Pennsylvania: A Historical Timeline

PRIOR TO 1608 PRE-EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT
	Native Americans live in the geographical region now known as Pennsylvania long before Europeans explore the area. The two primary groups are the Algonquin and the Iroquois. Native Americans travel around the area by canoe or on foot. Although some farming is done, most food is acquired through hunting and gathering.
1608-1679 EARLY EUROPEAN EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT
1608	Captain John Smith journeys up the Susquehanna River from Virginia, visiting the Susquehannock Native Americans.
1609	Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch, sails the Half Moon into Delaware Bay, giving the Dutch claim to the area.
1610	Captain Samuel Argall of Virginia visits the bay and names it for Lord de la Warr, governor of Virginia.
1638	The Swedish are the first to make a permanent settlement when the colony of New Sweden is established.
1643	Governor Johan Printz of New Sweden establishes his capital at Tinicum Island within the area that is present-day Pennsylvania. Today the site is a state park named in his honor.
1647	The Dutch and Swedes establish trading posts.
1655	Tension between the Swedes and Dutch erupt, due to their competing trading posts in the area. The governor of New Netherlands seizes New Sweden and makes it part of the Dutch colony.
1664	The English seize the Dutch land in the name of the Duke of York, the king's brother.
1673-74	The Dutch recapture their possessions from the English.
1675	The Susquehannocks are defeated by the Iroquois and driven out of Pennsylvania. The Quakers, members of a nonconformist breakaway movement of Puritanism, hold their first meeting in the New World at Upland (now Chester).
1676	The Duke of York's Laws introduce English laws and government to the region.
1680-1739 PENNSYLVANIA COLONY
1681	(March 4) King Charles II grants Quaker William Penn land between New York and Maryland, a repayment of a debt owed to his father Admiral William Penn, by signing the Charter of Pennsylvania. The land falls between the 39th and 42nd degrees latitude and runs west from the Delaware River for five degrees longitude. (April) Penn draws up his proposed constitution for Pennsylvania, the First Frame of Government. Quakers begin to move to Pennsylvania to flee persecution in England.
1682	Three counties of Delaware Colony are captured from the Dutch and deeded to William Penn by the Duke of York.
1720	The first Catholic congregation is organized in Philadelphia. The first chapel is constructed in 1733.
1727	German immigrants begin to arrive in Pennsylvania. Today, the Pennsylvania Dutch are the descendants of these German immigrants to Pennsylvania, living primarily in southeastern Pennsylvania. By the time of the Revolution, Germans comprised one third of Pennsylvania's population.
1730	About 4,000 slaves now reside in Pennsylvania. Indentured servants (mainly immigrants) begin to replace slaves as the state's principal work force.
1731	The nation's first circulating library, the Library Company of Pennsylvania, is founded.
1736	Benjamin Franklin starts the first country's first volunteer fire department, the Union Fire Company, in Philadelphia.
1737	(September 19) The Walking Purchase. The Lenape agree to honor a deed from the 1680s, held by the descendants of William Penn, for a portion of land beginning near Wrightstown and running west "as far as a man could walk in a day and a half." Provincial Secretary James Logan hires the three fastest runners to run out the purchase on a prepared trail, stopping only to sleep at night. After a day and a half, one runner had managed to run 70 miles, and the Penns acquire an area of land in northeastern Pennsylvania roughly the size of Rhode Island. Today, the land deed is generally believed to be at best an unsigned treaty and at worst a forgery.
1739	French traders enter the region, competing with Pennsylvania settlers for Native American trade.
1740-1773 PRE-REVOLUTIONARY ERA
1740	The Mikveh Israel Congregation, one of the oldest synagogues in the country, is established in Philadelphia.
1750-60	Prosperous farming develops in southeastern Pennsylvania, particularly wheat and corn crops.
1751	The first hospital in the colonies, the Pennsylvania Hospital, opens in Philadelphia.
1752	The Liberty Bell arrives at Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. Ironically, it was crafted at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London. The bell cracks during initial testing.
