Major dates in American History

Question 1

1862

Answer 1

The Homestead Act gives any settler 160 acres of public land if he promises to live on it and farm it for five years.

Question 2

1867

Answer 2

The USA buys Alaska from Russia.

Question 3

1869

Answer 3

First Transcontinental railroad, which helps to create cohesion between the states and which accelerates the movement westward.

Question 4

1870-1920

Answer 4

Second large wave of immigration, mainly from southern, Central and Eastern Europe, and from China and Japan.

Question 5

1876

Answer 5

General Custer is defeated by the Sioux (led by Sitting Bull) at the Battle of Little Big Horn. This is just one event reflecting the growing resistance of the Indians to their conditions of life and the loss of their lands. Indeed, all through the 19th century, the Indians are gradually forced into reservations, administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where they are not allowed to develop their own culture.

Question 6

1879

Answer 6

Edison invents the electric light bulb. The last decades of the century (called the Gilded Age) are marked by industrial growth and the emergence of some captains of the industry who accumulate enormous fortunes (e.g. Rockefeller, Carnegie), often using part of their money to fund educational or artistic programmes. The United States becomes increasingly urbanised.

Question 7

1886

Answer 7

Creation of the American Federation of Labor, a union made necessary by the rapid growth of industry and big businesses during the last two decades of the century.

Question 8

1890

Answer 8

Indians massacred at Wounded Knee. This marks the end of their resistance. The frontier is officially closed.

Question 9

1901-17

Answer 9

The Progressive Era: under the presidencies of Roosevelt and Wilson, reforms are introduced, aiming at fighting social inequalities, developing higher education, regulating big businesses and preserving natural sites.

Question 10

1903

Answer 10

First flight of the Wright Brothers.

Question 11

1908

Answer 11

Ford starts producing his Model T car and develops efficient plants with assembly-lines increasing the output.

Question 12

1917

Answer 12

After US ships are sunk by German submarines, the USA enters WWI. It helps win the war, but over 100,000 American soldiers lose their lives in the conflict. The US becomes a major power internationally.

Question 13

1920

Answer 13

Women get voting rights. Prohibition, until 1933 (making or selling alcohol is prohibited) leads to bootlegging.

Question 14

1920-29

Answer 14

The Jazz Age (also called the Roaring Twenties). This decade is a period of prosperity, during which consumerism reaches a climax: electrical appliances, cars, the radio, advertising become very popular. This is reflected in literature by the writings of the Lost Generation (Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Dos Passos) who expose the concern with materialism. Corruption and bootlegging add to the decline of morals.

Question 15

1924

Answer 15

Indian Citizenship Act (the Indians are given American citizenship).

Question 16

1927

Answer 16

Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic Ocean.

Question 17

1929

Answer 17

Increasing speculation leads to the collapse of the Stock Exchange or Wall Street Crash (Black Thursday). Beginning of the depression years, when many banks and businesses go bankrupt and millions become unemployed.

Question 18

1932

Answer 18

Roosevelt’s New Deal to boost the economy, create jobs, thanks to a programme of public works, and helped the poor and the unemployed. Roosevelt’s reforms are also economic (the Agricultural Adjustment Act, to help farmers with subsidies, the Tennessee Valley Authority, to use water for agriculture, the Banking Act ) and social (right of workers to belong to a union, social security). All these measures will be effective although unemployment will remain high until the US enters the war against Germany.

Question 19

1933

Answer 19

Many German Jewish refugees start arriving in America.

Question 20

1941

Answer 20

The USA (which has so far maintained an isolationist policy) enters the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor (a US navy base) by the Japanese. America starts mass-producing tanks, planes and all kinds of military equipment.

Question 21

1944

Answer 21

The allied forces land in Europe (on June 6, D-Day).

Question 22

1945

Answer 22

Germany surrenders (VE-Day). The US drops atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrenders (VJ-Day). Altogether, over 400,000 Americans have been killed in the conflict. The United Nations Organization is created as an international organization to prevent future conflicts.

Question 23

1947

Answer 23

The Marshall Plan brings financial and material help to countries fighting communism. The relationship between the USA and the USSR becomes increasingly tense. This will lead to the Cold War in the 1950s.

Question 24

1949

Answer 24

Creation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) - an alliance between the US and Western European countries in case of Soviet aggression.

Question 25

1950-3

Answer 25

Korean War, between North Korea (communist, helped by the USSR) and South Korea (helped by the Americans).

Question 26

1952

Answer 26

McCarthyism: Senator McCarthy leads a which-hunt against communists in America. Many like Arthur Miller see a parallel with the trials of witchcraft in Puritan New England (see his play The Crucible). An atmosphere of paranoia takes hold of America, with denunciations, trials and even executions, as in the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, accused of spying for the USSR.

Question 27

1954

Answer 27

Segregation in public schools becomes unconstitutional.

Question 28

1956

Answer 28

Montgomery bus boycott (black people protest against segregation of buses). It will lead to the desegregation of buses.

Question 29

1960-63

Answer 29

Kennedy President. He starts a social policy called "the New Frontier": its aim is to put an end to segregation and help the poorest in the country through welfare measures.

