History Hop Tags - American

1503-01-20

Casa Contratacion (Board of Trade) found (Spain) to deal with American affairs

1607-04-26

1st British colony in American lands at Cape Henry, Virginia

1619-07-30

House of Burgesses Virginia forms, 1st elective American governing body

1621-03-16

Native American chief visits colony of Plymouth Mass

1621-10-25

Gov Bradford of colony of American Plymouth disallows sport on Christmas Day

1622-03-22

1st American Indian (Powhattan) massacre of whites Jamestown Virginia, 347 slain

1623-03-05

1st American temperance law enacted, Virginia

1629-03-24

1st game law passed in American colonies, by Virginia

1630-06-25

Fork introduced to American dining by Gov Winthrop

1638-06-25

Lunar eclipse is 1st astronomical event recorded in the American Colonies

1639-06-10

1st American log cabin at Fort Christina (Wilmington Delaware)

1642-03-01

Georgeana (York) Maine became the 1st incorporated American city

1646-10-28

First Protestant church assembly for American indians (Massachusetts)

1647-05-26

Alse Young becomes the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies, when she is hanged in Hartford, Connecticut.

1647-11-11

Massachusetts passes first compulsory school attendance law in the American colonies

1648-10-18

1st labor organization forms in North American colonies (Boston Shoemakers)

1656-10-02

British north American colony of Connecticut passes law against Quakers

1658-08-12

1st American police force forms (New Amsterdam)

1662-01-27

1st American lime kiln begins operation (Providence RI)

1664-03-12

1st naturalization act in American colonies

1675-01-08

1st American commercial corporation chartered (NY Fishing Co)

1676-08-12

1st war between American colonists & Indians ends in New England

1681-03-04

English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania

1690-09-25

Publick Occurrences, first newspaper in the American colonies (Boston), publishes first & last edition

1690-12-10

Mass Bay becomes 1st American colonial goverment to borrow money

1691-02-17

Thomas Neale granted British patent for American postal service

1693-07-08

NYC authorizes 1st police uniforms in American colonies

1694-10-23

American colonial forces, led by Sir William Phipps, fail to seize Quebec.

1701-08-02

Great Peace of Montreal signed between New France and North American Indian nations at urging of Huron chief Kondiaronk

1715-11-25

First English patent granted to an American, for processing corn

1716-09-14

1st lighthouse in American colonies lit (Boston Harbor)

1719-12-11

1st recorded display of Aurora Borealis in north American colonies (New England)

1722-01-24

Edward Wigglesworth appointed 1st north American divinity professor (Harvard)

1729-03-15

Sister St Stanislas Hachard, 1st American nun, takes her vows, N Orleans

1732-02-26

1st mass celebrated in 1st American Catholic church, St Joseph's, Philadelphia

1732-12-06

1st play in American colonies acted by professional players, NYC

1733-07-30

Society of Freemasons opens 1st American lodge in Boston

1741-02-13

Andrew Bedford publishes 1st American magazine (American Magazine)

1743-03-14

1st American town meeting (Boston's Faneuil Hall)

1745-03-09

Bells for 1st American carillon shipped from England to Boston

1745-06-17

American colonials capture Louisburg, Cape Breton Island from French

1748-03-19

Naturalization Act passes granting Jews right to colonize north American colonies

1748-08-15

United Lutheran Church the American colonies organized

1750-03-05

1st American Shakespearean production-"altered" Richard III, NYC

1751-05-01

1st American cricket match is played

1752-09-03

Britain and the British Empire (including the American colonies) adopt the Gregorian Calendar, losing 11 days. People riot thinking the government stole 11 days of their lives

1752-09-14

Britain (and American colonies) adopt Gregorian calendar (no Sept 3-Sept 13th)

1759-01-11

1st American life insurance company incorporated, Philadelphia

1760-02-16

Native American hostages killed in Fort Prince George, SC

1768-02-11

Samuel Adams letter, circulates around American colonies, opposing Townshend Act taxes

1768-02-20

1st American chartered fire insurance company opens (Penn)

1768-10-30

First Methodist church in North American colonies initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC)

1770-03-05

Boston Massacre, British troops kill 5 in crowd. Native African American Crispus Attucks 1st to die. Later held up as early black martyr. Galvanised anti-British feelings

1771-05-16

The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called "The Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.

1773-10-14

American Revolutionary War: The United Kingdom's East India Company tea ships' cargo are burned at Annapolis, Maryland.

1774-12-13

1st incident of American Revolution - 400 attack Ft William and Mary, New Hampshire

1775-04-19

American Revolution begins - Lexington Common, shot "heard round the world"

1775-05-10

Green Mountain Boys capture Fort Ticonderoga NY-American Revolution

1775-05-17

American Revolutionary War: the Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.

1775-06-15

George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of American Army

1775-09-25

American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen captured

1775-10-18

African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery.

1775-11-13

American Revolutionary forces capture Montreal

1775-12-31

Battle of Quebec in American Revolutionary War; Americans defeated trying to take British stronghold

1776-01-10

"Common Sense" Pamphlet by Thomas Paine, published advocating American independence

1776-03-04

The American War of Independence: The Americans capture Dorchester Heights dominating the port of Boston, Massachusetts.

1776-05-02

France & Spain agreed to give weapons to American rebels

1776-07-01

1st vote on Declaration of Independence for Britain's North American colonies

1776-07-06

American Declaration of Independence announced on front page of "PA Evening Gazette"

1776-08-10

American Revolutionary War: word of the United States Declaration of Independence reaches London.

1776-09-21

Nathan Hale, spied on British for American rebels, arrested

1776-10-26

Benjamin Franklin departed from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.

1776-11-16

1st gun salute for an American warship in a foreign port - US Andrew Doria at Ft St Eustatius

1776-11-16

British troops captured Fort Washington during American Revolution

1776-12-19

Thomas Paine published his 1st "American Crisis" essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls"

1776-12-26

George Washington defeats Hessians at Battle of Trenton in American Revolutionary War

1777-03-08

Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.

1777-07-07

American Revolutionary War: Battle of Hubbardton

1777-08-28

American Revolutionary War - Battle of Cooch's Bridge takes place near Newark, Delaware.

1777-09-03

Cooch's Bridge - Skirmish of American Revolutionary war in New Castle County, Delaware where the Flag of the United States was flown in battle for the first time.

1777-09-20

Battle of Paoli; British forces under Major General Charles Grey attacked Brigadier General Anthony Wayne's encampment. Claims that the British gave no quarter led to the engagement becoming known (from an American perspective) as the "Paoli Massacre."

1777-09-27

British General William Howe occupies Philadelphia during American Revolution

1778-01-20

1st American military court martial trial begins, Cambridge, Mass

1778-05-01

American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.

1778-06-28

Mary Ludwig Hayes "Molly Pitcher" aids American patriots

1778-07-10

American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1778-09-04

City of Amsterdam signs trade agreement with American rebels

1779-07-15

American troops under Gen A Wayne conquer Ft Stony Point, NY

1779-09-28

American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.

1780-05-04

American Academy of Arts & Science founded

1780-05-05

2nd oldest learned society in US (American Academy of Arts & Sciences) forms (Boston)

1780-06-23

American Revolution: Battle of Springfield fought in and around Springfield, New Jersey (including Short Hills, formerly of Springfield, now of Millburn Township.

1780-10-07

British defeated by American militia near Kings Mountain, SC

1780-10-16

Royalton, Vermont and Tunbridge, Vermont last major raid of the American Revolutionary War.

1780-11-05

French-American force under Colonel LaBalme is defeated by Miami Chief Little Turtle.

1781-04-29

French fleet occupies Tobago during American War of Independence

1781-08-30

French fleet of 24 ships under Comte de Grasse defeat British under Admiral Graves at battle of Chesapeake Capes in American Revolutionary War

1781-09-28

9,000 American forces & 7,000 French forces begin siege of Yorktown

1781-10-06

Americans & French begin siege of Cornwallis at Yorktown; last battle of American Revolutionary War

1782-04-19

John Adams secures Dutch Republic's recognition of the United States as an independent government and house he purchased in The Hague, Netherlands became first American embassy.

1782-07-01

American privateers attack Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

1783-04-18

Fighting ceases in the American Revolution, eight years to the day since it began.

1783-05-02

Architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant is promoted by brevet to Major of Engineers in recognition of his service to American liberty

1783-09-03

Treaty of Paris signed in Paris ends the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and United States of America

1783-11-02

General George Washington, later 1st American President, bids farewell to his army after the American Revolutionary War

1787-04-16

1st American comedy, "The Contrast," made its debut in NYC

1787-09-12

American statesman George Mason suggests the addition of a Bill of Rights to the Constitution modeled on previous state declarations, but the motion is defeated

1789-01-21

1st American novel, WH Brown's "Power of Sympathy," is published

1790-03-13

John Martin, 1st American-born actor, performs in Philadelphia

1790-08-09

Robert Gray's Columbia Rediviva returns to Boston after 3 year journey, 1st American ship to circumnavigate the Globe

1793-06-11

1st American stove patent is granted to Robert Haeterick

1793-07-22

Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada.

