APUSH Must Know Dates

1) 1492- Christopher Columbus, financed by Spain, makes the first of four voyages to the New World. He lands in the Bahamas. 2) 1513- Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Len lands on the coast of Florida. 3) 1565- Saint Augustine, Florida, settled by the Spanish, becomes the first permanent European colony in North America. 4) 1607- Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, is established by the London Company in southeast Virginia 5) 1619- The first African slaves are brought to Jamestown 1620- The Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts is established by Pilgrims from England. Before disembarking from their ship, the Mayflower, 41 male passengers sign the Mayflower Compact 6) 1664- English seize New Amsterdam (city and colony) from the Dutch and rename it New York 7) 1754- 1763- French and Indian War: Final conflict in the ongoing struggle between the British and French for control of eastern North America. 8) 1770- Boston Massacre: British troops fire into a mob, killing five men and leading to intense public protests 9) 1773- Boston Tea Party: Group of colonial patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians board three ships in Boston harbor and dump more than 300 crates of tea overboard as a protest against the British tea tax 10) 1774- First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia 11) 1775- 1783- American Revolution: War of independence fought between Great Britain and the 13 British colonies 12) 1777- Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia 13) 1786- Shays's Rebellion erupts (Aug.); farmers from New Hampshire to South Carolina take up arms to protest high state taxes and stiff penalties for failure to pay. 14) 1787- Constitutional Convention, made up of delegates from 12 of the original 13 colonies, meets in Philadelphia to draft the U.S. Constitution 15) 1789- 1797 - George Washington unanimously elected president 16) 1791- First ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, are ratified 17) 1793- Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin greatly increases the demand for slave labor. 18) 1797-1801- John Adams elected president 19) 1800- Washington, DC made capital 20) 1801-1809- Thomas Jefferson; third president.

21) 1803- Marbury v. Madison: Landmark Supreme Court decision greatly expands the power of the Court by establishing its right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional 22) 1803- Louisiana Purchase expands US territory west from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mts. 23) 1804- Lewis and Clark set out on exploration West. 24) 1809-1817- James Madison; fourth president 25) 1812- War of 1812: U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion 26) 1814- Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the war 27) 18171825- James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president. 28) 1819- Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States 29) 1820- Missouri Compromise 30) 1823- Monroe Doctrine: Monroe declares that the American continents are hence-forth off-limits for further colonization by European powers. 31) 1825-1829- John Quincy Adams; sixth president 32) 1829- 1837- Andrew Jackson; seventh president

33) 1830- Indian Removal Act, which authorizes the forced removal of Native Americans living in the
eastern part of the country.

34) 1837- Martin Van Buren; eighth president 35) 1838- Trail of Tears 36) 1841 (March)- 1841 (April)- William Henry; ninth president 37) 1841-1845- John Tyler; tenth president 38) 1845-1849- James Polk; eleventh president 39) 1846-1849- Mexican War: U.S. declares war on Mexico in effort to gain California and other
territory in Southwest. Mexico comprises present-day California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

40) 1849- height of the California Gold Rush 41) 1849-1850- Zachary Tyler; 12th president 42) 1850-1853- Millard Fillmore; 13th president
43) 1852- Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin is published. It becomes one of the most influential works to stir anti-slavery sentiments. 44) 1853-1857- Franklin Pierce; 14 president
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45) 1857-1861- James Buchanan; 15 president 46) 1857- Dred Scott v. Sanford: Landmark Supreme Court decision holds that Congress does not have the right to ban slavery in states and, furthermore, that slaves are not citizens.

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47) 1859- Abolitionist John Brown and 21 followers capture federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va.
(now W. Va.), in an attempt to spark a slave revolt.

48) 1861-1869- Abraham Lincoln presidency 49) 1860- South Carolina is first state to succeed from the union. 50) 1861- Confederate States of America is established 51) 1861-1865- Civil War 52) 1865- 13th Amendment ratified; prohibits slavery 53) 1869-1877- Ulysses S. Grant presidency 54) 1870- 15Th Amendment; gives black the right to vote 55) 1877-1881- Rutherford B. Hayes presidency 56) 1881-1885- James A. Garfield presidency 57) 1885-1889- Grover Cleveland presidency 58) 1886- American Federation of Labor 59) 1889-1893- Benjamin Harrison 60) 1896- racial segregation announced constitutional, leading to the Jim Crow laws in the South 61) 1893-1897- Grover Cleveland 2nd presidency 62) 1897-1901 William McKinley presidency (assassinated) 63) 1898- U.S. annexes Hawaii 64) 1901-1909- Theodore Roosevelt presidency 65) 1902- Coal strike, Roosevelt sides with workers union instead of Big Business 66) 1903- U.S. acquires Panama Canal Zone 67) 1903- Wright brothers make the first controlled, sustained flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C. 68) 1908- Bureau of Investigation (later FBI) is established

