{If anyone knows and can confirm the actual dates to replace the "xxxxx" dates, please notify me through the “Contact Form” at the right-hand side of this page and they will be edited. Also, notify me with any other date(s) that you would like to have added.}
1608, xxxxx. Captain John Smith meets the Susquehannack Indians.
1609, August 28. Henry Hudson in the Half-Moon enters the Delaware Bay.
1615, xxxxx. The Frenchman Etienne Brulé traverses Pennsylvania, the first white man known to have reached the interior of Pennsylvania.
1616, xxxxx. The Frenchman Etienne Brulé traverses Pennsylvania, the first white man known to have reached the interior of Pennsylvania.
1623, xxxxx. The Dutch build Fort Nassau, nearly opposite Philadelphia.
1624, December 21. King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden authorizes the founding of a colony on the Delaware.
1626, June 14. Swedish West India Company chartered.
1637, December 31. The ships Kalmar Nychel and Fogel Grip set sail from Sweden.
1638, April. Swedish settlements established on the Delaware under Peter Minuit, the first governor of New Sweden.
1643, February 15. Governor Johan Printz establishes his seat of government on Tinicum Island, within the present boundaries of Pennsylvania.
1644, October 24, (October 14, old style). Birth of William Penn.
1646, xxxxx. First church in Pennsylvania built at Tinicum by the Swedish.
1653, xxxxx. Erie Indians destroyed by the Iroquois.
1654, xxxxx. Erie Indians destroyed by the Iroquois.
1655, September 16. Governor Johan Risingh surrenders New Sweden to Governor Peter Stuyvesant of the New Netherlands.
1664, October 1. Sir Robert Carr takes possession of Delaware settlements for the English.
1673, xxxxx. The Dutch recapture New Netherlands and the Delaware country.
1674, xxxxx. Treaty of peace restores English rule. Sir Edmund Andros, Governor.
1675, xxxxx. Iroquois Indians break the power of the Susquehannocks.
1676, September 25. Duke of York's Laws establish English system of law and justice on the Delaware.
1681, March 4. King Charles II of England signs the charter granting Pennsylvania to William Penn.
April 2. Proclamation of the charter of Pennsylvania.
April 10. William Markham commissioned Deputy Governor.
August 3. Markham summons council of nine men to meet at Upland, now Chester. This is the beginning of Pennsylvania's government under the charter.
1682, April. William Penn issues his First Frame of Government.
October 24. William Penn in the Welcome enters Delaware Bay.
October 27. William Penn lands at New Castle, Delaware.
October 28. Philadelphia laid out by Thomas Holme.
October 29. William Penn lands on Pennsylvania soil at Upland, now Chester.
December 4. Fort Pennsylvania Assembly meets at Chester.
December 7. Great Law enacted by the Asssembly.
1683, April 2. Penn and the Assembly agree upon Second Frame of Government.
October. Arrival of F. D. Pastorius and his colony at Germantown.
1684, August. William Penn leaves for England.
1688, xxxxx. Protest of Germantown colonists against slavery, first in America.
1689, xxxxx. Friends found a public school in Philadelphia, now William Penn Charter School.
1690, xxxxx. First paper mill in America erected on the Wissahickon by William Rittenhouse.
1692, xxxxx. William Penn deprived of governmental powers over Pennsylvania, and province placed under control of Governor Fletcher of New York.
1694, xxxxx. Penn's governmental powers restored.
1696, xxxxx. Pennsylvania Assembly adopts new Frame of Government.
1699, xxxxx. William Penn returns to Pennsylvania.
1701, October 25. Penn charters the city of Philadelphia.
October 28. Penn signs the Charter of Privileges under which Pennsylvania was governed until the Revolution.
1701, xxxxx. Penn returns to England.
1703, xxxxx. Lower Counties, now State of Delaware, sever connection with Pennsylvania, and set up separate Assembly.
1716, xxxxx. First iron works established on Manatawny Creek, Berks County, by Thomas Rutter.
1718, July 30. William Penn dies in England, at the age of 74.
