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Events

183 entries

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Assassination of JFK
The Murder of a President, Dallas, November 22, 1963
Battle of Gettysburg
The bloodiest battle of the Civil War, July 1–3, 1863
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The First Shots of the American Revolution, April 1775
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler's Last Gamble in the West, December 1944 – January 1945
Browse by Subcategory
Wars & Conflicts
49 entries
Declared and undeclared wars and the armed conflicts that defined American foreign policy, from the Revolution to the present.
Treaties & Agreements
9 entries
Treaties, accords, and diplomatic agreements that ended wars, fixed borders, and reshaped America's place in the world.
Disasters
17 entries
Natural and man-made catastrophes — earthquakes, fires, floods, and accidents — that tested American resilience and shaped public policy.
Milestones & Firsts
39 entries
Pivotal achievements and "firsts" in American history — moments that announced a new era in technology, culture, or national life.
Assassinations
9 entries
Killings of presidents, candidates, and public figures — and the political shocks their deaths sent through the country.
Elections
11 entries
Presidential elections that realigned American politics, exposed the fault lines of their era, or settled questions that defined what came next.
Protests & Movements
27 entries
Mass demonstrations, marches, and organized movements that demanded change and reshaped American law, culture, and conscience.
Discoveries & Inventions
2 entries
Breakthroughs and inventions — from the cotton gin to the moon landing — that altered the American economy and the rhythm of American life.
Crises & Standoffs
9 entries
Diplomatic confrontations, hostage situations, and political crises that tested American resolve at home and abroad.
Scandals & Constitutional Crises
4 entries
Political scandals, abuses of power, and constitutional showdowns that tested American institutions.
Financial Crises & Panics
6 entries
Economic collapses, bank panics, and financial downturns that reshaped American economic policy and daily life.
All Events (A–Z) A–Z By date
# 1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z

#

The #MeToo Movement
The 2017 reckoning over sexual harassment and assault

1

1900 Galveston Hurricane
The deadliest natural disaster in American history
1906 San Francisco Earthquake
The quake and fire that destroyed a great American city
The 1918 Flu Pandemic
The "Spanish flu" that killed more Americans than all the century's wars

A

The Adams-Onís Treaty
The 1819 treaty that gave the United States Florida and a line to the Pacific
The AIDS Epidemic
A public-health catastrophe that reshaped medicine and activism
The Alamo
The 1836 siege that became the defining myth of Texas independence
American Civil War
The 1861–1865 war over slavery and union that remade the nation
The American Revolution
The colonial war of independence that created the United States, 1775–1783
Assassination of James Garfield
The 1881 shooting that ended a presidency and broke the spoils system
Assassination of JFK
The Murder of a President, Dallas, November 22, 1963
Assassination of Lincoln
The murder of Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, April 1865
Assassination of Malcolm X
The 1965 killing of a defining voice of Black radicalism
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The 1968 killing that convulsed the nation and the movement
Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
The 1968 murder that silenced a generation's hope
Assassination of William McKinley
The 1901 murder that handed the presidency to Theodore Roosevelt