1754	The French and Indian War begins, spurred by efforts to establish control over the upper Ohio Valley.
1769	St. George's Church, the oldest Methodist building in the U.S., is built in Philadelphia.
1774-1789 REVOLUTIONARY PENNSYLVANIA
1774	The first Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia with delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies. The delegates organize an economic boycott of Great Britain in protest against the Coercive Acts.
1775	(May 10) The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia. The Congress establishes a Continental Army, issues the Declaration of Independence, and designs the Articles of Confederation. Delegates include Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. (April 19) The Revolutionary War begins with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
1776	(August 2) The Declaration of Independence is signed in Philadelphia. (September 28) Pennsylvania's first state constitution is adopted. Philadelphia becomes the second largest English-speaking city in the world after London.
1777	(September 11) The Battle of Brandywine. A battle of the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War, it is fought along the Brandywine River. The battle is a clear victory for the British, leaving Philadelphia undefended. (September 26) The British capture Philadelphia.
1778	(June) Benjamin Franklin helps to negotiate a French alliance, which causes the British to leave Philadelphia. (June) A caravan of 700 wagons escorts the Liberty Bell back to Philadelphia from Allentown. The bell was taken to Allentown to be hidden when British troops threatened Philadelphia the previous year.
1780	Pennsylvania adopts the Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Act, calling for the gradual abolition of slavery.
1787	(December 12) Pennsylvania becomes the second state (after Delaware) when it ratifies the U.S. Constitution.
1790-1859 POST-REVOLUTIONARY PENNSYLVANIA
1790	Philadelphia becomes the capital of the United States.
1791	The Pennsylvania General Assembly grants a tract of land on the upper Allegheny to Iroquois Chief Cornplanter in appreciation for his assistance in improving relations between colonists and Native Americans.
1792	(April 3) The Pennsylvania General Assembly passes a land act authorizing the sale of land east and west of the Allegheny River in an attempt to spark development and westward expansion.
1793	The largest yellow fever epidemic in the nation's history claims as many as 5,000 lives, or 10 percent of the city's population.
1794	The Whiskey Rebellion in Pittsburgh. Residents protest the whiskey tax by taking up arms. President Washington invokes martial law and summons a militia from Pennsylvania and Virginia. The army marches to Western Pennsylvania and suppresses the rebellion. The hated tax is finally repealed in 1803.
1799	(February 15) The first U.S. printed ballots are authorized in Pennsylvania.
1800-50	Pennsylvania's iron and steel industries spread across the state.
1816	Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell are purchased from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for $70,000. They now officially belong to the city of Philadelphia.
1834	The Free School Act is adopted, establishing the foundation of Pennsylvania's present system of free public schools.
1838	A new Pennsylvania State Constitution is approved, giving voters a greater voice and providing protection against abuses by officials.
1840-50	Immigration increases, particularly that of the Irish fleeing the potato famine of the late 1840s and the Germans fleeing political turmoil.
1848	Pennsylvania grants married women the right to own property.
1856	(June 17) The Republican Party has its first national convention in Philadelphia. (July 17) The Great Train Wreck occurs between Camp Hill and Fort Washington. Two trains traveling in opposite directions collide, killing 59-67 people. It is the deadliest railroad catastrophe in the world at the time.
1859	Edwin L. Drake drills the world's first oil well in Titusville and launches the modern petroleum industry. The state's oil industry flourishes. Eight oil refineries are built between 1862 and 1868. Pennsylvania oil production peaks in 1891.
1860-1899 THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ERAS
1860	The state now has over two hundred textile mills, and leather making, shipbuilding, publishing, tobacco, and paper manufacturing industries are also prospering.
