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1492
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus plans to travel to India but accidentally arrives in America. Photo by Sebastiano del Piombo - This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27554267 -
Europeans begin to settle in America
Europeans hoping to create a better life travel to America and began to establish settlements. Photo by Internet Archive Book Images - https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14595352519/Source book page: https://archive.org/stream/someoldhistoricl03snow/someoldhistoricl03snow#page/n143/mode/1up, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43266335 -
French and Indian War
Great Britain and France go to war in North America over land ownership. Photo by Harper & Brothers - Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History, Harper & Brothers, 1905., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2094125 -
Great Britain wins the French and Indian War
Great Britain wins and receives the land east of the Mississippi River. -
Boston Massacre
In Boston, British soldiers shoot into a crowd and kill five colonists. By Engrav'd Printed & Sold by Paul Revere Boston.The print was copied by Revere from a design by Henry Pelham under the title; The Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre, Revere's print appeared on or about March 28, 1770. - http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.00174, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4415919 -
Boston Tea Party
Taxes placed on tea, paper and glass cause angry colonists to dump tea into the Boston harbor. By W.D. Cooper - W.D. Cooper. "Boston Tea Party.", The History of North America. London: E. Newbury, 1789.in book: The History of North America. London: E. Newberry, 1789. Engraving. Plate opposite p. 58.Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (40)(image reference) (image source), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=462709 -
American Revolutionary War
The American colonists begin to fight against British soldiers to gain independence from Great Britain Photo by: Excel23 (montage) Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38533645 -
Declaration of Independence
The Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence and the 13 colonies became the United States of America. Photo by: original: w:Second Continental Congress; reproduction: William Stone - numerous, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=621811 -
Treaty of Paris ends the Revolutionary War
The Treaty of Paris is signed putting an end to the war. Photo by Roi de France (Louis XV), Roi de Grande-Bretagne (George III), roi d'Espagne (Charles III), in 1763 - http://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=26368&type=pge#.XuUQe0VKjIU, which itself is sourced as an extract from the full copy at Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91179646 -
Constitutional Convention
United States leaders get together to create the framework for the U.S. government. -
George Washington
George Washington becomes the first president of the United States of America. Photo by: Rembrandt Peale - the-athenaeum.org/art/detail.php?ID=14476, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=179615 -
Trail of Tears
Thousands of Native Americans are forced to leave their homes and walk thousands of miles on the Trail of Tears. Photo: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=334447 -
American Civil War
War begins out because northern states want to end slavery and southern states want to keep slavery. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves. Photo by: David Gilmour Blythe - Painting in the Carnegie Museum of Art, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85603734 -
Northern States win the Civil War
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President Lincoln Assassination
John Wilkes Booth shoots and kills President Abraham Lincoln. Photo by: Anthony Berger - http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.00052, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=876766 -
World War I
The United States joins World War I on the side of the Allies declaring war on Germany. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6035270 -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote. Photo by: Unknown author - http://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/ringing-out-womens-suffrage/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95345430 -
Great Depression
The Stock Exchange crashes beginning the Great Depression. Photo by: Dorothea Lange - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs divisionunder the digital ID fsa.8b29516.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52734 -
Pearl Harbor Bombing
The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. The U.S. joins World War II on the side of the Allies. Photo by: U.S. Navy, Office of Public Relations - This media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 306532., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16334170 -
Invasion of Normandy
Britain, America, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the coast of Normandy, France. Photo by: US Coast Guard - Official USCG photo 26-G-2517, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2755877 -
End of World War II
Germany surrenders and the U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. World War II comes to an end. Photo by: Cpl. Lynn P. Walker, Jr. (Marine Corps) - archive copy "War and Conflict" image collection] (HD-SN-99-02900), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1044481 -
Cold War
The beginning of a long period of tension between the democracies of the Western World, led by the U.S. and the communist countries of Eastern Europe led by the S.U. The two superpowers never officially declared war on each other. -
Korean War
The US and the Soviet Union are in a Cold War and join the war between North and South Korea. The US supports South Korea while the Soviet Union supports North Korea. Photo by: All photographs are works of the United States federal government. - Derivative ofChosin.jpgF-86F.jpgBattle of Inchon.pngLopez scaling seawall.jpgKoreanWarRefugeeWithBaby.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18144538 -
"I have a dream..."
Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his "I have a dream" speech. Photo by: Rowland Scherman - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46527326 -
President Kennedy Assassination
While riding in a convertible in Dallas, Texas President John F. Kennedy is shot and killed. Photo by: Cecil Stoughton, White House - This media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 194255., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1394145 -
Civil Rights Act
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act making discrimination illegal, ending segregation, and giving equal rights to minorities, African Americans and women. Photo by: Unknown author - http://reuther.wayne.edu/node/7823, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90185860 -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination
MLK Jr. was shot standing on his hotel balcony in in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Gulf War
The Gulf War begins as Iraq invades Kuwait and the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia, and more come to Kuwait's defense. Photo by: User:Acdx - Own work, based on File:WarGulf_photobox.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6333334 -
911
Hijacked planes crash into the World Trade Center towers, a field in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon. Photo by: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=173119 -
Iraq War
U.S. and other countries believe that Iraq is building and hiding weapons of mass destruction so they decide to invade Iraq. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2588226 -
Barak Obama
Barack Obama becomes the first African-American President of the United States. Photo by: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza - P120612PS-0463 (direct link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23956389 -
2020 Presidential Election
Candidates Joe Biden and President Donald Trump run for the 2021-2025 presidential term of office. It appears that Joe Biden will be the next president of the U.S. Photo by: Joe Biden: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (source: Joe Biden); User:TDKR Chicago 101 (clipping)Donald Trump: Shealah Craighead (source: White House) CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95804882