B

Battle of Antietam
The bloodiest single day in American military history, September 17, 1862
Battle of Brandywine
The defeat that opened the road to Philadelphia, 1777
Battle of Bull Run
The First Great Battle of the Civil War, July 1861
Battle of Bunker Hill
The 1775 bloodbath that proved American militiamen could stand against British regulars
Battle of Chancellorsville
Lee's tactical masterpiece — and the shot that cost him his most dangerous general
Battle of Cowpens
Daniel Morgan's masterpiece, January 1781
Battle of Gettysburg
The bloodiest battle of the Civil War, July 1–3, 1863
Battle of Guilford Courthouse
The victory that cost Cornwallis his army, 1781
Battle of Kings Mountain
The backcountry victory that turned the Southern war, 1780
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The First Shots of the American Revolution, April 1775
Battle of Long Island
The largest battle of the Revolution — and a narrow escape, 1776
Battle of Midway
The naval battle that permanently shifted the balance of power in the Pacific, 1942
Battle of Monmouth
The army that came out of Valley Forge, 1778
Battle of New Orleans
Andrew Jackson's lopsided 1815 victory — fought two weeks after the war had already ended
Battle of Princeton
Washington's second strike in ten days, January 1777
Battle of Saratoga
The 1777 American victory that brought France into the Revolutionary War
Battle of the Alamo
The 13-day siege that became a Texan rallying cry
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler's Last Gamble in the West, December 1944 – January 1945
Battle of Trenton
Washington's Christmas Crossing and the Revolution's Turning Point
Battle of Vicksburg
The 47-Day Siege That Split the Confederacy in Two
Battle of Yorktown
The 1781 siege that ended the Revolutionary War and secured American independence
Bay of Pigs
The CIA's Failed Invasion of Cuba and Kennedy's Defining Early Crisis, April 1961
The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show
The 1964 broadcast that launched the British Invasion
Berlin Airlift
The 11-Month Mission That Defied the Soviet Blockade, 1948–1949
The Birth of a Nation
D.W. Griffith's 1915 epic — cinematic landmark and racist propaganda
Bleeding Kansas
The violent territorial struggle that previewed the Civil War
The Bonus Army March
The WWI veterans' encampment that Hoover destroyed — and Roosevelt studied carefully
Boston Marathon Bombing
The 2013 terror attack and the manhunt that gripped a city
Boston Massacre
The 1770 Street Confrontation That Ignited a Revolution
The Boston Tea Party
The 1773 harbor protest that pushed the colonies toward revolution
The Burning of Washington
The only time since the Revolution a foreign power has occupied and burned the U.S. capital

C

California Gold Rush
The 1848–1855 mass migration that transformed California and accelerated the sectional crisis
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga
The Revolution's first offensive victory, May 1775
Chicago 1968
The Democratic Convention that tore a party apart and handed the White House to Nixon
Civil Rights Movement
The decades-long struggle that dismantled legal segregation and reshaped American democracy
Columbine High School Shooting
The 1999 attack that reshaped how America sees school violence
Columbus Day
The contested October holiday marking Columbus's 1492 landing
Compromise of 1850
The last great legislative bargain before the Union broke apart
Constitutional Convention
The 1787 Philadelphia gathering that scrapped one government and invented another
Continental Congress
The revolutionary assembly that declared independence, fought a war, and built a nation
COVID-19 Pandemic
The 2020–2023 public health crisis that killed over a million Americans and transformed national life
Cuban Missile Crisis
Thirteen days in 1962 when nuclear war became a real possibility

D

D-Day
The June 1944 Allied invasion that broke Nazi Germany's Atlantic Wall and sealed the war's outcome in the West
Death of Osama bin Laden
The 2011 raid that ended a decade-long manhunt
The Dust Bowl
The ecological catastrophe that stripped the Great Plains bare, 1930–1940

E

Election of 1800
Jefferson's "Revolution of 1800" — America's first peaceful transfer of power between parties
Election of 1828
Andrew Jackson's populist landslide reshapes American democracy
Election of 1860
The presidential election that dissolved the Union before the winner took office
Election of 1876
The disputed election that ended Reconstruction and handed the White House to Hayes
Election of 1896
McKinley vs. Bryan — gold, silver, and the soul of American capitalism
Election of 1932
FDR's landslide gives the New Deal its mandate
Election of 1968
Nixon's narrow victory amid assassination, riots, and the collapse of the New Deal coalition
Election of 2000
Bush v. Gore and the 36-day Florida recount that decided the presidency
Election of 2008
Barack Obama defeats John McCain to become the first Black president
Election of 2016
Donald Trump's upset of Hillary Clinton remakes American politics
Election of 2020
Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump in a pandemic election

F

Fall of the Berlin Wall
The 1989 night that signaled the end of the Cold War
The First Thanksgiving
The 1621 harvest feast at Plymouth and the myth that grew around it
Flag Day
The June 14 observance marking the adoption of the Stars and Stripes
Fort Pillow Massacre
The Confederate Slaughter of Black Union Soldiers, April 12, 1864
Freedmen's Bureau
The federal agency that tried — and was not allowed — to secure Black Americans' freedom
The Freedom Rides
The 1961 campaign that put civil rights on buses and forced the federal government to act
French and Indian War
The North American theater of a world war that made the American Revolution inevitable, 1754–1763

