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1469: Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragonmarry, uniting the Kingdom of Spain underone crown.

1488: Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias sailsaround the Cape of Good Hope, openingthe Asian spice trade to Portugal.

1492: Christopher Columbus, exploring for Spain,makes the first landfall of his voyage to theNew World on the island now known as SanSalvador in the Bahamas.

1494: The Treaty of Tordesillas establishes a lineof demarcation that runs north to souththrough the Atlantic Ocean, with Spainreceiving rights to all newly discoveredland to the west of the line and Portugalearning possession of land east of the line.

1497: John Cabot’s expedition from England rea-ches Canada, making Cabot the first Euro-pean to visit the region since the Vikings.

1519: Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes departson his expedition to Mexico, where he con-quers the Aztec Empire for Spain.

1520: Mayan Emperor Moctezuma dies while inthe custody of Hernan Cortes.

1521: The expedition of Portuguese explorer Ferdi-nand Magellan circumnavigates the globe.Magellan himself does not survive the voyage.

1534: Jacques Cartier, exploring for the French,lands in Newfoundland.

King Henry VIII of England forms theAnglican Church, spurring the Reforma-tion in England.

1535: Francisco Pizarro founds the city of Limanear the coast of Peru.

1542: Bartolome de Las Casa presents to the Spanishroyal court A Short Account of the Destructionof the Indies, his treatise on the mistreatment ofNative Americans by the Spanish.

1570: The Iroquois League adopts a constitution,establishing a participatory democracy.

1584: An expedition from England backed by SirWalter Raleigh lands in Virginia. Efforts tocolonize in Roanoke fail.

1587: A second doomed expedition to settle theRoanoke colony arrives in Virginia.

1588: England defeats the Spanish Armada, cur-tailing Spain’s plans to invade.

1603: Samuel de Champlain of France sets sail forCanada.

1607: The Jamestown colony, the first permanentBritish settlement in North America, isfounded.

1608: Captain John Smith leads the Jamestowncolony through early crises with diseaseand encounters with natives.

1609: Henry Hudson, exploring for the Dutch,navigates the river in the American North-east that would later bear his name.

1619: Dutch slave traders bring the first Africanslaves to the Jamestown colony.

The House of Burgesses, the first legis-lature in the British colonies, is establishedin Jamestown.

1620: English Puritans embark on a voyage tothe New World aboard the Mayflower.

1636: Providence becomes the first British settle-ment in the New World to welcome peopleof all religious convictions.

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1637: Anne Hutchinson is tried for heresy in theMassachusetts Bay Colony.

1660: England’s Parliament passes the secondNavigation Act, stating that American col-onists can only export certain goods toEngland and imposing duties on thosegoods.

1675: King Philip’s War breaks out between theWampanoag natives and the colonists ofthe Plymouth settlement.

1676: Nathaniel Bacon Jr. rebels against theadministration of Sir William Berkeley, thegovernor of Jamestown colony.

1681: William Penn founds the Pennsylvania col-ony as a ‘‘religious experiment.’’

1686: English King James II forms the Dominionof New England to consolidate authorityover the New England colonies by abolish-ing colonial legislatures.

1688: King James II is deposed—and the Domin-ion of New England is rescinded—whenthe Glorious Revolution puts William IIIand Mary II on the throne.

1691: A new charter is drawn for the Massachusettscolony, reducing Puritan legal authority.

1693: Hysteria over witches in Salem, Massachu-setts, leads to more than 185 people beingcharged with witchcraft, twenty of whomare executed.

1735: Newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger isacquitted of libeling the governor of NewYork colony, William Cosby.

1754: The French and Indian War begins over aterritorial dispute in the Ohio Valley.

1763: The French and Indian War ends with theTreaty of Paris, which cedes all French landeast of the Mississippi River to Britain.

1764: The British Parliament passes the SugarAct, raising penalties for smuggling sugarand other goods.

1765: Parliament passes the Stamp Act, a tax onnewspapers, legal documents, and printedmaterials.

The Quartering Act requires that colo-nists provide housing and supplies for Brit-ish soldiers.

1766: On the same day the Stamp Act is repealed,Parliament passes the Declaratory Act, alaw asserting Parliament’s power to imposestatutes and taxes upon the colonies.

1767: Parliament passes the Townshend Acts, aseries of taxes levied on products exportedto the colonies from England.

