New York History Timeline

Events 1 - 100 of 649

• 1524-04-17 Florentine navigator Giovanni Verrazano on a voyage for France is the first European to discover New York harbour

• 1653-02-02 New Amsterdam becomes a city, later renamed New York City
• 1664-09-08 Dutch surrender colony of New Netherlands (including New York) to 300 English soldiers
• 1665-06-12 New Amsterdam legally becomes an English colony and renamed New York after English Duke of York
• 1672-12-10 New York Governor Lovelace announces monthly mail service between New York & Boston
• 1673-01-22 Postal service between New York & Boston inaugurated
• 1674-11-10 Dutch formally cede New Netherlands (New York) to the English
• 1683-11-01 The English crown colony of New York is subdivided into 12 counties.
• 1690-02-08 French and Native American troops attack and destroy Schenectady settlement in New York Province, either killing or capturing its inhabitants, revenge for the Lachine massacre
• 1695-09-12 New York Jews petition governor Dongan for religious liberties
• 1712-04-07 Slave revolt in New York City: Just after midnight, 9 slaveowners are killed and 6 wounded by a group of about two dozen slaves attempting to lead a revolt; at least 21 enslaved Africans were executed, and another half dozen committed suicide [1] [2]
• 1728-12-17 Congregation Shearith Israel of New York purchases a lot on Mill Street in Lower Manhattan to build the city's first synagogue
• 1732-12-06 1st play in American colonies acted by professional players in New York
• 1751-04-29 The New York Gazette and Post Boy carries first public report of a cricket match played in America; New York XI v London XI on the site of what is today the Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan, NYC
• 1755-09-08 Battle of Lake George in the Province of New York: British army beats French
• 1755-09-18 Fort Ticonderoga in New York opens
• 1758-07-08 British and Colonial assault on French forces at Fort Ticonderoga, New York
• 1759-07-26 11,000 British troops drive a token French garrison of 400 out of Fort Ticonderoga, New York
• 1765-10-07 Stamp Act Congress (First Congress of the American Colonies) convenes in New York City to devise a unified protest against new British taxation
• 1765-10-19 Stamp Act Congress meets in New York City, writes the Declaration of Rights and Grievances
• 1766-10-30 St. Paul's Chapel in New York is consecrated
• 1774-07-04 Orangetown Resolutions adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament's Coercive Acts
• 1775-05-10 American Revolution: Green Mountain Boys capture Fort Ticonderoga, New York
• 1776-09-21 5 days after British take New York, a quarter of the city burns down
• 1776-10-18 In a bar decorated with bird tail in Elmsford, New York, a customer requests a glassful of “those cock tails” from bartender Betsy Flanagan
• 1777-01-16 Vermont declares independence from New York
• 1777-04-20 New York adopts new constitution as an independent state
• 1777-04-26 Sybil Ludington aged 16, rides 40 miles in New York to warn her father's militia of the approach of the British

• 1786-09-24 African American slave and poet Jupiter Hammon makes his "Address to the Negroes of the State of New York" speech advocating emancipation at meeting of African Society in NY

• 1789-04-23 President-elect George Washington moves into Franklin House, New York, first official residence of a US President
• 1790-10-28 New York gives up claims to Vermont for $30,000
• 1792-05-17 Twenty-four merchants form the New York Stock Exchange at 70 Wall Street

• 1799-03-29 New York passes gradual abolition law saying children of enslaved mothers are born free but still owe free service to masters until they are 25 if female and 28 if male
• 1801-11-16 First edition of New York Evening Post
• 1802-07-07 1st comic book "The Wasp" is published in Hudson, New York criticizing Republican politicians

• 1813-09-07 "Uncle Sam" 1st used to refer to the US, by Troy Post of New York
• 1813-12-29 British burn Buffalo, New York during War of 1812
• 1814-05-05 British attack Fort Ontario, Oswego, New York
• 1816-05-05 American Bible Society organized in New York
• 1817-03-08 The New York Stock Exchange is founded
• 1817-07-04 Chief Engineer James Geddes begins construction on the Erie Canal, (Rome, New York), one of the first great engineering works in North America
• 1819-10-23 1st ship sails through the Erie Canal from Rome, New York to Utica, New York

