New York: A Historical Timeline

PRIOR TO 1500 PRE-EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT
	Native Americans live in the geographical region now known as New York 12,000 years before Europeans explore the area, arriving after the last continental glacier recedes from North America. At the time of encounter with Europeans, the Iroquois densely populate the entire area in and around what is now New York City. The two primary groups living in the area are the Algonquin and the Iroquois.
1500-1664 EARLY EUROPEAN EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT
1524	France's King Francis I commissions Giovanni da Verrazano to explore the New World; he sails from the Madeiras and is the first European explorer to enter New York Harbor. He names the place Nouvelle Angoulême in honor of the French king (who was also the Count of Angoulême).
1609	Henry Hudson, an Englishman searching for the Northwest Passage for the Dutch East India Company, sails into the river that now bears his name. Samuel de Champlain explores the northeastern New York area.
1614	Fort Nassau is built near present-day Albany to in order to defend river traffic and trade furs with the Native Americans. The fort is abandoned in 1618.
1624	The Dutch found the New Netherlands settlement in what is now New York. It endures for 40 years.
1625	The Dutch purchase Manhattan Island from the local Native Americans.
1640	The towns of Southampton and East Hampton are founded.
1664-1739 PROVINCE OF NEW YORK
1664	Under the leadership of Colonel Sir Richard Nicolls, the English conquer the colony of New Netherlands and rename it New York after the Duke of York.
1665	The first horseracing track in the U.S. is laid out on Long Island.
1690	As part of King William's War, two hundred French, Sault, and Algonquin troops burn Schenectady and massacre 60 people to avenge the English-backed Iroquois raids on isolated northern and western settlements.
1695	Jews in New York petition the governor for religious liberties.
1700s	The English allow Palatine Germans to settle the area around the western Mohawk Valley, viewing them as a buffer from nearby Native Americans and French.
1704	Frenchman Elias Neau forms a school for slaves in New York City.
1708	A slave revolt in Newton, Long Island results in 11 deaths. Seven whites are killed. Following the revolt, a black woman is burned alive and two men, one Native American and one African American, are hanged. It is one of the first recorded slave revolts in the New World.
1710	Queen Anne's government arranges the transport of 2,800 Palatine German refugees from London to New York. This is the largest single immigrant group to the colonies prior to the Revolution. The Germans are sent to work camps along the Hudson River to work off their passage debts.
1712	A slave insurrection in New York City in April is suppressed by the militia and leads to 21 Africans executed. (July) Twelve slaves are executed for starting a slave uprising that kills nine white settlers.
1740-1774 PRE-REVOLUTIONARY NEW YORK
1755	(September 8) The French and Indian War. Fifteen hundred British forces and 200 Mohawk troops defeat the French and their allied Native Americans at the Battle of Lake George, resulting in a strategically important victory for the British.
1765	(October 19) New York City hosts the Stamp Act Congress, a colony conference to deal with British Parliament's Stamp Act. It is the first significant combined response to a British measure in the colonies. The proceedings, however, are conducted secretly. The delegates adopt a Declaration of Rights and Grievances, but no representative agrees to sign his name on the document.
1774-1800 REVOLUTIONARY NEW YORK
1776	(July 3) After landing on Staten Island, the British gain control of New York City, making it their political and military base of operations in North America. The British retain control of New York Harbor, New York City, and Long Island until the end of the war in 1783. (July 9) The New York colony declares its independence from Great Britain. (August 27) The first major battle of the Revolutionary War (after independence is declared) is fought in New York at the Battle of Long Island. The Americans are forced to retreat through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania.
1777	New York's revolutionary government requires a strict oath of allegiance from its citizens; those who refuse are exiled to British-occupied New York City. (November 25) The Battle of Saratoga. One of the decisive battles of the Revolutionary War, it prevents the British from connecting their forces in Canada with their troops in New York City and leads to the French alliance with America and eventual victory over the British. New York City is evacuated.
