United States History, Facts, & Story! Credit to FactMonster Awesome website! Please take a look here before you continue this website. Atleast a peek. Its our source here.
President: Barack Obama 2008-
Vice President: Joeseph Biden 2009-
Population: 321,000,000
Largest cities (2013 est.): New York, 8,405,837; Los Angeles, 3,884,307; Chicago, 2,718,782; Houston, 2,195,914; Philadelphia, 1,553,165
History Timeline of the USA
| Time | Event |
| 1000 AD | Norse seaman Leif Ericsson lands in Newfoundland, which he
called Vinland. |
| 1492 | Christopher Columbus lands in the "New World" aka North America. |
| 1513 | Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León lands on the coast of Florida. |
| 1565 | Saint Augustine, Florida, settled by the Spanish, becomes the first permanent European
colony in North America. |
| 1607 | Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, is established
by the London Company in southeast Virginia |
| 1620 | The Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts is established by Pilgrims from England
(Dec. 11 o.s.). Before disembarking from their ship, theMayflower, 41 male passengers sign theMayflower Compact, an agreement that forms the basis of the colony's government. |
| 1664 | English seize New Amsterdam (city and colony) from the Dutch and renamed it New York City. |
| 1670 | Colonial Population Is estimated about 70,000 |
| 1776 | Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence In Philadelphia |
| 1787 | Constitutional Convention, made up of delegates from 12 of the original 13 colonies, meets in Philadelphia to draft the U.S Constitution. (This includes John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. |
| 1789 | George Washington is unanimously elected president of the United States in a vote. |
| 1790 | U.S. Supreme Courtmeets for the first time at the Merchants Exchange Building in New York City. The court, made up of one chief justice and five associate justices, hears its first case in 1792. The nation's first census shows that the population has climbed to nearly 4 million. |
| 1799 | George Washington, the first president, dies of sickness. John Adams Is elected president of the United
States. |
| 1800 | The U.S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC. U.S. Congress meets in Washington, DC, for the first time Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved African American blacksmith, organizes a slave revolt intending to march on Richmond, Virginia. The conspiracy is uncovered, and Prosser and a number of the rebels are hanged. Virginia's slave laws are consequently tightened. |
| 1803 | Landmark Supreme Court decision greatly expands the power of the Court by establishing its right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional Louisiana Purchase: United States agrees to pay France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory, which extends west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and comprises about 830,000 sq mi. As a result, the U.S. nearly doubles in size. |
| 1804 | Lewis and Clark set out from St. Louis Mo., on expedition to explore the West and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. |
| 1805 | Jefferson's second inauguration Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean |
| 1812- 1814 | War of 1812: U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference. |
| 1819 | Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States McCulloch v. Maryland: Landmark Supreme Court decision upholds the right of Congress to establish a national bank, a power implied but not specifically enumerated by the Constitution. |
| 1828 | Construction is begun on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first public railroad in the U.S |
| 1836 | Texas declares its independence from Mexico Texan defenders of the Alamo are all killed during siege by the Mexican Army. Texans defeat Mexicans at San Jacinto |
| 1841 | William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth president He dies one month later and is succeeded in office by his vice president, John Tyler. |
| 1845 | U.S. annexes Texas by joint resolution of Congress James Polk is inaugurated as the 11th president. The term “manifest destiny” appears for the first time in a magazine article by John L. O'Sullivan It expresses the belief held by many white Americans that the United States is destined to expand across the continent. |
| 1846-1848 | Mexican War: U.S. declares war on Mexico in effort to gain California and other territory in Southwest War concludes with signing of Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . Mexico recognizes Rio Grande as new boundary with Texas and, for $15 million, agrees to cede territory comprising present-day California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. |
| 1848 | Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California gold rush reaches its height the following year. Women's rights convention is held at Seneca Falls, N.Y. |
| 1850 | President Zachary Taylor dies. |