G

The Gadsden Purchase
The 1854 land deal that finished the map of the lower 48
The Great Chicago Fire
The 1871 blaze that destroyed a city — and rebuilt it greater
Great Compromise
The Connecticut Plan of 1787 that created the bicameral Congress and saved the Constitutional Convention
The Great Depression
The worst economic catastrophe in American history
The Great Migration
The movement of six million Black Americans from the South to the North and West, 1910–1970
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
The worst river flood in American history — and the disaster that built the modern federal government
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The first nationwide strike — and the violent dawn of the American labor war
Great Recession of 2008
The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression — and the collapse that remade American politics

H

The Harlem Renaissance
The explosion of Black art, literature, and music that redefined American culture, 1920–1940
Haymarket Affair
The 1886 bombing that defined — and distorted — the American labor movement
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The Atomic Bombings That Ended World War II, August 1945
Homestead Strike
The 1892 labor battle that broke the steel union and defined Gilded Age industrial conflict
Hurricane Katrina
The 2005 storm and flood that devastated New Orleans and exposed a broken federal safety net

I

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
The first presidential impeachment — and a referendum on who would control Reconstruction
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
The 1998–99 impeachment over the Lewinsky affair
Impeachments of Donald Trump
The first president impeached twice, in 2019 and 2021
Independence Day
The Fourth of July, the birthday of the United States
Internment of Japanese Americans
The forced relocation of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II
Iran Hostage Crisis
The 444-Day Captivity That Ended the Carter Presidency, 1979–1981
Iran-Contra Affair
The Reagan administration's secret arms deal that illegally funded Nicaraguan rebels

J

January 6 Capitol Attack
The 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol that interrupted the certification of the presidential election
Jay Treaty
The 1794 agreement that kept peace with Britain — and nearly tore the republic apart
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
The 1859 assault on a federal arsenal that made civil war feel inevitable to everyone
The Johnstown Flood
The 1889 dam failure that drowned a city and shamed the Gilded Age elite
Juneteenth
June 19, 1865 — the day freedom finally arrived in Texas, and the holiday it became

K

Kent State Shootings
The 1970 killing of four students by National Guard troops that broke the antiwar movement open
Korean War
The "Forgotten War" that established the Cold War's logic of limited conflict, 1950–1953

L

Labor Day
The first-Monday-in-September holiday honoring American workers
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The 1804–1806 Corps of Discovery that mapped the American West to the Pacific
Lindbergh's Transatlantic Flight
The 1927 solo crossing that made Charles Lindbergh a global icon
Los Angeles Riots (1992)
Six days of urban unrest following the acquittal of officers who beat Rodney King
Louisiana Purchase
The 1803 land acquisition that doubled the size of the United States

M

The Manhattan Project
The secret World War II program that built the atomic bomb
March on Washington
The August 1963 demonstration where 250,000 Americans demanded civil rights — and heard a dream
March to the Sea
Sherman's 1864 campaign of deliberate destruction that broke the Confederacy's will to fight
Memorial Day
The late-May holiday honoring Americans who died in war
Mexican-American War
The 1846–1848 war of conquest that gave the United States half a continent — and a crisis
The Miracle on Ice
The 1980 Olympic hockey upset that became a Cold War triumph
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The 381-day protest that launched the modern civil rights movement
The Moon Landing
Apollo 11 and humanity's first steps on another world, July 1969
Murder of George Floyd
The 2020 killing that triggered a global racial-justice reckoning

N

NAFTA
The 1994 trade pact that bound North America together
Nat Turner's Rebellion
The 1831 slave rebellion that terrified the South and hardened the institution it challenged
New York Draft Riots
The deadliest civil insurrection in American history, ignited by the inequities of the Civil War draft
Nullification Crisis
The 1832 standoff between South Carolina and Andrew Jackson that previewed secession

O

The O.J. Simpson Trial
The 1995 "trial of the century" that exposed America's racial divide
Occupy Wall Street
The 2011 protest that put economic inequality on the agenda
Oklahoma City Bombing
The Deadliest Act of Domestic Terrorism in American History, April 19, 1995
Oregon Trail
The 2,000-mile overland route that carried 400,000 settlers to the American West, 1840–1869