1780	American General Benedict Arnold betrays the U.S. government when he promises to secretly surrender the fort at West Point to the British army for 20,000 pounds, a move that would allow the English to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. Arnold's plan is discovered when his co-conspirator, British spy Major John Andre, is captured and the plans are found in his stocking. Since then, Arnold's name has become synonymous with "traitor." He flees to England after the botched conspiracy.
1787	The U.S. Constitutional Convention gives states the right to set voting qualifications. New York is the only state to continue allowing women the right to vote. Alexander Hamilton sponsors a New York law that recognizes adultery as the only grounds for divorce. It remains in force until 1967.
1788	(July 26) New York becomes the 11th state to ratify the Constitution.
1789	New York City becomes the first capital of the new nation.
1790	(February 24) New York becomes the 7th state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1792	The New York Stock Exchange is founded. It will eventually become the center of world finance.
1799	(March 28) New York bans slavery.
1800-1859 POST-REVOLUTIONARY NEW YORK
1802	The United States Military Academy at West Point opens. Its first class is comprised of 10 cadets.
1809	Robert Fulton's North River Steamboatmakes a 300-mile, four-day round trip between New York City and Albany. The first successful steam-propelled vessel, it marks a new era in transportation. The steamboat is 125 feet long and 20 feet wide and travels 5 mph.
1813	(December 30) The War of 1812 rages. The British set fire to and destroy Buffalo, New York, in retaliation for the American burning of what is now Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
1814	The Americans defeat the British at the Battle of Plattsburgh, ending the final invasion of the northern states in the War of 1812. The battle takes place shortly before the Treaty of Ghent ends the war. Work begins on the Erie Canal, which connects Lake Erie with the Hudson River. Workers are paid a quart of whiskey per day plus $1. The canal costs New York $7 million. It facilitates trade between New England and the Midwest, including manufactured materials shipped from New York and agricultural products shipped from the Midwest.
1825	(October 26) The Erie Canal is completed. Sing Sing Prison, named after the local Sint Sinck tribe, opens on the banks of the Hudson River. Initially considered a "model" prison, conditions would deteriorate, with regular fires and rampant disease. By 1861, the governor would call in the army to help contain a riot.
1827	(July 4) New York law emancipates adult slaves.
1830	Joseph Smith founds the Mormon Church in Seneca County.
1831	The first U.S. steam engine train runs from Albany to Schenectady.
1839	Abner Doubleday invents baseball at Cooperstown, site of the present-day National Baseball Hall of Fame.
1841	The Great Lakes steamer Erie sinks off Silver Creek, New York, and 300 people are killed.
1848	Organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the country's first women's rights convention is held at Seneca Falls, New York. It launches the women's suffrage movement.
1860-1900 THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ERAS
1860-65	The state of New York supplies nearly one sixth of all the Union forces during the Civil War.
1863	(July 11-16) The New York Draft Riots are the culmination of the protest against new laws passed by Congress to draft men to fight in the Civil War. The rioters number in the thousands; many are working-class Irishmen resentful of being targeted while upper-class men are not. At least 120 are killed. Abraham Lincoln sends troops to control the city and end the riots. At the time, the riots represent the largest civil insurrection in U.S. history apart from the war itself. (August 3) Governor Seymour asks President Lincoln to suspend the draft in New York.
1878	The American Bar Association is founded in Saratoga.
1879	Waterville native George Eastman develops his ready-to-use dry plate for photography, eliminating the need to sit completely still for up to a minute for a photograph. In 1880, Eastman launches the Eastman Dry Plate Company.
1884	Eastman invents a flexible paper-backed film that can be wound on rollers, bringing photography to the masses. He also develops a simple black box camera that costs $25 and comes loaded with film. When the roll is used, the entire Kodak camera is shipped back to Eastman's factory for development and reloading.
1886	France presents the U.S. the Statue of Liberty to celebrate the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. The statue finds a home on Liberty Island in New York Harbor and quickly becomes an iconic symbol of the country at home and throughout the world.
1892	(January 1) Ellis Island opens as a screening center for immigrants. It closes in 1954 after 12 million immigrants have passed through its doors.
1897	LeRoy, New York–based carpenter and cough syrup manufacturer Pearle Wait and his wife May develop a concoction out of powdered gelatin and fruit flavoring that they name Jell-O. Unsuccessful at marketing their development, they sell the business in 1899 for $450.
