Historically, it is believed that Leif Erikson, a Norse viking, was the first European to land in the Americas. He landed in Newfoundland and a good 500 years before Columbus
fall 1492; Columbus "discovered" the Americas
In 1492, Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer sailed the Atlantic Ocean in search of a new way to the East Indies. He met land in October of 1492. He had landed on the Bahaman Islands. He is not the first person to land in the Americas, but is considered the most well known.
august 02, 1776; signing of the Declaration of Independence
Debate stands as to whether or not the Declaration was signed by all Founding Fathers on the date of it's implimentation, July 4, 1776. However it is widely accepted August 2, 1776 is when it was fully signed in Independence Hall.
april 12, 1861 – april 09, 1865; Civil War
Fought between the North (Union) and South (Conferates), the Civil war would bring about the end of slavery in the United States and was one of the bloodiest wars fought on US soil. The war ended April 04, 1865; 11 days before Lincoln was assassinated and a 8 months before slavery was officially abolished.
april 15, 1865; Lincoln Assassination
16th President, Abraham Lincoln went to the Ford Theater on the evening of April 15, 1865. He was shot in the head. After being taken across the street to Petersen House he was declared dead. His assassin was John Wilkes Booth, a confederate spy and actor from Maryland.
december 1865; 13th Ammendment
December of 1865 saw the 13th ammendment to the US Constitution be signed. This ammendment officially ended slavery in the United States.
april 14 - april 15, 1912; sinking of the RMS Titanic
At 11:40pm on April 14 the RMS Titanic (the unsinkable ship) struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. 2 hours and 40 minutes later at 2:20am on April 15 the ship sank beneath the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 1,490–1,635 died in the maritime tragedy.
december 7, 1941; bombing of Pearl Harbor
On Sunday, December 07, 1941 just before 08:00 the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii was attacked in a surprise, preemptive air strike by the Imperial Japanses Navy Air Service.
President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 pm Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963. He was riding in a Lincoln Contenintal with his wife, Jackie, sitting next to him when Lee Harvey Oswald, a former sniper, shot and killed him.
july 20, 1969; Moon Landing
On July 20, 1969 the first man stepped foot on the moon. Apollo 11's space craft was the first manned mission to the moon with success. The first man on the moon was Neil Armstrong. The crew consisted of Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Gene Cernan. The vast majority of Americans watched on their black and white tv sets as the men walked on the moon.
august 9, 1974; Richard Nixon steps down
On August 9, 1974; following an impeachment hearing and the probably removal from office, President Richard Nixon stepped down as President of the United States. He was involed in a widely known scandle, Watergate. He was the first president to be impeached and likely would have been removed from office.
april 30, 1975; vietnam war ends
On March 29 1973, plans were made for the American troops to leave Vietnam. It took two years for the troops to actually leave and the war to be considered over. It is widely speculated that the US never should have been there and during the war it was heavily protested all across America.
january 28, 1986; challenger explodes
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was a fatal incident in the United States space program that occurred on Tuesday, January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard, including a teacher.
september 11, 2001; Terrorist attack
8:46 am on September 11, 2001 the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center. At 9:03 am the second plane hit the trade center. At 9:37 am a third plane crashed into the Pentagon. And at 10:03 am the fourth plane was diverted by passengers and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks were the worst on US soil since Pearl Harbor and were carried out by 19 hijackers. The day is known as September 11 Attacks or more commonly 9/11
february 1, 2003; columbia space shuttle
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was a fatal incident in the United States space program that occurred on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. It grounded all shuttles for 29 months.
december 2007 - june 2009; great recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline observed in national economies globally that occurred between 2007-2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country. In the US the housing market crashed due to balloon interest rates that allowed people to purchase homes above their income level and as the intrest rate grew their income did not, costing families their homes.