Chronology of World History
3,100 B.C.E. - The written word begins to keep accounts and cooking instructions
Before 20,000 B.C. E. Native Americans begin arriving from Asia and spread across the
About 14,000 ago People move into the Meadowcroft Rock shelter, a sandstone shelter near present-day
About 12,500 ago Hunters leave a projectile point and a blade in a cave in southern
11,000 Years ago Glacial ice leaves the Straits of Mackinac - Hunters leave projectile points and a hide scraper in a cave in
cir. 10,000 Years ago Olympic Peninsula of
About 9500 ago
About 9300 ago In south-central
About 9000 ago People live along the shores of
About 8800 People living in the Delaware River Valley of Pennsylvania eat seeds, roots, hackberries, wild plums, ground cherries, grapes, blackberries, and other wild foods
About 8300 Hunters develop methods for trapping bison by driving whole herds over cliffs or forcing them into box canyons, corrals, and ravines. The techniques survive for nearly 10,000 years, until the 1800 A.D.
About 8000 The population of the continent reaches the maximum density that is readily sustainable by hunting-and-gathering lifestyle.
About 7700 In the northeastern
About 7000 Across the continent, the few remaining mastodons and other large mammals die out; more than thirty species have become extinct
About 6000 The ancestors of the Navajos and Apaches of the Southwest and of the Athabaskan peoples of
About 5800 Salmon provide a basic food source for the migratory peoples of the Plateau and the
About 5500 Along the southern
About 5000 Peoples across the continent begin making baskets to use in gathering, processing, and storing fruits, nuts, and seeds - In the Illinois Valley, hunter-gathers establish permanent communities
After 4000 Cultures east of the
4004 Sunday, October 23, 9 am (
390 BCE Roman's build a shrine to Moneta -Goddess of Warning - where we get our modern words for "money" and "mint"
About 3500 Domesticated corn arrives in the Southwest from
About 3000 Along the Snake River of eastern
About 2500 Domesticated childe peppers arrive in the South-west from
Before 2000 In
About 2000 In the Northeast, people begin making pottery. They use grass and fiber roots for tempering
About 1700 In the Northeast, more and more people become farmers. They plant gourds, tobacco, and edible seeds, but they also continue to hunt wild game and collect wild plant foods
1760 BC Hammurabi's code is created in Babylon.
About 1500 A fishing community develops at what is now Cape Alava on the coast of Washington State and remains continuously occupied for 3,000 years - People in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana bury their dead at the summits of hills made from glacial gravel
About 1200 At
About 1000 Domesticated beans arrive in the Southwest from
About 9000 The ancestors of the Mohawk,
620 BC Draco, an Athenian lawmaker, creates the first written account of Greek laws.
About 500 In central
About 300 People in
About 250 Along the river valley of the Plains, people settle into villages
About 100 The Adena culture of the
30 BCE - 14 AD Emperor Augustus of Rome introduces the world to land and sales tax.
About C.E. 1 Peoples of western
By 100 Across the Southwest, people from many different background evolve into a loosely related cultural group known today as the Basket Makers because of their fine baskets
About 250 Influenced by their Hohokam neighbors, hunter gathers in southwestern
After 400 The
456 Julian calendar takes effect in
About 500 Southeastern Great Basin, hunter-gathers from the
About 550 The Hohokam people of southern
536 the “Marriage Rite” is now considered a sacrament
597
After 600 The peoples of the
About 700 The Anasazi begin moving from pit houses into aboveground homes of stone, mud, and brush - Villages along the
749 Vikings first known attack in
Around 798 The Three Fires Confederacy was formed with the Great Lakes Indians
After 800 An enterprising tinkerer develops a new, cold-hard cultivar of corn, and Indians of the Northeast begin cultivating it as a major crop
886 When a man was murdered, the Vikings demanded that a wergeld (monetary reparation) was to be paid to the family or kinsmen of the victim.