September 17. Treaty with the Lenape or Delaware Indians.
1719, December 22. Andrew Bradford publishes first issue of American Weekly Mercury, first newspaper in the middle colonies, and third in the British colonies in North America.
1723, October. Benjamin Franklin arrives in Philadelphia, a friendless boy.
October. First paper money issued in the province.
1731, xxxxx. Library Company of Philadelphia founded, the first such institution in this country.
1737, September 19, 20. The “Walking Purchase” of land from the Indians.
1741, February. The American Magazine first published in Philadelphia, first magazine in America.
1743, xxxxx. American Philosophical Society founded in Philadelphia.
1748, November. James Hamilton becomes governor of Pennsylvania, the first of American birth.
1751, May 11. Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia chartered, the oldest in the United States.
1752, June 15. [Benjamin] Franklin demonstrates the identity of lightning and electricity.
1753, December 11. George Washington reaches Fort Le Boeuf, now Waterford, Pa., bearing warning message to French from the Governor of Virginia.
1754, April 17. French under Contrecoeur capture William Trent's fort at the forks of the Ohio, now Pittsburgh, and begin to built <sic> Fort Duquesne.
May 28. Washington defeats and kills Jumonville in a skirmish, opening French and Indian War.
July 4. Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French under de Villiers.
1755, July 9. Defeat of General Braddock by the French and Indians at the Battle of the Monongahela.
1756, September 8. Colonel John Armstrong and and of Pennsylvania frontiersmen attack and destroy Indian village of Kittanning.
1757, xxxxx. Benjamin Franklin appointed commissioner to represent Pennsylvania interests in England.
1758, November 28. expedition of General John Forbes occupies ruins of Fort Duquesne, rename Pittsburgh in honor of Prime Minister William Pitt.
1763, xxxxx, Mason and Dixon began survey of Pennsylvania-Maryland boundary.
May 9, Pontiac's War begins, when Indians besiege Detroit.
June, Indians attack forts in western Pennsylvania, destroying Forts Presque Isle, Le Boeuf, and Venango. Fort Pitt besieged.
August 5, 6. Colonel Henry Bouquet defeats Indians at bushy run, raising siege at Fort Pitt.
December 27. Conestoga Indians, the last of the Susquehannocks, slaughtered by rioting frontiersmen at Lancaster.
1764, xxxxx. Colonel Henry Bouquet's expedition to the Muskingum compels the Indians to make peace.
1765, xxxxx. The College of Philadelphia opens the first medical school in the country, now the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania.
xxxxx. The city of Pittsburgh laid out.
November 7. Merchants of Philadelphia protest against the Stamp Act.1767, xxxxx. John Dickinson writes Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer.
1768, xxxxx. John Dickinson writes Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer.
1768, July 30. Non-importation resolutions adopted by Philadelphia mass meeting at the State House.
November 5. Treaty of Fort Stanwix with the Six Nations.
1769, June 3. Transit of Venus observed by Rittenhouse.
1774, May 19. Paul Revere arrives in Philadelphia, to urge Pennsylvanians to support the cause of Boston.
September 5. First Continental Congress meets in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia.
1775, May 10. Second Continental Congress meets in the State House, Philadelphia.
June 15. Washington appointed commander-in-chief in Philadelphia.
June 30. Pennsylvania Committee of Safety formed.
July 19. Experiment launched, first boat of Pennsylvania Navy.
1776, June 18. Provincial conference of county committees of correspondence calls convention to make State Constitution.
July 4. Declaration of Independence.
July 8. Election of first State constitution convention.
July 11. constitutional convention meets, and assumes control of government.
September 26. Final adjournment of Provincial Assembly, ending the proprietary government.
September 28. First State Constitution adopted.
November 28. First meeting of the General Assembly under the Constitution of 1776.
1777, March 4. State government organized at Philadelphia.
June 14. National Flag day adopted by Congress in Philadelphia.
September 11. Battle of Brandywine.
September 27. British under Howe enter Philadelphia.
September 27. Continental Congress at Lancaster.
September 30. Continental Congress at York.
