The building of The Library of Congress begins in Washington

1800

Death of Edgar Allan Poe, a world-famous writer from Baltimore

1849

California becomes the 31th state of The United States.

1850

First America's Cup (regatta)

1851

First edition of the newspaper "The New York Times"

September 19, 1851

President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act.

July 2, 1964

American Civil War

1861-1865

The Social Security Act: part of The New Deal, beginning of the welfare state

1935

Medicare and Medicaid

1965

Slavery is abolished in the United States.

1865

Wyoming is the first American State to authorize the women's suffrage.

1869

Metropolitan Museum of Art opening. Built by Hunt in New York.

1870

Brooklyn Bridge opening

1883
It's the oldest suspension bridge in the United States

Inauguration of The Statue of Liberty in New York

October 28, 1886

Plessy vs Ferguson decision, beginning of the legal doctrine "Separate but equal" permitting racial segregation.

1896

First Davis Cup (tennis)

1900

Hawaii becomes the 50th state and the last of the United States of America.

August 21, 1959

First Jazz recording: "Livery Stable Blues" by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band

1917

Charlie Chaplin creates "The Tramp".

1889-1977

Beginning of a worldwide influenza epidemic in Northeastern United States. By 1920, 500 000 Americans would die.

September 1918

National Prohibition Act (or Volstead Act)

October 28, 1919
It completes and reinforces the 18th Amendment which already establishes Prohibition. It will last until 1933 when the 21th amendment abolishes it

First appearance of Mickey Mouse, a cartoon character created by Walt Disney.

1928

Empire State Building opening in New York

May 1, 1931

Bonnie and Clyde travel across South United States, killing and holding up banks and shopkeepers.

1932-1934

Coca Cola is invented by a pharmacist, John Stytl Pemberton, in Atlanta.

1886

Hemingway receives the Literature Nobel Prize.

1954

First Mc Donald's restaurant opening

1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois

Rosa Parks refuses to leave her seat in a bus in Montgomery, Alabama and a few days later, Martin Luther King organizes a boycott of this bus company.

December 1955

Andy Warhol and Pop Art

1960s

Birth Control Pill (or Contraceptive Pill) is authorized by the FDA and so can be commercialized.

1960

Beginning of "Free Jazz"

December 1960
The saxophonist Ornette Coleman released an album under this name and so gave birth to this musical movement inspired by a context of strong racial tensions

Marilyn Monroe : "Happy Birthday President"

May 19, 1962

Martin Luther King : "I have a dream"

August 28, 1963

The National Organization of Women (NOW) is created by Betty Friedan.

1966

Jimmy Hendrix - "Hey Joe"

1966

Woodstock

August 1969

Watergate scandal

June 1972

Creation of Cable News Network (CNN)

1980

Simpsons first broadcast on American television

December 1989

Voting Rights Act: prohibition of discrimination for the voting right

August 6, 1965