We are now taking nominations for historical events that shaped America’s national identity, beginning with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. That’s 250 years of history that have shaped our values, culture, and beliefs.

Here’s the current list of nominations.  It is still a work-in-progress / draft list.  Submit your nominations by posting them on social media with the hashtag #USATop250.

REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA

  • 1776   Declaration of Independence Signed
  • 1776   Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’ Published
  • 1777   Battle of Saratoga
  • 1777   Winter Encampment at Valley Forge
  • 1778   Ben Franklin Secures Alliance With France
  • 1781   Articles of Confederation Ratified
  • 1781   Cornwallis Surrender – Battle of Yorktown

AMERICAN ICONS

  • 1776   Liberty Bell Rings Independence
  • 1777   Flag Act Establishes The Stars & Stripes
  • 1782   Eagle & Great Seal Of United States Adopted
  • 1782   Motto ‘E Pluribus Unum’ Minted On US Coins
  • 1812   ‘Uncle Sam’ Becomes Caricature For US Government
  • 1886   Statue of Liberty Dedicated
  • 1887   Sousa’s ‘Stars & Stripes Forever’ National March
  • 1892   Ellis Island Opens For Immigration
  • 1892   ‘Pledge Of Allegiance’ Composed By Francis Bellamy
  • 1910   Katherine Lee Bates Pens ‘America The Beautiful’
  • 1912   Boy Scouts of America Establish Eagle Scout Rank
  • 1956   Congress Adopts “In God We Trust” As National Motto

THE YOUNG REPUBLIC

  • 1784   Daniel Boone Frontier Exploits Published
  • 1787   Constitutional Convention
  • 1788   Federalist Papers Published
  • 1790   Whiskey Rebellion
  • 1791   The ‘Bill of Rights’ Ratified
  • 1791   L’Enfant Plans District of Columbia
  • 1792   Buttonwood Agreement Opens NY Stock Exchange
  • 1793   Cotton Gin Invented by Eli Whitney
  • 1796   Washington Resigns Presidency / Farewell Address
  • 1798   ‘Johnny Appleseed’ Chapman Plants First Tree
  • 1800   United States Capitol Building Completed
  • 1803   Louisiana Purchase Signed by Thomas Jefferson
  • 1803   Marbury vs Madison – Supreme Court
  • 1804   Lewis & Clark Expedition
  • 1809   Jefferson Designs Monticello & Univ of Virginia
  • 1812   Burning of Washington DC By British
  • 1812   End of War of 1812 – Battle of New Orleans
  • 1814   Francis Scott Key Pens ‘Star Spangled Banner’
  • 1820   Democratic Party Formed
  • 1823   Monroe Doctrine Halts European Colonialism
  • 1824   Davey Crockett Elected Tennessee Representative
  • 1831   Trail of Tears Begins for Native American Tribes
  • 1831   Cyrus McCormick’s Mechanical Reaper
  • 1836   Defense Of The Alamo
  • 1837   Horace Mann Leads ‘Common School’ Movement
  • 1846   First Recorded Baseball Game, Hoboken NJ
  • 1846   Smithsonian Institute Established
  • 1850   Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’
  • 1851   First Publication Of New York Times
  • 1851   Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’
  • 1854   Republican Party Founded

WESTWARD EXPANSION

  • 1843   Great Migration Via Oregon Trail
  • 1845   Annexation Of Texas
  • 1845   John L. O’Sullivan Coins Term ‘Manifest Destiny’
  • 1846   Start Of Mexican American War
  • 1846   Joseph Henry Invents Electric Motor
  • 1848   Mexican Cession
  • 1849   California Gold Rush Peaks
  • 1860   Lincoln Signs The Homestead Act
  • 1860   Pony Express Established
  • 1862   Land Grant Colleges Established
  • 1865   Horace Greeley Says “Go West, Young Man”
  • 1867   Barbed Wire Patented
  • 1868   Horatio Alger: ‘Rags To Riches’ Books
  • 1871   Chicago Rebuilt After Great Fire
  • 1873   Levi Strauss Develops Denim Jeans
  • 1876   Mark Twain’s ‘Tom Sawyer’ & ‘Huckleberry Finn’
  • 1876   Wild Bill Hickok Killed In Deadwood
  • 1876   Defeat of Jesse James Gang
  • 1876   Custer’s Last Stand – Battle of Little Big Horn
  • 1876   Annie Oakley Joins ‘Buffalo’ Bill Cody’s Wild West
  • 1883   First of 1,689 Carnegie Libraries in USA Opens
  • 1890   Battle Of Wounded Knee

