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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1851 | - 15 Jan 1851: Webster County, Iowa is formed with land from Risley County and Yell County, Iowa.
- 23 Jul 1851: The Sioux Indians cede land in Iowa and Minnesota to the United States.
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| 2 | 1854 | - 1854: A large number of Ohio families migrate to Iowa. Also, there are migrations from Iowa to California during this period as a result of the Gold Rush of 1849.
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| 3 | 1855 | - 6 Mar 1855: Lancaster County, Nebraska is formed with land from Cass County and Pierce County, Nebraska.
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| 4 | 1856 | - 1 Jan 1856: The first railroad in Iowa is completed. It runs from Davenport, Scott County, Iowa to Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa. Along with steamboats, the railroad begins to significantly influence settlement of the state.
- 26 Jun 1856: Butler County, Nebraska is formed with land from Green County, Nebraska.
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| 5 | 1857 | - 1857—1858: A depression lasts 18 months and into 1858.
- 10 Feb 1857: Johnson County, Nebraska is formed with land from Nemaha County and Pawnee County, Nebraska. Tecumseh will become the county seat.
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| 6 | 1858 | - 5 Aug 1858: The first transatlantic telegraph cable is activated. [The insulation fails in 3 weeks. The first successful transatlantic telegraph cable will begin operation in 1866.]
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| 7 | 1859 | - 13 Feb 1859: The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad is completed all the way from Hannibal, Marion County, Missouri to St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri. It is the first railroad to cross Missouri. St. Joseph has been serving as a major wagon train staging ground and supply depot since the discovery of gold in California in 1848 and in Colorado in 1858.
- 14 Feb 1859: Oregon becomes the 33rd state.
- 28 Aug 1859: Oil is discovered in Titusville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania.
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| 8 | 1860 | - 1860: The population of Iowa is now 674,913, which is about 45,000 more people than the total estimated American colonial population in 1730.
- 1860: United States population — 31,443,321.
- 3 Apr 1860: The Pony Express begins service from St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri to Sacramento, Sacramento County, California. Riders make the 10-day, 1,966-mile trip twice a week.
- 6 Nov 1860: Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States at age 51.
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| 9 | 1861 | - Jan 1861: Southern states begin to secede from the Union.
- 29 Jan 1861: Kansas becomes the 34th state.
- 9 Feb 1861: Jefferson Davis is elected President of the Confederate States of America.
- 4 Mar 1861: Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as President of the United States at age 52.
- 12 Apr 1861: The Civil War begins when the Confederate Army attacks Fort Sumter at the mouth of the harbor in Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina.
- 17 Apr 1861: Virginia secedes from the Union.
- 8 Jun 1861: Tennessee secedes from the Union.
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| 10 | 1862 | - 14 Feb 1862: Jefferson Davis proclaims Arizona Territory a part of the Confederacy.
- 15 Apr 1862: The Battle of Picacho Peak is fought 50 miles northwest of Tucson, Arizona, marking the westernmost battle of the Civil War.
- 20 May 1862: Congress passes the Homestead Act. A settler can now claim 160 acres [¼ square mile] of surveyed government land as long as he builds a dwelling, grows crops and stays on the land for 5 years.
- 27 Sep 1862: Umatilla County, Oregon is formed with land from Wasco County, Oregon.
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| 11 | 1863 | - 20 Jun 1863: West Virginia becomes the 35th state. [Berkeley County, Virginia is now Berkeley County, West Virginia.]
- 27 Jun 1863: The Battle of Gettysburg begins in Adams County, Pennsylvania.
- 3 Oct 1863: President Abraham Lincoln declares Thanksgiving a national holiday.
- 23 Nov 1863: The Battle of Lookout Mountain and Cemetery Ridge is fought near Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee.
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| 12 | 1865 | - 9 Apr 1865: General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Appomattox County, Virginia, ending the Civil War. Lee is age 58, and Grant is almost age 43.
- 14 Apr 1865: President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated at age 56.
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| 13 | 1866 | - 1866—1867: A depression lasts 18 months and into 1867.
- 24 Jul 1866: Tennessee is readmitted to the Union.
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| 14 | 1867 | - 26 Feb 1867: Barton County, Kansas is formed with land from the Peketon Territory.
- 1 Mar 1867: Nebraska becomes the 37th state.
- 18 Oct 1867: The United States takes possession of Alaska from Russia. The United States paid $7.2 million for the purchase, also known as "Seward's Folly."
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| 15 | 1869 | - 10 May 1869: Construction is completed on the first transcontinental railroad when Leland Stanford drives a golden spike at Promontory Summit, Box Elder County, Utah. The Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento, Sacramento County, California has met the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska. Americans can now travel from coast to coast in 1 week, instead of weeks or months. Additionally, a telegraph system was built with the railroad and the United States now has a coast-to-coast telegraph.
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| 16 | 1870 | - 1870: United States population — 39,818,449.
