Pennsylvania
state of the United States of America
39 dated entries naming Pennsylvania, drawn from 31 separate years between 1681 CE and 2024 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.
JSONWikipedia articleWikidata Q1400
17th century
- 1681Havertown and Bryn Mawr are founded in Pennsylvania by Welsh Quakers.source
- 1681March 4 – In order to settle a debt of £16,000, King Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn, for territory west of Delaware River in America between 40° N and 42° N, later to be called Pennsylvania.source
- 1682The Richard Wall House, believed to be the longest continuously inhabited residence in the US, is built in Pennsylvania.source
- 1682October 27 – The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded by William Penn.source
18th century
- 1722May 5 – Pennsylvania colony enacts a statute, requiring all persons importing any person previously convicted of sodomy, to pay £5 for each such incoming person.source
- 1742October 5 – Pennsylvania's Colonial Governor George Thomas bars citizens from settling in Lancaster County, or west of the Blue Mountains.source
- 1743July 31 – At a summit in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the British colonies of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania conclude a treaty with the Six Nations, conceding that the member tribes are entitled to the territory west of the Appalachian mountains and north of the Ohio River.source
- 1751May 11 – The Pennsylvania Hospital, first hospital in the American colonies, is chartered in Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania legislature, which grants the right to Benjamin Franklin and to Dr. Thomas Bond.source
- 1755October 16 – The Penn's Creek massacre is carried out against white settlers who have moved into the Susquehanna Valley in the Pennsylvania colony, in territory also claimed by the Delaware Indians. The Delawares attack the Penn's Creek village, located near what is now Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and kill 25 of the 26 men, women and children living there.source
- 1758May 21 – Seven Years' War – French and Indian War: Mary Campbell is abducted from her home in Pennsylvania by members of the Lenape Nation.source
- 1763April 19 – Teedyuscung, known as the "King of the Delaware Indians" (the Lenape tribe) is assassinated by arsonists who burn down his home in Pennsylvania while he is sleeping, in an apparent retaliation for signing the Treaty of Easton to relinquish Lenape claims to the Province of New Jersey.source
- 1763August 5 – Pontiac's War: Battle of Bushy Run – British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run, in the Pennsylvania backcountry.source
- 1765April 5 – After completing the portion of the Mason–Dixon line marking the semi-circular boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware, English surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon begin the two-and-a-half-year process of plotting out the 230-mile boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland along the latitude of 39°43′20″ N.source
- 1777September 11 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Brandywine: The British gain a major victory in Chester County, Pennsylvania.source
- 1778February 23 – American Revolutionary War: Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and begins to train the American troops.source
- 1780March 1 – The legislature of Pennsylvania votes, 34 to 21, to approve An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery.source
- 1787December 12 – Pennsylvania becomes the second U.S. state.source
- 1787February 2 – Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania is chosen as the new President of the Congress of the Confederation.source
- 1787March 3 – By a vote of 33 to 29, Harrisburg is approved as the new capital of Pennsylvania.source
- 1789April 6 – At Federal Hall, the United States Senate attains its first quorum, and elects John Langdon of Pennsylvania as its first president pro tempore. Later that day, the Senate and the House of Representatives meet in joint session for the first time, and the electoral votes of the first U.S. presidential election are counted. General George Washington is certified as president-elect, and John Adams is certified as vice-president elect.source
- 1792The Insurance Company of North America (later Chubb) is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.source
- 1792George Anschutz constructs the first blast furnace in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.source
19th century
- 1812October 12 – The capital of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is permanently moved from Lancaster to Harrisburg.source
- 1848Geneva College (Pennsylvania) is founded as Geneva Hall in Northwood, Logan County, Ohio.source
- 1856July 17 – The Great Train Wreck (the worst railroad calamity in the world to date) occurs near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.source
- 1859March 21 – Pennsylvania issues the charter establishing the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, the first organization of its kind in the United States, and founder of the nation's first zoo.source
- 1869Heinz, as predecessor of Kraft Heinz, a worldwide food processing and cheese brand, founded in Pennsylvania, United States.source
- 1876November 10 – The Centennial Exposition ends in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.source
- 1889May 31 – Johnstown Flood: The South Fork Dam collapses in western Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,200 people in and around Johnstown, Pennsylvania.source
- 1897September 10 – Lattimer massacre: A sheriff's posse kills 19 unarmed immigrant miners in Pennsylvania.source
- 1898October 3 – U.S. Senator Matthew Quay of Pennsylvania is arrested for conspiracy to defraud the People's Bank of Philadelphia.source
20th century
- 1911December 24 – Lackawanna Cut-Off railway line opens in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.source
- 1927May 17 – U.S. Army aviation pioneer Major Harold Geiger dies in the crash of his Airco DH.4 airplane, at Olmsted Field, Pennsylvania.source
- 1927October 2 – John Dalzell, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania (b. 1845)source
- 1954February 23 – The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.source
- 1985May 31 – Forty-four tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, including a rare and powerful F5. In total, the event kills 90 people.source
- 1991April 4 – U.S. Senator John Heinz and six other people are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania.source
- 1991June 4 – A large solar flare triggers an unusually large aurora as far south as Pennsylvania.source