787	The Constitutional Convention convenes in Philadelphia.
17-Sep-1787	The US Constitution is adopted.
7-Dec-1787	Delaware becomes the first of the original thirteen states of the USA.
12-Dec-1787	Pennsylvania becomes the second of the original thirteen states of the USA.
18-Dec-1787	New Jersey becomes the third of the original thirteen states of the USA.
2-Jan-1788	Georgia becomes the fourth of the original thirteen states of the USA.
9-Jan-1788	Connecticut becomes the fifth of the original thirteen states of the USA.
6-Feb-1788	Massachusetts becomes the sixth of the original thirteen states of the USA.
28-Apr-1788	Maryland becomes the seventh of the original thirteen states of the USA.
23-May-1788	South Carolina becomes the eighth of the original thirteen states of the USA.
21-Jun-1788	New Hampshire becomes the ninth of the original thirteen states of the USA.
25-Jun-1788	Virginia becomes the tenth of the original thirteen states of the USA.
26-Jul-1788	New York State becomes the eleventh of the original thirteen states of the USA.
1788	George Washington is elected as the first president of the USA.
30-Apr-1789	George Washington is inaugurated as the first president of the USA.
21-Nov-1789	North Carolina becomes the twelfth of the original thirteen states of the USA.
29-May-1790	Rhode Island becomes the thirteenth of the original thirteen states of the USA.
4-Mar-1791	Vermont becomes the 14th state of the USA.
15-Dec-1791	The first ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States are ratified as the Bill of Rights.
1-Jun-1792	Kentucky becomes the 15th state of the USA.
1793	Invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney; allows one slave to pick fifty pounds of cotton per day compared with one pound previously.
1-Jun-1796	Tennessee becomes the 16th state of the USA.

1800	Washington DC becomes the capital of the USA (the capital was previously Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
30-Apr-1803	The Louisiana Purchase, the purchase of most of the land between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains from France, more than doubles the size of the USA.
1-Mar-1803	Ohio becomes the 17th state of the USA.
May-1804 to Sep-1806	Lewis and Clark Expedition - the Corps of Discovery.
1811 and 1812	Three massive earthquakes occur in the area of New Madrid, Missouri. Regarded as being amongst the most dramatic natural disasters to affect the North American continent in recent times, these earthquakes are felt a thousand miles away, to change the route of the Mississippi River, and create a new natural lake in Tennessee.
30-Apr-1812	Louisiana becomes the 18th state of the USA.
18-Jun-1812 to 16-Feb-1815	War of 1812 between USA and Britain, including the Battle of New Orleans (8-Jan-1815).
14-Sep-1814	Francis Scott Key writes "The Star-Spangled Banner".
11-Dec-1816	Indiana becomes the 19th state of the USA.
10-Dec-1817	Mississippi becomes the 20th state of the USA.
3-Dec-1818	Illinois becomes the 21st state of the USA.
14-Dec-1819	Alabama becomes the 22nd state of the USA.
15-Mar-1820	Maine becomes the 23rd state of the USA.
1820	The Missouri Compromise attempts to resolve the question of slavery in the Louisiana Purchase: slavery is permitted in Missouri but prohibited forever in the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36o30' parallel.
1819-1821	Acquisition of Florida from Spain.
10-Aug-1821	Missouri becomes the 24th state of the USA.
14-Apr-1828	The first edition of Webster's Dictionary is published.
1833	Slavery outlawed in Canada.
1836	Texas achieves independence from Mexico; Battle of the Alamo (Feb and Mar-1836).
1836	Whitman Mission established near present-day Walla Walla, Washington State.
15-Jun-1836	Arkansas becomes the 25th state of the USA.
26-Jan-1837	Michigan becomes the 26th state of the USA.
1840's	John Charles Frémont explores vast areas of the American west.
1842	The first emigrant wagon train reaches Oregon after traversing the two thousand mile long Oregon Trail.
3-Mar-1845	Florida becomes the 27th state of the USA.
29-Dec-1845	Texas becomes the 28th state of the USA.
1846	Acquisition of Oregon Territory (present-day Oregon, Washington State and Idaho) by the USA from Britain.
16-Jun-1846	The first baseball game is played.
28-Dec-1846	Iowa becomes the 29th state of the USA.
1847	Acquisition of California.
1847	Massacre carried out by Native Americans at the Whitman Mission in present-day Washington State.
24-Jul-1847	Mormons, lead by Brigham Young, enter the valley of the Great Salt Lake in present-day Utah.
1848	The USA makes significant territorial gains from Mexico.
24-Jan-1848	Gold discovered in California at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento: the start of the California Gold Rush.
29-May-1848	Wisconsin becomes the 30th state of the USA.
14-Sep-1848	Alexander Stewart opens the first department store in the USA.
7-Nov-1849	Construction of the world's first long-span wire-cable suspension bridge is completed across the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia. (Another source quotes a date of 1846 for this bridge's completion.)