1770: British soldiers fire into a crowd of protesters,killing five and wounding six others, in whatcomes to be known as the Boston Massacre.

1773: England’s Parliament passes the Tea Act,giving the British East India Company amonopoly on tea sold in the colonies.

Colonists disguised as Native Ameri-cans destroy a tea shipment in Boston Har-bor in protest of the Tea Act.

1774: Parliament passes the Coercive Acts, designedto punish Massachusetts after the BostonTea Party.

The First Continental Congress is heldin Philadelphia.

1775: Battles at Lexington and Concord, Massa-chusetts, mark the beginning of hostilitiesin the American Revolution.

The Second Continental Congress con-venes to discuss issues of war and indepen-dence.

The Second Continental Congressselects George Washington to commandthe Continental Army.

1776: Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense ispublished, calling for independence fromBritain and a more democratic system ofgovernment.

The Second Continental Congress cul-minates in the adoption of the Declarationof Independence.

1777: The Marquis de Lafayette of France volun-teers to fight with the Continental Armyagainst the British.

1780: General Benedict Arnold’s conspiracy tosurrender the military fort at West Pointis foiled.

1781: The Articles of Confederation are adoptedby the Continental Congress.

British forces under General CharlesCornwallis surrender at Yorktown, effectivelyending hostilities in the Revolutionary War.

1783: Britain recognizes the independence of theUnited States by signing the Treaty of Paris,officially ending the Revolutionary War.

1785: The Continental Congress passes the North-west Ordinance, which allows for expansionof settlements northwest to the Great Lakes.

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1786: Daniel Shays leads an armed rebellion inwestern Massachusetts, protesting taxesimposed by the state legislature.

1787: The Constitutional Convention convenesin Philadelphia for the purpose of replacingthe Articles of Confederation.

The series of essays known as the Fed-eralist Papers is published in various NewYork newspapers.

1789: George Washington is unopposed in thefirst presidential election.

Alexander Hamilton becomes the firstsecretary of the Treasury.

1790: Statesman Benjamin Franklin dies in Phil-adelphia at the age of eighty-four.

1791: The first ten amendments to the U.S. Con-stitution, called the Bill of Rights, are ratified.

1792: George Washington is reelected presidentof the United States.

1794: Farmers in western Pennsylvania take uparms against federal excise taxes in theWhiskey Rebellion.

1796: Vice President John Adams defeats Secre-tary of State Thomas Jefferson in the firstcontested presidential election in Americanhistory.

1797: French agents solicit bribes from Americanenvoys in what comes to be known as theXYZ Affair.

1798: The Federalist-controlled U.S. Congresspasses the Sedition Act, granting the pres-ident broad powers to suppress criticism ofthe government.

1799: Congress passes the Logan Act, which pre-vents private citizens from negotiating withforeign governments.

1800: Thomas Jefferson defeats John Adams inthe presidential election of 1800.

1802: Journalist James T. Callender reveals thatPresident Thomas Jefferson fathered chil-dren with Sally Hemings, Jefferson’s slave.

1803: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof Marbury v. Madison, which sets forththe doctrine of judicial review.

The Louisiana Purchase treaty is rati-fied by Congress, nearly doubling the sizeof the United States for the price of $15million.

1804: The Twelfth Amendment changes the pro-cedure for presidential elections so the pres-

idential runner-up is no longer awarded thevice presidency.

President Thomas Jefferson sends Mer-

iwether Lewis and William Clark on an

expedition of the newly acquired Louisiana

Territory.

Alexander Hamilton is killed in a duelwith Vice President Aaron Burr.

President Thomas Jefferson wins reelec-tion.

1807: Aaron Burr is arrested for treason for hisplot to invade the Louisiana Territory.

1808: James Madison is elected the fourth presi-dent of the United States.

1812: The U.S. Congress declares war on Britain,initiating the War of 1812.

1814: New England Federalists gather in Hartford,Connecticut, to protest the War of 1812.

The War of 1812 ends with the signingof the Treaty of Ghent.

1816: James Monroe wins a landslide victory overFederalist Rufus King.

1819: Spain sells Florida to the United States inthe Treaty of Adams-Onıs.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides theseminal free speech case Schenck v. UnitedStates.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides the

case of McCulloch v. Maryland. The deci-

sion both defends the power of the federal

government to engage in banking and cur-

tails the state’s ability to tax a federal entity.

The financial Panic of 1819 is caused

by an economic downturn following the

end of the Napoleonic Wars and a concur-

rent increase in loan foreclosures.