1793-12-09

Noah Webster establishes NY's 1st daily newspaper, American Minerva

1796-07-08

US State Dept issues 1st American passport

1797-01-30

Congress refuses to accept 1st petitions from American blacks

1799-06-05

Naturalists Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland set sail in the Pizarro from A Coruña and begin their 5 year Latin American expedition

1803-07-04

The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.

1805-07-08

American Bill Richmond knocks out Jack Holmes, Kilburn Wells, England

1805-11-25

Opera "Thaïs" first American performance

1808-04-06

John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company.

1809-03-04

Madison becomes 1st president inaugurated in American-made clothes

1810-02-01

1st insurance co managed by blacks (American Insurance Co of Phila)

1811-07-05

Venezuela, 1st South American country to gain independence from Spain

1812-08-05

War of 1812: Tecumseh's Native American force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.

1813-05-23

South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador ("The Liberator")

1814-09-11

Battle of Lake Champlain, NY; American Navy defeats British

1816-05-05

American Bible Society organized (NY)

1816-05-11

American Bible Society forms (NY)

1816-12-28

American Colonization Society organizes

1817-04-15

1st American school for the deaf opens (Hartford Conn)

1817-09-09

Alexander Twilight, probably first African American to graduate from a US college, receives BA degree at Middlebury College

1819-04-02

1st successful agricultural journal ("American Farmer") begins

1820-02-06

The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society started a settlement in present-day Liberia.

1822-02-04

Free American Blacks settle Liberia, West Africa

1822-02-09

American Indian Society organizes

1824-04-17

Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54° 40'N

1824-08-15

Freed American slaves establish Liberia on the West African coast through the American Colonization Society (ACS)

1825-05-25

American Unitarian Association founded

1826-02-13

American Temperance Society, forms in Boston

1826-03-14

General Congress of South American States assembles at Panama

1828-02-21

1st American Indian newspaper in US, "Cherokee Phoenix," published

1828-04-14

First American Dictionary: its author Noah Webster registers its copyright for publication

1830-05-20

1st railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American)

1833-12-04

American Anti-Slavery Society formed by Arthur Tappan in Phila

1834-06-21

American inventor and businessman Cyrus Hall McCormick patents the reaping machine

1836-02-25

US Showman Phineas Taylor Barnum exhibits African American slave Joice Heth.

1837-02-11

American Physiological Society organizes in Boston

1837-03-04

Weekly Advocate changes its name to the Colored American

1838-04-30

Nicaragua declares independence from Central American federation

1838-07-07

Central American federation is dissolved

1838-11-05

Honduras declares independence of Central American Federation

1839-11-27

American Statistical Association organizes in Boston

1840-01-25

American naval expedition under Charles Wilkes first to identify Antarctica as a new continent

1840-02-16

American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica

1840-08-18

Organization of American Society of Dental Surgeons founded (NY)

1844-06-22

Influential North American fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon is founded at Yale University.

1845-05-03

1st African American lawyer (Macon B Allen) admitted to the bar (Mass)

1845-08-28

Scientific American magazine publishes its first issue.

1846-04-25

Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War.

1846-09-30

Anesthetic ether used for 1st time by American dentist Dr William Morton who extracts a tooth

1847-05-05

American Medical Association organized (Philadelphia)

1847-05-07

American Medical Association organizes (Phila)

1847-07-26

The Liberian Declaration of Independence is signed making Liberia a sovereign nation, independent from the American Colonization Society

1847-09-12

Mexican-American War: the Battle of Chapultepec begins.

1847-09-13

American-Mexican war: US Gen Winfield Scott captures Mexico City

1848-04-18

American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.

1848-07-06

Mexican-American War ended with the Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo

1848-09-20

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.

1849-10-03

American author Edgar Allan Poe is found delirious in a gutter in Baltimore, Maryland under mysterious circumstances; it is the last time he is seen in public before his death.

1850-03-18

Henry Wells & William Fargo forms American Express in Buffalo

1851-12-29

1st American Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) chapter opened in Boston Massachusetts.

1852-02-21

George Bancroft becomes the American Geographical Society's first president

1853-07-06

William Wells Brown publishes "Clotel", 1st novel by an African American

1853-07-18

Completion of Grand Trunk Line, trains begin running over 1st North American railroad between Portland, Maine & Montreal

1854-10-01

The watch company founded in 1850 in Roxbury by Aaron Lufkin Dennison relocates to Waltham, Massachusetts, to become the Waltham Watch Company, a pioneer in the American System of Watch Manufacturing.

1855-09-03

Indian Wars: In Nebraska, 700 soldiers under American General William S. Harney avenge the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Sioux village, killing 100 men, women, and children.

1855-09-27

George F Bristow's "Rip Van Winkle", 2nd American opera, opens in NYC

1856-02-18

American (Know-Nothing) Party abolishes secrecy

1856-02-18

The American Party (Know-Nothings) convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate its first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.

1856-09-14

Battle of San Jacinto at Hacienda San Jacinto, Nicaraguan forces defeat American filibusters

1857-10-06

American Chess Association organized; 1st major US chess tournament (NYC)

1857-10-10

American Chess Association formed (NYC)

1860-01-29

American College established in Rome by Pope Pius IX

1860-08-03

American Canoe Association founded at Lake George NY

1860-11-06

Abraham Lincoln (Rep-R-Ill) elected 16th American President

1861-05-03

Gen Winfield Scott presents his Anaconda Plan for the North against the South in American Civil War

1861-06-08

American Civil War: Tennessee votes to secede from the Union.

1861-08-29

American Civil War: US Navy squadron captures forts at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.

1861-11-02

American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C. Fremont is relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter.

1861-12-09

American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress.

1861-12-19

Battle of Black Water (American Civil War)

1862-02-06

American Civil Was; naval engagement on Tennessee River-USS Conestago vs CSS Appleton Belle

1862-04-16

American Confederate Congress approves conscription act for all white males (18-35 years)

1862-05-19

US Homestead Act becomes law - provides cheap land for settlement of American West

1862-09-14

Skirmish at Fox's Gap, American Civil War

1862-09-17

American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war; 78 workers killed.

1862-09-30

First Battle of Newtonia (American Civil War), Newton County, Missouri

1862-12-31

-Jan 20th) Battle of Stone's River/Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennesse in American Civil War

1863-01-08

American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield

1863-01-26

American Civil War: Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent (54th Massachusetts Regiment)

1863-03-27

American Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls for this to be a day of fasting & prayer

1863-04-30

-5/1] Battle of Snyder's Bluff, Virginia (part of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War): General Sherman beaten by Confederate forces

1863-05-14

American Civil War: The Battle of Jackson, MS takes place.

1863-07-03

Battle of Gettysburg, Pa, the largest battle ever fought on the American continent, ends in a major victory for the Union.

1863-08-08

American Civil War: Tennessee's "military" Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves. Celebrated as a holiday by Tennessee African Americans (early 20th century)

1863-09-16

Robert College of Istanbul-Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.

1863-11-03

Battle of Grand Coteau in Southwestern Louisiana in the American Civil War

1864-07-29

American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC.

1864-09-18

Hood's Tennessee campaign begins (also called The Franklin—Nashville Campaign), American Civil War

1864-09-27

Battle at Pilot Knob (Ft Davidson) American Civil War, Missouri: 1700 killed/injured

1864-10-28

Second Battle of Newtonia (American Civil War), Newton County, Missouri

1864-11-08

Abraham Lincoln (R) elected to his 2nd term as American President

1864-11-22

American Civil War Battle at Griswoldville, Georgia, ends after 650 casualties

1865-03-02

Conferate General Early's army is defeated at the battle of Waynesboro VA during American Civil War

1865-03-18

Congress of Confederate States of American adjourns for last time

1865-05-13

Battle of Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, Texas: final engagement of the American Civil War, Private John Jefferson Williams of B Company, 34th Regiment Indiana Infantry is last man killed

1865-07-26

Patrick Francis Healy is 1st African American awarded PhD (from University of Leuven, Belgium)

1865-11-06

American Civil War: CSS Shenandoah is the last Confederate combat unit to surrender after circumnavigating the globe on its cruise that sank or captured 37 vessels.

1865-11-13

PT Barnum's New American museum opens in Bridgeport

1866-04-10

American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) forms

1866-05-01

American Equal Rights Association forms

1867-01-08

African American men granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C. despite President Johnson's veto

1868-10-30

John Menard of Louisiana is 1st African American elected to US Congress

1868-11-11

1st American amateur track & field meet (NYC)

1868-11-13

American Philological Association organized in NY

1868-11-27

Battle at Washita River, Oklahoma. General Custer attacks group of Native American Indians, their chief Black Kettle dies in the attack

1868-12-05

1st American bicycle college opens (NY)

1869-03-16

Hiram R. Revels makes 1st official speech by an African American in the Senate

1869-04-08

American Museum of Natural History opens (NYC)

1869-10-26

1st American steeplechase horserace (Westchester, NY)

1869-11-24

American Woman's Suffrage Association forms (Cleveland)

1869-12-10

The first American chapter of Kappa Sigma is founded at the University of Virginia.