• 1822-06-09 Charles Graham of New York patents porcelain false teeth
• 1827-07-04 Slavery abolished in New York
• 1827-11-17 The Delta Phi fraternity, America's oldest continuous social fraternity, founded at Union College in Schenectady, New York
• 1830-03-16 New York Stock Exchange slowest day ever (31 shares traded)
• 1830-03-26 The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York
• 1831-03-19 1st US bank robbery, the City Bank in New York robbed of $245,000
• 1833-09-03 New York Sun begins publishing (1st daily newspaper)

• 1837-02-13 Riot in New York due to a combination of poverty and increase in the cost of flour
• 1838-04-08 Steamship "Great Western" makes her maiden voyage from Bristol, England, to New York
• 1839-09-06 Great fire in New York
• 1841-04-10 New York Tribune begins publishing under editor Horace Greeley
• 1842-05-22 Farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discover Howe Caverns in New York state when they stumble upon a large gaping hole in the ground
• 1842-12-07 New York Philharmonic's 1st concert
• 1843-02-01 Oldest continuous writer of insurance in America - The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (MONY) opens
• 1847-04-28 George B. Vashon becomes 1st African American to enter New York State Bar
• 1847-06-27 New York & Boston linked by telegraph wires
• 1849-09-29 1st passenger train service to Peekskill, New York (New Haven Railroad)
• 1851-09-18 New York Times starts publishing (2 cents a copy)
• 1852-03-13 Uncle Sam cartoon figure made its debut in the New York Lantern weekly
• 1853-01-03 Solomon Northup, author of the memoir "Twelve Years a Slave, is freed after 7 illegal years in slavery with aid of Washington Hunt, Governor of New York

• 1853-08-24 1st potato chips prepared by chef George Crum at Moon's Lake House, near Saratoga Springs, New York (popular legend says he invented though earlier recipes exist)

• 1856-02-20 The steam packet-ship John Rutledge, en route from Liverpool to New York, hits an iceberg and sinks with the loss of 120 passengers and 19 crew; only one survivor (Thomas Nye of New Bedford)
• 1857-01-22 National Association of Baseball Players founded in New York

• 1860-03-24 Clipper Andrew Jackson arrives in San Francisco, 89 days out of New York

• 1861-01-05 250 Federal troops are sent from New York to Ft Sumter
• 1863-04-13 Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled is incorporated in the State of New York
• 1864-04-29 The Theta Xi fraternity is founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York
• 1864-04-30 New York becomes 1st state to charge a hunting license fee
• 1864-10-04 National black convention meets in Syracuse, New York

• 1867-12-18 Around 49 victims of "Angola Horror" train wreck burn to death in Angola, New York
• 1867-12-29 1st telegraph ticker used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck & Co, New York
• 1868-03-27 The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad Company is organized in Oswego, New York.
• 1868-09-08 New York Athletic Club forms

• 1870-02-26 Beach Pneumatic Transit - 1st attempt to demonstrate a subway in New York opens (pneumatic powered)
• 1870-11-27 The New York Times dubs baseball "The National Game"
• 1871-10-13 The Delphic Fraternity is founded as the Delphic Society at the State Normal School in Geneseo, New York.
• 1871-11-16 National Rifle Association is first chartered in the State of New York

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Birthdays 1 - 100 of 2,380

• 1661-11-28 Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, British Governor of New York and New Jersey (d. 1723)
• 1716-01-15 Philip Livingston, American businessman and politician (signed US Declaration of Independence), born in Albany, New York (d. 1778)
• 1723-11-30 William Livingston, American politician and 1st revolutionary Governor of New Jersey, born in Albany, Province of New York (d. 1790)
• 1724-08-23 Abraham Yates, American Continental Congressman, born in Albany, New York (d. 1796)
• 1726-04-08 Lewis Morris, American landowner and farmer (signed US Declaration of Independence), born in Morrisania, New York (d. 1798)
• 1734-12-17 William Floyd, American soldier who signed the US Declaration of Independence, born in Brookhaven, Province of New York (d. 1821)