1820: Congress negotiates the Missouri Compro-

mise, which allows for territorial expansion

of the United States while maintaining the

balance of power between northern and

southern states.

1823: President James Monroe outlines his foreign

policy with regard to Latin America and the

Caribbean, later known as the ‘‘Monroe

Doctrine.’’

1824: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the land-mark case of Gibbons v. Ogden, which deter-mines that transportation across state linescannot be restricted by state laws.

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1825: John Quincy Adams wins the contestedelection of 1824, after the decision isthrown to the House of Representativesdue to an electoral college deadlock amongfour candidates.

1828: Andrew Jackson, the father of the Demo-cratic party, defeats incumbent John QuincyAdams in the presidential election.

John C. Calhoun is reelected as vicepresident, joining George Clinton as theonly vice presidents to serve under twodifferent presidents.

1830: The Indian Removal Act authorizes federalinvolvement in forced resettlement ofNative Americans.

1831: The majority of Andrew Jackson’s cabinet,including Vice President John C. Calhoun,resign as a result of the Eaton Affair.

Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion inVirginia that claims the lives of fifty-fivewhite men, women, and children over thecourse of a single day.

1834: Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna declareshimself dictator of Mexico.

1835: John Marshall, the longest sitting and mostinfluential chief justice in U.S. SupremeCourt history, dies.

1836: The Republic of Texas declares its inde-pendence from Mexico.

William B. Travis, leader of the Texasindependence movement, dies during thesiege of the Alamo.

The ‘‘gag rule’’ is imposed in the Houseof Representatives, prohibiting debate ordiscussion regarding the abolition of slavery.

The Whig Party, dedicated to opposingthe political philosophies of Andrew Jack-son, participates in its first national election.

Vice President Martin Van Buren,Andrew Jackson’s handpicked successor,wins the presidency.

1837: The Panic of 1837 is caused by rampant infla-tion and a lack of hard currency in circulation.

1840: French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville com-pletes his treatise on the American govern-ment and politics, Democracy in America.

1841: William Henry Harrison dies of pneumoniaone month after his inauguration as presi-dent, making him the first president to diein office.

John Tyler succeeds William HenryHarrison as president. Within five months,Tyler’s Whig cabinet resigns in protest ofTyler’s Democratic policies.

1844: Little-known candidate James K. Polkdefeats Whig Henry Clay in the presiden-tial election.

1845: Journalist John L. O’Sullivan of the Dem-ocratic Review coins the term ‘‘ManifestDestiny’’ with regard to the nation’s west-ward expansion.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Dou-glass, an American Slave is published.

1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends theMexican-American War.

Women’s rights activists Elizabeth CadyStanton and Lucretia Mott organize theSeneca Falls Convention, which serves asthe birthplace of the American women’s suf-frage movement.

War hero Zachary Taylor defeats LewisCass in the presidential election.

1849: Henry David Thoreau’s treatise on civildisobedience is published under the name‘‘Resistance to Civil Government.’’

1850: Vice President Millard Fillmore assumespresidency after Zachary Taylor dies of gas-troenteritis.

In order to facilitate California’s state-hood, a series of laws, collectively known asthe Compromise of 1850, is passed toappease both north and south and main-tain the balance of power.

1852: Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe’s UncleTom’s Cabin is published, galvanizing theU.S. antislavery movement.

Democratic candidate Franklin Piercedecisively defeats Whig Winfield Scott inthe presidential election.

1854: The Kansas-Nebraska Act allows residentsof Kansas and Nebraska to decide by pop-ular vote whether slavery will be allowed intheir territories.

The Republican Party forms in responseto the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

1856: Representative Preston Brooks beats Sena-tor Charles Sumner unconscious in theSenate chamber after Sumner insults oneof Brooks’s relatives, Senator Andrew But-ler, during an antislavery speech.

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Democrat James Buchanan defeats Re-publican John C. Fremont in the presiden-tial election.

1857: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof Dred Scott v. Sanford, which invalidatesthe Missouri Compromise and maintainsthat slaves are not U.S. citizens and there-fore do not have the right to sue in court.

A variety of factors—the end of the Cri-mean War, the failure of the Ohio Life Insur-ance and Trust Company, and the sinking ofthe merchant ship Central America—sparkthe Panic of 1857.