1850	A series of compromises, known as the Compromise of 1850 or the Omnibus Act, attempts to resolve the question of slavery and supersedes the Missouri Compromise of 1820: the slave trade in the District of Columbia is abolished; California is admitted to the Union as a free state; the Fugitive Slave Law provides for the return of runaway slaves to their masters (a very unpopular measure with abolitionists in the North); the territory east of California ceded to the United States by Mexico is divided into the territories of New Mexico (present-day New Mexico and Arizona) and Utah, and is opened to settlement by both slaveholders and antislavery settlers; Texas, already a member of the Union and a slave state, is awarded $10 million to settle its claims to adjoining territory. The resulting increased tension between free and slave states eventually leads to the American Civil War.
9-Sep-1850	California becomes the 31st state of the USA.
1851	Cotton now accounts for 60% of all US exports (by value).
4-May-1851	A major fire occurs in San Francisco.
25-Apr-1854	Gadsden Purchase: a strip of land in southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico was purchased by the USA from Mexico; part of the Southern Pacific Railroad's route was later built through this area.
30-May-1854	The Kansas-Nebraska Act is passed, admitting the states of Kansas and Nebraska to the Union, and allowing the inhabitants of these states to determine for themselves the question of the legality of slaveholding, thus superseding the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and leading to increased tension leading up to the American Civil War. The creation of Kansas and Nebraska as states encourages the building of the first transcontinental railroad through this area rather than via a more southerly route.
1856	The first railway bridge across the Mississippi River is constructed at Davenport, Iowa.
1-May-1858	Minnesota becomes the 32nd state of the USA.
27-Oct-1858	Macy's opens its first department store, on 6th Avenue, New York City.
1859	The world's first oil well is drilled at Titusville, Pennsylvania.
16-Oct-1859	Harper's Ferry raid; John Brown subsequently hanged.
1859	A and P, the first chain store in the USA, is founded in New York City.
14-Feb-1859	Oregon becomes the 33rd state of the USA.
3-Apr-1860	The Pony Express commences its mail service between St Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California (mail was carried on to San Francisco by boat).
4-Mar-1861	Abraham Lincoln becomes President of the USA.
12-Apr-1861	American Civil War begins.
29-Jan-1861	Kansas becomes the 34th state of the USA.
21-Jul-1861	Battle of Bull Run/Manassas.
26-Oct-1861	With the completion of the transcontinental telegraph line, the Pony Express ceases operation after eighteen months.
1-Jan-1863	The Homestead Act becomes effective, entitling anyone to the ownership of a quarter section (160 acres) of public land provided the land is settled on or cultivated for five years.
20-Jun-1863	West Virginia becomes the 35th state of the USA (having previously been part of Virginia).
1-Jul-1863	Battle of Gettysburg.
2-Sep-1864	Federal army enters Atlanta.
31-Oct-1864	Nevada becomes the 36th state of the USA.
29-Nov-1864	Sand Creek Massacre, eastern Colorado. About 130 members of a peaceful group of Cheyenne and Arapaho are killed by the Third Colorado Cavalry led by Colonel John Chivington, in revenge for attacks on settlers and stage routes by Native Americans. Three-quarters of those killed are women and children.
22-Dec-1864	General Sherman captures Savannah.
1865	Cornell University, Ithaca, New York State is founded.
1865	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts is founded.
9-Apr-1865	General Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia; American Civil War ends.
14-Apr-1865	Abraham Lincoln assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre, Washington DC.
18-Oct-1865	Slavery abolished. According to another source the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery, was ratified on 6-Dec-1865.
1867	Russia sells Alaska to the USA for $7 million.
1-Mar-1867	Nebraska becomes the 37th state of the USA.
1-Jul-1867	Dominion of Canada established: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and the Province of Québec become the four original Canadian provinces.
9-Jul-1868	The fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States grants citizenship to former slaves.
1869	Ulysses S Grant becomes President of the USA.
1869	An expedition led by John Wesley Powell completes the first passage of the Grand Canyon.
10-May-1869	Construction of the transcontinental railroad is completed - Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory, Utah.
3-Feb-1870	The fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States establishes the principle that none of the States can deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, and that the right of citizens of the United States to vote cannot be denied because of their race or colour.
15-Jul-1870	Manitoba becomes the fifth Canadian province.
15-Jul-1870	Northwest Territories becomes part of Canada.
8 to 10-Oct-1871	The Great Fire of Chicago burns for three and a half days, destroys 15,000 buildings.
20-Jul-1871	British Columbia becomes the sixth Canadian province.
1872	Yellowstone, the world's first National Park, is established.
1-Jul-1873	Prince Edward Island becomes the seventh Canadian province.
1-Sep-1873	The San Francisco cable car system commences operation.
1876	Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.
1876	Completion of Canada's Intercolonial Railway (now the Canadian National Railway), connecting New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to Montréal.
25-Jun-1876	Custer's Last Stand - defeat of General George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
1-Aug-1876	Colorado becomes the 38th state of the USA.
1878	Edison invents incandescent electric lighting.
26-Oct-1881	Shootout at the OK Corral, Tombstone, Arizona.
24-May-1883	New York City's Brooklyn Bridge is opened.
1885	Completion of the 2891 mile long Canadian Pacific Railroad, between Montréal and Vancouver, with the driving of the last spike at Craigellachie in British Columbia.
1885	Stanford University, Stanford, California (between San Francisco and San Jose) is founded.
1886	All Native Americans now in reservations.
1886/87	An extremely harsh winter in the West causes the death of thousands of cattle and sheep and leads ranchers to change from longhorns to Herefords and from open range ranching to fences.
2-Nov-1889	North Dakota becomes the 39th state of the USA and South Dakota becomes the 40th state.
8-Nov-1889	Montana becomes the 41st state of the USA.
11-Nov-1889	Washington State becomes the 42nd state of the USA.
1890	Yosemite National Park, California is established.
3-Jul-1890	Idaho becomes the 43rd state of the USA.
10-Jul-1890	Wyoming becomes the 44th state of the USA.
29-Dec-1890	Wounded Knee Massacre, South Dakota - the last major conflict between Native Americans and Europeans. Soldiers of the Seventh Cavalry kill some two hundred unarmed Sioux men, women and children. Those who attempt to escape the battle are pursued and killed.
1894	Milton S. Hershey produces his first chocolate bars at a factory near Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
1895	An electric railway locomotive is first used in the USA.
17-Aug-1896	Gold discovered in the Klondike, Yukon Territory.
4-Jan-1896	Utah becomes the 45th state of the USA.
1897	Hawaii annexed by the US.
1898	Spanish-American war (over Cuba).
1-Jul-1898	Spanish-American war: Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba.
13-Jun-1898	Yukon Territory becomes part of Canada.
14-Sep-1899	In New York City, Henry Bliss is the first person killed by a car.