• 1748-01-22 Lewis Edson, early American composer, born in Bridgewater, Colony of Massachusetts (d. 1820)
• 1754-01-30 John Lansing Jr., American lawyer and statesman, born in Albany, New York (d. 1829)
• 1754-10-16 Morgan Lewis, Governor of New York (1804-07) (d. 1844)
• 1754-12-02 William Cooper, American judge and developer (founded Cooperstown, New York), born in Smithfield, Pennsylvania (d. 1809)
• 1758-12-23 Nathan Wilson, U.S. Representative from New York, born in Bolton, Massachusetts (d. 1834)
• 1761-04-05 Sybil Ludington, American revolutionary heroine (rode to alert militia), born in Kent, New York (d. 1839)
• 1764-05-28 Edward Livingston, American jurist and statesman, born in Columbia County, New York (d. 1836)
• 1768-01-10 James Varicick, founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, born in Newburgh, New York (d. 1827)
• 1774-06-21 Daniel D. Tompkins, American politician, 6th US Vice President (1817-25), born in Scarsdale, New York (d. 1825)
• 1777-06-12 Robert Clark, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from New York (1819-21), born in Washington County, New York (d. 1837)

• 1783-03-08 Hannah Hoes, future wife of U.S. President Martin Van Buren (1837-41), born in Kinderhook, New York (d. 1819)
• 1787-04-19 Deaf Smith, American frontiersman and revolutionary, born in Dutchess County, New York (d. 1837)

• 1794-12-14 Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (Mayor of Albany, New York), born in Norwich, Connecticut (d. 1872)
• 1795-05-13 Joshua Ratoon Sands, American Rear Admiral (Union Navy), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1883)

• 1797-06-24 John Hughes, 1st Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, born in Annaloghan, County Tyrone, Kingdom of Ireland (d. 1864)
• 1797-11-07 Silas H. Stringham, Rear Admiral (Union Navy), born in Middletown, New York (d. 1876)

• 1797-12-11 Hiram Paulding, American Rear Admiral (Union Navy), born in Cortlandt, New York (d. 1878)
• 1797-12-17 Joseph Henry, American scientist and pioneer of electromagnetism, born in Albany, New York (d. 1878)
• 1798-03-13 Abigail Fillmore, American 1st lady (1850-53), born in Stillwater, New York (d. 1853)
• 1798-06-12 Samuel Cooper, American General (Confederate Army), born in New Hackensack, Dutchess County, New York (d. 1876)
• 1799-01-06 Jedediah Smith, American fur trader and explorer, born in Tioga County, New York (d. 1831)

• 1800-03-14 James Bogardus, American inventor and builder (made cast-iron buildings), born in Catskill, New York (d. 1874)
• 1800-08-06 Catherine Beecher, American educator (championed higher education for women), born in East Hampton, New York (d. 1878)
• 1800-09-11 Daniel S. Dickinson, New York senator, born in Goshen, Connecticut (d. 1866)

• 1801-07-26 John Drake Sloat, 1st Military Governor of California (Union Navy), born in Sloatsburg, New York (d. 1867)

• 1802-07-21 David Hunter, American Major General (Union Army), born in Troy, New York (d. 1886)
• 1802-09-04 Marcus Whitman, American physician and missionary (Oregon Trail), born in Federal Hollow, New York (d. 1847)
• 1803-08-27 Edward Beecher, American theologian, born in East Hampton, New York (d. 1895)
• 1804-04-26 Charles Goodyear, American politician (D-NY), born in Cobleskill, New York (d. 1876)
• 1804-10-03 Townsend Harris, American diplomat (1st Western consul to reside in Japan), born in Washington County, New York (d. 1878)
• 1806-05-06 Chapin A. Harris, American dentist who founded the America Society of Dental Surgeons, born in Pompey, New York (d. 1860)
• 1806-05-12 Amos Beebe Eaton, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Catskill, New York (d. 1877)
• 1806-10-14 Preston King, U.S. Senator from New York (1857-63), born in Ogdensburg, New York (d. 1865)
• 1807-10-30 James Samuel Wadsworth, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Geneseo, New York (d. 1864)
• 1808-02-25 James Bowen, American Major General (Union Army), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1886)
• 1808-07-10 Solomon Northup, American abolitionist and author (12 Years a Slave), born in Minerva, New York (or 10 Jul 1807) (d. 1863)
• 1809-10-11 Orson Squire Fowler, American phrenologist and lecturer, born in Cohocton, New York (d. 1887)
• 1809-12-03 Thomas Alfred Davies, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Black Lake, New York (d. 1899)
• 1810-03-10 John McCloskey, 1st American cardinal and Archbishop of New York, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1885)
• 1810-05-31 Horatio Seymour, American politician (18th Governor of New York), born in Onondaga, New York (d. 1886)
• 1810-11-18 Asa Gray, American botanist (Flora of North America), born in Sauquoit, New York (d. 1888)
• 1811-03-11 Marsena Rudolph Patrick, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Hounsfield, New York (d. 1888)
• 1811-09-19 Orson Pratt, American mathematician and religious leader, born in Hartford, New York (d. 1881)
• 1811-10-27 Isaac Singer, American inventor (1st practical home sewing machine), born in Pittstown New York (d. 1875)
• 1812-02-14 Alfred Thomas Agate, American artist, born in Sparta, New York (d. 1846)
• 1812-04-27 William W. Snow, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from New York (1851-53), born in Heath, Massachusetts (d. 1886)
• 1812-12-04 Elias Smith Dennis, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Newburgh, New York (d. 1894)
• 1813-04-18 James McCune Smith, African-American doctor and abolitionist, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1865)
• 1813-05-23 Mason Brayman, American attorney, newspaperman and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1895)