1860: The Democratic Party splinters in oppositionto Republican Abraham Lincoln, presentingtwo presidential candidates—southernerJohn C. Breckenridge and northerner Ste-phen A. Douglas.

Abraham Lincoln wins the presidentialelection. By the time of his inauguration,seven states have seceded from the Unionin protest.

1861: Seceding states South Carolina, Alabama,Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippiestablish the Confederate States of America.

Confederate troops attack Fort Sumter,commencing hostilities in the Civil War.

The first U.S. income tax is passed tohelp pay for the Civil War.

1863: Riots and racial lynching break out in NewYork City in opposition to the Civil Wardraft.

1864: Congress passes the National Banking Actto raise money to help fund the UnionArmy during the Civil War.

1865: General Robert E. Lee surrenders the Armyof Northern Virginia, marking the end ofmajor hostilities in the American Civil War.

Vice President Andrew Johnson suc-ceeds Abraham Lincoln after Lincoln’sassassination by John Wilkes Booth.

The Thirteenth Amendment, abolish-ing slavery in the United States, is ratified.

1866: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof Ex parte Milligan, ruling that civilianscannot be tried by military courts.

1867: The United States purchases Alaska fromRussia.

1868: President Andrew Johnson is impeached byCongress over the dismissal of Secretary of

War Edwin Stanton. The attempt to removehim from office fails by a single vote.

The Fourteenth Amendment, grantingfreed slaves U.S. citizenship and overturn-ing a key ruling of Dred Scott v. Sanford, isratified.

Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant winsthe presidential election by a landslide.

1870: The Fifteenth Amendment, granting freedmale slaves the right to vote, is ratified.

1872: In an act of civil disobedience in support ofwomen’s suffrage, Susan B. Anthony isarrested for attempting to cast a ballot inthe presidential election.

1873: The Comstock Act, a piece of federal anti-obscenity legislation, bans the delivery ofcontraceptives or ‘‘lewd and/or lacsciviousbooks’’ across state lines or by the U.S.Postal Service.

1874: Blanche Bruce becomes the first African-American elected to serve a full term inthe U.S. Senate.

1876: Chief Sitting Bull leads the Sioux to victoryover the forces of General George Arm-strong Custer in the Battle of Little Bighorn.

1877: The contested 1876 election betweenRutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden isresolved in Hayes’s favor, with an informalcompromise that ends Reconstruction inthe South.

President Rutherford B. Hayes sendstroops to break up a multistate railroadstrike.

1880: Republican James A. Garfield wins thepresidential election.

1881: James A. Garfield is assassinated by a disap-pointed office-seeker. Chester A. Arthur suc-ceeds Garfield, whose death draws attentionto the evils of the so-called spoils system.

1882: The Chinese Exclusion Act, a law restrict-ing immigration from China and denyingcitizenship to Chinese residents in theUnited States, becomes law.

1883: The Civil Service Commission is estab-lished to oversee government hiring basedon merit rather than the spoils system.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that theCivil Rights Act of 1875 is unconstitutional,curtailing federal enforcement of the Four-teenth Amendment.

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1884: Grover Cleveland becomes the first Dem-ocrat to win the presidency since the CivilWar.

1887: The Interstate Commerce Commission isestablished to prevent unfair business prac-tices by railroad companies.

1888: Benjamin Harrison defeats Democraticincumbent Grover Cleveland, despite trail-ing Cleveland in the popular vote.

1890: The first federal immigration station is estab-lished at Ellis Island in New York Harbor.

The Sherman Antitrust Act becomeslaw.

1892: Grover Cleveland becomes the first presi-dent to win nonconsecutive terms of office,defeating incumbent Benjamin Harrison.

1893: The stock market crash known as the Panicof 1893 sends the nation into an economicdepression.

1894: Jacob S. Coxey leads a march on Washing-ton by unemployed laborers and farmers,who came to be known as ‘‘Coxey’s Army.’’

Grover Cleveland dispatches troops tosuppress the Pullman strike in Chicago.

1896: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof Plessy v. Ferguson, which permitted lawsthat provided for ‘‘separate, but equal’’facilities for African-Americans.

Republican William McKinley defeatsWilliam Jennings Bryan in the presidentialelection.

1898: The explosion of the USS Maine in Havanaharbor triggers the four-month SpanishAmerican War.

1901: The Socialist Party of America is founded.

President William McKinley is assassi-nated at the Pan-American Exposition inBuffalo, New York. Vice President Theo-dore Roosevelt succeeds McKinley.