1863	The Civil War. Pennsylvania calls up reserves and volunteers for emergency duty to oppose General Lee's 75,000 men marching for a major invasion of Pennsylvania. (June) York, Pennsylvania is the largest Northern city to be occupied by Confederate troops when control of the town is taken. (July) The Battle of Gettysburg is one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War and is seen as a turning point. After great losses for the Confederate army, General Lee retreats to Virginia. (November) President Lincoln delivers his now-famous "Gettysburg Address" when asked to give a few remarks at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg.
1868	The Pennsylvania Women's Suffrage Association is founded in Pennsylvania.
1869	A garment worker in Philadelphia helps start one of the first major national labor unions, the Knights of Labor.
1874	(July 1) The Philadelphia Zoo becomes the first public zoo in the country.
1876	(May 10) The U.S. Centennial Exhibition opens in Philadelphia on May 10 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. The fair draws over 9.9 million people. (July 4) Susan B. Anthony reads her "Declaration of Rights for Women" at the Washington statue in front of Independence Hall on July 4.
1882	The Kinzua Railroad Bridge near Mount Jewett is completed. At 2,100 feet long and 301 feet above the valley floor at the center, it is the highest and longest railroad viaduct in the world at the time.
1887	Ella M. Boyce becomes the school superintendent of Bradford. She is the first woman to hold such a position in the U.S.
1889	(May 31) Jamestown Flood. Several days of rainfall and the failure of the South Fork Dam unleash a flood that kills 2,200 people and causes $17 million in damages. It is the first major disaster relief effort handled by the American Red Cross.
1900-1929 EARLY 20TH CENTURY
1905	(June 19) The first motion picture theater in the world is opened on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh. Milton Hershey builds his now-famous chocolate factory in the town now bearing his name. In 1907, the company begins manufacturing its famous Hershey Kisses.
1909	The first baseball stadium is built in Pittsburgh.
1913	The Pennsylvania General Assembly approves a women's voting amendment, but male voters reject it.
1917-18	World War I. Pennsylvania's shipyards are of great value in maintaining maritime transport, and the state's mills and factories provide a large part of the war's manufacturing base.
1919	Pennsylvania becomes the seventh state to ratify the 19th Amendment on June 14, granting women the right to vote.
1924	The Liberty Tunnel is built in Pittsburgh. It is the longest artificially ventilated automobile tunnel in the world in 1924.
1930-1949 THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II
1936	(March 17-18) The Pittsburgh Flood results in 69 people killed, 100,000 buildings destroyed, and $250 million in damages.
1940	Pennsylvania opens the nation's first high-speed, multi-lane highway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike. This sets the standard for modern super-highways across the country.
1946	Philadelphia becomes home to the world's first computer.
1949	Pennsylvania state law now requires the reading of ten Bible verses each day in public schools, followed by the joint recitation of the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. The U.S. Supreme Court overturns the statute in 1963.
1950-PRESENT MODERN PENNSYLVANIA
1953	Dr. Jonas Salk of the University of Pittsburgh announces a vaccine against polio has been successfully tested. The first mass inoculation of children with the Salk vaccine takes place in Pittsburgh in 1954. By April 1955, the vaccine has gained federal approval for public use and by 1961 U.S. polio cases have decreased by 95 percent.
1964	(August 28) Race riots break out in predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Philadelphia in response to building tensions between the residents and the police over well-publicized allegations of police brutality.
1970	A Philadelphia committee organizes the first Earth Day, protesting pollution and expressing concern for the environment. The annual day is one of the first major environmental awareness events in the country.
1971	Voters amend the state constitution to guarantee equal rights regardless of sex.
1977	(July 20) A flash flood in Johnstown kills more than 80 people and causes $350 million in damages.
1979	America's worst nuclear accident occurs inside the Unit Two reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, causing thousands in the area to flee. It costs more than $1 billion and takes more than a decade to clean up.
1989	Pennsylvania becomes the first state to restrict abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court gives states the right to do so.
2001	(September 11) United Airlines Flight 93, carrying 45 people, crashes southeast of Pittsburgh. Passengers mount an assault against the hijackers diverting the plane, and all those on board are killed.