October 4. Battle of Germantown.
December 18. Washington's army encamps at Valley Forge.
1778, June 18. The British evacuate Philadelphia.
July 2-4. The Wyoming Massacre.
1779, xxxxx. General John Sullivan leads expedition against the Iroquois.
1780, March 1. Final vote of the Assembly for the gradual emancipation of negro slaves.
July 17. Bank of Pennsylvania formed to supply Continental army, by subscriptions of Philadelphia business men.
1781, February 20. Robert Morris appointed Superintendent of Finance by Congress.
December 31. Bank of North America chartered by Congress, the oldest bank in America.
1782, April 1. Bank of North America rechartered by Pennsylvania Assembly.
July 13. Hannastown destroyed by the Indians.
December 30. Trenton Decree confirms Pennsylvania title to the Wyoming Valley.
1784, October 23. Treaty with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix.
1785, xxxxx. Harrisburg, formerly Harris' Ferry, founded.
1786, July 27. John Fitch navigates a steam boat on the Delaware.
1787, September 17. United States Constitution completed by Convention at Philadelphia.
November 21. Meeting of Pennsylvania ratification convention.
December 12. Pennsylvania ratifies the United States Constitution.
1789, November 4. Second State constitutional convention meets in Philadelphia.
1790, September 2. Adjournment of second State constitutional convention and proclamation of second Constitution.
xxxxx. Philadelphia the capitol of the United States, until 1800.
1791, April 9. Act passed by General Assembly making a grant to the Penn family.
1792, xxxxx. Pennsylvania purchases the Erie Triangle from the United States.
February 1. Young Ladies' Academy of Philadelphia chartered, the first girls' school incorporated in Pennsylvania.
April 9. Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike incorporated.
1793, xxxxx. Washington's second inauguration as President, at Philadelphia.
1794, xxxxx. The Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.
xxxxx. General Wayne defeats the western Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.
1798, xxxxx. Joseph Hopkinson of Philadelphia writes “Hail Columbia,” the first national song of America.
1799, xxxxx. “Hot Water Rebellion,” or Fries' Rebellion.
November. State capitol moved to Lancaster.
1800, xxxxx. Federal capitol moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D. C.
1804, xxxxx. Philadelphia-Pittsburgh stagecoach line established.
1808, February 11. Judge Fell burns anthracite coal in a grate.
1811, October 29. First steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans.
1812, xxxxx. Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities chartered, the first trust company in the country.
April-May. State capitol moved from Lancaster to Harrisburg.
1813, September 10. Oliver Hazard Perry wins the Battle of Lake Erie.
1819, xxxxx. Philadelphia Savings Fund Society chartered, the first savings bank in America.
1823, March 31. First Railway Act in America passed by General Assembly.
1824, December 2. Historical Society of Pennsylvania organized.
1826, February 25. Pennsylvania Canal authorized by General Assembly.
1829, August 8. First locomotive in the United States used on Carbondale and Honesdale road.
1830, xxxxx. Shipbuilding firm of William Cramp & Sons organized at Philadelphia.
1831, xxxxx. First building and loan association in the United States formed in Frankford, suburb of Philadelphia.
1832, xxxxx. Baldwin Locomotive Works established at Philadelphia.
1833, xxxxx. American Anti-Slavery Society formed in Philadelphia.
April 4. Philadelphia and Reading Railroad chartered.
1834, xxxxx. Railroad and canal communication opened to Pittsburgh.
April 1. Free Public School Act.
1835, xxxxx, Thaddeus Stevens delivers famous speech on Free Schools.
1837, May 2. Third State constitutional convention meets.
1838, February 22. Third State constitutional convention adjourns.
October 26. Third State Constitution adopted.
May 27. Burning of Pennsylvania Hall, Philadelphia, in abolition riots.
1840, xxxxx. Scranton laid out as a city.
1841, xxxxx. Commercial manufacture of coke begun in Connellsville district.
1846, xxxxx. Lehigh Valley Railroad Company chartered.
April 13. Pennsylvania Railroad chartered.