1902: President Theodore Roosevelt announceshis corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, pro-claiming the United States’ right to mili-tary intervention in Latin America as ‘‘theexercise of an international police power.’’

1903: President Theodore Roosevelt announcesthe Square Deal, his platform of socialand economic reforms.

After a U.S.-backed revolution grantsPanama independence from Colombia, Pan-ama agrees to the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty

with the United States, giving the UnitedStates control of the Panama Canal Zone inperpetuity.

1904: Incumbent Theodore Roosevelt defeatsDemocratic candidate Alton B. Parker inthe presidential election.

1905: W. E. B. Du Bois and other African-Americanleaders found the Niagara Movement topursue an aggressive civil rights agenda.

1906: Theodore Roosevelt is awarded the NobelPeace Prize for negotiating peace betweenJapan and Russia.

1908: The Department of Justice’s Bureau ofInvestigation, later renamed the FederalBureau of Investigation, is established toenforce federal law.

William Howard Taft defeats Demo-cratic candidate William Jennings Bryan inthe presidential election.

1909: The National Association for the Advance-ment of Colored People (NAACP) isfounded.

1912: Theodore Roosevelt is denied the Repub-lican nomination and runs for reelection asa third-party candidate, establishing theNational Progressive Party, also known asthe Bull Moose Party.

Democratic candidate Woodrow Wil-son wins the presidential election with only41 percent of the popular vote, as Theo-dore Roosevelt and William Howard Taftsplit Republican support.

1913: The Seventeenth Amendment to the con-stitution is ratified, requiring direct elec-tion of senators and members of Congress.

Alice Paul and Lucy Burns establish theNational Woman’s Party, dedicated to thepassage of a women’s suffrage amendmentto the federal constitution.

1914: World War I begins in Europe.

The Federal Trade Commission is estab-lished to regulate trusts and to preventdeceptive trade practices.

1916: Incumbent Woodrow Wilson wins reelectionover Republican Charles Evans Hughes.

1917: The United States enters World War I aftermonths of German attacks on Americanships.

1918: The global influenza epidemic reaches theUnited States, killing 195,000 Americans.

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1919: The Eighteenth Amendment is ratified,starting the Prohibition period in the UnitedStates.

The League of Nations is formed by theTreaty of Versailles, which ends World War I.

1920: The Nineteenth Amendment, grantingwomen the right to vote, is ratified.

Warren G. Harding defeats James M.Cox in the presidential election.

1921: Former President William Howard Taft isnamed chief justice of the U.S. SupremeCourt.

1923: Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomespresident after Warren G. Harding’s diesfrom a sudden illness.

1924: Robert M. La Follette abandons the Repub-lican Party to run for president on the ticketof the new Progressive Party.

Republican incumbent Calvin Cool-idge wins the presidential election.

1925: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof Gitlow v. New York, which extends theprotections of the Bill of Rights to thestates.

1928: Herbert Hoover wins a landslide presiden-tial victory over New York Governor AlfredE. Smith.

1929: The Black Tuesday stock market crash trig-gers the Great Depression.

1930: Drought begins in the southeast andspreads over the Great Plains, leading tothe Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

1931: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof Near v. Minnesota, ruling that the gov-ernment cannot prevent publication ofmaterials by the press.

1932: Approximately twenty thousand World WarI veterans march in Washington, D.C., seek-ing early payment on a cash bonus the gov-ernment was scheduled to pay them in1945.

New York Governor Franklin Roose-velt defeats Republican incumbent HerbertHoover in the presidential election.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides thecase of Powell v. Alabama, establishing theright to counsel in criminal cases.

1933: Frances Perkins is appointed secretary oflabor, becoming the first woman to holda cabinet-level post.

Prohibition ends with the ratificationof the Twenty-First Amendment.

1934: The Federal Communications Commissionis established to regulate wire and radiocommunications.

1935: The Works Progress Administration is estab-lished to relieve high unemployment duringthe Great Depression.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, in-validating portions of the National IndustrialRecovery Act.

The Social Security Administration iscreated.

1936: Incumbent President Franklin Rooseveltwins reelection by a landslide over AlfredM. Landon.

1937: President Franklin Roosevelt threatens topack the Supreme Court with new appoint-ees to counteract the court’s resistance tothe New Deal.

Hugo Black is appointed to the U.S.Supreme Court by Franklin Roosevelt.