SLAVERY & CIVIL WAR

  • 1777   Vermont Becomes First State To Abolish Slavery
  • 1791   Robert Carter III Frees 500 Slaves
  • 1808   US Constitution Bans Importation of Slaves
  • 1820   Missouri Compromise – Divides North & South
  • 1831   Abolitionist Paper ‘The Liberator’ First Published
  • 1849   Harriet Tubman Joins Underground Railroad
  • 1850   Compromise of 1850
  • 1852   Harriet Beecher Stowe’s ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’
  • 1857   Dred Scott Decision – Slaves Are Not Citizens
  • 1860   Lincoln Wins Presidency in 4-Way Race
  • 1861   Confederate Shots On Fort Sumter, Charleston SC
  • 1863   Battle of Gettysburg / Lincoln’s Address
  • 1863   Emancipation Proclamation signed
  • 1864   Sherman Burns Atlanta & Marches To The Sea
  • 1865   13th Amendment Abolished Slavery
  • 1865   President Lincoln Assassinated

PROGRESS & PROGRESSIVISM

  • 1848   Susan B. Anthony Speaks At Seneca Falls Convention
  • 1851   Singer Sewing Machine Introduced
  • 1866   Samuel Morse Sends First Telegraph Message
  • 1869   Transcontinental Railroad Completed
  • 1876   Alexander Graham Bell Introduces Telephone
  • 1877   Edison Patents The Phonograph
  • 1878   Thomas Edison Patents Electric Light
  • 1881   Clara Barton Founds American Red Cross
  • 1886   American Federation of Labor Union Founded
  • 1886   First ‘Coca-Cola’ Soft Drink Sold
  • 1890   Plessy v Ferguson Ruling – Separate But Equal
  • 1890   Sherman Anti-Trust Act Passed
  • 1891   Edison Demonstrates Motion Picture Kinetoscope
  • 1893   Columbian Exposition in Chicago Opens
  • 1893   ‘Cracker Jack’ First Sold At Chicago World’s Fair
  • 1900   Kodak ‘Brownie’ Camera Introduced
  • 1900   Hershey Introduces ‘Great American Chocolate Bar’
  • 1903   Helen Keller: ‘The Story Of My Life’
  • 1903   TDR+John Muir Trip Leads To National Parks
  • 1903   Wright Brother’s Motor-Powered Flight
  • 1906   Great San Francisco Earthquake
  • 1906   First Wireless Radio Broadcast by Reginald Fessenden
  • 1911   Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
  • 1912   Titanic Strikes Iceberg On First Voyage to NYC
  • 1913   Federal Income Tax Act & 16th Amendment
  • 1913   Ford Model T Moving Assembly Line Invented
  • 1916   George Washington Carver Peanut Research
  • 1919   Women’s Right To Vote; 19th Amendment
  • 1919   Black Sox World Series Scandal
  • 1919   Sir Barton is First Horse To Win Triple Crown
  • 1920   Babe Ruth Traded To New York Yankees
  • 1925   F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
  • 1925   Scopes Monkey Trial – Separation of Church & State
  • 1925   Bell Labs Incorporated in New York City
  • 1926   Henry Ford Establishes The 40-Hour Work Week
  • 1926   Route 66 Highway Opened – ‘The Mother Road’
  • 1927   Lindbergh Completes Solo Transatlantic Flight
  • 1929   St Valentine’s Day Massacre – Al Capone
  • 1929   Edwin Hubble Discovers Universe Is Expanding
  • 1930   Grant Wood’s Painting ‘American Gothic’
  • 1931   ‘The American Dream’ By James Truslow Adams
  • 1932   ‘Little House’ Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • 1933   Alcohol Prohibition Lifted
  • 1936   DC-3 Pioneers Commercial Air Travel

WORLD WARS & DEPRESSION

  • 1898   Sinking of USS Maine Leads To Spanish-American War
  • 1898   Teddy Roosevelt Commands Rough Riders
  • 1917   Wilson Enters USA Into WWI After Zimmerman Letter
  • 1918   Spanish Flu Spreads From US Soldiers
  • 1919   Treaty of Versailles Ends WWI
  • 1928   Mickey Mouse Debuts In ‘Steamboat Willie’
  • 1929   Black Friday Starts Great Depression
  • 1929   Louis Armstrong ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ Charts Nationally
  • 1931   Bing Crosby Debuts on CBS Radio
  • 1931   Charlie Chaplin’s ‘City Lights’ Premieres
  • 1933   FDR Announces New Deal Programs
  • 1933   Thomas Hunt Morgan Maps Genes Of Fruit Flies
  • 1934   Dust Bowl ‘Black Sunday’ Storm
  • 1935   WPA Democratizes Art Deco Design
  • 1936   Jesse Owens Wins Gold Medals In Berlin Olympics
  • 1937   Amelia Earhart Lost In Flight
  • 1937   Disney’s ‘Snow White’ Premieres
  • 1937   John Steinbeck: Of Mice And Men & Grapes of Wrath
  • 1938   Superman Character Debuts in Action Comics #1
  • 1939   Frank Sinatra First Charts With Tommy Dorsey Band
  • 1939   ‘Gone With The Wind’ Movie Premiere
  • 1939   ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Movie Premiere
  • 1940   Bald Eagle Gets Federal Protection
  • 1940   First McDonald’s Restaurant Opened
  • 1940   Marshall Plan For Europe Introduced
  • 1941   ‘Citizen Kane’ Premieres
  • 1941   4×4 Jeep Developed for US Army
  • 1941   Mount Rushmore Dedicated
  • 1941   Pearl Harbor Attack Begins WWII
  • 1942   Bing Crosby Records Irving Berlin’s ‘White Christmas’
  • 1943   Norman Rockwell Paints ‘Four Freedoms’
  • 1944   ‘D-Day’ Begins Liberation Of Europe
  • 1945   Atomic Bombs Dropped On Japan