P

Panic of 1837
The financial collapse that destroyed Martin Van Buren's presidency and lasted seven years
Panic of 1873
The railroad collapse that triggered the Long Depression and ended Reconstruction
Panic of 1893
The worst depression before the 1930s — and the crisis that made William Jennings Bryan
The Panic of 1907
The banking crisis that one man stopped — and that created the Fed
The Paris Climate Agreement
The 2015 global pact to limit climate change — and America's wavering role
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attack of December 7, 1941, that brought America into World War II
Prohibition Era
The national ban on alcohol that lasted from 1920 to 1933
The Pullman Strike
The 1894 railroad shutdown that sent a labor leader to prison — and radicalized him

Q

The Quasi-War
The undeclared naval war that nearly broke the Franco-American alliance

R

Reagan Assassination Attempt
The 1981 shooting that nearly killed a president and reshaped gun law
The Rosenberg Case
The Cold War espionage trial that ended in the electric chair
Rosie the Riveter
The wartime icon of the women who built America's arsenal

S

Sand Creek Massacre
The Slaughter of a Cheyenne and Arapaho Village Under a Flag of Truce, November 1864
Selma to Montgomery Marches
The 1965 voting rights marches that broke open the conscience of a nation
Seneca Falls Convention
The 1848 gathering that launched the organized American women's rights movement
September 11 Attacks
The deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, 2001
Shays' Rebellion
The 1786 Uprising That Made the Constitution Necessary
The Space Race
The Cold War competition between the United States and Soviet Union to conquer space
The Space Shuttle
The reusable spacecraft that defined American spaceflight for three decades
Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
The 1986 explosion that killed seven astronauts and shook America's faith in its space program
Spanish-American War
The 1898 war that made America an empire in four months
Spindletop
The 1901 gusher that launched the American oil age
Sputnik
The 1957 Soviet satellite that started the Space Race
Stock Market Crash of 1929
The financial collapse that triggered the Great Depression
Stonewall Riots
The 1969 Greenwich Village uprising that launched the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement

T

Teapot Dome Scandal
The 1920s bribery scheme that sent a Cabinet secretary to prison and defined political corruption for a generation
Tennessee Valley Authority
The New Deal's most ambitious experiment — electrifying Appalachia and remaking a region
The Texas Revolution
How American settlers broke Texas away from Mexico
Three Mile Island
The 1979 nuclear accident that ended the American nuclear power era
Trail of Tears
The forced relocation of Native nations from the American Southeast, 1830–1850
Transcontinental Railroad
The 1869 rail line that stitched the continent together — and transformed everything it touched
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The 1848 peace that gave the United States a third of a continent — and intensified the slavery crisis
Treaty of Versailles
The 1919 peace that ended World War I — and planted the seeds of World War II
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
The 1911 factory disaster that transformed American labor law
Trump Assassination Attempt (2024)
The July 2024 Butler, Pennsylvania shooting during the presidential campaign

U

The U-2 Incident
The 1960 spy-plane shootdown that wrecked a superpower summit
U.S.–Iran Military Strikes
From the killing of Soleimani in 2020 to direct strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in 2025–2026
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The 1852 novel that turned a generation against slavery

V

Veterans Day
The November 11 holiday honoring all who served in the armed forces
Vietnam War
America's longest 20th-century conflict and the war that broke the postwar consensus, 1955–1975

W

The Waco Siege
The 1993 standoff that ended in fire and fueled the militia movement
War of 1812
The strange second war with Britain that nobody won — and that made America a nation
Watergate
The 1972–1974 political scandal that ended a presidency and shook American democracy
Watts Riots
Six Days of Uprising That Redefined the Civil Rights Movement, 1965
Whiskey Rebellion
The 1794 tax revolt that tested federal authority under the new Constitution
Women's Suffrage Movement
The seven-decade campaign that won American women the right to vote in 1920
Woodstock
The 1969 festival that became the emblem of the counterculture
World War I
The European catastrophe that pulled America in, remade the world order, and produced the next war
World War II
America's 1941–1945 war that defeated the Axis and made it a superpower
World's Columbian Exposition
Chicago's 1893 "White City" and the showcase of an industrial America
Wounded Knee 1973
The 71-Day AIM Occupation That Revived Native American Resistance
Wounded Knee Massacre
The 1890 killing of at least 250 Lakota men, women, and children that ended the Indian Wars
Wright Brothers' First Flight
The 12-second powered flight at Kitty Hawk that opened the aviation age

X

XYZ Affair
The French bribery scandal that nearly dragged the young republic into another war

Z

The Zimmermann Telegram
The intercepted 1917 message that helped push America into World War I