1900	A hurricane devastates Galveston, Texas, with the loss of about 6000 lives.
30-Apr-1900	In the town of Vaughan, Mississippi, a locomotive engineer (engine driver) by the name of Casey Jones loses his life in a crash and steps into history.
17-Dec-1903	Wright brothers' first powered flight at Kitty Hawk.
27-Oct-1904	The first section of the New York City subway (underground railway) system opens.
1-Sep-1905	Alberta becomes the eighth Canadian province and Saskatchewan becomes the ninth province.
1906	Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado is established.
18-Apr-1906	San Francisco earthquake (magnitude estimated at 7.9) and subsequent fire destroys 28,000 buildings and kills over 600 people.
16-Nov-1907	Oklahoma becomes the 46th state of the USA.
1908	Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona is established.
1909	Zion National Park, Utah is established.
1909	Henry Ford's Model T starts production.
17-Sep-04-1911	C.P. Rogers begins the first transcontinental airplane flight. He travels from New York City to Pasadena in 82 hours.
6-Jan-1912	New Mexico becomes the 47th state of the USA.
14-Feb-1912	Arizona becomes the 48th state of the USA.
1914	The first electric traffic light signal in the United States is installed in Cleveland, Ohio.
1916	The first hamburger fast-food chain, White Castle, is created by J. Walter Anderson of Wichita, Kansas. The chain is still operating today.
6-Sep-1916	Piggly Wiggly opens the USA's first self-service supermarket in Memphis, Tennessee. The Piggly Wiggly web site has an interesting page about the history of the company (external link checked Apr-99).
6-Apr-1917	The USA enters the First World War.
6-Dec-1917	A massive explosion rocks the harbour of the Halifax, Nova Scotia. Caused by the collision of two ships, one of which was carrying a large amount of explosive material, the explosion kills over 1500 people outright.
1919	First direct flight across the Atlantic.
1919	Destruction of the cotton industry by the boll weevil infestation.
16-Jan-1919	Prohibition is introduced by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The National Prohibition Act (often called the Volstead Act after the congressman who introduced it), enforcing prohibition, became law on 16-Jan-1920.
18-Aug-1920	The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives women the right to vote.
8-Sep-1920	The first US air mail service begins operations.
28-Apr-1922	WOI in Ames, Iowa becomes the USA's first licenced educational radio station.
1924	First use of a diesel railway locomotive in the USA.
4-Nov-1924	The USA's first female state governor is elected in Wyoming.
1927	The 7-Eleven convenience store chain is founded.
10-Dec-1927	The Grand Ole Opry country music show makes its first radio broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee.
1929	Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming is established.
29-Oct-1929	Wall Street Crash; start of the Great Depression.
1930	Microsoft's Encarta gives this date for the opening of the USA's first supermarket, King Kullen, in Queens, New York City. However, a Piggly Wiggly self-service supermarket opened in Memphis Tennessee in 1916 (see that entry).
1933	Franklin D Roosevelt becomes President of the USA.
May-1933	The Tennessee Valley Authority is established.
5-Dec-1933	The Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States repeals the Eighteenth Amendment, ending prohibition.
18-Apr-1934	The world's first laundrette (coin laundry) opens in Fort Worth, Texas.
1936	Construction of the Hoover Dam is completed.
1936	Construction of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge is completed.
1937	Construction of the Bonneville Dam is completed.
26-May-1937	The Golden Gate Bridge is opened for public use.
Late 1930's	The Dustbowl era.
7-Dec-1941	The Japanese attack on American fleet at Pearl Harbour takes place.
8-Dec-1941	The USA enters the Second World War.
1942	Construction of the Grand Coulee Dam is completed.
1945	Harry Truman becomes President of the USA.
1948	Harry and Esther Snyder open the first In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Baldwin Park, California - the first drive-in restaurant to use the two-way intercom system.
1949	Extremely harsh winter in the West.
1-Apr-1949	Newfoundland becomes the tenth Canadian province (some sources give the date as 31-Mar-1949). Recently this province has been renamed Newfoundland and Labrador.
26-Oct-1949	The US minimum wage is raised from 40 cents an hour to 74 cents an hour.