1938: The House Un-American Activities Com-mittee (HUAC) is formed.

1940: Franklin Roosevelt becomes the first pres-ident to be elected to office three times,defeating Wendell Willkie.

1941: A Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base atPearl Harbor in Hawaii brings the UnitedStates into World War II.

1942: President Franklin Roosevelt signs Execu-tive Order 9066, granting the military theauthority to begin the internment of Japa-nese Americans.

1944: The GI Bill of Rights passes through Con-gress, providing education, job training,and home loan assistance for American sol-diers returning from World War II.

Franklin Roosevelt is elected to hisfourth consecutive term as president, defeat-ing Republican Thomas Dewey.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides thecase of Korematsu v. United States, whichupholds the military’s authority to internJapanese Americans.

1945: President Franklin Roosevelt dies of natu-ral causes and is succeeded by Vice Presi-dent Harry Truman.

President Harry Truman orders atomicbombs to be dropped on the Japanese

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cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japansurrenders, ending World War II.

The Senate ratifies the United Nationscharter.

1946: Eleanor Roosevelt becomes the first chair-person of the United Nations Commissionon Human Rights.

The Employment Act of 1946 is passedamid fears that the return of American sol-diers from abroad will cause an economicdepression.

1947: The Central Intelligence Agency is createdby the National Security Act of 1947.

1948: Executive Order 9981 bans discriminationin the armed forces.

Incumbent Harry Truman defeats Tho-mas Dewey in the presidential election.

1950: Alger Hiss is found guilty of perjury after hav-ing allegedly provided classified documents toTime magazine editor Whittaker Chambers.

Senator Joseph McCarthy announcesin Wheeling, West Virginia, that he is inpossession of a list of communist infiltra-tors in the U.S. State Department, begin-ning the period of anticommunist hysteriaknown as McCarthyism.

North Korea invades South Korea,igniting the Korean War.

1952: General Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Dem-ocratic nominee Adlai Stevenson in the presi-dential election.

1953: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executedfor their role in passing nuclear secrets tothe Soviet Union.

The Korean War Armistice Agreementis reached, ending the Korean War.

Earl Warren is appointed Chief Justiceof the U.S. Supreme Court.

George C. Marshall receives the NobelPeace Prize for his role in the EuropeanRecovery Program, also known as the Mar-shall Plan.

1954: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the land-mark case of Brown v. Board of Educationof Topeka, requiring the desegregation ofpublic schools.

1955: Rosa Parks is arrested for failing to surren-der her seat to a white man on a city bus inMontgomery, Alabama, igniting a series ofboycotts and protests.

1956: William Brennan is appointed to the U.S.Supreme Court.

South Vietnam, with military supportfrom the United States, declares independ-ence, setting the stage for the Vietnam War.

Incumbent President Dwight D. Eisen-hower wins reelection, again defeating AdlaiStevenson.

1958: The National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration is created.

Fidel Castro leads a successful revolu-tion against U.S.-backed dictator Fulgen-cio Batista y Zaldıvar in Cuba.

1960: Senator John F. Kennedy defeats incum-bent Vice President Richard M. Nixon inone of the closest presidential elections ofthe twentieth century.

1961: The U.S.-supported Bay of Pigs invasion ofCuba fails.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides thecase of Mapp v. Ohio, extending the exclu-sionary rule to apply to all state prosecutions.

1962: In response to the deployment of Sovietnuclear weapons in Cuba, the UnitedStates initiates a naval blockade, a series ofevents known as the Cuban Missile crisis.

1963: President John F. Kennedy is assassinatedin Dallas, Texas. Vice President Lyndon B.Johnson succeeds Kennedy as president.

1964: The U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case ofNew York Times v. Sullivan, changing the rulesregarding what constitutes libel in statementsmade by the media about public figures.

The Gulf of Tonkin incident leads toescalation of the Vietnam War.

The Food Stamp Act of 1964, part ofPresident Lyndon B. Johnson’s ‘‘GreatSociety’’ agenda, is approved by Congress.

The Warren Commission issues its finalreport on the John F. Kennedy assassination.

Incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson defeatsBarry Goldwater in a landslide presidentialelection.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. receivesthe Nobel Peace Prize for his leadershipin the American Civil Rights movement.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides thecase of Heart of Atlanta Motel v. UnitedStates, the first major test of the Civil RightsAct of 1964.