1870-04-09

American Anti-Slavery Society dissolves

1872-11-05

American women's right to vote advocate Susan B. Anthony votes for Ulysses S. Grant

1872-11-18

American suffragette Susan B Anthony is arrested after voting on the 5th November in Rochester NY

1873-12-30

American Metrological Society forms (NYC) weights, measures & money

1875-10-22

Sons of American Revolution organizes

1876-10-06

American Library Association organized in Philadelphia

1876-11-25

Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack Chief Dull Knife's sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River.

1877-06-01

Society of American Artists forms

1877-06-15

Henry Ossian Flipper becomes 1st African American to graduate from West Point Military Academy

1877-10-09

American Humane Association organizes (Cleveland)

1877-11-09

American Chemical Society chartered in NY

1877-12-07

Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph (gramophone) to the editors of "Scientific American"

1877-12-22

"American Bicycling Journal" begins publishing (Boston, Mass)

1878-05-24

CA Parker (Harvard) wins 1st American bike race, Beacon Park Boston

1878-07-26

In California, the poet and American West outlaw calling himself "Black Bart" makes his last clean getaway when he steals a safe box from a Wells Fargo stagecoach. The empty box will be found later with a taunting poem inside.

1878-08-21

American Bar Association organizes at Sarasota, NY

1879-09-05

George Washington De Long, American Arctic Explorer, and commander on board the Jeannette, becomes trapped with his crew in pack ice during his attempt to reach the North Pole

1880-02-16

American Society of Mechanical Engineers forms (NYC)

1880-05-31

League of American Wheelmen (1st US bicycle association), forms in Newport RI

1881-05-21

American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton

1881-10-15

1st American fishing magazine, American Angler published

1881-11-15

American Federation of Labor (AFL) founded (Pittsburgh)

1882-04-03

American Old West: Outlaw Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford.

1882-10-28

Athletics reveal $22,000 profit in their 1st season in the American Association

1882-12-11

Boston's Bijou Theatre, 1st American playhouse lit exclusively by electricity, 1st performance, Gilbert & Sullivan's "Iolanthe"

1883-02-23

American Anti-Vivisection Society organized (Phila)

1883-05-01

NY Athletic Club hires Bob Rogers as 1st American pro sports trainer

1883-11-03

American Old West: Self-described "Black Bart the poet" gets away with his last stagecoach robbery, but leaves an incriminating clue that eventually leads to his capture.

1883-11-06

NYAC organizes 1st American cross-country championship race

1884-05-01

Moses Walker became 1st African American player in major league baseball in US

1884-09-23

American Herman Hollerith patents his mechanical tabulating machine.

1884-11-04

Grover Cleveland (D) beats James G Blaine (R) for his 1st presidential term. The only American president to serve 2 non-consecutive terms

1884-12-01

American Old West: Near Frisco, New Mexico, deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texan cowboys who want to kill him for arresting Charles McCarthy.

1885-03-03

American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) incorporates

1886-12-08

American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president

1887-02-08

The Dawes Act authorized the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.

1887-03-02

American Trotting Association organized in Detroit

1887-03-03

American Protective Association forms (anti-Catholic) in Clinton Iowa

1887-11-23

Opera "Trumpeter of Säckingen" 1st American production (NYC)

1888-06-23

Frederick Douglass is 1st African-American nominated for US President

1888-09-11

Death of the Argentine politician Domingo Sarmiento, after whom the Latin American Teacher's Day is chosen.

1889-08-29

1st American International professional lawn tennis contest (Newport RI)

1889-10-02

1st Pan American conference (Washington DC)

1889-10-02

In Colorado, Nicholas Creede strikes it rich in silver during the last great silver boom of the American Old West.

1889-12-14

American Academy of Political & Social Science organized, Phila

1890-01-25

National Afro-American League forms in Chicago

1890-04-14

Pan American Day-1st conference of American states (Wash DC)

1890-10-11

Daughters of American Revolution founded

1891-07-26

Henry James' "American" premieres in London

1891-08-05

1st travelers checks issued (American Express)

1892-04-19

Charles Duryea takes 1st American-made auto out for a spin (Mass)

1892-07-08

American Psychological Association organized, Worcester, Mass

1892-08-13

US black newspaper "Afro-American" begins publishing from Baltimore

1893-02-24

The American University is chartered by an act of the Congress of the United States of America.

1894-05-11

American RR Union strikes Pullman Sleeping Car Co

1894-06-25

American Railway Union under Eugene V Debs goes on strike

1895-06-20

1st female PhD (science) earned (Caroline Willard Baldwin) from an American University

1895-06-28

El Salvador, Honduras & Nicaragua form Central American Union

1895-08-19

American frontier murderer and outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.

1895-09-09

American Bowling Congress forms (NYC)

1896-04-06

1st modern Olympic games open in Athens Greece [3/25 OS] American, James Connolly, wins 1st Olympic gold medal in mod history

1896-05-26

1st American intercollegiate bicycle race, Manhattan Beach NY

1896-07-21

National Federation of Afro-American Women & Colored Women's

1896-11-26

A A Stagg of U Chicago creates American football huddle

1897-03-05

American Negro Academy forms

1897-04-19

1st American marathon ran, John J McDermott wins in 2:55:10 (Boston)

1897-05-18

American baseball NY Giant William (Bill) Joyce sets record of 4 triples in 1 game

1898-04-11

President McKinley asks for Spanish-American War declaration

1898-04-21

Spanish-American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date.

1898-04-22

1st Spanish-American War action: USS Nashville, takes enemy ship

1898-04-24

Spanish-American War: Spain delares war after rejecting US ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba

1898-04-25

Spanish-American War: The United States declares state of war on Spain effective from 21st April.

1898-06-10

US Marines land in Cuba during Spanish-American War

1898-06-11

1st US Marines (600) land at Guantanamo Cuba during Spanish-American War

1898-06-24

American troops drive Spanish forces from La Guasimas, Cuba

1898-06-30

Winton Motor Carriage Company publishes the first known automobile ad in Scientific American using the headline "dispense with a horse."

1898-07-03

American troops captured deserted Wake Island

1898-07-04

US flag hoisted over Wake Island (Spanish-American War)

1898-07-17

Spanish American War - Spaniards surrender to US at Santiago Cuba

1898-08-12

Peace protocol ends Spanish-American War, signed

1898-09-15

National Afro-American Council forms in Rochester NY

1898-10-18

American flag raised in Puerto Rico

1898-12-10

Spanish-American War ends; US acquires Philippines, PR & Guam

1899-01-07

Walter Camp publishes his 1st All-American football team in Collier's

1899-01-28

American Social Science Association incorporated by Congress

1899-02-04

The Philippine-American War begins with fighting between American and Philippine revolutionary forces

1899-02-06

Spanish-American War ends, peace treaty ratified by Senate

1899-12-02

Philippine-American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed "The Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.

1900-01-29

American League organized in Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee & Minneapolis

1900-03-05

American Hall of Fame founded

1900-04-17

7 high chiefs of American Samoa sign Instrument of Cession

1900-08-04

An allied expeditionary force, made up of Japanese, Russian, British, French and American troops, sets off from Tientsin for Peking, China, to put down Boxer rebellion

1900-09-13

Filipino resistance fighters defeat a small American column in the Battle of Pulang Lupa, during the Philippine-American War.

1900-09-17

Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.

1900-11-05

Under US military control since the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Cuba now calls its own constitutional convention

1900-11-13

Baltimore Orioles (now NY Yankees) enter baseball's American League

1900-12-23

As American forces defeat the Filipino insurgents and impose civil authority, some Filipinos form a Federal Party with a platform recognizing US sovereignty

1901-01-24

1st games played in baseball's American League

1901-03-02

The United States Congress passes the Platt amendment, limiting the autonomy of Cuba as a condition for the withdrawal of American troops.

1901-04-25

Erve Beck hits American League's 1st home run

1901-05-01

Herb McFarland hit 1st grand slam in American League

1901-05-01

Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo

1901-05-30

Hall of Fame for Great American on NYU campus dedicated

1901-09-06

US President William McKinley is shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in New York

1902-03-04

American Automobile Association (AAA) founded in Chicago

1902-10-10

American outlaw Tom Horn's murder trial begins, and he is eventually found guilty and sentenced to death

1902-11-30

American Old West: Second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor.

