1801 John Marshall appointed as Chief Justice of the U. S.
Supreme Court
1801 First stone building in Northwest Territory is Ohio
capitol, Chillicothe
1801 Tripolitan War begins; ends in 1805 with USMC on the shores
of Tripoli
1802 Treaty of Amiens, in March
1803 Louisiana Purchased April 30. Lewis & Clark to begin
exploration
1803 Ohio enters the Union. Paperwork completed 1953
1803 Atomic theory first published
1804 Ohio University at Athens is first institute of higher
learning in NWT
1804 12th Amendment changes Presidential election rules
1804 Osceola born in Tallassee village in Alabama; will lead 2nd
Seminole War
1804 Vice President Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in duel
July 11
1804 Pierce, 14th President, born; dies 1869
1805 Lewis & Clark discover mouth of Columbia River, just in
time, on Nov 7
1807 Robert Fulton, in "Clermont", steams up Hudson River to
Albany, Aug 17
1807 Congress outlaws importing slaves from Africa, March 2
1807 Treaty of Detroit; Wyandot Indians lose most of their real
estate
1807 Embargo Act, Dec 22, forbids American ships to leave
American waters
1808 Andrew Johnson, 17th President, born; dies 1875
1808 Slave importation outlawed. Yet, another 1/4 million
brought in by 1860
1809 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, born in Kentucky February
12; dies 1865
1809 Non-Intercourse Act, Mar 1, repeals the Embargo Act, which
didn't work
1810 Census counts 7,239,881 persons in United States
1811 Madison allows 20-year charter of Bank of the United States
to lapse
1811 Wm. H. Harrison fights Indians at Tippecanoe, near
Indianapolis, Nov 7
1811 New Madrid, MO earthquake Dec 16; forecast months before by
Tecumseh
1812 War declared on England June 18, days after England
repealed the cause
1812 John O'Mic hanged on Cleveland Public Square for killing 2
fur trappers
1812 Russians build Fort Rossiia (Ross) 90 miles north of San
Francisco
1813 Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry "meets" British in Lake Erie
Sept 10
1813 Tecumseh defeated in battle near Detroit, in Thames,
Ontario
1814 City of Washington captured and burned by British, August
24
1814 Francis Scott Key observes flag over Fort McHenry at
Baltimore, Sept 14
1814 Treaty of Ghent ends War of 1812 on December 24, but
fighting goes on
1815 Andrew Jackson defeats British at New Orleans Jan 8, after
war ends
1815 USS Constitution defeats two British ships off African
coast 20 Feb
1815 Napolean meets his "Waterloo" on June 18
1815 Village of Cleaveland officially incorporated in Ohio
1816 Capitol of Ohio moves to Columbus
1816 Second Bank of the United States chartered, Apr 10
1817 Work begins on Erie Canal
1817 First American school for the deaf, Hartford, CT, Apr 14
1817 Secretary of State Rush and British Minister Bagot agree on
Great Lakes
1818 Congress fixes stripes in flag at 13 to honor original
colonies, Apr 4
1818 Anglo-American Convention fixes 49th parallel as border
with Canada
1819 SS Savanah makes transatlantic crossing under steam
propulsion, a first
1819 Florida ceded by Spain to the United States, Feb 22
1819 Treaty of Saginaw; Indians give up one sixth of Michigan
1820 Missouri Compromise forbids slavery above 36 degrees 30
minutes latitude
1820 Federalist Party dissolves; without opposition, Jefferson
Dems disband
1822 Grant, 18th President, born in Ohio; dies 1885
1822 Hayes, 19th President, born in Ohio; dies 1893
1823 Monroe Doctrine given to Congress December 2
1824 House of Representatives elects John Q. Adams president
1825 Erie Canal completed
1826 Jefferson, then Adams, die on 50th anniversary of
Declaration, July 4
1827 Ohio Canal opened for business
1828 Noah Webster publishes "American Dictionary of English
Language", Apr 14
1828 George Worthington Co. founded in village of Cleaveland
1828 Baltimore & Ohio railroad, the first designed for
passengers & freight
1829 Arthur, 21st President, born; dies 1886
1829 Estate of James Smithson funds Smithsonian Institution
1831 Samuel F. Smith writes "My Country, 'tis of Thee"
1831 Nat Turner leads slave revolt at Southhampton
1831 Garfield, 20th President (and 3rd in a row from Ohio),
born; dies 1881
1832 Abe Lincoln enlists in Illinois militia to help fight Sauk
& Fox Indians
1832 Jackson vetoes rechartering of 2nd Bank, causes birth of
Whig Party
1832 Jackson supporters counter with rebirth of Jefferson
Democratic Party
1833 Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President, born; dies 1901
