A Timeline of American Founding
Key moments that shaped the nation, from rebellion to ratification.
Birth of Benjamin Franklin
January 17, 1706
Birth of George Washington
February 22, 1732
Birth of John Adams
October 30, 1735
Birth of Thomas Jefferson
April 13, 1743
Birth of James Madison
March 16, 1751
Birth of Alexander Hamilton
January 11, 1757
Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776
Articles of Confederation Adopted
November 15, 1777
Articles of Confederation Ratified
March 1, 1781
Treaty of Paris
September 3, 1783
Annapolis Convention
September 11-14, 1786
Shays' Rebellion
August 1786 - June 1787
Constitutional Convention Convenes
May 25, 1787
The Great Compromise
July 16, 1787
Constitution Signed
September 17, 1787
Constitution Ratified
June 21, 1788
Bill of Rights Proposed
September 25, 1789
Death of Benjamin Franklin
April 17, 1790
Bill of Rights Ratified
December 15, 1791
Death of George Washington
December 14, 1799
Death of Alexander Hamilton
July 12, 1804
War of 1812 Begins
June 18, 1812
British Burn Washington, D.C.
August 24, 1814
Treaty of Ghent Signed
December 24, 1814
Battle of New Orleans
January 8, 1815
Birth of Abraham Lincoln
February 12, 1809
Death of Jefferson and Adams
July 4, 1826
Death of James Madison
June 28, 1836
Seneca Falls Convention
July 19-20, 1848
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
November 6, 1860
South Carolina Secedes
December 20, 1860
Attack on Fort Sumter
April 12, 1861
Emancipation Proclamation
January 1, 1863
Lee Surrenders at Appomattox
April 9, 1865
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
April 15, 1865
13th Amendment Ratified
December 6, 1865
14th Amendment Ratified
July 9, 1868
15th Amendment Ratified
February 3, 1870
Susan B. Anthony Arrested for Voting
November 5, 1872
Publication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
August 26, 1903
Death of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
October 26, 1902
Sinking of the Titanic
April 15, 1912
Creation of the Federal Reserve
December 23, 1913
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
June 28, 1914
Sinking of the Lusitania
May 7, 1915
U.S. Enters World War I
April 6, 1917
Balfour Declaration
November 2, 1917
Bolshevik Revolution
November 7, 1917
Armistice Day
November 11, 1918
19th Amendment Ratified
August 18, 1920
Germany Invades Poland
September 1, 1939
Lend-Lease Act Signed
March 11, 1941
Attack on Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941
D-Day: Invasion of Normandy
June 6, 1944
Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day)
May 8, 1945
Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima
August 6, 1945
Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day)
September 2, 1945
Founding of the State of Israel
May 14, 1948
The Iron Curtain Descends
March 5, 1946
The Truman Doctrine
March 12, 1947
Korean War Begins
June 25, 1950
22nd Amendment Ratified
February 27, 1951
Brown v. Board of Education
May 17, 1954
Sputnik Launched
October 4, 1957
23rd Amendment Ratified
March 29, 1961
Cuban Missile Crisis
October 16-28, 1962
March on Washington
August 28, 1963
Assassination of President Kennedy
November 22, 1963
24th Amendment Ratified
January 23, 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
July 2, 1964
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
August 7, 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965
August 6, 1965
25th Amendment Ratified
February 10, 1967
USS Liberty False Flag Attack
June 8, 1967
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
April 4, 1968
Apollo 11 Moon Landing
July 20, 1969
26th Amendment Ratified
July 1, 1971
Nixon Resigns
August 9, 1974
Fall of the Berlin Wall
November 9, 1989
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
December 26, 1991
27th Amendment Ratified
May 7, 1992
September 11th False Flag Operation
September 11, 2001
Barack Obama Elected President
November 4, 2008