From the first peoples to the present day — key moments that shaped a nation.
Migrants cross the Bering land bridge from Asia into North America.
One of North America's earliest complex civilizations flourishes in present-day Louisiana.
The largest pre-Columbian city north of Mexico, with a population rivaling contemporary London.
Leif Erikson and Norse explorers establish a brief settlement in Newfoundland.
Christopher Columbus's voyage launches the Columbian Exchange and European colonization.
Spanish explorer becomes the first known European to reach the Florida peninsula.
Hernando de Soto leads a brutal expedition through the American Southeast.
Spain establishes the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the US.
England's first attempt at colonization ends in the mystery of the "Lost Colony."
England's first permanent settlement in America barely survives its early years.
A Dutch ship brings enslaved Africans to Virginia, beginning centuries of American slavery.
Separatists seeking religious freedom establish Plymouth Colony.
The first institution of higher education in British America.
An uprising in Virginia that foreshadows class and racial tensions.
Mass hysteria leads to the execution of twenty people in Massachusetts.
John Peter Zenger's acquittal establishes a precedent for freedom of the press.
The conflict that will reshape North America's colonial map.
France cedes nearly all its North American territory to Britain.
Parliament's direct tax on the colonies ignites the cry "no taxation without representation."
British soldiers fire on colonists, killing five and inflaming anti-British sentiment.
Colonists dump 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor.
The "shot heard round the world" begins the American Revolution.
The Continental Congress declares independence from Britain.
American victory convinces France to enter the war as an ally.
France formally allies with the United States.
Cornwallis surrenders, effectively ending the Revolutionary War.
Delegates in Philadelphia draft the United States Constitution.
The required nine states ratify the Constitution.
George Washington becomes the first President of the United States.
The first ten amendments guarantee fundamental individual rights.
Washington declares American neutrality in European conflicts.
Adams concedes to Jefferson in the first contested presidential transition.
Jefferson doubles the nation's size with a purchase from France for $15 million.
The Supreme Court establishes the principle of judicial review.
The Corps of Discovery sets out to explore the western territory.
Jefferson's trade embargo attempts to avoid entanglement in European wars.
The young republic goes to war with Britain over maritime rights and western expansion.
British forces capture and burn the capital, including the White House.
Congress attempts to balance slave and free states.
Andrew Jackson's populist victory transforms American democracy.
Congress authorizes the forced relocation of Native nations from the Southeast.
An enslaved man leads the most significant slave uprising in American history.
Texan defenders are overwhelmed by Mexican forces at the Alamo mission.
Texas declares independence from Mexico and establishes its own republic.
The Cherokee Nation is forcibly marched west, with thousands dying along the way.
The Republic of Texas is admitted as the 28th state.
War with Mexico begins, driven by territorial ambitions.
The California Gold Rush draws hundreds of thousands westward.
A package of bills temporarily defuses the slavery crisis.
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel galvanizes Northern anti-slavery sentiment.
The Supreme Court rules that Black Americans have no constitutional rights.
Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry electrifies the nation.
Abraham Lincoln wins the presidency and Southern states begin seceding.
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, starting the Civil War.
The bloodiest single day in American history, with over 22,000 casualties.
Lincoln declares enslaved people in rebel states "forever free."
The war's turning point, with 51,000 casualties over three days.
Grant's victory splits the Confederacy and gives the Union control of the Mississippi.
The Civil War effectively ends after four years of carnage.
John Wilkes Booth kills Lincoln at Ford's Theatre.
Slavery is abolished throughout the United States.
Equal protection and due process are guaranteed to all citizens.
The right to vote cannot be denied based on race.
Federal troops withdraw from the South, ending Reconstruction.
The first major national labor strike paralyzes the rail system.
The first federal law restricting immigration based on nationality.
A bombing at a labor rally in Chicago leads to a crackdown on organized labor.
France's gift to America is unveiled in New York Harbor.
Thousands race to claim land in the former Indian Territory.
U.S. troops kill over 250 Lakota men, women, and children.
Congress passes the first federal law against monopolies.
The nation's busiest immigration station begins processing millions of arrivals.
Chicago's world's fair showcases American industrial achievement.
The Supreme Court upholds "separate but equal" racial segregation.
America defeats Spain and acquires Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
Theodore Roosevelt takes office after McKinley's assassination.
Federal regulation of food and medicine begins after muckraking exposés.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is established.
The "unsinkable" ocean liner strikes an iceberg, killing over 1,500 passengers.
Congress establishes the central banking system.
The engineering marvel connecting the Atlantic and Pacific opens to traffic.
America joins the Allied Powers after unrestricted submarine warfare.