Jun-1950	Korean War starts.
1953	Dwight D Eisenhower becomes President of the USA.
Jul-1953	Korean War ends.
16-Dec-1953	The first colour television programme is transmitted in the USA.
1954	Ray Kroc, a 51-year-old milkshake mixer salesman, visits a hamburger stand in San Bernardino, California, to discover why its proprietors have purchased eight of his company's mixers instead of the usual one or two. The hamburger stand was run by two brothers called Maurice and Richard McDonald...
25-Sep-1956	The first telephone cable across the Atlantic Ocean comes into use.
1957	Construction of The Dalles Dam is completed.
10-Oct-1957	The USA abolishes fingerprinting for foreign visitors.
31-Jan-1958	The first US artificial Earth satellite is launched.
1959	The first Motel 6 opens.
3-Jan-1959	Alaska becomes the 49th state of the USA.
26-Jun-1959	St Lawrence Seaway opened.
21-Aug-1959	Hawaii becomes the 50th state of the USA.
1960	Wilber Hardee opens the first Hardee's fast food restaurant in Greenville, North Carolina.
1960's	Development of ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet.
1961	John F Kennedy becomes President of the USA.
5-May-1961	First US manned spaceflight.
1962	Sam Walton opens his first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas. By 2002 Wal-Mart had grown to become the largest company in the world, with 4382 stores.
1962	S.S. Kresge opens the first K-Mart store in Detroit, Michigan.
1962	The first Target store opens.
1962	Woolworths opens the first Woolco store.
1962	The first Taco Bell Mexican fast food restaurant opens in Downey, California (a suburb of Los Angeles). However, founder Glen Bell had been involved with fast food for many years previously.
18-Jul-1962	Telstar, the first communications satellite, is launched.
3-Sep-1962	Opening of the Trans-Canada Highway, which runs between St John's (on the island of Newfoundland) and Victoria (on Vancouver Island, British Columbia).
Oct-1962	Cuban missile crisis.
1963	Beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement.
22-Nov-1963	Assassination of JF Kennedy. Lyndon B Johnson becomes President of the USA.
1964	Construction of the Glen Canyon Dam is completed.
15-Apr-1964	Opening of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
23-Jul-1964	The first Arby's restaurant opens in Boardman, Ohio.
21-Nov-1964	Opening of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
7-Feb-1965	First attacks on Northern Vietnam.
Oct-1965	Beginnings of protests against the Vietnam War.
9-Nov-1965	A huge power cut affects New England and Ontario.
12-Jan-1967	In American Football's first SuperBowl, the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs by 35 points to 10.
18-Nov-1967	Sterling is devalued to £1 = $2.40.
1968	McDonald's introduces the Big Mac.
4-Apr-1968	Assassination of Martin Luther King.
1969	Richard Nixon becomes President of the USA.
13-Mar-1969	Oil discovered in Alaska.
14-Jul-1969	Vietnam withdrawal starts.
21-Jul-1969	First manned lunar landing.
25-Nov-1969	Dave Thomas opens the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.
1-May-1971	Congress creates Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.
16-Jun-1972	Watergate burglars caught.
26-Oct-1972	The US National Park Service commences guided tours of Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay, California.
27-Oct-1972	The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (San Francisco Bay, California) is created.
29-Mar-1973	Last US troops leave Vietnam.
8-Aug-1974	Richard Nixon "resigns" and Gerald Ford becomes President of the USA.
5-Jun-1976	The Teton Dam in eastern Idaho collapses. As a result, Sugar City, Idaho is destroyed and nearby Rexburg is very severely affected.
1977	Jimmy Carter becomes President of the USA.
25-May-1977	"Star Wars", the science fiction film, is released in the USA.
18-May-1980	Mount St Helens in Washington State erupts.
1981	Ronald Reagan becomes President of the USA.
28-Jan-1986	The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lift-off, killing all on board.
1989	George Bush becomes President of the USA.
17-Oct-1989	A significant earthquake in the San Francisco area causes extensive damage and loss of life.
1993	Bill Clinton becomes President of the USA.
Summer-1993	Severe flooding of the Mississippi River causes $10 billion [US billion, 109 - JC] damage and leaves tens of thousands of people homeless.
Jan-1994	A 6.7 magnitude earthquake in the Los Angeles area causes extensive damage and kills 57 people.
19-Apr-1995	A terrorist bomb destroys the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
1-Apr-1999	The Canadian Territory of Nunavut is created.
20-Apr-1999	Two pupils at Columbine High School in Littleton, a suburb of Denver, Colorado, murder twelve of their fellow pupils and a teacher.