1903-01-09

Baseball's National & American Leagues make peace

1903-03-26

American Hotel opens in Amsterdam

1903-04-22

American Power Boat Association forms

1903-09-07

Federation of American Motorcyclists organized in NY

1903-12-30

Electric arc lamp sets fire to Iroquois theater in Chicago leaving 602 dead in one of the deadliest blazes in American history

1903-12-30

American Political Science Association founded at New Orleans

1904-02-05

American occupation of Cuba ends

1904-04-23

American Academy of Arts & Letters forms

1904-05-06

American Lung Association holds its 1st meeting

1904-05-18

In Morocco, a brigand, Raizuli, kidnaps Ion H. Perdicaris, an American citizen

1904-09-25

Charles Follis is 1st black to play proessional American football

1904-09-29

1st monument honoring Spanish American War erected (Monroeville Ohio)

1904-10-19

Polytechnic University of the Philippines founded as Manila Business School through the superintendence of the American C.A. O'Reilley.

1904-11-08

American President Theodore Roosevelt (R) defeats Alton B Parker (D)

1905-01-02

The American anarcho-syndicalist union known as the Industrial Workers of the World forms.

1905-03-25

Confederate battle flags captured during the American Civil War are returned to South

1905-12-11

120°F (49°C), Rivadavia, Argentina (South American record)

1906-01-13

1st radio set advertised (Telimco for $7.50 in Scientific American) claimed to receive signals up to one mile

1906-03-06

Nora Blatch is 1st woman elected to American Society of Civil Engineers

1906-07-11

The Gillette-Brown murder inspires Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy.

1906-12-09

NY American reports Belgian King Leopold II bribed US Senate commission on the Congo

1906-12-10

Pres Theodore Roosevelt (1st American) awarded Nobel Peace Prize

1906-12-27

1st annual meeting of American Sociological Society, Providence, RI

1907-01-23

Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes 1st Native American US senator

1907-06-01

-27°F (-33°C), Sarmiento, Argentina (South American record)

1907-11-13

The Conference of Central American States, convoked in response to the war between Honduras and Nicaragua, meets in Washington DC to promote unification

1908-02-18

The American ambassador to Japan is given a note by the Japanese in which they agree to restrict Japanese emigration to the US; this becomes known as the 'Gentlemen's Agreement'

1908-03-23

American diplomat Durham Stevens is attacked by Korean assassins Jeon Myeong-un and Jang In-hwan, leading to his death in a hospital two days later.

1908-08-20

America's Great White Fleet arrives in Sydney, Australia, to be greeted with a tremendous welcome; 221 American sailors desert to remain in Australia

1909-08-11

SOS 1st used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC

1910-04-14

Pan American Union forms

1911-05-12

American economic expert W Morgan Schuster arrives by invitation to assume almost dictatorial power over Persia's finances; a move resented by Russia

1911-08-29

Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.

1911-11-18

Opera "Lobetanz" first American performance

1912-03-22

Agnes Martin, Macklin Canada, Canadian-American abstract painter

1912-11-25

American College of Surgeons incorporates in Springield, Illinois

1913-03-10

William Knox becomes 1st in American Bowling Congress to bowl 300

1913-06-25

American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913.

1914-02-13

American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers-ASCAP forms in NYC

1914-05-16

American Horseshoe Pitchers Association organizes in Kansas City

1914-08-06

Denis Patrick Dowd Jr. enlists in the French Foreign Legion, becoming the first American to fight in World War I.

1914-08-15

A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.

1914-08-19

In a message to the Senate, US President Wilson urges the American people to be 'neutral in fact as well as name'

1914-10-15

ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers) founded

1914-12-26

The US Government protests British interference with American merchant ships at sea, but this same day the German announce they will treat food as contraband, subject to seizure; this will weaken America's protest

1915-04-04

Germany protests vigorously to the US, claiming it must insist that Britain lifts its blockade and assert American neutrality

1915-07-21

Wilson sends the third Lusitania note, warning Germany that future infringement of American rights will be deemed 'deliberately unfriendly'

1915-08-05

The Latin-American Conference Convenes in Washington, with representatives from leading South American nations joining the US to discuss conditions in Mexico

1915-11-12

Theodore W Richards is 1st American to win Nobel Prize in chemistry

1916-01-10

In retaliation for President Wilson's recognition of the Carranza government, members of Pacho Villa's revolutionary army take 17 American mining engineers from a train and shoot 16 of them in cold blood

1916-02-16

The German ambassador in Washington announces that Germany will pay an indemnity for American lives lost on the Lusitania

1916-02-22

The House-Grey Memorandum, drafted by US and Britain, states: 'Should the Allies accept [the American idea of a conference to end the war] and should Germany refuse it, the United States would "probably" enter the war against Germany'

1916-05-13

1st observance of Indian (Native American) Day

1916-05-15

Claiming that the USA must act to quell dangerous disorder, the government orders US Marines to land in Santo Domingo; the American occupation will continue until 1924

1916-06-21

President Carranza orders his troops to oppose American soldiers at Carrazil, Mexico; 18 American soldiers are killed or wounded

1916-09-27

1st Native American Day celebrated, honoring American Indians

1917-02-05

The last of the American troops commanded by General John Pershing leave Mexico; President Carranza will be assassinated within the next year

1917-05-21

Leo Pinckney, 1st American drafted during WW I

1917-06-04

American men begin registering for the draft

1917-07-28

Silent Parade 10,000 African-American march on 5th Ave (NYC) protesting against lynching

1917-12-26

Fed government took over operation of American RR for duration of WW I

1918-03-13

American Red Magen David (Jewish Red Cross) forms

1918-04-03

US House of Representatives accepts American Creed written by William Tyler

1918-06-12

1st airplane bombing raid by an American unit, France

1918-10-08

American soldier Sgt Alvin York single-handedly kills 25, captures 132 Germans

1918-12-15

American Jewish Congress holds it's 1st meeting

1919-02-15

American Legion organizes in Paris

1919-02-27

American Association for Hard of Hearing forms (NYC)

1919-03-15

American Legion forms (Paris)

1919-08-31

John Reed forms American Communist Labor Party in Chicago

1919-09-16

American Legion incorporated by an act of Congress

1919-11-10

American Legion's 1st national convention (Minneapolis)

1919-12-19

American Meteorological Society found

1920-01-20

The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.

1920-04-17

American Professional Football Association forms (NFL)

1920-08-20

Preliminary meeting in Akron to form American Pro Football League

1920-09-17

National Football League organizes in Canton Ohio 12 teams pay $100 each to join American Prof Football Association

1920-10-03

NFL (then American Pro Football Association) plays 1st games

1920-11-01

American Fishing Schooner Esperanto defeats the Canadian Fishing Schooner Delawana in the first International Fishing Schooner Championship Races in Halifax.

1920-11-14

American Pro Football League's Chic Tiger Joe Guyon punts 95 yards

1920-12-20

Bob Hope becomes an American citizen

1921-04-30

American Professional Football Association reorganizes in Akron

1921-05-06

American Soccer League forms

1921-11-01

National Birth Control League & Voluntary Parenthood League merge as American Birth Control League

1922-01-28

American Pro Football Association renamed "National Football League"

1923-02-02

US signs friendship treaty with Central American countries

1923-08-05

1st American to swim English Channel (Henry Sullivan)

1924-06-02

Snyder Act: US citizenship granted to all American Indians

1924-07-20

Teheran, Persia comes under martial law after the American vice consul, Robert Imbrie, is killed by a religious mob enraged by rumors he had poisoned a fountain and killed several people.

1924-12-30

Astronomer Edwin Hubble formally announces existence of other galactic systems at meeting of the American Astronomical Society

1925-03-04

Swain's Island (near American Samoa) annexed by US

1925-03-07

American Negro Congress organizes

1925-06-13

57th Belmont: Albert Johnson aboard American Flag wins in 2:16.8

1925-11-16

American Association for Advancement of Atheism forms (NY)

1927-03-05

1,000 US marines land in China to protect American property

1927-03-08

Pan American Airlines incorporates

1928-01-13

RCA and GE install three test television sets in homes in Schenectady, New York allowing American inventor E.F.W. Alexanderson to demonstrate the first home television receiver which delivered a poor and unsteady 1.5 square inch picture

1928-06-18

American aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the 1st woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean landing at Burry Port, Wales

1928-10-22

Herbert Hoover speaks of "American system of rugged individualism"

1928-12-13

George Gershwin's "An American In Paris" premieres (NYC)

1929-02-20

American Samoa organizes as territory of US

1929-03-04

Charles Curtis (R-Kansas) becomes 1st native American VP

1929-08-07

Jo Baer (born Josephine Kleinberg), Seattle USA, American artist

1929-12-05

1st US nudist organization (American League for Physical Culture, NYC)

1930-03-26

Congress appropriates $50,000 for Inter-American highway

1931-04-15

1st walk across American backwards begins

1932-02-29

TIME magazine features eccentric American politician William "Alfalfa" Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States.

1932-07-04

Bradman scores 260, a North American record, v Western Ontario

1933-04-03

Then longest North American hockey game requires a 1:44:46 overtime as Maple Leaf Ken Doraty scores to beat Canadiens 1-0

1934-01-05

National & American baseball leagues select a uniform ball

1934-08-19

The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.

1935-01-24

1st canned beer, "Kruger Cream Ale," is sold by American company Kruger Brewing Co.