Question 30

1961

Answer 30

Kennedy tries to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro , but fails. The following year, Soviet missiles are found in Cuba, which leads to a new crisis.

Question 31

1963

Answer 31

Johnson becomes president after Kennedy is assassinated. He introduces extensive reforms to fight poverty, including Health insurance and aid to education. Martin Luther King leads a Civil Rights march on Washington to protest against segregation and inequality.

Question 32

1964

Answer 32

The Civil Rights Act abolishes segregation.

Question 33

1965

Answer 33

In spite of the Civil Rights Act, riots erupt in a number of larger cities.

Question 34

1964-73

Answer 34

The Vietnam War, between the North (communist) and the South, helped by the Americans. Almost 60,000 American soldiers are killed and the US finally has to retreat after growing dissatisfaction at home (anti-war demonstrations, draft dodgers).

Question 35

1968

Answer 35

Martin Luther King assassinated.

Question 36

1969

Answer 36

First man on the moon.

Question 37

1972

Answer 37

President Nixon signs the strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the USSR.

Question 38

1974

Answer 38

Nixon resigns after the Watergate scandal (he had ordered that the head-quarters of the Democratic Party be broken into).

Question 39

1980-88

Answer 39

Presidency of Ronald Reagan, who introduces conservative and liberal policies.

Question 40

1989

Answer 40

Fall of the Berlin Wall. End of the Cold War.

Question 41

1991

Answer 41

Gulf War against Iraq. The US forces Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, which they had invaded. It is the starting point of the New World Order: the US polices the world.

Question 42

1992-2000

Answer 42

Presidency of Bill Clinton, who initiates social reforms and reduces the deficit as well as unemployment.

Question 43

2000

Answer 43

George W. Bush is elected President.

Question 44

2001

Answer 44

Terrorist attacks against USA: on September 11, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center are destroyed, and the Pentagon is damaged by hi-jacked airplanes. Almost three thousand people are killed.

Question 45

2003

Answer 45

War against Iraq, which the US believes to possess weapons of mass destruction.

Question 46

2005

Answer 46

Although an Iraqi government is now in place, human rights abuses, continuing fighting and the death of US soldiers every day have led the public opinion to become more critical of the war.

Question 47

2006

Answer 47

Democrats take control of Congress in mid-term elections.

Question 48

2007

Answer 48

President Bush vetoes a bill setting a timetable to pull American troops out of Iraq.

Question 49

2008

Answer 49

Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the United States elected.

Question 50

2010

Answer 50

Wikileaks releases war documents online.

Question 51

The Homestead Act gives any settler 160 acres of public land if he promises to live on it and farm it for five years.

Answer 51

1862

Question 52

The USA buys Alaska from Russia.

Answer 52

1867

Question 53

First Transcontinental railroad, which helps to create cohesion between the states and which accelerates the movement westward.

Answer 53

1869

Question 54

Second large wave of immigration, mainly from southern, Central and Eastern Europe, and from China and Japan.

Answer 54

1870-1920

Question 55

General Custer is defeated by the Sioux (led by Sitting Bull) at the Battle of Little Big Horn. This is just one event reflecting the growing resistance of the Indians to their conditions of life and the loss of their lands. Indeed, all through the 19th century, the Indians are gradually forced into reservations, administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where they are not allowed to develop their own culture.

Answer 55

1876

Question 56

Edison invents the electric light bulb. The last decades of the century (called the Gilded Age) are marked by industrial growth and the emergence of some captains of the industry who accumulate enormous fortunes (e.g. Rockefeller, Carnegie), often using part of their money to fund educational or artistic programmes. The United States becomes increasingly urbanised.

Answer 56

1879

Question 57

Creation of the American Federation of Labor, a union made necessary by the rapid growth of industry and big businesses during the last two decades of the century.

Answer 57

1886

Question 58

Indians massacred at Wounded Knee. This marks the end of their resistance. The frontier is officially closed.

Answer 58

1890

Question 59

The Progressive Era: under the presidencies of Roosevelt and Wilson, reforms are introduced, aiming at fighting social inequalities, developing higher education, regulating big businesses and preserving natural sites.

Answer 59

1901-17

Question 60

First flight of the Wright Brothers.

Answer 60

1903

Question 61

Ford starts producing his Model T car and develops efficient plants with assembly-lines increasing the output.

Answer 61

1908

Question 62

After US ships are sunk by German submarines, the USA enters WWI. It helps win the war, but over 100,000 American soldiers lose their lives in the conflict. The US becomes a major power internationally.

Answer 62

1917

Question 63

Women get voting rights. Prohibition, until 1933 (making or selling alcohol is prohibited) leads to bootlegging.

Answer 63

1920

Question 64

The Jazz Age (also called the Roaring Twenties). This decade is a period of prosperity, during which consumerism reaches a climax: electrical appliances, cars, the radio, advertising become very popular. This is reflected in literature by the writings of the Lost Generation (Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Dos Passos) who expose the concern with materialism. Corruption and bootlegging add to the decline of morals.