BABY BOOM & COLD WAR

  • 1946   Chuck Yeager Breaks Sound Barrier in Bell X-1
  • 1948   First Stock Car Race On Daytona Beach
  • 1949   US Joins North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • 1951   J.D. Salinger: The Catcher In The Rye
  • 1952   ‘Singing In The Rain’ Movie Released
  • 1952   ‘Gunsmoke’ Premieres on CBS Radio
  • 1952   Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man & The Sea
  • 1953   Korean War Truce
  • 1953   Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451
  • 1954   Joseph McCarthy Censured By The US Senate
  • 1954   ‘The Tonight Show’ Starts On NBC
  • 1955   Disneyland Opens in California
  • 1955   Jonas Salk Polio Vaccine Clinical Trial Complete
  • 1956   Elvis Presley Hits #1 with ‘Heartbreak Hotel’
  • 1956   Interstate Highway Act Passed
  • 1956   ‘The Searchers’ Movie Premieres
  • 1956   First Indoor Shopping Mall, ‘Southdale’ Opens
  • 1958   Pan Am Launches Jet Age With Boeing 707s
  • 1962   First Wal-Mart Store Opens
  • 1962   Cuban Missile Crisis
  • 1962   Nobel Prize for DNA Structure Discovered
  • 1963   Kennedy Assassination
  • 1964   The Beatles Debut on the Ed Sullivan Show
  • 1964   Ford Mustang Introduced
  • 1967   ‘The Graduate’ Movie Premieres
  • 1967   First NFL Super Bowl Broadcast
  • 1969   Apollo 11 Lands On Moon
  • 1969   First Flight of Boeing 747
  • 1972   ‘The Godfather’ Movie Premieres
  • 1973   USA Withdraws From Vietnam
  • 1980   ‘Miracle On Ice’ at Lake Placid Winter Olympics
  • 1981   Reagan Calls World To Defeat ‘Evil Empire” USSR

SOCIAL REVOLUTION

  • 1945   Jackie Robinson Breaks MLB Color Barrier
  • 1950   Diner’s Club Debuts As First Credit Card
  • 1953   Hugh Hefner Publishes First Playboy Magazine
  • 1954   Brown vs Board of Education Ends Segregation
  • 1955   Emmet Till Murdered
  • 1955   Rosa Parks Bus Protest
  • 1957   Little Rock Nine; School Desegregation
  • 1960   Harper Lee: To Kill A Mockingbird
  • 1962   Birth Control Pill Approved As Contraceptive
  • 1963   MLK ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech
  • 1964   Civil Rights Act Signed Into Law
  • 1965   ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Debuts
  • 1965   Voting Rights Act Signed Into Law
  • 1968   Democratic National Convention Riots in Chicago
  • 1968   MLK & RFK Assassinations
  • 1968   Woodstock Music Festival
  • 1969   Stonewall Gay Rights Riots
  • 1970   Kent State Shootings, 1970
  • 1971   ‘Keep America Beautiful’ Anti-Littering Indian PSA
  • 1971   Pentagon Papers Published
  • 1973   Roe vs Wade 7-2 Abortion Ruling
  • 1974   President Nixon Resigns After Watergate
  • 2001   September 11th Terrorist Attacks
  • 2008   Barrack Obama Elected First African-American President
  • 2014   Black Lives Matter Movement Started
  • 2015   Gay Marriage Confirmed By Supreme Court

CONNECTED AMERICA

  • 1974   NAVISTAR Satellite Launched Beginning GPS System
  • 1977   Cable TV Revenues Reach $1 Billion
  • 1977   Apple II Personal Computer Introduced
  • 1977   ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ Premieres
  • 1980   CNN Begins Broadcasting 24 Hour News
  • 1981   Microsoft MS-DOS Licensed For IBM PCs
  • 1981   MTV Launches Music Video Revolution
  • 1982   Michael Jackson: ‘Thriller’ Album Released
  • 1983   Internet TCP/IP Protocols First Used
  • 1984   Apple Macintosh Features Mouse & Windows
  • 1995   First Book Sold On Amazon.com
  • 1998   Google Search Engine Launched
  • 2004   Facebook Launched At Harvard
  • 2006   Twitter Launched In California
  • 2007   Steve Jobs introduces Apple iPhone
  • 2012   Elon Musk introduces Tesla Model S