| 1854 | Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act, establishing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska (May 30). The legislation repeals the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and renews tensions between anti- and proslavery factions. |
| 1858 | Abraham Lincoln comes to national attention in a series of seven debates with Sen. Stephen A. Douglas during Illinois state election campaign |
| 1860 | Abraham Lincoln is elected 15th president. South Carolina secedes from the Union on December 20th. |
| 1861 | Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,and Louisiana secede.Confederate States of America is established (Feb. 8). Jefferson Davisis elected president of the Confederacy |
| 1861-1865 | Civil War: Conflict between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) over the expansion of slavery into western states. Confederates attack Ft. Sumter in Charleston, S.C., marking the start of the war (April 12, 1861). Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee secede (April–June). Emancipation Proclamation is issued, freeing slaves in the Confederate states (Jan. 1, 1863). Battle of Gettysburg is fought (July 1–3). President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address (Nov. 19). Gen. William T. Sherman captures Atlanta(Sept. 2, 1864). Lincoln's second inauguration (March 4, 1865). Gen. Ulysses S. Grant captures Richmond, Va., the capital of the Confederacy (April 3). Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Va., (April 9). |
| 1865 | Lincoln is assassinated (April 14) by John Wilkes Booth in Washington, DC, and is succeeded by his vice president, Andrew Johnson.Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, prohibiting slavery |
| 1867 | U.S. acquires Alaska from Russia for the sum of $7.2 million |
| 1871 | Chicago fire kills 300 and leaves 90,000 people homeless |
| 1882 | U.S. adopts standard time {November} |
| 1886 | Statue of Liberty is dedicated (Oct. 28). American Federation of Labor is organized (Dec.). |
| 1898 | Spanish-American War: USS Maine is blown up in Havana harbor (Feb. 15), prompting U.S. to declare war on Spain (April 25). Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Spanish-American War (Dec. 10); Spain gives up control of Cuba, which becomes an independent republic, and cedes Puerto Rico, Guam, and (for $20 million) the Philippines to the U.S. |
| 1900 | Galveston hurricane leaves an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 dead (Sept. 8). According to the census, the nation's population numbers nearly 76 million. |
| 1906 | San Francisco earthquake leaves 500 dead or missing and destroys about 4 sq mi of the city (April 18). |
| 1914-1918 | World War I: U.S. enters World War I, declaring war on Germany (April 6, 1917) and Austria-Hungary (Dec. 7, 1917) three years after conflict began in 1914. Armistice ending World War I is signed (Nov. 11, 1918). |
| 1915 | First long distance telephone service, between New York and San Francisco, is demonstrated (Jan. 25). |
| 1923 | President Harding dies suddenly (Aug. 2). He is succeeded by his vice president, Calvin Coolidge. Teapot Dome scandal breaks, as Senate launches an investigation into improper leasing of naval oil reserves during Harding administration (Oct.) |
| 1927 | Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in his plane The Spirit of St. Louis (May 20–21). |
| 1931 | The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the national anthem (March 3). |
| 1932 | Amelia Earhart completes first solo nonstop transatlantic flight by a woman (May 21). |
| 1939-1945 | World War II: U.S. declares its neutrality in European conflict (Sept. 5, 1939). F. Roosevelt's third inauguration (Jan. 20, 1941). He is the first and only president elected to a third term. Japan attacks Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines (Dec. 7, 1941). U.S. declares war on Japan (Dec. 8). Germany and Italy declare war on the United States; U.S. reciprocates by declaring war on both countries (Dec. 11). Allies invade North Africa (Oct.–Dec. 1942) and Italy (Sept.–Dec. 1943). Allies invade France on D-Day (June 6, 1944). F. Roosevelt's fourth inauguration (Jan. 20, 1945). President Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Yalta in the USSR to discuss postwar occupation of Germany (Feb. 4–11). President Roosevelt dies of a stroke (April 12) and is succeeded by his vice president, Harry Truman. Germany surrenders unconditionally (May 7). First atomic bomb is detonated at Alamogordo, N.M. (July 16). President Truman, Churchill, and Stalin meet atPotsdam, near Berlin, Germany, to demand Japan's unconditional surrender and to discuss plans for postwar Europe (July 17–Aug. 2). U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan (Aug. 6). U.S. drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan (Aug. 9). Japan agrees to unconditional surrender (Aug. 14). Japanese envoys sign surrender terms aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo harbor (Sept. 2). |