1935-12-09

Walter Liggett American newspaper editor and muckraker killed in gangland murder.

1936-05-25

The Remington Rand strike, led by the American Federation of Labor, begins.

1937-09-10

2nd American Football League plays 1st game (LA 21, Pittsburgh 0)

1937-12-16

Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.

1938-03-03

American Bowling Congress' largest tournament (24,765 competitors)

1938-05-26

US House of Representatives Committee on un-American Activities forms

1939-01-21

George Kaufman & Moss Hart's "American Way," premieres in NYC

1939-05-09

Catholic church beatified the 1st Native American, Kateri Tekakwitha

1939-07-22

Jane Bolin becomes the 1st African American female judge (NY)

1939-09-13

First (tethered) flight of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, one of the first viable American helicopters, flown by Igor Sikorsky

1939-12-27

1st American skimobiles (North Conway, NH)

1940-06-05

American Negro Theater organizes

1940-09-15

3rd American Football League plays 1st game (Milw 14, Columbus 2)

1940-10-25

Benjamin O Davis Sr. becomes 1st African American general in US Army

1941-03-22

Jimmy Stewart is inducted into the Army, becoming the first major American movie star to wear a military uniform in World War II

1941-05-26

American Flag House (Betsy Ross' Home) given to city of Phila

1941-07-09

Dutch-American Physicist Abraham Pais is awarded his Ph.D. in Holland five days before a Nazi deadline banning Jews from receiving degrees

1941-09-11

FDR orders any Axis ship found in American waters be shot at on sight

1941-11-12

Alma Heflin, the first American female test pilot for commercial aircraft, made her first test flight for the Piper Aircraft Corporation, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania

1941-12-02

American mobster Louis Buchalter is sentenced to death along with his lieutenants Emanuel Weiss and Louis Capone

1941-12-15

The American Federation of Labor adopts a no-strike policy in war industries.

1941-12-20

World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.

1941-12-23

American forces on Wake Island surrender to Japanese

1942-01-03

American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command forms

1942-01-06

Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to schedule a flight around the world ("Pacific Clipper").

1942-02-22

World War II: President Franklin Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defenses collapse

1942-05-12

Nazi U-boat sinks American cargo ship at mouth of Mississippi River

1942-07-04

1st American bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe (WW II)

1942-08-07

1st American offensive in Pacific in WW2, Guadalcanal, Solomon Is

1942-10-23

All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner are killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Amongst the victims is award-winning composer and songwriter Ralph Rainger ("Thanks for the Memory", "Love in Bloom", "Blue Hawaii").

1942-11-08

1st WW II American expeditionary force lands in Africa (Gold Coast)

1943-02-20

Phil Wrigley & B Rickey charter All-American Girls Softball League

1943-02-20

American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.

1943-03-03

Battle of the Bismarck Sea during WWII: Australian and American airforces devastate Japanese navy convoy

1943-07-25

1st warship named after an African American launched - USS Leonard Roy Harmon, a Buckley class destroyer

1943-11-16

World War II: American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway.

1944-02-20

World War II: The "Big Week" began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.

1944-03-22

American movie star Jimmy Stewart flies his 12th combat mission, leading the 2nd Bomb Wing in an attack on Berlin

1944-05-01

Pulitzer prize awarded to American Martin Flavin for his novel "Journey in the Dark"

1944-06-30

World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.

1944-08-29

15,000 American troops liberating Paris march down Champs Elysees

1944-12-22

Germans demand surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium

1945-02-08

Paul Brown agrees to coach the new American football expansion team in Cleveland, which would later be named the Cleveland Browns after their coach

1945-04-14

American planes bomb Tokyo & damage the Imperial Palace

1945-04-16

Colditz Castle, the high-security prisoner of war camp in Germany, is liberated by American troops.

1945-11-06

House Committee on Un-American Activities begins investigation of 7 radio commentators

1946-01-25

United Mine Workers union rejoins American Federation of Labor

1946-05-01

Mrs Emma Clarissa Clement named "American Mother of Year"

1946-07-07

Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini canonized as 1st American saint

1946-09-06

All-American Football Conference plays 1st game (Clev 44, Miami 0)

1946-11-15

House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) interrogates astronomer Harlow Shapley

1947-02-03

-81°F (-63°C), Snag Yukon (North American record)

1947-04-15

Jackie Robinson becomes 1st African-American to play in US major league baseball (Dodgers)

1947-06-12

Babe Didrikson is 1st American to win Brit Women's Amateur Golf Champ

1947-11-24

The US House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities finds "Hollywood 10" in contempt because of their refusal to reveal whether they were communists

1948-04-30

Org of American States charter signed at Bogota, Colombia

1948-06-18

American Library Association adopts Library Bill of Rights

1948-09-24

Mildred Gillars (Axis Sally), an American broadcaster employed by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany to proliferate propaganda during World War II, pleads not guilty to eight chargs of treason in Washington, DC

1949-01-17

The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs.

1949-07-05

NY Giants purchase Monty Irvin & Henry Thompson, their 1st African American players

1949-10-04

American Contract Bridge League votes 58½% to keep blacks out

1950-03-03

3 months as National-American Football League takes back NFL name

1950-05-01

Gwendolyn Brooks is 1st African American awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry

1950-08-01

American Bowling Congress ends all-white-males rule

1950-08-08

Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA All-American Golf Open

1950-08-24

Edith Sampson named 1st African American US delegate to UN

1950-09-04

First helicopter rescue of American pilot behind enemy lines

1950-12-10

Ralph J Bunche (1st black American) presented Nobel Peace Prize

1951-02-25

1st Pan American Games opens (Buenos Aires Argentina)

1951-04-07

American Bowling Congress begins 1st masters tournament

1951-10-14

Organization of Central American States forms

1952-01-12

NFL Pro Bowl: National Conference beats American Conference 30-13

1952-03-20

24th Academy Awards - "American in Paris", Humphrey Bogart & Vivian Leigh win

1952-04-25

American Bowling Congress approves use of an automatic pinsetter

1952-08-10

Louise Suggs wins LPGA All American Women Golf Tournament

1952-09-17

"I am an American Day" & "Constitution Day" renamed "Citizenship Day"

1952-11-19

North American F-86 Sabre sets world aircraft speed record, 1124 KPH

1953-01-07

US President Harry Truman announces American development of the hydrogen bomb

1953-01-10

NFL Pro Bowl: National Conference beats American Conference 27-7

1953-01-23

NFL's National & American conference become Eastern & Western conf

1953-03-11

American B-47 accidentally drops a nuclear bomb 15,000 feet on Mars Bluff, South Carolina; it created a crater 75 feet acrosss, but the nuclear core did not detonate, due to 6 safety catches

1953-05-03

Westchester conference of American Library Association proclaims "Freedom to Read"

1953-06-23

Patty Berg wins LPGA All-American Women Golf Tournament

1953-11-29

American Airlines begins 1st regular coml NY-LA air service

1954-01-14

The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation forming the American Motors Corporation.

1954-04-24

1st American, civilian pilot, P.R. Holden, wounded in Indochina

1954-09-27

1st African American Supreme Court page is CV Bush

1954-10-27

Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African-American general in the United States Air Force.

1955-04-03

The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg's book Howl against obscenity charges.

1955-12-05

The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL-CIO.

1956-02-06

University of Alabama suspends African-American Autherine Lucy on the grounds that it can no longer provide a safe environment for her

1956-07-09

Dick Clark's 1st appearance as host of American Bandstand

1956-08-05

Louise Suggs wins LPGA All American Golf Open

1956-08-06

After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena.

1956-10-31

Rear Adm GJ Dufek becomes 1st American to land an airplane at South Pole

1956-11-05

The Nat King Cole Show debuts on NBC, the first variety program to be hosted by an African-American

1957-05-24

Anti-American riots breakout in Taipei, Taiwan

1957-07-19

Don Bowden becomes 1st American to break 4 minute mile (3m58s7)

1957-08-01

US & Canada create North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)

1957-08-05

"American Bandstand" premiers on network TV (ABC)

1957-08-11

Patty Berg wins LPGA All-American Golf Open

1957-11-02

The Levelland UFO Case in Levelland, Texas, generates national publicity, and remains one of the most impressive UFO cases in American history.

1957-11-07

Cold War: The Gaither Report calls for more American missiles and fallout shelters.

1957-11-22

Simon & Garfunkel appear on "American Bandstand" as "Tom & Jerry"

1958-02-11

Ruth Carol Taylor is 1st African-American woman hired as flight attendant, Ithaca NY

1958-03-01

Samuel Alphonsus Stritch, is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first American member of the Roman Curia.

1958-03-14

Recording Industry Association of American created

1958-04-13

Van Cliburn is the first American to win the Chaikovsky Compettion in Moscow.