About 900 Anasazi population expands, causing a building boom. Largest collection of communities goes up in Chaco Canyon, with eight towns clustered together in the canyon and four more on the nearby mesas - Farmers from the Northeast migrate into the Great Plains and settle in villages overlooking stream valley from the Dakotas all the way to Texas About
1000
About 1000 Viking explorer Leif Ericson leads first expedition to
About 1050
About 1150 The climate of Colorado Plateau grows cooler and drier. The growing season shortens and farming becomes more difficult. The pattern continues throughout the 1200s
By 1200 Ancestors of Apaches and Navajos migrate southward from western
About 1200 Ponca and
About 1230 Building activity peaks at Mesa Verde. About 7,000 people live in 1,000 cliff houses - Anasazi begin to abandon their stone homes
About 1250 Mississippian community at
About 1275 Colonist from
1276 Severe drought destroys crops in Colorado Plateau and contributes to growing exodus of Anasazi from their stone villages. Drought lasts until 1299
Before 1300
1300 Speakers of Numic languages (Mono, Paiutes, Panamints, Shoshone, Kawaiisu, and Utes) Migrate out of southeastern
About 1325 Mississippian colonist in Missouri abandon the colony
About 1350 Keresan-speaking
Before 1400 Anasazi completely abandon
About 1400 Wiyot, Yurok, Karok, Hupa, and Tolowa peoples of northern coast of
About 1450 Hiawatha, an Onondaga chief, strengthens the League of Five Iroquois Nations, which unites the Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk Tribes 1492 Before Columbus and estimated 2-8 million people inhabit what will eventually become the U.S. - Approximately 40 million bison roam the open spaces of the continent
cir. 1497-1600 Explorers and fishermen contact
cir. 1500 Residents of mound-building communities in
About 1500 Mandans of Dakotas reach height of cultural powers About 1513 Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon begins his search for the fountain of youth in what is today Florida
1521 After too many brutal encounters with Europeans, Florida Indians attack their former friend, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, dies
1522 Chicora, a
1524 Indians along Atlantic coast observe arrival of an outsider, Giovanni da Verrazano, and Italian sailing for the King of France
1528 Tribes across
1531 Sever earthquake hits
1532 Explorers begin conquest of Incas - the only highly civilized society to function without the use of money.
1534 Iroquois Indians meet their first non-Indian, French explorer Jacques Cartier 1535 Jacques Cartier expedition to St. Lawrence
1539 Unhappy at being bullied, Zuni execute Estevanico, a black traveling with a party of Spanish explorers
1540-42 Native People of Southeast meet Europeans for first time as Hernando
1541 Death of Queen Margaret Tudor of
1542 Indian people along
1550 Ozette on Pacific coast of
cir. 1559-1570 Beginning of the league of Iroquois
1560 King Outina, ruler of 40 Indian villages in
1565
1577 English mariner Francis Drake sets sail from
1579 Sir Francis Drake rounds
1582 Oct. 4 Last day of the Julian Calendar in
1584 John White at
1585 Indians of Virginia welcome Sir Richard Grenville - Indians of North Carolina watch uneasily as the English try to establish a permanent colony on
1599 Acoma Pueblo are defeated by Spanish
1600 17th Century Jesuit influence upon Indians - Five Algonquian tribes band together in Virginia to form what becomes known as Powhatan Confederacy
1603 March 24 Queen Elizabeth dies James accedes to English throne Outbreak of plague in
1603-1604 Champlain’s first expeditions
1604 Spanish envoys sign peace with
1607 120 colonists leave for
1608 Pocahontas, teenage daughter of Algonquian leader Wa-hun-sen-a-cawh, saves life of
1609 Native people living along Hudson River and New York Bay encounter Henry Hudson, who introduces firearms and alcohol Henry Hudson up the Hudson River, contact with Mohicans - Champlain discovers
1610 Pueblo Indians continue to work as servants for Spanish 1611 King James Bible publishes
1611 Religious zealots in colonial America demands church be mandatory. Working, traveling, or kissing on the Sabbath can earn you a fine or an afternoon in the stocks.