Answer 64

1920-29

Question 65

Indian Citizenship Act (the Indians are given American citizenship).

Answer 65

1924

Question 66

Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic Ocean.

Answer 66

1927

Question 67

Increasing speculation leads to the collapse of the Stock Exchange or Wall Street Crash (Black Thursday). Beginning of the depression years, when many banks and businesses go bankrupt and millions become unemployed.

Answer 67

1929

Question 68

Roosevelt's New Deal to boost the economy, create jobs, thanks to a programme of public works, and helped the poor and the unemployed. Roosevelt's reforms are also economic (the Agricultural Adjustment Act, to help farmers with subsidies, the Tennessee Valley Authority, to use water for agriculture, the Banking Act ) and social (right of workers to belong to a union, social security). All these measures will be effective although unemployment will remain high until the US enters the war against Germany.

Answer 68

1932

Question 69

Many German Jewish refugees start arriving in America.

Answer 69

1933

Question 70

The USA (which has so far maintained an isolationist policy) enters the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor (a US navy base) by the Japanese. America starts mass-producing tanks, planes and all kinds of military equipment.

Answer 70

1941

Question 71

The allied forces land in Europe (on June 6, D-Day).

Answer 71

1944

Question 72

Germany surrenders (VE-Day). The US drops atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrenders (VJ-Day). Altogether, over 400,000 Americans have been killed in the conflict. The United Nations Organization is created as an international organization to prevent future conflicts.

Answer 72

1945

Question 73

The Marshall Plan brings financial and material help to countries fighting communism. The relationship between the USA and the USSR becomes increasingly tense. This will lead to the Cold War in the 1950s.

Answer 73

1947

Question 74

Creation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) - an alliance between the US and Western European countries in case of Soviet aggression.

Answer 74

1949

Question 75

Korean War, between North Korea (communist, helped by the USSR) and South Korea (helped by the Americans).

Answer 75

1950-3

Question 76

McCarthyism: Senator McCarthy leads a which-hunt against communists in America. Many like Arthur Miller see a parallel with the trials of witchcraft in Puritan New England (see his play The Crucible). An atmosphere of paranoia takes hold of America, with denunciations, trials and even executions, as in the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, accused of spying for the USSR.

Answer 76

1952

Question 77

Segregation in public schools becomes unconstitutional.

Answer 77

1954

Question 78

Montgomery bus boycott (black people protest against segregation of buses). It will lead to the desegregation of buses.

Answer 78

1956

Question 79

Kennedy President. He starts a social policy called "the New Frontier": its aim is to put an end to segregation and help the poorest in the country through welfare measures.

Answer 79

1960-63

Question 80

Kennedy tries to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro , but fails. The following year, Soviet missiles are found in Cuba, which leads to a new crisis.

Answer 80

1961

Question 81

Johnson becomes president after Kennedy is assassinated. He introduces extensive reforms to fight poverty, including Health insurance and aid to education. Martin Luther King leads a Civil Rights march on Washington to protest against segregation and inequality.

Answer 81

1963

Question 82

The Civil Rights Act abolishes segregation.

Answer 82

1964

Question 83

In spite of the Civil Rights Act, riots erupt in a number of larger cities.

Answer 83

1965

Question 84

The Vietnam War, between the North (communist) and the South, helped by the Americans. Almost 60,000 American soldiers are killed and the US finally has to retreat after growing dissatisfaction at home (anti-war demonstrations, draft dodgers).

Answer 84

1964-73

Question 85

Martin Luther King assassinated.

Answer 85

1968

Question 86

First man on the moon.

Answer 86

1969

Question 87

President Nixon signs the strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the USSR.

Answer 87

1972

Question 88

Nixon resigns after the Watergate scandal (he had ordered that the head-quarters of the Democratic Party be broken into).

Answer 88

1974

Question 89

Presidency of Ronald Reagan, who introduces conservative and liberal policies.

Answer 89

1980-88

Question 90

Fall of the Berlin Wall. End of the Cold War.

Answer 90

1989

Question 91

Gulf War against Iraq. The US forces Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, which they had invaded. It is the starting point of the New World Order: the US polices the world.

Answer 91

1991

Question 92

Presidency of Bill Clinton, who initiates social reforms and reduces the deficit as well as unemployment.

Answer 92

1992-2000

Question 93

George W. Bush is elected President.

Answer 93

2000

Question 94

Terrorist attacks against USA: on September 11, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center are destroyed, and the Pentagon is damaged by hi-jacked airplanes. Almost three thousand people are killed.

Answer 94

2001

Question 95

War against Iraq, which the US believes to possess weapons of mass destruction.

Answer 95

2003

Question 96

Although an Iraqi government is now in place, human rights abuses, continuing fighting and the death of US soldiers every day have led the public opinion to become more critical of the war.

Answer 96

2005

Question 97

Democrats take control of Congress in mid-term elections.

Answer 97

2006

Question 98

President Bush vetoes a bill setting a timetable to pull American troops out of Iraq.

Answer 98

2007

Question 99

Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the United States elected.

Answer 99

2008

Question 100

Wikileaks releases war documents online.

Answer 100

2010