Summer 2000	A large number of very serious wild fires affect many western states.
2001	George W Bush becomes President of the USA.
28-Feb-2001	A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hits the Seattle, Washington State area, causing at least $2 billion [US billion, 109 - JC] damage. This was the strongest earthquake to hit Washington State for 52 years.
11-Sep-2001	Terrorists use hijacked passenger planes to destroy the World Trade Centre towers in New York City and to badly damage the Pentagon in Washington DC, with massive loss of lives and many injuries. Start of the "War Against Terrorism".
Autumn 2001	US forces overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan. Start of the occupation of Afghanistan.
1-Feb-2003	The space shuttle Columbia breaks up during re-entry with the loss of all on board.
Spring 2003	US forces overthrow Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Start of the occupation of Iraq.
2/3-May-2003	The famous natural rock formation known as The Old Man Of The Mountains, in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, collapses due to erosion.
14/15-Aug-2003	The world's biggest ever electricity power cut affects 50 million people in 9300 square miles of the northeastern USA and southeastern Canada.
13-Aug-2004	Hurricane Charley, with a maximum wind speed of 145 mph, kills at least 23 people, makes huge numbers homeless, and wreaks havoc across southwestern Florida, especially the Port Charlotte area. Charley was the worst hurricane to hit Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which killed 26 people and had a maximum wind speed of 165 mph.
3-Nov-2004	Ken Jennings became television's top game-show winner on tonight's edition of Jeopardy! Jennings won $45,099 to bring his total winnings to $2.197 million since 2-Jun-04.
24-Jul-2004	Lance Armstrong of Texas becomes the first person to win the Yellow Jersey competition in the Tour De France seven times.
29-Aug-2005	Hurricane Katrina causes widespread loss of life and destruction to parts of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, including the cities of Biloxi (Mississippi), Gulfport (Mississippi) and New Orleans (Louisiana). Katrina is one of the worst natural disasters in the USA since European discovery. (The catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Mazama in Oregon around 4860BC which created Crater Lake might be considered as possibly being a more extreme event. The eruption reduced Mazama's estimated 11,000 ft height by around half a mile.)
2-Aug-2007	The I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses without warning.
20-Jan-2009	Barack Obama becomes President of the USA.

External Links

About.com - History Of US Expansion And Boundary Changes

Ed Stephan - Boundaries Of The United States And The Several States

Home | States/Provinces | Subjects

EMail me While I have an interest in the history of the USA and Canada, I am not an expert. Therefore I regrettably cannot offer any information on the subject other than that which appears on these pages.

Most recently modified 20-Jan-09