1612 Bavarian Astronomer Simon Mayr becomes first man to witness the Andrameda Galaxy through a telescope
1613 Algonquian Pocahontas is kidnapped by
1613-17 European diseases, including smallpox and measles, ravage the Timucua people of
1614 Indians of New York find their lives changing as Dutch traders and colonist move in
1615 Oct First missionaries in
1615-20 Five-year epidemic of smallpox, plague, and other diseases from Europe kill 75-90 % of the
1616 Oneida Indians in NY attacked by French - Pocahontas wails to
1617 Pocahontas dies of smallpox in
1603-1635 Champlain’s voyages; early contact with Canadian tribes
1619 House of Burgesses, first representative legislative body in colonial
1620 First English colonist at
1621 Dutch at
1622 Opechancanough’s first uprising against the settlers in
1623 Fort built at
1625 First Jesuit missionaries from
1626 Manhattan Indians enter into transaction with Dutch for land
1627 Company of 100 Associates Formed for Fur Trade and Colonization
1628 Land grant by Charles I 1629 English invade
1631 Roger Williams contends royal charter for
1632 English surrender
1633 Champlain, Governor of
1634 Nicolet arrives at the Straits of Mackinac and the fur trade of the Straits formally begins.
1636 Roger Williams rounds colony at
1636
1637 Pequot War in New England; Roger Williams prevents alliance of New England tribes against New England colonies 1638
1640 First “known” white man in Western New York -Beaver and otter nearly exterminated in Iroquois country - Nov. 2 Two Jesuit Father to
1642 Iroquois “beaver war” eliminates Hurons as rivals
1643 Roger Williams publishes a key to the language of American Natives
1644 Opechancanough’s second uprising in
1648 Iroquois on St. Lawrence, moving towards war
1649 Iroquois battle Huron
1649 First religious toleration act in
1650 Lauson, Governor of New France -
1658 Arguson, Governor at
1663 100 Associates end rights in New France West Indian Company Established - Feb. 5 Tremendous earthquake in Western New York and Canada
1665 Tracy, Governor West India Co.
1666 Iroquois invade into the Great Lakes, battle of
1670 Father Marquette builds a mission site for the Huron tribes at
1671
1678 LaSalle in
1679 LaSalle builds the
1680 LaSalle walks overland route to Frontenac (
1681 First globe created in
1682 William Penn’s treaty with the
1683 French Marines, lead by Barre crosses Lake Ontario English attack on French fort at Sorrel
1686 English on
1687 French prepare for invasion of Seneca country LaSalle second trip to Gulf on
1689 Count Frontenac arrived at
1690
1690 Treasury bills were the first paper money issued in American by the Massachusetts Bay Company to fund a war with the French.
1691 Siege of
1691-98 English, French and Indian Wars 1692
1696 Frontenac invades
1701 Cadillac founds
1702 Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, becomes royal governor of
1702-1713 English, Queen Ann’s War
1711-1712 Tuscarora War on southern frontier;
About 1722 remnants of Tuscarora move north to join Iroquois as sixth nation
1713 April Treaty of
1715 French build
1717 Fort erected at south end of
1718 Post at
1719
1726
1728 William Byrd surveys boundary line between
1733 Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack first published
1743 Mohawk Indian leader Joseph Brant was born
1744-1748 British go to war against
1748 Treaty of Aiz-la-Chapelle
1749 Celeron de Blainville asserts French claim to
1751 Fort at St. Mary's River (Sault Ste. Marie,
1752 July 30 Marquis Dupuesne arrives in
1753 Feb 1 Advance detachment commanded by Charles Deschamps de Boisheber leaves
1754 Albany Conference to organize Canadian governor's completion of Fort Duquesne Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1754-1760 French and Indian War (Seven Years War). - April 16 Contrecoeur summons English to surrender their Fort at the Forks of the