1958-05-19

US & Canada form North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)

1958-07-13

Patty Berg wins LPGA American Women's Golf Open

1959-01-07

American gangster Meyer Lansky flees Cuba for the Bahamas due to the Cuban Revolution and rise of Fidel Castro

1959-01-25

1st transcontinental coml jet flight (American) (LA to NY for $301)

1959-02-03

American Airlines Electra crashes in NY's East River, killing 65

1959-06-14

Beverly Hanson wins LPGA American Women's Golf Open

1959-07-18

African American William 'Bill' Wright is the 1st coloured person to win a major golf tournament (U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships)

1959-08-24

Hiram L Fong sworn in as 1st Chinese-American senator while Daniel K Inouye sworn in as 1st Japanese-American Rep (Both from Hawaii)

1960-04-17

American Samoa sets up a constitutional government

1960-05-02

"American Bandstand's" Dick Clark

1960-07-31

Patty Berg wins LPGA American Women's Golf Open

1960-09-09

4th American Football League plays 1st game (Denver 13, Boston 10)

1960-12-14

Washington Senators joins American League

1961-01-24

Edward Albee's "American Dream," premieres in NYC

1961-04-14

Cuban-American invasion army departs Nicaragua

1961-04-20

American Harold Graham makes 1st rocket belt flight

1961-05-05

Alan Shepard becomes 1st American in space (aboard Freedom 7)

1961-07-30

Judy Kimball wins LPGA American Women's Golf Open

1961-08-30

J B Parsons is 1st African American judge of a US District Court

1961-10-27

American Basketball League starts play

1962-01-22

The Organization of American States suspends Cuba's membership.

1962-02-10

Jim Beatty sets American indoor mile record (3:58.9) in LA

1962-02-20

John Glenn is 1st American to orbit Earth (Friendship 7)

1962-03-01

American Airlines 707 plunges nose 1st into Jamaica Bay NY killing 95

1962-03-19

"All American" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 80 performances

1962-05-26

"All American" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 80 perfs

1962-09-30

Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez founds the United Farm Workers.

1962-10-25

American author John Steinbeck awarded Nobel Prize for Literature

1962-12-31

American Basketball League announces suspension of operation

1963-05-01

1st American (James Whittaker) conquers Mount Everest

1963-06-08

American Heart Association is 1st agency to campaign against cigarettes

1963-08-28

200,000 march and demonstrate for African American civil rights in Washington, DC

1963-09-07

American Bandstand moves to California, & airs once a week on Saturday

1963-09-15

Church bombed in Birmingham AL, kills 4 African-American girls

1963-11-22

American President John F. Kennedy assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas

1964-02-02

GI Joe, debuts as a popular American boy's toy

1964-06-28

Organization for Afo-American Unity formed in NY by Malcolm X

1964-09-21

The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world's first Mach 3 bomber, made its maiden flight from Palmdale, California.

1964-12-15

American Radio Relay League (organization for hams) founded

1965-01-01

American actor George Murphy begins his term as Senator of California

1965-01-08

Senator Everett Dirksen introduces a bill to make marigold the American natonal flower (doesn't pass)

1965-01-08

Star of India returned to American Museum of Natural History

1965-03-20

Civil and Women's Rights Activist Dorothy Height has her first column published in the weekly African-American newspaper called the "New York Amsterdam News"

1965-05-16

The Campbell Soup Company introduces SpaghettiOs under its Franco-American brand.

1965-06-12

Sonny & Cher make their 1st TV appearance in "American Bandstand"

1967-02-02

Formation of American Basketball Association is announced

1967-02-14

Latin American nuclear free zone proposal drawn up

1967-04-24

Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily."

1967-05-03

African American students seize finance building at Northwestern University

1967-11-21

Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."

1968-05-31

American movie star Jimmy Stewart retires from the Air Force after 27 years of service, and is promoted to major general by President Reagan

1968-08-21

Marine James Anderson Jr is 1st African American to win Medal of Honor

1968-08-25

Arthur Ashe becomes 1st African American to win the US singles championship

1969-04-14

Student Afro-American Society seized at Columbia College

1969-08-23

France's Une De Mai wins International Trot at Roosevelt Raceway Czechoslovakia (1st American to win cycling race title since 1912)

1969-09-29

"Love American Style" premieres on ABC-TV

1970-01-01

Afro-American Historical Calendar Series Established

1970-01-16

Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.

1970-02-21

Jackson 5 make TV debut on "American Bandstand"

1970-03-02

American Airlines' 1st flight of a Boeing 747

1970-05-07

"Long & Winding Road" becomes Beatles' last American release

1970-07-04

Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" debuts on LA radio

1970-09-30

New American Bible published

1970-10-20

American Norman Borlaug awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

1970-12-10

North American Soccer League awards NY & Toronto franchises

1971-02-10

American Mensa Ltd incorporates in New York

1971-08-10

16 baseball researchers form Society for American Baseball Research

1971-12-16

Don McLean's 8+ minute version of "American Pie" released

1972-02-05

Bob Douglas is 1st African American elected to Basketball Hall of Fame

1972-06-23

Hurricane Agnes is costliest natural disaster in American history

1972-07-25

US health officials concede African American were used as guinea pigs in 40 year syphilis experiment

1972-08-12

Last American combat ground troops leave Vietnam

1972-09-26

American Museum of Immigration dedicated

1973-01-11

American League adopts designated hitter rule

1973-02-27

American Indian Movement occupy Wounded Knee in South Dakota

1973-05-06

Judy Rankin wins LPGA American Defender-Raleigh Golf Classic

1973-05-08

Ernie Banks fills in for Cubs mgr Whitey Lockman who is ejected during the game, technically becoming baseball's 1st African American manager

1973-06-15

"American Graffiti" opens in NYC

1973-07-01

Tom Bradley becomes the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles, the first (and only) African-American to hold that position

1973-09-07

Mike Storen becomes American Basketball Association's 4th commissioner

1973-09-29

"We're An American Band" by Grand Funk peaks at #1

1973-11-02

OLADE (Latin American Energy Organization) forms

1973-12-15

American Psychiatric Association declares homosexuality is not a mental illness

1974-01-11

ABC airs final episode of "Love, American Style"

1974-02-19

1st American Music Award: Helen Reddy & Jim Croce win

1974-04-10

American Boccaccio Association forms

1974-05-12

Jo Ann Prentice wins LPGA American Defender-Raleigh Golf Classic

1974-08-10

Judy Rankin wins LPGA Colgate-European American Golf Open

1974-09-24

Clarence Jones of Kintetsu Buffaloes hits his 38th HR, 1st American to win a Japanese HR title

1975-01-29

First American Annual Comedy Awards, hosted by Alan King

1975-02-18

2nd American Music Award: Olivia Newton-John & John Denver win

1975-05-25

Joanne Carner wins LPGA American DefenderGolf Classic

1975-06-26

Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.

1975-09-29

Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush becomes American television's first African-American weathercaster.

1975-11-28

As the World Turns and The Edge of Night, the final two American soap operas that had resisted going to pre-taped broadcasts, air their last live episodes.

1976-01-26

David Mamet's "American Buffalo," premieres in NYC

1976-01-31

3rd American Music Award: Olivia Newton-John & John Denver win

1976-05-16

Sue Roberts wins LPGA American Defender Golf Classic

1976-07-10

One American and three British mercenaries are executed in Angola following the Luanda Trial.

1976-07-11

1st US football club in Austria forms (FAAFC-1st Austrian American)

1976-09-16

American Episcopal Church approves ordination of women as priests & bishop

1976-10-21

Nobel prize for literature awarded to American Saul Bellow

1977-01-31

4th American Music Award: Olivia Newton-John & Elton John win

1977-02-13

Eric Heiden is 1st American to win world speed skating championship

1977-02-13

Pam Higgins wins LPGA American Cancer Society Golf Classic

1977-03-02

Bette Davis is 1st woman to receive American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award

1977-04-24

Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA American Defender Golf Tournament

1977-08-28

NY Cosmos defeat Seattle Sounders, 2-1, at Civic Stadium in Portland Ore, winning their 2nd North American Soccer League championship

1978-01-13

NASA select its first American women astronauts

1978-01-16

5th American Music Award: Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac & C Twitty

1978-02-12

Debbie Austin wins LPGA American Cancer Society Golf Classic

1978-03-30

"History of the American Film" opens at ANTA Theater NYC for 21 perfs

1978-04-16

"History of the American Film" closes at ANTA NYC after 21 performances

1978-04-23

Amy Alcott wins LPGA American Defender Golf Classic

1978-07-09

American Nazi Party holds a rally at Marquette Park, Chicago

1979-01-12

6th American Music Award: Barry Manilow, Linda Ronstadt win

1979-02-14

In Kabul, Muslims kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.

1979-05-25

American Airlines DC-10 crashes on takeoff from Chicago killing 273 including 2 on the ground

1979-10-30

Richard Arrington, Jr. is elected the first African American mayor in Birmingham, Alabama

1979-11-08

ABC broadcasts "Iran Crisis: American Held Hostage" with Frank Reynolds (forerunner to "Nightline")

1980-04-13

Amy Alcott wins LPGA American Defender/WRAL Golf Classic

1980-07-11

American hostage Richard Queen freed by Iran militants due to illness

1980-08-12

Signature of the Montevideo Treaty establishing the Latin American Integration Association.