1833 First tax-supported public library, at Peterborough, NH,
Apr 9
1833 Oberlin College, in Ohio, is first coed college in U.S.A.
1833 City of Cleveland buys its first fire engine for $285
1834 Death of Lafayette, Revolutionary War hero on two
continents
1834 Charles Babbage demonstrates "analytic engine", a computer
1835 U.S.A. becomes debt free (briefly) for only time in history
1836 The Alamo. 6000 Mexicans defeat 190 Americans in 12 days
on March 6
1837 Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President, born; dies 1908
1837 Sitting Bull born, dies in 1890
1837 Concord Hymn, by Emerson, commemorates battle of Concord NH
in 1775
1838 Osceola dies in prison after being tricked by false white
flag
1838 Trail of Tears. Thousands of Indians forced from their
homes & die
1838 Black Hawk, famous Sauk warrior, dies of old age
1839 Abner Doubleday invents baseball at Cooperstown, NY
1839 Railway Express Co. founded in Boston
1840 Chief Joseph born near Wallowa, OR. Becomes great chief of
Nez Perce'
1841 Wm. H. Harrison catches cold at Inauguration, dies a month
later
1841 Russia sells their Fort Ross in California to John Sutter
1842 Crazy Horse born in South Dakota
1842 Plain Dealer Publishing Co. founded in Cleveland
1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty defines Canadian-U.S. frontier,
Aug 9
1843 McKinley, 25th President (5th from Ohio), born; dies 1901
1844 Samuel F. B. Morse opens telegraphic link between Baltimore
and D.C.
1845 U. S. Naval Academy opens at Annapolis, MD
1845 Texas is annexed; war with Mexico follows
1846 Large crack in Liberty Bell gets too bad to permit ringing
any more
1846 Potato famine in Ireland. Many flee to America for
survival
1847 Brigham Young leads his followers into Salt Lake City, UT
area
1847 Thomas Alva Edison born in Milan, OH February 11; dies in
1931
1847 American troops fight their way into the Halls of Montezuma
in Mexico
1848 Treaty of 1848 gets CA, NM, AZ, NV UT, parts of CO and WY
for the Union
1848 Cornerstone laid for the Washington Monument
1849 There's G O L D in them thar hills! Invasion of
California begins
1850 Fugitive Slave Act, Sept. 18
1851 Isaac Singer granted a patent for his sewing machine
1853 Gadsden Purchase brings some Mexican territory into U.S.A.
1853 Commodore Matthew Perry opens trade routes with Japan, July
14
1853 Cincinnati is first city to pay firefighters a salary
1854 War between Cleveland and Ohio City settled by annexation
of latter
1854 Kansas - Nebraska Act. Provides springboard for Abe
Lincoln
1854 Republican Party formed in Ripon, WI 28 February, under
John Fremont
1854 George Boole writes on theories of logic and probabilities
1855 Soo Canal opens upper Great Lakes to commercial navigation
1855 Longfellow uses name of real Six Nation's hero Hiawatha in
mythical poem
1856 Wilson, 28th President, born; dies 1924
1856 Western Union Telegraph Co. established in Cleveland
1856 Cocaine extracted from cocoa leaves, but has no legitimate
use (ever!)