1850, xxxxx. State Judiciary made elective.
March 11. Female Medical College of Pennsylvania incorporated, the first college for training women physicians.
1852, xxxxx. Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association organized at Pittsburgh.
1853, xxxxx. Pennsylvania Railroad opened to Pittsburgh.
1854, xxxxx. Cambria Iron Company, later Cambria Steel Company, founded at Johnstown.
February 2. Law consolidating city of Philadelphia.
1856, June 17. First national nomination convention of the Republican Party meets at Philadelphia.
1857, March 4. James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, inaugurated President of the United States.
1859, xxxxx. Philadelphia Clearing House System established.
August 29. Col. Drake drills the first oil well near Titusville.
August 29. First State Normal School opened at Millersville.
1861, January 15. Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin, I his first inaugural, takes a firm stand for the union.
January 24. Pennsylvania Assembly adopts resolution pledging “the faith and power of Pennsylvania” to the support of the union.
April 18. Five Pennsylvania militia companies reach Washington, the “First Defenders” of the national capitol.
1862, xxxxx. Bethlehem Iron Company (later, Bethlehem Steel Corporation) erect iron-works.
September 22-24. Loyal War Governors' Conference at Altoona upholds president Lincoln.
October 10. Confederates raid Chambersburg.
1863, July 1-3. Battle of Gettysburg.
November 18. Dedication of cemetery at Gettysburg; Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
1864, xxxxx. Andrew Carnegie enters the iron business.
July 30. Confederates burn Chambersburg.
1865, xxxxx. Pittsburgh Clearing House Association established.
1871, xxxxx. Wilkes-Barre laid out as a city.
1872, November 12. Fourth State constitutional convention meets.
1873, November 3. Convention completes work.
1876, xxxxx. Centennial International Exhibition at Philadelphia.
1877, xxxxx. Great railroad riots.
1889, May 31. The great Johnstown flood.
1891, xxxxx. The State Banking Department created.
June 19. Australian or secret ballot adopted.
1892, xxxxx. Duryea demonstrates first vehicle propelled by a gasoline motor.
1895, xxxxx. State Superior Court created by law.
xxxxx. State Department of Agriculture created.
May 16. Governor Hastings signs Compulsory Education Law.
1897, February 2. State Capitol burned.
1898, April 12. War with Spain. Pennsylvania National Guard mobilized at Mount Gretna.
1900, xxxxx. Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra organized.
1901, xxxxx. State Department of Forestry established.
xxxxx. United States Steel Corporation formed.
1903, xxxxx. State Highway Department and Departments of Fisheries and Mines created.
1905, May 2. Pennsylvania State Police created.
July 19. First all motion picture theater in the world opened in Pittsburgh.
1906, October 4. New State Capitol dedicated.
1911, May 31. Sproul Highway Act approved.
1913, xxxxx. Public Service Commission organized.
1915, xxxxx. Workmen's Compensation Act passed.
1917, November. Rainbow division, first detachment of Pennsylvania troops, leaves for Europe in World War I.
1920, November 2. Radio station KDKA, Pittsburgh, begins daily broadcasting schedule, the first in the world.
1923, xxxxx. Administrative Code reorganizes State government.
1926, July 1. Delaware River Bridge at Philadelphia opened.
xxxxx. Celebration of Sesqui-Centennial at Philadelphia.
1929, xxxxx. Department of Revenue created.
1931, xxxxx. Greater Pennsylvania Council created.
xxxxx. Birthday of William Penn, October 24, designated as a day to be observed by schools and the public.
1936, March. Disastrous flood in central Pennsylvania.
1937, January. Disastrous flood in western Pennsylvania.
xxxxx. General State Authority created.
1939, xxxxx. Department of Commerce created.
1940, October 1. Pennsylvania Turnpike opened.
1941, April 7. State Council of Defense established.
xxxxx. Pennsylvania Reserve Defense Corps created.
xxxxx. Pennsylvania National Guard mobilized for National Emergency.
December 7. The attack on Pearl Harbor brings the United States into World War II.
~ The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 87, 1945, Pages 73-75.
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