America250 · 1776–2026

250 Years of
American History

Two and a half centuries since the Declaration of Independence, told through 575 of the people, places, events, and documents that made the nation. A chronological walk from 1776 to today.

See what happened on this day
The Founding (71) A Growing Nation (134) Civil War & Reconstruction (61) Industrial America (94) Boom, Bust & World War (80) Cold War & Civil Rights (87) The Modern Era (23) A New Century (25)

The Founding

1776–1799

Independence, the Revolution, and a new constitutional republic.

A Growing Nation

1800–1860

Expansion, industry, slavery, and the road to disunion.

Civil War & Reconstruction

1861–1877

The Union preserved, slavery abolished, the nation remade.

Industrial America

1878–1918

The Gilded Age, immigration, reform, and a rising world power.

Boom, Bust & World War

1919–1945

Prosperity, the Great Depression, the New Deal, and global war.

Cold War & Civil Rights

1946–1979

Superpower rivalry, the fight for equality, and the space age.

The Modern Era

1980–2000

A new economy, the end of the Cold War, the digital revolution.

A New Century

2001–present

Terror and response, new technologies, a changing republic.