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1965: Black Muslim leader Malcolm X is assassi-nated in New York City.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof Griswold v. Connecticut, affirming marriedcouples’ right to privacy in the bedroom.

Congress creates the Medicaid and Med-icare health care programs, furthering Presi-dent Lyndon Johnson’s ‘‘Great Society’’agenda.

Ralph Nader publishes Unsafe at AnySpeed: The Designed-In Dangers of theAmerican Automobile, bringing automo-tive safety to public attention.

1966: The U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v.Arizona requires that criminal suspects beinformed prior to questioning of their rightto legal counsel and their right to remainsilent.

1967: The Twenty-Fifth Amendment, establish-ing the procedure for replacing the presi-dent or vice president of the United Statesin the event that either office is unoccu-pied, is ratified.

The U.S. Department of Transporta-tion is formed, consolidating authorityover the national highway system, automo-tive and airline safety, and other transpor-tation policy issues.

Thurgood Marshall becomes the firstAfrican-American justice of the U.S. SupremeCourt.

Black Panther party leader Huey P.Newton is shot in a gun battle with policeand charged with manslaughter in thedeath of a white police officer.

1968: Civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee,sparking riots in cities across the UnitedStates.

George C. Wallace receives substantialsupport for his independent run for thepresidency but still falls a distant third toDemocrat Hubert H. Humphrey and win-ner Richard M. Nixon.

1969: The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the‘‘fairness doctrine’’ as constitutional in thecase of Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Fed-eral Communications Commission.

Warren Burger is appointed chief jus-tice of the Supreme Court.

1970: The Racketeer Influenced and CorruptOrganizations Act (RICO) is signed into lawas part of an effort to control organized crimein America.

The Occupational Safety and Health

Act is signed into law.

The Clean Air Act of 1970 shifts pri-

mary responsibility for air quality control

from the states to the federal government.

1971: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof Lemon v. Kurtzman, which finds thatpublic funding of parochial schools violatesthe separation of church and state.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules thatefforts to stop publication of the PentagonPapers in the New York Times violated theFirst Amendment.

1972: The Equal Rights Amendment, establishing

equal rights for women under law, passes

through Congress. Over the next decade

the amendment will fall three votes short of

ratification.

J. Edgar Hoover dies, ending forty-

seven years as head of the Federal Bureau

of Investigation.

Title IX of the Education Amendmentsof 1972 prohibits gender discrimination byinstitutions of higher education that receivefederal funds.

Five men, later revealed to be agents of

the Richard M. Nixon administration, are

caught attempting to break into the head-

quarters of the Democratic National Com-

mittee at the Watergate Hotel Complex.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Fur-

man v. Georgia severely limits the death pen-

alty’s use based on the Eighth Amendment.

1973: The Drug Enforcement Administration is

established to consolidate the government’s

narcotics control efforts.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in

Roe v. Wade strikes down state laws that

restrict women’s access to abortions.

1974: The U.S. Supreme Court rules against Pres-

ident Richard M. Nixon’s request for ‘‘exec-

utive priviledge,’’ whereby Nixon claimed

tape recordings of conversations he had with

staffers in the Oval Office should be consid-

ered confidential.

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Under threat of impeachment due to theWatergate scandal, Richard M. Nixon resignsas president of the United States and is suc-ceeded by Vice President Gerald Ford.

Less than a month after taking office,President Gerald Ford issues a full pardontoward former President Richard M. Nixon,immunizing Nixon from any prosecutionin the Watergate scandal.

The Internet is invented by scientistswith the Advanced Research Projects Agency(ARPA).

1976: The U.S. Supreme Court upholds limits ondonations to political campaigns in Buckleyv. Valeo.

Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter defeatsRepublican incumbent Gerald Ford in thepresidential election.

1977: The Department of Energy is establishedby Congress.

1978: The Federal Emergency Management Agencyis created by executive order.

Congress passes the Ethics in Govern-ment Act, which allows for the appointmentof an impartial, nonpartisan independentcounsel to investigate and prosecute illegalacts by high-level government officials.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides the caseof City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey, rulingthat a state may not restrict importation ofwaste from other states.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision inRegents of the University of California v.Bakke finds that affirmative action by theuse of racial quotas is unconstitutional.

1979: A reactor malfunction at the Three MileIsland nuclear power plant results in themost serious mishap ever in the U.S. com-mercial nuclear power industry.

Islamic extremists take sixty-three Amer-icans at the U.S. Embassy in Iran hostage.

