World History Timeline

Countries / North America

History of United States

144 notable historical events in United States, in chronological order.

War · 42Politics · 47Treaty · 18Revolution · 3Science · 14Technology · 25Exploration · 10Religion · 2Culture · 4Art · 1Economy · 12Disaster · 4Disease · 1Birth · 3Death · 5

20th century

  1. January 30, 1968 – September 1968★★★★★

    Tet Offensive

    North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack more than 100 cities and towns in the South; despite heavy losses, the offensive erodes US public support for the war.

    War· Vietnam, United States
  2. March 16, 1968★★★★★

    Mỹ Lai massacre

    US soldiers of Charlie Company kill hundreds of unarmed civilians at Sơn Mỹ, Quảng Ngãi; the killings become public in 1969.

    War· Vietnam, United States
  3. April 4, 1968★★★★★

    Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

    Martin Luther King Jr. is shot dead at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, triggering riots in many American cities.

    PoliticsDeath· United States
  4. July 20, 1969★★★★★

    Apollo 11 Moon landing

    Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon.

    ExplorationTechnology· United States
  5. October 29, 1969★★★★★

    First message sent over ARPANET

    The first message is sent between UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute over ARPANET, the precursor of the Internet.

    Technology· United States
  6. 1971★★★★★

    First networked email

    Ray Tomlinson sends the first email between computers on ARPANET, choosing the @ sign to separate user and host names.

    Technology· United States
  8. February 21, 1972 – February 28, 1972★★★★★

    Nixon visits China

    U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit opens the way to normalised relations between the United States and China.

    Politics· China, United States
  9. March 30, 1972 – October 1972★★★★★

    Easter Offensive

    North Vietnam launches a large conventional offensive on three fronts in the South, including prolonged fighting at Quảng Trị.

    War· Vietnam, United States
  10. December 18, 1972 – December 29, 1972★★★★★

    Operation Linebacker II

    The United States carries out intensive B-52 bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong for twelve days, known in Vietnam as the "Điện Biên Phủ in the air".

    War· Vietnam, United States
  11. January 27, 1973★★★★★

    Paris Peace Accords

    The United States, North and South Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government sign an agreement ending direct US involvement in the war.

    Treaty· Vietnam, United States, France
  12. March 29, 1973★★★★★

    Last US combat troops leave Vietnam

    The last US combat units leave South Vietnam under the terms of the Paris Peace Accords.

    WarPolitics· Vietnam, United States
  13. October 1973 – March 1974★★★★★

    1973 oil crisis

    Arab oil producers impose an embargo on countries supporting Israel, causing world oil prices to soar.

    Economy· Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, United States
  14. August 9, 1974★★★★★

    Nixon resigns over the Watergate scandal

    Richard Nixon becomes the first US president to resign, facing likely impeachment over the Watergate scandal.

    Politics· United States
  15. c. 1975 – c. 1995★★★★★

    Vietnamese boat people

    Hundreds of thousands of people flee Vietnam by sea after 1975; many die at sea and others are resettled, mostly in Western countries.

    Politics· Vietnam, United States, Australia, Canada, France, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
  16. April 30, 1975★★★★★

    Fall of Saigon

    North Vietnamese forces enter the Independence Palace; the Republic of Vietnam surrenders, ending the Vietnam War.

    WarPolitics· Vietnam, United States
  17. July 20, 1976★★★★★

    Viking 1 lands on Mars

    NASA's Viking 1 lander touches down on Mars and returns the first images from the planet's surface.

    ExplorationScience· United States
  18. September 5, 1977★★★★★

    Launch of Voyager 1

    NASA launches Voyager 1 to study Jupiter and Saturn; it later becomes the first human-made object to reach interstellar space.

    ExplorationScience· United States
  19. September 17, 1978★★★★★

    Camp David Accords

    Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign US-brokered accords, leading to the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

    Treaty· Egypt, Israel, United States
  20. August 12, 1981★★★★★

    IBM launches the IBM Personal Computer

    IBM introduces the IBM PC, whose architecture becomes the de facto standard for personal computers for decades.