69) 1909-1913- William Howard Taft presidency 70) 1913-1921- Woodrow Wilson presidency 71) 1914-1918- World War I 72) 1914- Panama Canal opens to traffic 73) 1918- Worldwide influenza epidemic strike 74) 1919- Women gain the right to vote 75) 1921-1923- Warren G. Harding presidency 76) 1923- 1929- Calvin Coolidge presidency 77) 1929-1937- Herbert Hoover presidency 78) 1929- stock market crash precipitates Great Depression 79) 1931- The Star-Spangled Banner adopted as national anthem 80) 1932- Amelia Earhart completes first solo nonstop transatlantic flight by a woman 81) 1933-1945 Franklin Roosevelt presidency; elected for four terms. 82) 1933- F. Roosevelt signs the New Deal; recovery measure. 83) 1933- 21st Amendment (Prohibition) is repealed 84) 1945-1953- Harry Truman presidency 85) 1939-1945- World War II 86) 1941- Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 87) 1945- U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan and Nagasaki, Japan 88) 1945- United Nations is established 89) 1949- North Atlantic Treaty Organization is established 90) 1949- Soviets end the blockade of Berlin 91) 1950-1953- Korean War

92) 1950-1975- Vietnam War 93) 1951- 22nd Amendment, limits president to two terms. 94) 1953-1961- Dwight Eisenhower presidency 95) 1954- Brown vs. Board of Education declares that racial segregation in schools is unconstitutional 96) 1958- Explorer I, first American satellite, is launched 97) 1959- Alaska becomes 49th state (Jan.). Hawaii becomes 50th state (Aug.) 98) 1961-1963- John F. Kennedy presidency 99) 1962- Cuban Missile Crisis 100) 101) 102) 103) 104) 105) 1963- Martin Luther King delivers, I Have a Dream Speech 1963- Kennedy is assassinated 1963-1969- Lyndon B. Johnson presidency 1964- Johnson signs Civil Rights Act 1968- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated (April) 1969-1974-Richard Nixon presidency

106) 1969- Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin are the first men to land on the moon. Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.-Neil Armstrong 107) 1971- 26th amendment lowers voting age from 21 to 18.

108) 1974- House Judiciary Committee demands that Nixon be impeached so he resigns from office. 109) 110) 111) 112) 1974-1977- Gerald Ford presidency 1977-1981- Jimmy Carter presidency 1977- Control of Panama Canal turned over to Panama. 1979- Malfunction at nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania causes meltdown

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1981-1989- Ronald Reagan presidency

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1981- Sandra Day OConnor sworn is as first woman Supreme Court Justice

115) 1986- Space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members. 116) 1989-1993- George H. W. Bush presidency

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1989- Oil tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound, spilling more than 10 million gallons of oil. It is the largest oil spill in U.S. history 1991- Persian Gulf War 1993-2001- Bill Clinton presidency

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1993- Bomb explodes in basement garage of World Trade Center, killing 6, injuring 1,000, and causing more than $500 million in damage 1993- President Clinton orders missile attack against Iraq in retaliation for alleged plot to assassinate former President Bush 1995-Budget standoff between President Clinton and Congress results in partial shutdown of U.S. government 1998-House of Representatives votes to impeach President Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice 1999- Senate acquits Clinton of impeachment charges. 1999- U.S. and China sign historic trade agreement. 2000- 2008- George W. Bush presidency

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2001- Two hijacked jetliners ram twin towers of World Trade Center in worst terrorist attack against 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. 2001- U.S. and Britain launch air attacks against targets in Afghanistan after Taliban government fails to hand over Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden. 2002- declares that U.S. will wage war against states that develop weapons of mass destruction.

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2003- Space shuttle Columbia explodes upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board. 2003- War waged by the U.S. and Britain against Iraq begins. President Bush signs $350 billion tax-cut bill. 2005-Hurricane Katrina wreaks catastrophic damage on Mississippi and Louisiana; 80% of New Orleans is flooded. 2007-Male student kills two in a Virginia Tech dorm. Two hours later, he kills 30 more in a classroom building before committing suicide. The shooting rampage is the most deadly in U.S. history. Fifteen others are wounded. 2007- Gen. David Petraeus tells members of the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees that the U.S. military needs more time to meet its goals in Iraq. 2008- Barak Obama presidency 2009- President Obama signs the $787 billion stimulus package into law.

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137) 2009- After confirming 20 cases of swine flu in the United States, including eight in New York City, the U.S. declares the outbreak a public health emergency.

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2009- Sonia Sotomayor nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. First Hispanic Justice.

139) 2009- A shooting at the Fort Hood army post in Texas kills 13 and injures 29. Ten of those killed are military personnel. 140) 2009-A Nigerian man on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit allegedly attempted to ignite an explosive device hidden in his underwear. Told officials later that he was directed by the terrorist group Al Qaeda. 141) 2010-An explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico sends millions of gallons of oil into the sea. The spill kills 11 and is the largest off-shore spill in U.S. history as well as one of the largest spills in world history. 142) 2010- The Senate votes 65 to 31 in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Clintonera military policy that forbids openly gay men and women from serving in the military.