1980: Former California Governor Ronald Rea-gan defeats incumbent Democrat JimmyCarter in the presidential election.

1981: President Ronald Reagan is shot in an assas-sination attempt by a mentally disturbedman.

The first cases of acquired immunedeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are identifiedin the United States.

Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the firstfemale justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1982: The federal budget deficit exceeds $100

billion for the first time in history.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides the

case of Nixon v. Fitzgerald, which upholds

presidential immunity for official actions.

1983: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the case of

Bob Jones University v. United States, which

denies tax-exempt status to private colleges

with racially discriminatory practices.

1984: Incumbent President Ronald Reagan wins

a landslide electoral victory over former

Vice President Walter Mondale.

1986: An independent counsel is appointed to

investigate the Iran-Contra scandal.

1987: Alan Greenspan is named head of the Fed-eral Reserve.

The District of Columbia Circuit Court

decision in Meredith Corporation v. FCC

finds that the government could discon-

tinue enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine

without legislative intervention.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Cipol-

lone v. Liggett Group, Inc. that the federally

mandated health warning on cigarette pack-

ages does not immunize cigarette manufac-

turers from being sued under state personal-

injury laws.

1988: Incumbent Vice President George H. W.

Bush wins the presidential election over

Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis.

1989: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Texas v.

Johnson that burning the American flag is

protected as free speech.The federal government bails out the

savings and loan industry at taxpayer expenseexceeding $100 million.

1990: The U.S. Supreme Court decides the case

of Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department

of Health, upholding the actions of the state

of Missouri to maintain life support for a

woman in a persistent vegetative state.

The Iraqi military invades and con-

quers Kuwait, initiating U.S. involvement

in the Persian Gulf War.

1992: Businessman Ross Perot uses his own for-

tune to fund his presidential candidacy as

an independent. Although Perot does not

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win a single electoral vote, he does capture

nearly 19 percent of the popular vote.Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton defeats

incumbent George H. W. Bush in the pres-idential election.

1994: The North American Free Trade Agree-ment, which removes trade barriers amongthe United States, Canada, and Mexico, isimplemented.

Independent counsel is appointed toinvestigate President Bill Clinton’s involve-ment in the Whitewater real estate venture.

Before the midterm election Republicanspropose a slate of reforms they call the ‘‘Con-tract with America’’; the Republicans go onto take a majority in the House of Represen-tatives for the first time in forty years.

1995: Ross Perot founds the Reform Party inanticipation of a second presidential bid.

A budgetary impasse in Congress causesthe federal government to shut down manynonessential services for four weeks.

1996: Incumbent President Bill Clinton defeatsRepublican candidate Bob Dole in an elec-toral landslide.

1998: The impeachment trial of President BillClinton ends in acquittal.

2000: In one of the closest presidential electionsin American history, Texas GovernorGeorge W. Bush defeats Vice President AlGore after the U.S. Supreme Court stopsthe recounting of votes in Florida.

2001: On September 11th, terrorist hijackers flycommercial airliners into the twin towersof the World Trade Center in New YorkCity and into the Pentagon, outside Wash-ington, D.C.

The Department of Homeland Secur-ity is established in response to the terroristattacks.

The United States invades Afghanistanafter the Taliban government refuses tosurrender the persons responsible for plan-ning the attacks.

Congress passes the Patriot Act, grant-ing the government broad powers to inves-tigate and prosecute those suspected ofterrorism.

2003: The United States invades Iraq, based onfalse reports that the Iraqi government isproducing and stockpiling nuclear weapons.

2004: Incumbent George W. Bush defeats Mas-sachusetts Senator John Kerry in the pres-idential election.

2005: The Kyoto Protocol on global warming goesinto effect. The treaty, which the UnitedStates helped negotiate, is never submittedto the U.S. Congress for ratification.

Hurricane Katrina sweeps across theGulf Coast, causing great damage in Mis-sissippi and Louisiana, particularly in thecity of New Orleans.

House Majority Leader Tom Delay isindicted in Texas of illegal campaign practices.

2006: The population of the United States exceedsthree hundred million for the first time.

The Democratic Party takes control ofboth houses of Congress in the midterm elec-tions. Representative Nancy Pelosi becomesthe first female Speaker of the House.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein isexecuted in Iraq for crimes against humanity.

2007: Massachusetts becomes first state to enact auniversal health coverage plan.

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