1857 Dred Scott decision handed down by Supreme Court, March 6
1857 Transatlantic cable begins; used briefly in 1858. Replaced
in 1866
1857 Taft, 27th President (7th from Ohio), born; dies 1930
1858 Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President, born; dies 1919
1859 Abolitionist John Brown leads assault on armory at Harper's
Ferry
1859 Colonel Robert E. Lee, U. S. Army, commands troops at
Harpers Ferry
1859 Drake puts down first oil well in U.S.A., Titusville, PA
1860 Annie Oakley born in Darke County, Ohio, log cabin, August
13
1860 Pony Express riders leave Sacramento, CA and St. Joseph, MO
on 1st ride
1860 Edwin C. Higbee opens store on Cleveland Public Square
1860 South Carolina becomes first state to secede from Union,
December 20
1861 Confederate States adopt Provisional Constitution, February
8
1861 Civil War begins at Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC, April 12
1861 Ohioan Generals Grant, Sherman and Sheridan ride off to war
1861 Congress enacts first income tax August 2, on incomes more
than $800
1861 U. S. Navy's first aircraft carrier launches hot air
balloon Aug 3
1861 First Congressional Medals of Honor awarded, to Union
Navymen
1861 First transcontinental telegraph kills need for Pony
Express
1862 The Homestead Act, May 20, contributes to development in
ND, SD, and OK
1862 Duel between Merrimac and Monitor March 8; CSS Merrimac
withdrew
1862 Battle of Shiloh, Apr 6
1862 LTC R. B. Hayes and Sgt Wm. McKinley (both future
Presidents) saw action at Antietam
1863 The Emancipation Proclamation
1863 The Gettysburg Address dedicated to more than two score
thousand dead
1864 Lincoln posed for photograph which appears on $5 bill, Feb
9
1864 "In God We Trust" put on American coins for the first time
April 22
1864 Massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians at Sand Creek, CO,
Nov 29
1864 Lincoln proclaims last Thursday in November to be
Thanksgiving Day
1865 13th amendment abolishes slavery
1865 Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox on Palm Sunday, April
9
1865 Lincoln shot by Boothe April 14, dies next day
1865 Confederate Army surrenders at Shreveport, LA; Civil War
ends May 26
1865 Last shot of Civil War fired by CSS Shenandoah in Bering
Sea, June 22
1865 Harding, 29th President (8th from Ohio), born; dies in 1923
1866 Congress recognizes the Metric system of measurements
1866 Alfred Nobel invents something that is "dynamite"
1867 British North American Act creates the Dominion of Canada
1867 US buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million
1868 14th amendment prohibits voting discrimination, among other
things
1868 House impeaches President Johnson. Senate acquits him by
one vote
1869 Transcontinental railroad completed; Ogden, UT wins the
golden spike
1869 Cleveland's first professional baseball team is The Forest
City's
1869 Suez Canal completed
1870 "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", in a nuclear
submarine
1870 15th Amendment gives blacks the right to vote
1870 John D. Rockefeller founds Standard Oil Company, in
Cleveland, OH
1870 Robert E. Lee dies, October 12
1871 Dr. B. F. Goodrich opens rubber factory in Akron, OH
1871 Mrs. O'Leary's cow blamed for Chicago fire, Oct 8-11
1872 Coolidge, 30th President, born; dies 1933
1872 Susan B. Anthony leads protest for women at polling place
1872 Yellowstone National Park created; our first of many (but
too few)
1873 Bellevue Hospital in NYC starts first school of nursing
1874 Hoover, 31st President, born; dies 1964
1874 Guglielmo Marconi, radio pioneer, born April 25
1875 Gold discovered in the Sioux holy grounds, the Black Hills
of SD
1875 First running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchhill Downs,
May 17
1876 Custer makes his way into the history books at Little Big
Horn in Montana
1876 Liberty statue presented by France, construction requires
ten years
1876 Internal combustion engine invented by N. A. Otto
(pronounced "auto")