- 26 Jan 1870: Virginia is readmitted to the Union.
- 30 Jan 1870: James County, Tennessee is formed with land from Hamilton County and Bradley County, Tennessee.
- 3 Mar 1870: Texas is readmitted to the Union.
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| 17 | 1872 | - 1 Mar 1872: Congress establishes Yellowstone National Park.
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| 18 | 1873 | - Sep 1873: The Birchwood Baptist Church is organized in Birchwood, James County [later to be Hamilton County], Tennessee.
- 18 Sep 1873—1878: The Panic of 1873 begins. A depression lasts 66 months and into 1878.
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| 19 | 1874 | - 2 Apr 1874: The Town of Winchester, Virginia becomes the Independent City of Winchester, Virginia, which is not a part of Frederick County politically, even though it is completely surrounded by, and is county seat of, Frederick County.
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| 20 | 1876 | - 10 Mar 1876: Alexander Graham Bell successfully tests the first telephone with the words to his assistant, "Watson, come here; I want you." Bell is age 29.
- 25 Jun 1876: General George Armstrong Custer faces his last stand at the Battle of Little Big Horn in what is now Big Horn County, Montana. Custer dies at age 36.
- 1 Aug 1876: Colorado becomes the 38th state.
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| 21 | 1878 | - 19 Feb 1878: Thomas Alva Edison receives a patent for his invention of the first practical phonograph. He intends it as an office dictating machine. Edison is age 31.
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| 22 | 1880 | - 1880: United States population — 50,155,783.
- 27 Jan 1880: Thomas Alva Edison patents the incandescent lamp. Edison is age 32.
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| 23 | 1882 | - 1882—1885: A depression lasts 36 months and into 1885.
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| 24 | 1885 | - 16 Feb 1885: Morrow County, Oregon is formed with land from Umatilla County, Oregon.
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| 25 | 1886 | - 4 Sep 1886: Chiricahua Apache Chief Geronimo finally surrenders at about age 57. Geronimo had led the last band of Apache raiders in Arizona and New Mexico.
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| 26 | 1889 | - 22 Apr 1889: The Oklahoma "Sooner" Land Rush begins.
- 11 Nov 1889: Washington becomes the 42nd state.
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| 27 | 1890 | - 1890—1891: A depression lasts 9 months and into 1891.
- 1890: United States population — 62,947,714.
- 2 May 1890: The Oklahoma Territory is established.
- 10 Jul 1890: Wyoming becomes the 44th state.
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| 28 | 1891 | - 22 Sep 1891: President Grover Cleveland opens 900,000 acres of Indian land in Oklahoma to settlers.
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| 29 | 1892 | - 1892: President Grover Cleveland opens Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian land to settlers in Oklahoma.
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| 30 | 1893 | - 1893—1897: The Panic of 1893 begins. A depression lasts 48 months and into 1897.
- 15 Sep 1893: Garfield County in the Oklahoma Territory is formed with land from the Cherokee Outlet [popularly known as the "Cherokee Strip"].
- 16 Sep 1893: President Grover Cleveland opens the Cherokee Outlet [popularly known as the "Cherokee Strip"] between Oklahoma and Kansas to settlers. 100,000 settlers rush for the land.
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| 31 | 1897 | - 1897: The Klondike Gold Rush begins in Alaska.
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| 32 | 1900 | - 1900: United States population — 75,994,575.
- Feb 1900: Eastman Kodak introduces the Brownie box camera. It sells for $1.
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| 33 | 1901 | - 1901: Kiowa County in the Oklahoma Territory is formed with land from the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Indians.
- 1 Aug 1901: A lot auction in Kiowa County, Oklahoma begins to convert a 2,000-tent "Rag City" into the town of Hobart. Hobart receives its first telephones.
- 14 Sep 1901: Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as President of the United States at age 42. [He becomes President as a result of the assassination of President William McKinley.]
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| 34 | 1903 | - 1903: Hobart, Kiowa County in the Oklahoma Territory receives its first automobile.
- 17 Dec 1903: The Wright brothers fly the Wright Flyer I at Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk, Dare County, North Carolina. [Kill Devil Hill is on the Northern Outer Banks portion of Cape Hatteras.] They fly 4 times that day in what are the first controlled, powered, and sustained flights. The Wight Flyer I is constructed of spruce, including the propellers. It has a 40.3-foot wingspan and weighs 605 pounds. It has a 12-horsepower gasoline engine. Wilbur and Orville Wright take turns on the flights. The first flight is at a height of 10 feet and travels approximately 120 feet in 12 seconds. The next two flights travel 175 feet. The final flight travels 852 feet and lasts 59 seconds. Wilbur Wright is age 36, and Orville Wright is age 32.
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| 35 | 1904 | - 1904: Hobart, Kiowa County in the Oklahoma Territory is now powered with electricity.
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| 36 | 1907 | - 1907—1908: A depression lasts 12 months and into 1908.
- 16 Nov 1907: Oklahoma becomes the 46th state.