1755 General Braddock arrives in North America British leadership begins to falter - June 28 Rigauville and 120 Hurons set out from
1756 Edmond Atkin appointed Indian Superintendent Quakers lost political control in
1756-1757 Delaware War envelops
1757 Surrender of Fort William Henry and massacre of prisoners by Indian allies of Montcalm
1758 July 30 The Marquis Duquesne arrives in
1758-1759 Gen. Amherst becomes commander of all North American British troops
1759-1760 Cherokee War on the
1759 British headquarter located in New York - Feb. English sail toward Quebec May Forces move at Schenectady - May20 Forces move up Mohawk River July 1 British embark on Lake Ontario at Oswego - July 2 Stopped at Sodus Bay - July 3 Stopped at Irondequoit - July 8 British entrench at Fort Niagara - July 11 French approach British at Fort Niagara July 23 Sir William Johnson backs British troops at Niagara with Native Warriors - July 24 French surrender of Fort Niagara - July 29 English siege at Quebec under Wolfe - Sept 18 French surrender Quebec
1758-1760 French army at
1760 April Levi retakes
1761 British take control of Michilimackinac Proclamation prohibiting settlement on Appalachian frontier by Colonel Henry Bouquet
1761-1762 Seneca’s plan major attack on British along while western frontier under leadership of Kaiaghshota
July 2, 1762
January 2, 1762 Spanish war declared against
1763 Delaware Prophet, sometimes called Neolin, preaches message of the Master of Life - Feb. 10 Treaty of Paris ends colonial phase of Seven Years’ War - April 3 William Johnson’s Articles of Peace May Colonel Henry Bouquet urges convening of large congress with northern tribes to discuss Indian grievances; Sir Jeffery Amherst declines to hold conference - May-June Sir Jeffery Amherst begins policy of “oeconomy” by curtailing Indian presents and setting up new trade regulations at frontier posts - May-June Pontiac sends war belts to urge attack on frontier post May Pontiac’s surprise attack on Detroit betrayed June Pontiac’s war of independence beings; capture of seven frontier Forts and siege of Fort Pitts and Fort Detroit Amherst uses smallpox infested blankets to spread disease to Indians Amherst urges use of English dogs to hunt Indians - Oct. 7 Royal proclamation of 1763 establishes Indian sanctuary and restricts westward movement of colonists - Nov. Distribution of Gifts to southern Indians at congress of Augusta, Georgia by Southern Superintendent John Stuart Dec. Paxton Riots on Pennsylvania frontier, massacre of Conestoga mission Indians in retaliation of Pontiac’s War. Ojibwa, Sac, and Fox Indians capture
1764 Sir William Johnson Dies British reorganize Indian administration and plan for extension of Frontier Indian boundary lines according to the Plan of 1764 Illinois French, along the Mississippi, finally receive official word from France it is illegal to declare war against the British of North America. For the Illinois French to do so, was a violation of the terms of the capitulation of September 8, 1760, a point of honor in eighteenth century warfare British return to
1765 British Parliament passes the Stamp Act, taxing newspapers, legal documents and other printed materials.
1766
1768
1769 Assassination of
1770 British soldiers in Boston fired into a crowd of colonists, killing three and wounding 8… known as the Boston Massacre, used to rally Americans against British policies
1773 Completion of extension of the southern Indian boundary line Protesting British importation of duty - free tea, colonist dressed as Indians stage the Boston Tea Party dumping 342 chests of tea into the water.
1774 First Continental Congress, a convention of delegates from all the American colonies (except
1775-1783 American Revolution 1776 The United States of America becomes a new nation when the Second Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence, written by