1876 Does the name "Alexander Graham" ring a Bell? Telephone
invented
1877 Crazy Horse dies in a Nebraska prison from stab wounds
1878 First electric street lighting anywhere is on Cleveland
Public Square
1878 First commercial telephone exchange is at New Haven, CT,
Jan 28
1879 John D. Rockefeller organizes the Standard Oil Trust
1879 Charles McGill is last felon publicly hanged on Cleveland
Public Square
1880 Case School of Applied Science established in Cleveland
1881 Booker T. Washington opens Tuskegee Institute for blacks
1881 Garfield assassinated. Arthur moves into the presidency
1882 F. D. Roosevelt, 32nd President, born; dies 1945
1883 Indonesian volcano Krakatau blows it's top; 35,000 die
1883 Brooklyn Bridge completed May 24. No, it is not for sale!
1884 Truman, 33rd President, born; dies 1972
1884 First "World Series" played
1886 Geronimo surrenders all Apache nations, September 4
1887 Susan Salter, Argonia, KS, is first woman mayor in U.S.A.,
Apr 4
1888 Electric streetcars introduced, in Richmond, VA
1889 Indian Territory becomes Oklahoma Territory, thrown open to
landrushers
1889 First American skyscraper soars into Chicago skies, 10
stories
1889 Jefferson Davis dies at age 81 on December 6
1890 Eisenhower, 34th President, born; dies 1969
1890 First skyscraper in New York City is the World Building, 26
stories
1890 Massacre at Wounded Knee, SD, December 29
1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act, July 2
1890 Leonidas Merritt discovers iron ore lode at Mesabi, MN
1892 First bridge to span the lower Mississippi river is at
Memphis
1892 Rudolf Diesel invents internal combustion engine that runs
on oil
1892 Pledge of Allegiance published. Changes made in 1954
1893 "America the Beautiful" written by Katherine Lee Bates
1896 Plessy v. Ferguson establishes hated "separate but equal"
provision
1898 USS Maine blown up in harbor at Havana, Cuba, February 15
1898 Spanish - American War. Teddy Roosevelt rough-rides his
way into Cuba
1898 Independent republic of Hawaii annexed
1900 Boxer Rebellion against foreigners in China begins
1901 McKinley assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt moves into
presidency Sept 14
1902 State of Ohio authorizes a state flag on May 9
1902 First 4-H Club anywhere is in Springfield, OH
1903 Wright brothers prove they are right for aviation, Kitty
Hawk, NC Dec 17
1903 Great automobile race from New York City to Pittsburgh
takes eight days
1904 Chief Joseph dies in exile in Washington state, fighting no
more, forever
1904 Ohio adopts Scarlet Carnation as state flower to honor
McKinley
1906 Great San Francisco earthquake April 18 kills over 500
people
1908 First Model T rolls off the Ford assembly line
1908 U.S. Governors issue Declaration on Conservation, May 15
1908 L. B. Johnson, 36th President, born; dies 1973
1909 Great White Fleet of 16 battleships completes trip around
the world
1909 Robert E. Peary (a white) & Matthew A. Henson (a black)
reach North Pole
1909 NAACP founded by W. E. B. DuBois
1910 Boy Scouts of America founded, Feb 8
1911 First transcontinental flight takes 82 hours, over nearly 2
months
1911 Reagan, 40th President, born
1912 Girl Guides (Girl Scouts) founded March 12
1912 Garrett Morgan of Cleveland invents the gas mask
1912 Titanic hits iceberg, April 15. 1503 lives lost
1913 Harriet Tubman, heroine of underground railroad, dies;
buried in Ohio
1913 Nixon, 37th President, born
1913 Ford, 38th President (1st non-elected), born
1913 16th Amendment establishes income tax
1913 17th Amendment changed election rules for Senators
1914 Panama Canal completed
1914 American Radio Relay League (ARRL) founded in Newington, CT
by W1AW
1914 World War I begins in Europe; President Wilson declares
neutrality
1915 SS Lusitania sunk May 7; 1100 lives lost
1916 General John "Blackjack" Pershing chases Pancho Villa deep
into Mexico
1917 After scores of U-boat incidents over last 3 years, U. S.
enters WW I
1917 Kennedy, 35th President, born; dies 1963
1917 Russian Revolution; they enjoy brief democracy for only
time in history
1917 Father Edward Flanagan founds Boy's Town, December 1
1918 The American's Creed adopted April 3
1918 Armistice ends WW I on 11th hour of 11th day of 11th month
1919 18th Amendment introduces prohibition of intoxicating
liquors
1920 19th Amendment brings women the vote, Aug 26
1921 Man O' War retires to 26 years at stud
1923 Garrett Morgan of Cleveland invents traffic signals
1923 Teapot Dome scandal involves illegal lease on Navy oil
reserves
1924 Carter, 39th President, born
1924 Bush, 41st President, born
1924 Congress confers citizenship on (some) Native Americans,
June 15
1925 First municipal airport in the world is Hopkins, at
Cleveland, OH
1925 First female as a state governor is Nellie Taylor Ross, in
Wyoming
1925 John T. Scopes convicted of teaching evolution in Dayton,
TN, July 24
1926 Richard E. Byrd flies over North Pole May 9
1927 Lucky Lindy lands in Paris May 21 after non-stop flight
from New York
1928 Richard E. Byrd flies over South Pole November 28
1929 St. Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago; rival bootleggers
shoot it out
1929 Great Depression begins after bank and stock failures in
October