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| 37 | 1908 | - 3 Sep 1908: Orville Wright pilots the first hour-long flight. Orville is age 37.
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| 38 | 1910 | - 1910: United States population — 91,972,266.
- 21 Apr 1910: Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] dies in Redding, Fairfield County, Connecticut at age 74.
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| 39 | 1912 | - 6 Jan 1912: New Mexico becomes the 47th state.
- 14 Feb 1912: Arizona becomes the 48th state.
- 15 Apr 1912: The Titantic sinks in the Atlantic Ocean.
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| 40 | 1913 | - 1913: Henry Ford begins using standardized interchangeable parts and assembly line techniques in his automobile plant. His expanded use of this process revolutionizes American industry.
- 1913—1914: A depression lasts 20 months and into 1914.
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| 41 | 1914 | - 15 Aug 1914: The Panama Canal opens.
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| 42 | 1917 | - 6 Apr 1917: The United States enters World War I.
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| 43 | 1918 | - 31 Mar 1918: The United States adopts Daylight Savings Time.
- 11 Nov 1918: World War I hostilities end.
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| 44 | 1919 | - 11 Dec 1919: James County, Tennessee is absorbed into Hamilton County, Tennessee. James County had dissolved in bankruptcy on April 15, 1919.
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| 45 | 1920 | - 1920—1921: A depression lasts for 18 months and into 1921.
- 1920: United States population — 105,710,620.
- 18 Aug 1920: The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is adopted, granting women the right to vote.
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| 46 | 1923 | - 15 Sep 1923: Oklahoma is placed under martial law due to terrorist activities of the Ku Klux Klan.
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| 47 | 1925 | - 10 Jul 1925—21 Jul 1925: The Scopes "Monkey Trial" is held in Dayton, Rhea County, Tennessee.
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| 48 | 1926 | - 2 Jul 1926: Congress creates the Army Air Corps.
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| 49 | 1927 | - 20 May 1927: Charles Lindbergh completes the first transatlantic flight and lands The Spirit of St. Louis in Paris, France at age 25. His flight lasts 33½ hours.
- 6 Oct 1927: The Jazz Singer, the first commercial motion picture with partial sound, is released.
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| 50 | 1929 | - 29 Oct 1929—1933: The stock market crashes. The Great Depression lasts for 42 months and into 1933.
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| 51 | 1930 | - 1930: United States population — 122,775,046.
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| 52 | 1931 | - 1 Sep 1931: The Bank Panic begins.
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| 53 | 1933 | - 4 Mar 1933: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is inaugurated as President of the United States at age 51.
- 12 Mar 1933: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt broadcasts his first radio "fireside chat."
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| 54 | 1935 | - 14 Aug 1935: The Social Security Act is signed into law.
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| 55 | 1937 | - 1937—1938: A depression lasts for 10 months and into 1938.
- 6 May 1937: The Hindenburg dirigible bursts into flames while landing at Lakehurst, Ocean County, New Jersey.
- 2 Jul 1937: Amelia Earhart disappears in a flight over the Pacific Ocean at almost age 40.
- 21 Sep 1937: J.R.R. Tolkien publishes The Hobbit, the prelude to his Lord of the Rings trilogy.
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| 56 | 1938 | - 30 Oct 1938: Orson Welles creates a national panic with his Invasion from Mars radio broadcast at age 23.
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| 57 | 1940 | - 1940: United States population — 131,669,275.
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| 58 | 1941 | - 24 Nov 1941: The United States Supreme Court invalidates the California "Anti-Okie" statute that made it a misdemeanor to bring an indigent non-resident into California. [The statute was primarily targeted against Dust Bowl migrants.]
- 7 Dec 1941: The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, drawing the United States into World War II.
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| 59 | 1944 | - 6 Jun 1944: The Allies launch the Normandy Invasion in France to begin the end of World War II.
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| 60 | 1945 | - 12 Apr 1945: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies in Warm Springs, Meriwether County, Georgia at age 63.
- 8 May 1945: VE Day is proclaimed.
- 6 Aug 1945: An atom bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
- 9 Aug 1945: An atom bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.
- 2 Sep 1945: VJ Day is proclaimed as the Japanese formally surrender to General Douglas MacArthur on board The Missouri.
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| 61 | 1950 | - 1950: United States population — 150,697,361.
- 1 Jul 1950: United States military forces land in Korea.
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| 62 | 1951 | - 19 Apr 1951: General Douglas MacArthur gives his Old Soldiers Never Die speech to Congress at age 71.
- 21 Jun 1951: CBS makes the first color telecast.
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| 63 | 1953 | - 25 Jul 1953: Armistice is signed in Korea.
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| 64 | 1956 | - 25 Sep 1956: The first transatlantic telephone cable begins operation.
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| 65 | 1957 | - 4 Oct 1957: Russia launches Sputnik 1 into outer space.
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| 66 | 1960 | - 1960: United States population — 179,323,175.
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