| 1945 | United Nations is established (Oct. 24). |
| 1963 | Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech before a crowd of 200,000 during the civil rights march on Washington, DC (Aug. 28).President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Tex. (Nov. 22). He is succeeded in office by his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson. |
| 1966 | The Twin Towers (World Trade Center) Is planned in New York City |
| 1969 | Richard Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th president (Jan. 20). Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr., become the first men to land on the Moon (July 20). |
| 1978 | President Carter meets with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin at Camp David (Sept. 6); Sadat and Begin sign Camp David Accord, ending 30-year conflict between Egypt and Israel (Sept. 17). |
| 1993 | Bill Clinton is inaugurated as the 42nd president (Jan. 20). Bomb explodes in basement garage of World Trade Center, killing 6, injuring 1,000, and causing more than $500 million in damage (Feb. 26). After 51-day standoff with federal agents, Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Tex., burns to the ground, killing 80 cult members (April 19). President Clinton orders missile attack against Iraq in retaliation for alleged plot to assassinate former President Bush (June 26). Eighteen U.S. soldiers are killed in ambush by Somali militiamen in Mogadishu (Oct. 3–4). President Clinton signs North American Free Trade Agreement into law (Dec. 8). |
| 1995 | Bombing of federal office building in Oklahoma City kills 168 people (April 19). U.S. establishes full diplomatic relations with Vietnam (July 11).President Clinton sends first 8,000 of 20,000 U.S. troops to Bosnia for 12-month peacekeeping mission (Dec.). Budget standoff between President Clinton and Congress results in partial shutdown of U.S. government (Dec. 16–Jan. 6). |
| 2001 | George W. Bush is inaugurated as the 43rd president (Jan. 20). Two hijacked jetliners ram twin towers of World Trade Center in worst terrorist attackagainst U.S.; a third hijacked plane flies into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashes in rural Pennsylvania. More than 3,000 people die in the attacks(Sept. 11). U.S. and Britain launch air attacks against targets in Afghanistan after Taliban government fails to hand over Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks (Oct. 7). Following air campaign and ground assault by Afghani opposition troops, the Taliban regime topples (Dec. 9); however, the hunt for bin Laden and other members of al-Qaeda terrorist organization continues. |
| 2006 | The U.S. estimates that the population of the United States has reached 300 million. |
| 2011 | Apple announces the creation of the Ipad | CEO of Apple dies |
| 2013 | Multiple bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Three people are killed and more than 170 people are injured (April 15). The Guardian receives information that reveals that the National Security Agency (NSA) is using PRISM to spy on the web activities, including email, of U.S. citizens. Through PRISM, a clandestine national security surveillance program, the NSA has direct access to Facebook, YouTube, Skype, Google, Apple, Yahoo and other websites (June 6). The Guardian publishes a report on another NSA tool called Boundless Informant, used by the U.S. government to watch activity in every country in the world. President Obama confirms the existence of PRISM and its use to spy on the online activity of U.S. citizens (June 8). Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee, comes forward and admits that he is the source of the recent NSA leaks (June 9). Congress fails to agree on a budget and pass a spending bill, causing the government to shut down. The government shutdown forces about 800,000 federal workers off the job (Oct. 1). The night before the debt ceiling deadline, both the House and Senate approve a bill to fund the government until January 15, 2014, and raise the debt limit through February 7, 2014. The bill ends the 16-day government shutdown. It also ends the Republican standoff with President Obama over the Affordable Care Act (Oct. 16). The Senate deploys the "nuclear option," voting 52-48 to end the right of the minority to filibuster executive and judicial branch nominees. The vote is called a monumental, once in a generation change to Senate procedure (Nov. 21). The first ruling against the NSA surveillance program is handed down by Judge Richard Leon of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. He says the program is "significantly likely" to violate the Fourth Amendment which addresses protection against unreasonable searches (Dec. 16). Just days after Judge Leon's ruling, an advisory panel commissioned by President Obama releases a 300-page report that recommends 46 changes to the NSA surveillance program (Dec 18). |
| 2014-2060 | At some point during this period, the United States is struck by the most devastating earthquake in its history |