Fighting ends on the Western Front on November 11.
The deadliest pandemic in modern history kills millions worldwide.
Prohibition of alcohol becomes law.
Women win the right to vote nationwide.
The manufacture and sale of alcohol becomes illegal across the United States.
White mobs destroy the prosperous Black neighborhood of Greenwood.
A Tennessee teacher is tried for teaching evolution, captivating the nation.
Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.
The stock market crashes, triggering the Great Depression.
WWI veterans march on Washington demanding early payment of bonuses.
Franklin Roosevelt wins the presidency in a landslide.
Roosevelt launches sweeping programs to combat the Depression.
The 21st Amendment ends the "noble experiment."
FDR signs the law creating the American social safety net.
The German airship explodes at Lakehurst, New Jersey, in a live radio broadcast.
Germany invades Poland, beginning the Second World War.
World War II begins as Nazi forces sweep across Europe.
France surrenders to Germany; Britain stands alone.
Japan attacks the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing America into the war.
A decisive American naval victory turns the tide in the Pacific.
Over 120,000 Japanese Americans are forcibly relocated to internment camps.
Allied forces invade Sicily and begin the liberation of Italy.
Allied forces storm the beaches of Normandy in the largest amphibious invasion in history.
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act provides veterans with education and housing benefits.
Marines capture the strategically vital island after fierce fighting.
President Roosevelt dies in office; Harry Truman becomes president.
Nazi Germany surrenders unconditionally on May 8.
The United States drops atomic bombs on two Japanese cities.
Japan surrenders on September 2, ending World War II.
Fifty nations sign the UN Charter in San Francisco.
The U.S. commits to containing Soviet expansion worldwide.
America funds the reconstruction of war-devastated Europe.
Western Allies supply blockaded West Berlin by air for eleven months.
North Korea invades the South; the U.S. leads a UN coalition response.
Senator McCarthy's anti-communist crusade collapses during televised hearings.
The Supreme Court declares school segregation unconstitutional.
The Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite, igniting the Space Race.
Federal troops escort nine Black students into Central High School in Arkansas.
A CIA-backed invasion of Cuba fails disastrously.
East Germany constructs a wall dividing Berlin.
The world stands on the brink of nuclear war for thirteen days.
President Kennedy is shot in Dallas on November 22.
Landmark legislation outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Congress gives President Johnson broad authority to escalate in Vietnam.
The Supreme Court rules segregated schools unconstitutional.
Rosa Parks's arrest sparks a 381-day boycott that desegregates city buses.
The murder of a 14-year-old boy in Mississippi galvanizes the movement.
Nine Black students integrate Little Rock's Central High School.
Four college students sit at a whites-only lunch counter, sparking sit-ins nationwide.
Activists ride interstate buses to challenge segregation in the Deep South.
250,000 people gather to hear Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.
Four young girls are killed in a bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church.
The most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
Volunteers register Black voters in Mississippi amid violence.
Marchers are beaten on "Bloody Sunday," leading to the Voting Rights Act.
Federal law prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
The influential Black nationalist leader is killed in New York.
A revolutionary organization advocating Black self-defense and community programs.
Dr. King is shot in Memphis on April 4.
Federal law prohibits discrimination in housing.
The nation celebrates its 200th anniversary.
Iranian revolutionaries seize the U.S. embassy, holding 52 Americans for 444 days.
A partial meltdown at a Pennsylvania nuclear plant shakes public confidence.
Ronald Reagan wins a landslide victory, launching the conservative revolution.
The first cases of a mysterious disease are reported in the United States.
The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after launch, killing seven.
The Reagan administration is exposed for secretly selling arms to Iran.
The iconic symbol of the Cold War is torn down.
A U.S.-led coalition drives Iraqi forces from Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm.
The Cold War ends as the Soviet Union breaks apart.
A domestic terrorist attack kills 168 people.
President Clinton is impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate.
The Supreme Court effectively decides the presidential election.
Terrorists hijack four planes, destroying the World Trade Center and attacking the Pentagon.
America invades Afghanistan to topple the Taliban and pursue al-Qaeda.
The U.S. invades Iraq based on disputed intelligence about weapons of mass destruction.
The catastrophic storm devastates the Gulf Coast and exposes systemic failures.
The collapse of Lehman Brothers triggers the worst economic crisis since the Depression.
Barack Obama becomes the first Black president of the United States.
President Obama signs landmark healthcare reform into law.
U.S. special forces kill the al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan.
The Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right.
A global pandemic reshapes American life, killing over one million Americans.
Nationwide protests against police brutality become the largest in U.S. history.
A mob storms the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the presidential election.
America's longest war ends after twenty years.