1980-10-09

1st consumer use of home banking by computer by United American Bank in Knoxville Tn

1980-12-02

4 American Maryknoll nuns killed by death squads in El Salvador

1981-01-19

US & Iran sign agreement to release 52 American hostages

1981-01-30

8th American Music Award: Barbra Streisand & Kenny Rogers win

1981-04-04

Henry Cisneros becomes 1st Mexican-American mayor (San Antonio)

1981-04-12

Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA American Defender/WRAL Golf Classic

1981-06-23

Amanda Maccaro becomes 1st American to win Russian Ballet Competition

1981-08-24

American Charles Chapman is 1st black to swim English Channel

1981-09-07

West Tampa Fl defeats Rich Va, 6-4 to win American Legion World Series

1981-10-05

Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg becomes an honarary American

1981-10-14

Citing official misconduct in the investigation and trial, Amnesty International charges the U.S. government with holding Richard Marshall of the American Indian Movement as a political prisoner.

1981-12-28

The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.

1982-01-25

9th American Music Award: Pat Benatar & Kenny Rogers win

1982-03-07

Beth Daniel wins LPGA American Express Sun City Golf Classic

1982-04-29

American mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski murders pharmacist Paul Hoffman by beating him with a tire iron

1982-07-19

David S Dodge becomes 1st American hostage in Lebanon

1982-07-31

Finland, Italy, Germany, Austria & France form American European Football Federation (AEFF)

1983-01-17

10th American Music Award: John Cougar & Rick Springfield, Olivia Newton-John

1983-01-20

American gangster Roy DeMeo is found murdered in his car trunk after disappearing a few days earlier

1983-07-21

US announces Lebanon freed American hostage David Dodge

1983-08-30

Guion Bluford becomes 1st African-American astronaut in space

1983-09-04

Greg LeMond becomes only American to win cycling's Road Championship

1983-11-20

"Marilyn: An American Fable" opens at Minskoff NYC for 16 perfs

1983-12-03

"Marilyn: An American Fable" closes at Minskoff NYC after 16 perfs

1984-01-14

Madonna 1st sings "Holiday" on American Bandstand

1984-01-16

11th American Music Award: Pat Benatar & Michael Jackson win

1984-02-16

Bill Johnson becomes 1st American to win Olympic downhill skiing gold

1984-04-16

Pulitzer prize awarded to Mary Oliver for "American Primitive"

1984-07-23

Vanessa Williams, 1st African American Miss America, resigns due to posing nude

1985-01-14

16 indicted by US for granting sanctuary to Central American refugees

1985-01-28

12th American Music Award: Cyndi Lauper & Lionel Richie win

1985-06-09

American Thomas Sutherland is kidnapped & held hostage in Lebanon

1985-06-21

American, Brazilian & West German forensic pathologists confirm skeletal remains exhumed in Brazil were Nazi Dr Josef Mengele

1985-12-20

Position of American Poet Laureate established (Robert Warren is 1st)

1986-01-01

Iowa's All-American running back, Ronnie Harmon, fumbles the ball 4 times in his last game-the Rose Bowl

1986-01-27

13th American Music Award: Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis & C Gayle

1986-05-06

Donald E Pelotte becomes 1st native American bishop

1986-07-27

Greg Lemond is 1st American to win Tour de France

1986-12-17

American mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski is arrested at a roadblock

1987-01-26

14th American Music Award: Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie & Alabama

1987-03-09

Chrysler Corp offered to buy American Motors Corp for $1 billion

1987-04-28

American engineer Ben Linder is killed in an ambush by U.S.-funded Contras in northern Nicaragua.

1987-05-19

1st American Comedy Award

1987-05-30

North American Philips Company unveils compact disc video

1987-08-07

5 Central American presidents sign peace accord in Guatemala

1988-01-25

15th American Music Award: Anita Baker, Paul Simon & Whitney Houston

1988-03-15

Eugene Marino of Atlanta, appointed 1st African American archbishop

1988-04-06

African American polar explorer Matthew Henson buried next to R Peary in Arlington National Cemetery

1988-05-15

2nd American Comedy Award: Robin Williams & Tracey Ullman

1988-06-06

George H W Bush makes campaign promise to support reparations for WW II to Japanese-American internees (promise broken, May 1989)

1988-06-12

Andy Hampton is 1st American to win Round of Italy

1988-08-04

Congress votes $20,000 to each Japanese-American interned in WW II

1988-12-06

Arafat meets prominent American Jews in Stockholm, Sweden

1989-01-25

Augusto Alcalde, 1st South American Zen teacher, receives Dharma Transmission

1989-01-30

16th American Music Award: Randy Travis & George Michael wins

1989-01-30

The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.

1989-05-23

3rd American Comedy Award: Paula Poundstone

1989-12-17

The longest-running American sitcom the simpsons had its debut.

1989-12-19

American Airlines purchases Eastern Airline's Latin American route

1990-01-22

17th American Music Award: Paula Abdul & Bobby Brown win

1990-03-10

4th American Comedy Award: When Harry Met Sally

1990-05-24

A car carrying American Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney explodes in Oakland, California, critically injuring both.

1990-10-10

American Petroleum Institute (API) reports crude inventories dropped by more than 4 MMB in the last week

1990-11-04

US Secretary of State James Baker visits American troops in Saudi Arabia

1991-01-28

18th American Music Award: M C Hammer & Janet Jackson

1991-02-05

All American Bowl ends after 14 years

1991-02-24

End of World League of American Football's (WLAF) 1st draft

1991-03-04

Bank of Credit & Commerce Intl divests itself of 1st American Bank

1991-03-08

Planeloads of US troops arrive home from the Persian Gulf, Iraq hands over 40 foreign journalists & 2 American soldiers it captured

1991-03-09

5th American Comedy Award: Dennis Wolfberg

1991-03-23

1st World League of American Football games, London beats Frankfurt 24-11, Sacramento beats Raleigh-Dur 9-3 & Mont beats Birmingham 20-5

1991-06-08

Warren Schutte, is 1st non American to win NCAA Div 1 golf title

1991-07-28

Buffalo Bills beat Philadelphia Eagles, 17-13 in American Bowl in Wembley

1991-08-06

Debbie Doom (US) pitches 2nd consecutive perfect game in women's softball at the Pan American Games, beats Nicaragua, 8-0

1991-09-13

Kim Zmeskal is 1st American to win a medal at World Gymnastics Championships, she wins the gold with 39.848 pts

1991-11-14

American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.

1991-12-02

Muslim Shites release American held in Lebanon hostage Joseph Cicippio

1991-12-04

Pan American World Airways ceased operations

1992-01-27

19th American Music Award: C & C Music Factory, Michael Bolton win

1992-03-28

6th American Comedy Award: Cathy Ladman, Judy Watkins, Billy Crystal

1992-04-13

American Airlines reduce its 1st-class fares 20%-50%

1992-08-12

Canada, Mexico, and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

1993-01-25

20th American Music Award: Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey win

1993-02-28

7th American Comedy Award: seinfeld wins

1993-10-13

Captured American Pilot Mike Durant is filmed in an interview in captivity by a CNN camera crew.

1993-11-01

Atlantic Radio (20 radio stations) becomes American Radio Systems

1994-01-01

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect

1994-02-07

21st American Music Award: Whitney Houston wins

1994-03-07

8th American Comedy Award: Carrot Top wins

1994-05-28

"Cafe American" last airs on NBC-TV

1994-10-29

National Museum of American Indian opens (NYC)

1994-10-31

American Eagle ATR-72 crash down at Gary, Indiana: 68 killed

1994-12-13

American Eagle commuter plane crashes in NC, killing 15

1995-01-30

22nd American Music Award: Boyz II Men & Ace of Base win

1995-03-06

9th American Comedy Award: Rodney Dangerfield

1995-03-06

American Express Travel begins charging for domestic air tickets

1995-03-12

Letitia Vriesde runs South American indoor record 800m (2:00.35)

1995-09-12

Belarus military shoots down a hydrogen balloon, killing its two American pilots.

1995-12-20

American Flight 965 crashes in Columbia, 159 die, 5 survive

1996-01-29

23rd American Music Award: Garth Brooks wins

1996-02-15

At a news conference, American boxer Tommy Morrison said he had contracted HIV

1996-03-06

10th American Comedy Award

1996-05-25

Jennifer Maria Holsten, 18, crowned Miss Filipino-American

1997-01-27

24th American Music Award: Toni Braxton & Alanis Morissette win

1997-02-09

11th American Comedy Award: Debbie Reynolds

1997-02-23

American Express Senior Golf Invitational

1997-03-15

Pitts Penguins' Joe Mullen, is 1st American to score 500 NHL goals

1997-04-13

"American Daughter" opens at Cort Theater NYC for 88 performances

1997-05-28

Wallace Berg, 42, is 4th American to scale Mt Everest for 3rd time

1997-06-13

American fugitive Ira Einhorn is arrested in France for the murder of Holly Maddux after 16 years on the run, though he would not return for another four years.