1776 Ben Franklin arranges for the harsh imprisonment of his only son, William for being a Tory.
1775-1779 Border Wars
1776 Col. Rochester of NY assists in framing Constitution of North Carolina - British defeat American fleet under leadership of Benedict Arnold on
1777 American forces defeat British at
1778 Sept Treaty at Fort Stanwix Franklin and Adams in
1779 March 22 Gen. George Washington orders Col Brodhead’s Campaign against Detroit Benedict Arnold turns traitor and sides with the British - August 11 Expedition against Indians at head of Allegany River, French Creek and in Ohio George Washington plans to capture Fort Niagara
1779-1781
1780 Robert Campbell builds Mill Creek sawmill Mackinac 1780s
1781 State of
1783 American Revolution ends-Treaty of Paris Founding Fathers write the Constitution establishing system of government. Our constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form… Franklin D. Roosevelt states in his inauguration. “That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced.” - Treaty of Peace with Great Britain Treaty of Peace with Native American Indian lands of N.Y. purchased
1784 Act to create superintendent’s post for Native American affairs American’s seek council of Iroquois Treaty at
1785
1787
1788 Treaty of Fort Schuyler (N.Y.) concluded Council of the Iroquois at Fort Schuyler Holland land purchase of N.Y.
1788 Britain starts sending their criminals to Australia for exile over 160,000 convicts and undesirables are transported over the next 80 years.
1789 Electoral College unanimously chooses George Washington to serve as the first president of the
1790 Dr. Joseph Guillotine demonstrates his new method of execution with the guillotine
1792 Bill of Rights added to Constitution, guaranteeing freedom of speech, religion, press and rights to trial by jury and peaceful assembly.
1793 Eli Whitney invents cotton gin
1794 President Washington send federal troops to quash Whiskey Rebellion, a violent protest by whiskey producers in {
1796
1798 Representative Matthew Lyon of
1800
1801 John Marshall appointed chief justice of the US Supreme Court by President John Adams.
1803 Louisiana Purchase from
1804 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embark upon their epic track across the continent to explore the lands recently acquired in the Louisiana Purchase and beyond to the
1805
1807 Robert Fulton’s steamboat the Clermont becomes the first financially successful steamboat traveling up the Hudson River from
1806 Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel
1809 Meriwether Lewis kills himself in
1811Construction begins on what becomes known as the
1812 War of 1812 begins after years of British interference with American shipping and other degradations. British capture
1813 Crossing of the Niagara and bloody conflict of the War of 1812 - Dec. 12 Fort George evacuated (N.Y.)- Dec. 18 Fort Niagara Falls to British - Dec. 29 Conquest of Black Rock and
1814 British forces capture nation’s capital, burning the President’s house, the U.S. Capitol, and other government buildings. “Few thought of going to bed,” a
1816 June 6-12 Frost every night in N.Y. Cold summer scarcity of food for all - France decrees that the Bonaparte family shall be excluded from the country forever
1817 Aril 15 Law authorizing the building of the Erie Canal-Gov. Dewitt Clinton July 4 Ground broken for Erie Canal at
1818
1819
1820 The
1822 Dr. Beaumont (
1823 Oct. 7 Aqueduct in
1824 Erie Canal completed to
1825 September Announce date for opening of Erie Canal Oct. Filling of the Erie level of canal commenced - Oct. 25 Entire Erie Canal was filled with water
1830 President Andrew Jackson signs Indian Removal Act, requiring eastern Indians to be resettled west of the
1831 Nat Turner, a black preacher in
1832 England relax punishment for forging money in Britain. Now, instead of the death penalty the forger was exiled to Australia.
1836 three thousand Mexican troops under Santa Anna storm the Alamo in
1837
1839 George Armstrong Custer is born
1844 On a test line of his telegraph between
1845
1846 President Polk, Congress declares war on
1847 Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, was born
1848 Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organize first
1848 James Marshall discovers gold at Sutter’s Mill in
1849 English-born Elizabeth Blackwell graduates from
1850 Compromise of 1850 temporarily simmers the growing strife overcomes slavery by admitting California to the Union as a free state, and allowing the territories of New Mexico and Utah to decide the issue for themselves. The compromise also abolishes the slaver trade in the
1851 John James Audubon American ornithologist, renown for painting birds, dies
1851 Isaac Singer creates the first sewing machine
1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” becomes a best seller
1854 Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act allowing people of two territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. Republican Party is formed in