1930 DuMont's television broadcast in NYC to private homes,
August 20
1931 The National Anthem finally adopted by Congress March 3
1931 Empire State Building opens May 1
1932 20th Amendment established starting date for Presidency &
Congress
1932 Welland Canal bypasses Niagara Falls for shipping
1933 First woman in Presidential Cabinet is Secretary of Labor
Frances Perkins
1933 Emergency Banking Act, March 9
1933 Civilian Conservation Corps, March 31
1933 Federal Emergency Relief Act, Agriculture Adjustment Act,
May 12
1933 Tennessee Valley Authority Act, May 18
1933 Farm Credit Act, June 16
1933 21st Amendment repeals prohibition amendment
1933 Ohio adopts the Cardinal as the "Official Bird"
1934 Securities and Exchange Commission created June 6
1935 Works Progress Administration approved by Congress, April 8
1935 Wagner-Connery Act establishes National Labor Relations
Board, July 5
1935 Social Security Act, August 14
1937 Amelia Earhart Putnam disappears during attempt to fly
around the world
1937 Adolph Hitler tells his generals of his plan to take over
Europe, Nov 5
1939 Geological Surv. final report on cost of Louisiana Purchase
$23.2 million
1939 After attacking other nations, Hitler starts WW II by
attacking Poland
1939 Bill of Rights finally ratified by Massachusetts, Georgia &
Connecticut
1941 Lend-Lease Act became law March 11
1941 Churchill & Roosvelt develop The Atlantic Charter, Aug 14
in Argentia
1941 December 7, the Day of Infamy, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor,
HI
1942 Executive Order 9066 imprisons many thousands of Nisei for
three years
1942 The Battle of the Coral Sea, May 7-8
1942 The Battle of Midway, June 4
1942 The Battles of Guadalcanal: ashore, August 7; at sea, Nov
12-15
1942 First self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, by Fermi,
December 2
1944 Landing at Anzio Beach by the Allies, January 22
1944 D-Day at Normandy! The Longest Day begins, June 6
1944 The Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 19
1945 Marines raise the flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima,
February 23
1945 First atomic bomb exploded anywhere is at Los Alamos, NM,
July 16
1945 B-29 'Enola Gay' drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Aug 6
1945 Last atomic bomb then in existence dropped at Nagasaki,
August 9
1945 World War II ends: first in Europe, May 7; then in Japan,
Sept 2
1945 United Nations chartered in San Francisco; in 1950 moves to
NYC
1946 Taft-Hartley Act outlaws certain practices of trade unions
1947 Truman Doctrine opposes Communism in Greece and elsewhere,
Mar 12
1947 Marshall Plan helps rebuild Europe, June 5
1947 Transistor invented at Bell Labs, in New Jersey, Dec 23
1948 Foreign Assistance Act funds the Marshall Plan, April 3
1948 Organization of American States (OAS) formed, April 30
1948 United Nations creates Republic of Israel out of Palestine
1948 Berlin airlift begins nearly a year of relief to overcome
blockade
1948 Native Americans allowed to vote (finally) in New Mexico
and Arizona
1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization born, April 4
1950 North Korea invades South Korea, June 25
1951 22nd Amendment limits president to two terms. 1st
proposer: Jefferson
1953 Most "declared" hostilities end in Korea, 38th parallel
becomes DMZ
1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka overturns Plessy v.
Ferguson
1954 Remington Rand sells a UNIVAC system to General Motors
1955 Dr. Jonas Salk proves his vaccine against polio virus is
safe
1957 Sputnik
1959 Ohio adopts new Official Motto: "With God, All Things Are
Possible"
1959 St. Lawrence Seaway opens the Great Lakes to foreign
shipping, Apr 25
1960 23rd Amendment granted Electoral College representation to
DC
1962 John Glenn is first U. S. astronaut to orbit earth,
Feb 20
1962 Military aid begins in South Vietnam
1963 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. announces "I Have A Dream" on
August 28
1963 John F. Kennedy assassinated, Johnson moves into presidency
1964 24th Amendment killed "poll taxes"
1964 Civil Rights Act put teeth in Federal enforcement of
anti-discrimination
1964 Tonkin Gulf Resolution, Aug 24; repealed in 1970
1967 25th Amendment allows President to step aside temporarily,
then resume
1967 Thurgood Marshall is first black to become a justice on
Supreme Court
1968 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. murdered in Memphis
1969 Neil Armstrong took one small step for a man, onto
the moon
1971 26th amendment gives 18 year olds the vote
1972 Equal Rights Amendment proposed by Congress; never ratified
by states
1973 Vice President Agnew forced to resign, Ford becomes 1st
non-elected VP
1973 Roe et al v. Wade decision starts bitter
abortion/anti-abortion debates
1974 Nixon resigns in disgrace, Ford moves into the presidency
1975 The fall of Saigon, South Vietnam
1980 Mount St. Helens volcano erupts
1981 First female Supreme Court Justice is Sandra Day O'Connor
1984 Geraldine Ferraro is first serious female Vice Presidential
candidate
From here you can go to to:
Last Updated: 12/95
WebMaster: Bill Uzgalis
wuzgalis@orst.edu
Philosohpy Department
Oregon State University,
Corvallis, Oregon
Office Phone: (503) 737-5650