1997-06-29

"American Daughter" closes at Cort Theater NYC after 88 performances

1997-07-09

Baseball's triple A American Association (formed in 1902) votes to disband

1997-07-20

American Justin Leonard wins the British Open shooting at 272

1997-11-10

"Jackie - An American Life" opens at Belasco Theater NYC

1998-01-22

World League of American Football renamed as NFL Europe

1998-01-26

25th American Music Award: Spice Girls & Babyface win

1998-01-26

President Bill Clinton says "I want to say one thing to the American people; I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky"

1998-02-01

Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne became the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.

1998-08-05

The American spin-off "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", starring Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and Wayne Brady, debuts on ABC

1998-08-20

U.S. embassy bombings: the United States military launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum is destroyed in the attack.

1998-11-16

Monica Lewinsky signs a deal for the North American rights to a book about her affair with US President Clinton

1999-01-11

26th American Music Award: Celine Dion & Eric Clapton win

1999-01-21

In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the US Coast Guard intercepts a ship carrying 4,300 kg of cocaine.

1999-09-08

"American Beauty", starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, and Thora Birch, premieres in Los Angeles

2000-01-17

27th American Music Award: Shania Twain & Will Smith win

2000-03-26

72nd Academy Awards - "American Beauty", Kevin Spacey & Hilary Swank win

2000-12-13

American Vice President Al Gore delivers his concession speech effectively ending his hopes of becoming the 43rd President of the United States.

2001-01-08

28th American Music Award: Faith Hill & Kid Rock win

2001-01-16

US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War.

2001-02-09

The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School.

2001-06-21

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicts 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen.

2001-09-20

In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "war on terror".

2001-11-12

In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 on its way to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board and five on the ground.

2001-12-01

Captain Bill Compton brings Trans World Airlines Flight 220, an MD-83, into St. Louis International Airport bringing to an end 76 years of TWA operations following TWA's purchase by American Airlines.

2001-12-22

Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.

2002-01-09

Michael Jackson receives the Artist of the Century award at the American music awards

2002-01-09

29th American Music Award: Janet Jackson & Lenny Kravitz win

2002-01-23

"American Taliban" John Walker Lindh returns to the United States in Federal Bureau of Investigation custody.

2002-03-04

Multinational Force in Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers are killed as they attempt to infiltrate the Shahi Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.

2002-05-22

American civil rights movement: a jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.

2002-07-15

"American Taliban" John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and to possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.

2003-01-13

30th American Music Award: Sheryl Crow & Eminem win

2003-03-19

Invasion of Iraq by American and British led coalition begins without United Nations support and in defiance of world opinion

2003-04-14

U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the Achille Lauro in 1985.

2004-01-03

After hosting the show for over 30 years, Casey Kasem gives up the hosting duties of "American Top 40" to Ryan Seacrest

2004-03-31

In Fallujah, Iraq, 4 American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed.

2004-04-30

U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

2004-10-02

American Samoa joins the North American Numbering Plan.

2004-10-20

Boston Red Sox come back from 0-3 to defeat the New York Yankees 4-3 to win baseball's American League

2004-10-25

Fidel Castro, Cuba's President, announces that transactions using the American Dollar will be banned by November 8.

2004-11-14

31st American Music Award: Sheryl Crow, Usher & Kenny Chesney win

2004-12-08

The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.

2005-01-26

Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, becoming the first African American woman to hold the post.

2005-02-16

2004-05 NHL season is canceled by league commissioner Gary Bettman. This was the first time that a North American professional sports league had to cancel a season due to a labor dispute

2005-02-23

Slovakia Summit 2005 begins, marking the first occasion when a sitting American President visits Slovakia; George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin are in attendance.

2005-04-02

James Stewart Jr. becomes first African American to win a major motor sports event.

2005-11-22

32nd American Music Award: Gwen Stefani, Will Smith & Kelly Clarkson win

2005-12-07

Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of US federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.

2006-03-22

Three Christian Peacemaker Teams Hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days captivity and the death of their colleague, American Tom Fox.

2006-11-21

33rd American Music Award: Kelly Clarkson, Sean Paul & Rascal Flatts win

2007-02-19

Three Salvadoran deputies to the Central American Parliament and their driver are murdered in Guatemala.

2007-04-16

Virginia Tech massacre: The deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, kills 32 people and injures 23 others before committing suicide.

2007-11-18

34th American Music Award: Fergie, Justin Timberlake & Carrie Underwood win

2007-12-19

The Lakotah people, a Native American tribe, proclaim independence and withdraw all their treaties with the United States. They then proceed to establish the Republic of Lakotah, with an ongoing process of international recognition as a separate country.

2008-05-04

Seth MacFarlane reaches an agreement worth $100 million with Fox to keep "Family Guy" and "American Dad" on television until 2012, making MacFarlane the world's highest paid television writer

2008-08-27

Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be nominated by a major political party for President of the United States

2008-11-04

Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President of the United States

2008-11-23

35th American Music Award: Rihanna & Chris Brown win

2008-12-05

Human remains previously found in 1991 are finally identified by Russian and American scientists as those of Tsar Nicholas II.

2008-12-06

American pin-up model Bettie Page (85) is hospitalized in critical condition after suffering a heart attack

2009-01-20

Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becomes the United States' first African-American president

2009-04-25

Elijah Wood is honored with the Midnight Award by the San Francisco International Film Festival as an American actor who "has made outstanding contributions to independent and Hollywood cinema, and who brings striking intelligence, exemplary talent and extraordinary depth of character to his roles"

2009-05-11

An American soldier in Iraq opened fire on a counseling center at Camp Liberty in Bagdhad, leaving 5 other US soldiers dead and 3 soldiers wounded.

2009-05-20

Mexico is the first Latin American country to officially enter recession

2009-06-05

Chileo officially enters recession; it is the first South American country to enter the global recession

2009-08-04

Kim Jong-il meets former president Bill Clinton. He pardons and releases captured American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling who were found guilty of entering the country illegally.

2009-11-22

36th American Music Award: Taylor Swift & Michael Jackson win

2010-01-11

Simon Cowell leaves "American Idol"

2010-11-21

37th American Music Award: Lady Gaga & Justin Bieber win

2011-11-20

38th American Music Award: Adele, Bruno Mars & Taylor Swift win

2012-02-18

Kateri Tekakwitha canonized as the first native American saint

2012-02-25

Louisiana Red, American blues musician, dies from stroke at 79

2012-03-02

Tornadoes kill at least 27 people in the American states of Indiana and Kentucky

2012-03-30

American Mega Millions lottery hits a world record lottery amount of 640 million dollars

2012-04-19

Levon Helm, American rock musician, dies from throat cancer at 71

2012-04-26

Indonesia suspends imports of American beef after a confirmed case of mad cow disease in California

2012-05-22

Philip Philips is crowned the eleventh American Idol

2012-06-17

American golfer, Webb Simpson, wins the US Open

2012-07-10

The American Episcopal Church becomes the first to approve a rite for blessing gay marriages

2012-11-18

39th American Music Award: Katy Perry & Justin Bieber win

2013-03-29

American horse, Animal Kingdom, wins the 2013 Dubai World Cup

2013-11-24

40th American Music Award: Taylor Swift & Justin Timberlake win

2014-01-12

71st Golden Globe Awards: 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle win

2014-01-14

American journalist David Satter is expelled from Russia

2014-10-15

Kansas City Royals win the MLB 2014 American League Championship Series

2015-05-02

141st [Kentucky Derby]: Victor Espinoza aboard American Pharoah wins in 2:03.02

2015-11-01

Breeders' Cup: American Pharoah bids farewell with dominant victory

2015-11-20

American student among 3 killed in West Bank assault

2015-12-24

Former American hostages in Iran will receive compensation

2016-01-17

3 American contractors missing in Iraq

2016-03-01

Navy SEAL who rescued American hostage awarded Medal of Honor

2016-03-20

American Firm, Starwood, Signs Deal to Manage Hotels in Cuba

2016-03-20

Two American citizens killed in Istanbul blast: White House

2016-04-29

North Korea Sentences American to 10 Years for Spying, Reports Say

2016-07-30

Father of fallen Muslim-American Army captain addresses Donald Trump in DNC speech

2016-08-06

American TV viewers slam NBC for delaying Rio broadcast

2016-10-29

American Airlines jet catches fire on takeoff at Chicago airport

2017-02-18

Trump Calls the News Media the 'Enemy of the American People'

2017-02-20

Three Top American Gymnasts Accuse Doctor of Sexual Abuse

2017-04-18

New Trump Order Extends 'Buy American' And 'Hire American' Rules

2017-04-24

North Korea detained a professor who is US citizen; at least 3rd American held

2017-05-17

Katy Perry will judge the reboot of 'American Idol' on ABC