PENNSYLVANIA TIMELINE
1718 -WilliamPenn died and his familymanaged PAcolony until
AmericanWar for Independence in 1776.
1723 - Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia to start work as a printer.
1730 - Benjamin Franklin started first free library in colonies.
1738 - Convention to revise state law.
1744 - Benjamin Franklin invented Franklin stove.
1751 - LibertyBell cast inEngland.
1752 - Benjamin Franklin showed that lightning is electricity.
1760 -Approximately 184,000 settlers inPennsylvania.
1774 - First Continental Congressmet in Philadelphia.
1775 - SecondContinental Congressmet in Philadelphia and voted
for independence fromEngland.
1776 - Declaration of Independencewritten and approved in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania adopted state constitution.
1777 - 1778 -York, PA served as capital of theUnited States.
1778 -Articles of Confederation drafted inPhiladelphia.
1780 - Pennsylvania passed first anti-slavery law.
1787 - Constitutional Convention, inwhichUnited States Constitution
was approved, was held in Philadelphia.
1790 - Bill of Rightswaswritten in Philadelphia andwas approved
by states in 1791.
1800 - Pennsylvania’s population approximately 602,000
1807 - Robert Fulton of Lancaster developed the first commercially
successful steamboat.
1812 - Pennsylvania state capital moved toHarrisburg.
1829 - First steam locomotive operated inHonesdale, PA
1835 - PennMainLineCanal opened
1846 - The PennsylvaniaRailroad is chartered.
1850 - Pennsylvania’s population approximately 2,312,000
1856 - Pennsylvanian James Buchanan electedUS president
1859 - EdwinDrake drilled first successful oil well near Titusville, PA
1863 - Battle of Gettysburg andLincoln’sGettysburgAddress
1875 - AndrewCarnegie brought Bessemer’s improved process for
making steel to Pennsylvania
1876 - Centennial Exhibition inPhiladlphia. JohnWanamaker opened
first department store in Philadelphia.
1879 - FrankWoolworth of Lancaster opened first “five and dime” store.
1886 - CharlesHall started aluminum industry and locatedAlcoa
Company in Pittsburgh.
1889 -More than 2,200 people killed in Johnstown Flood tragedy.
1900 - Pennsylvania’s population approximately 6,302,000
1905 -MiltonHershey opened chocolate factory.
1917-18 - 370,951 Pennsylvanians served inWorldWar I.
1929-32 - Nearly 1,000,000 Pennsylvanians lost jobs inGreat Depression.
1934 - PymatuningReservoir complete inwestern PA.
1940 - First parts of PennsylvaniaTurnpike (nations first 4-lane,
non-stop highway) opened.
1941 - 45 - 1,250,000 Pennsylvanians served inWorldWar II.
1950 - Pennsylvania’s population approximately 10,498,000.
1954 - Jonas Salk discovered a vaccine for polio at the
University of Pittsburgh.
1964 - KinzuaDam, also known as theAlleghenyReservoir,
is completed.
1968 - Last Pennsylvania state constitution adopted.
1979 - ThreeMile IslandNuclear Reactor accident on the
SusquehannaRiver inMiddletown near Harrisburg.
1987 - Philadelphia and the nation celebrated the 200th birthday
of theUnited States Constitution
1990 - Pennsylvania’s populationwas 11,881,643making it
the fourthmost populated state in theUnited States.
1991 - Philadelphia and the nation celebrated the 200th birthday
of theBill of Rights
1992 - Over 20 army soldiers fromwestern PAwere killed by an Iraqi
missile
2001 - A terrorist attack caused a plane to crash in Shanksville, Somerset
County.
2001 - PAGovernor TomRidge is appointed by President Bush to be
Director of Homeland Security
2003 - Operation Iraqi Freedom
2003 - National ConstitutionCenter opens in Philadelphia
It is estimated that around 10,000BC,Asian hunters crossed the land bridge
and some eventually settled in the area now known as Pennsylvania. They
became known as theWoodland Indians. By 1600AD it is estimated that
therewere 15,000NativeAmericans in the present-day PAarea.
1608 - Captain John Smith explored the SusquehannaRiver area for England
and in 1609HenryHudson explored the area around theDelaware
Bay for theDutch
1638 - First European Swedish settlement established near present site of
Philadelphia.
1643 - EuropeanDutch began settlement in Pennsylvania.
1654 - Swedes lost their colony toDutch by force.
1664 - Dutch surrendered their colony toEngland.
1681 - EnglishKingCharles II provided land grant (now states of
Pennsylvania andDelaware) toWilliamPenn
1682 - ”Great Law” (religious freedom and equal rights) and “Frame of
Government” (people govern themselves) laws passed in Pennsylvania
colony.
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