• 1814-08-08 Esther Morris [Esther Hobart McQuigg], American suffragist, anti-slavery activist, and 1st female justice of the peace in the US, born in Tioga County, New York (d. 1902)
• 1814-10-27 Daniel H. Wells, Mormon leader and 3rd Mayor of Salt Lake City, born in Trenton, New York (d. 1891)
• 1814-11-22 Serranus Clinton Hastings, American politician and lawyer (3rd Attorney General of California), born in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York (d. 1893)
• 1815-01-08 George Webb Morell, American Major General (Union Army), born in Cooperstown, New York (d. 1883)
• 1815-01-10 Thomas Williams, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Albany, New York (d. 1862)
• 1815-01-16 Henry Wagner "Old Brains" Halleck, American expert in military studies and Major General (Union Army), born in Oneida County, New York (d. 1872)

• 1816-01-09 John Palmer Usher, American Secretary of the Interior under Lincoln during the US Civil War (1863-65), born in Brookfield, New York (d. 1889)
• 1816-03-12 David Stuart, American politician, Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1868)
• 1816-09-23 Julius White, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Cazenovia, New York (d. 1890)
• 1816-10-04 Egbert Benson Brown, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Brownsville, New York (d. 1902)
• 1817-02-03 Samuel Ryan Curtis, American politician and Major General (Union Army), born in Champlain, New York (d. 1866)
• 1817-04-04 John Wilson Sprague, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in White Creek, New York (d. 1893)
• 1817-08-14 Alexander H. Bailey, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York), born in Minisink, New York (d. 1874)
• 1817-11-25 John Bigelow, American statesman and author, born in Bristol, New York (d. 1911)
• 1818-04-05 Lewis Baldwin Parsons, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Perry, New York (d. 1907)
• 1818-05-27 Amelia Jenks Bloomer, American reformer who campaigned for temperance and women’s rights, born in Homer, New York (d. 1894)
• 1818-06-21 Joseph Abel Haskin, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Troy, New York (d. 1874)
• 1818-09-07 Thomas Talbot, American politician, 31st Governor of Massachusetts, born in Cambridge, New York (d. 1885)
• 1818-11-03 Gustavus Adolphus DeRussy, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1891)
• 1818-12-21 Lewis H. Morgan, American ethnologist (Systems of Consanguinity), born in Aurora, New York (d. 1881)
• 1819-01-14 Frederick Steele, American Major General (Union Army), born in Delhi, New York (d. 1868)
• 1819-03-29 Edwin Drake, American businessman who drilled 1st productive US oil well, born in Greenville, New York (d. 1881)
• 1819-05-01 William Steele, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Albany, New York (d. 1885)

• 1819-06-26 Abner Doubleday, American Union Army General-Major, and inventor (San Francisco cable cars), born in Ballston Spa, New York (d. 1893)
• 1819-06-30 William A. Wheeler, American politician (19th Vice President of the United States), born in Malone, New York (d. 1887)
• 1819-07-04 Reuben Fenton, American merchant and politician (22nd Governor of New York), born in Carroll, New York (d. 1885)

• 1819-08-09 Jonathan Homer Lane, American astrophysicist who mathematically analyzed the Sun as a gaseous body, born in Geneseo, New York (d. 1880)
• 1819-08-12 Daniel Davidson Bidwell, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1864)
• 1819-08-17 James Henry Van Alen, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Kinderhook, New York (d. 1886)
• 1819-09-09 Martin Luther Smith, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Danby, New York (d. 1866)

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