1854
1857 Elisha G. Otis installs first passenger elevator in
1859 First commercially drilled oil well is drilled near
1860 Pony Express begins delivering mail from
1861-1865 American Civil War
1861 Ten Southern states follow
1863
1866 Transatlantic cable is completed KuKlux Klan is formed to terrorize liberated blacks in the south.
1867 William H. Seward, Secretary of State negotiates purchase of
1869 A golden spike is driven into a railroad rail at
1871 Great Chicago Fire kills 250 - Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, receives the a patent for the improvement of suspenders
1872 Great Fire of Chicago Susan B.Anthony illegally votes in the presidential election in
1875 Congress passes Civil Rights Act, giving blacks equal rights in public accommodations and access to jury duty. The U.S. Supreme Court declares the law unconstitutional in 1883
1876 Alexander Graham Bell transmits human speech for the first time while developing the telephone General George A. Custer and 264 soldiers of the 7th Cavalry die at the
1877 First commercial telephone line is installed in
1878 A woman suffrage amendment is first introduced in Congress. It fails to pass but is reintroduced in every session of Congress for the next 40 years.
1879 Thomas Edison produces the first practical light bulb. California Electric Light Co. begins operating the world’s first central power plant selling electricity to private customers. - F.W. Woolworth opens the firs “five-cent” store in
1880
1881 Clara Barton organizes the Red Cross President James A.
1882 Franklin D. Roosevelt is born and serves as US president from 1933-45
1883
1884 Construction begins in
1885 Sir Henry Bessemer patents the process named after him that leads to the mass production of steel
1886 Statue of
1888 George Eastman perfects the “Kodak” box camera, the first designed for mass production and amateur use
1889 Herman Hollerith’s punched-card tabulating machine is the first successful computer, and is used to tabulate the results of the 1890 census.
1890 Battle of Wounded Knee in
1891 James Naismith invents basketball
1892 Old Point Mackinac Lighthouse built
1893 Henry Ford builds first successful gasoline engine
1894 Thomas Edison markets the kinetoscope, an early form of movie in which a viewer peers through a magnifying lens as moving images illuminated by an electric light.
1895 Charles and Franklin Duryea establish first American company for manufacturing gasoline-powered automobiles First professional football game is played in
1897 First American subway opens in
1901 President William McKinley is assassinated in
1903 Wilbur and Orville Wright design and build first successful airplane. First World Series is held,
1906
1912 Titanic sinks
1913 Ford Company engineers develop the assembly line
1914
1917 WWI
1918 Influenza epidemic sweeps world killing 20 million
1920 Women are given the right to vote under the 19th Amendment.
1920 Prohibition begins following ratification of the 18th Amendment
1926 First liquid-propelled rocket is launched using technology developed by aerospace pioneer Robert Goddard.
1927 Charles Lindbergh becomes first aviator to make solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean Television makes a debut.
1929 Stock Market Crash and plunges nation into the Great Depression - Martin Luther King is born
1929 Robert Byrd becomes first person to fly over South Pole Gangland violence in
1930 U.S. Astronomers announce discovery of Pluto, the ninth planet in the solar system.
1933 Nation suffers through Great Depression. F. D. Roosevelt launches massive recovery program known as the New Deal. Prohibition is repealed with 21st Amendment
1941 Japanese bomb
1942 President
1944 Allied forces invade
1947 Captain Charles Yeager, flying the Bell X-1, exceeds speed of so0und. 1948
1950 Korean War begins
1954 Commissioning of the atomic submarine U.S.S. Nautilus marks world’s first full-scale use of controlled nuclear energy.
1955 Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine is approved, beginning the end of a dreaded disease that often left its victims-mostly children-dead or paralyzed for life.
1957
1959
1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech during a civil rights march in
1964 President Lyndon Johnson signs most comprehensive civil rights act in American history, integrating public accommodations and prohibiting job discrimination -
1968 Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in April in
1969 Man lands on the moon and returns safely to earth.
1973 Last
1974 Nixon resigns as 37th President
1976 Bicentennial of the
1979 corporal punishment (spanking your child) is banned in Sweden.
1992 The
1993 FDIC was established American's had a banking system that citizens could trust for the first time.
Historical research compiled by J.L.Panagopoulos©