    TechnologyEconomy· United States
  21. January 1, 1983★★★★★

    ARPANET switches to TCP/IP

    ARPANET officially switches to the TCP/IP protocol suite, often regarded as the birth of the modern Internet.

    Technology· United States
  22. April 24, 1990★★★★★

    Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

    Space Shuttle Discovery carries the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit, where it transforms our understanding of the universe.

    ScienceTechnology· United States
  23. January 17, 1991 – February 28, 1991★★★★★

    Gulf War

    A US-led coalition launches Operation Desert Storm, expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

    War· Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United States
  24. September 13, 1993★★★★★

    Oslo Accords

    Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization recognise each other and sign the Declaration of Principles in Washington, creating the Palestinian Authority.

    Treaty· Israel, Palestine, United States
  25. January 1, 1994★★★★★

    NAFTA enters into force

    The North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico takes effect, creating one of the world's largest trade blocs.

    TreatyEconomy· United States, Canada, Mexico
  26. February 3, 1994★★★★★

    US lifts trade embargo on Vietnam

    President Bill Clinton announces the lifting of the US trade embargo on Vietnam.

    EconomyPolitics· Vietnam, United States
  28. December 14, 1995★★★★★

    Dayton Agreement

    A peace agreement negotiated in Dayton, United States, is formally signed in Paris, ending the Bosnian War.

    Treaty· Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, United States
  29. September 4, 1998★★★★★

    Google is founded

    Larry Page and Sergey Brin incorporate Google, which becomes the world's most widely used search engine.

    TechnologyEconomy· United States

21st century

  1. January 15, 2001★★★★★

    Wikipedia is launched

    Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger launch Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia written collaboratively by volunteers.

    TechnologyCulture· United States
  2. September 11, 2001★★★★★

    September 11 attacks

    Al-Qaeda hijackers attack New York and Washington with four airliners, killing nearly 3,000 people.

    DisasterPolitics· United States
  3. March 20, 2003 – December 2011★★★★★

    Iraq War

    A US-led coalition invades Iraq and topples Saddam Hussein, beginning a long period of occupation and conflict.

    War· Iraq, United States, United Kingdom
  4. April 14, 2003★★★★★

    Human Genome Project completed

    The Human Genome Project announces it has sequenced the vast majority of the human genome.

    Science· United States, United Kingdom
  5. February 4, 2004★★★★★

    Facebook is launched

    Mark Zuckerberg and fellow students launch the social network Facebook at Harvard; it later reaches billions of users.

    TechnologyCulture· United States
  6. August 29, 2005★★★★★

    Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans

    Hurricane Katrina strikes the US Gulf Coast, breaching New Orleans' levees and killing more than 1,300 people.

    Disaster· United States
  7. January 9, 2007★★★★★

    Apple unveils the iPhone

    Steve Jobs unveils the first iPhone, accelerating the era of touchscreen smartphones.

    Technology· United States
  8. November 4, 2008★★★★★

    Barack Obama elected US President

    Barack Obama wins the presidential election, becoming the first African American elected to the office.

    Politics· United States
  9. 2012★★★★★

    CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing described

    Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier show how CRISPR-Cas9 can cut DNA at chosen sites, launching a revolution in gene editing.

    Science· United States
  10. September 14, 2015★★★★★

    First detection of gravitational waves

    The LIGO detectors record gravitational waves from two merging black holes, confirming a prediction of general relativity; the result is announced in February 2016.

    Science· United States
  11. September 15, 2020★★★★★

    Abraham Accords

    Israel signs US-brokered agreements normalising relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

    Treaty· Israel, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, United States
  12. December 25, 2021★★★★★

    Launch of the James Webb Space Telescope

    The James Webb Space Telescope, a NASA–ESA–CSA collaboration, is launched from French Guiana to observe the early universe in infrared.

    ScienceTechnology· United States, France
  13. November 30, 2022★★★★★

    OpenAI releases ChatGPT

    OpenAI releases the chatbot ChatGPT, which quickly reaches hundreds of millions of users and drives a wave of generative artificial intelligence.

    Technology· United States
History of United States · World History Timeline