1900-1930 EARLY 20TH CENTURY
1901	Anarchist Leon Czolgosz assassinates President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo.
1904	(June 15) The steamship General Slocum catches fire and sinks in New York's East River. More than 1,000 people die in the accident, making it New York City's worst loss-of-life disaster until the attacks on September 11, 2001.
1906	Mary Mallon ("Typhoid Mary") infects four households on Long Island with typhoid fever. She is identified as the first healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the United States. Mallon consistently denies spreading the disease, refusing to give up her position as a cook. She eventually infects 53 people, three of whom die from the disease.
1908	The New York Board of Education bans whipping children in school.
1911	(March 25) The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City becomes the largest industrial accident in the history of the city, causing the death of 146 garment workers.
1916	"The Star-Spangled Banner" is sung for the first time at the beginning of a baseball game in Cooperstown.
1918	The Barge Canal replaces the Erie Canal.
1919	(June 16) New York becomes the 5th state to ratify the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote.
1927	(May 20) Charles Lindbergh and his Spirit of St Louis airplane take off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island and lands in France more than 33 hours later. It's the first successful New York-Paris flight. As a result, Lindbergh becomes a national hero and wins the $25,000 Orteig Prize.
1929	(October 29) The New York Stock Market crashes, beginning one of the worst economic crises of modern times, what will come to be known as the Great Depression.
1930-1950 THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II
1931	George Washington Bridge connects New York City with New Jersey. Today it's one of the busiest bridges in the world, carrying more than 100 million vehicles in 2007.
1932	Lake Placid hosts the Winter Olympic Games.
1938	A Category 3 hurricane strikes parts of New York, causing $308 million in damage and taking more than 600 lives.
1945	New York becomes the first state to prohibit discrimination in employment based upon race, creed, or origin.
1946	New York City is chosen as the site of the United Nations.
1948	The Idlewild Airport officially opens in Queens. Its name is changed to John F. Kennedy Airport in 1963, one month after the president's assassination.
1950-PRESENT MODERN NEW YORK
1953	Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of passing U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union during World War II. They are both eventually executed at Sing Sing Prison.
1961	Niagara Falls begins producing hydroelectric power.
1964	The World's Fair opens in New York City. Race riots erupt in Rochester and New York City.
1968	Representing New York's 12th Congressional district, Shirley Chisholm becomes the first African-American woman elected to Congress.
1969	(August 15) The Woodstock Music and Art Fair kicks off in upstate New York. Over the next three days, 32 music acts perform for roughly 500,000 revelers on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel. It eventually is considered one of the defining moments in American pop culture history, and comes to embody the 60s counterculture movement.
1976	The first female cadets enroll at West Point Military Academy.
1977	(January 28) The Great Lakes Blizzard hits Buffalo. The city declares a state of emergency and bans nonessential traffic. The storm causes 23 deaths in western New York.
1980	The 13th Winter Olympic Games are held at Lake Placid.
1998	The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Ellis Island is mainly in New Jersey, based upon an 1834 border agreement between New York and New Jersey.
2001	American Airlines Flight 587 crashes in Queens, shortly after takeoff from JFK Airport. 265 fatalities include everyone on board and 5 people on the ground. The accident is attributed to the first officer's overuse of rudder controls. (September 11) New York City's World Trade Center is attacked. American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crash into the Twin Towers at 8:46am and 9:03am respectively. Both towers and other adjacent buildings are demolished. The death toll stands at 2,750 people and includes citizens from more than 90 countries. It is by far the worst disaster in New York history.
2009	(January 15) US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is forced to ditch Flight 1549 in the Manhattan-adjacent Hudson River after both plane engines fail. All 155 on board survive the crash, and "Sully" becomes a national sensation. The mechanical failure is attributed to the plane striking a flock of geese on takeoff from LaGuardia Airport.
2011	The September 11 Memorial and Museum opens at the World Trade Center site.
2011	The New York State Legislature passes the Marriage Equality Act, legalizing same-sex marriage.