North Carolina History Timeline

• (1524) Explorer Giovanni da Verrazano explored coastal areas for France
• (1540) Hernando de Soto of Spain explored southwestern part of state searching for gold
• (1584 - 1585) Sir Walter Raleigh sent colonists to establish English settlement on Roanoke Island
• (1586) Hardships forced colonists to leave Roanoke Island, returned to England; Sir Frances Drake dropped off captured African-Caribbean slaves on Roanoke
• (1587) Second colony established at Roanoke by John White; Virginia Dare became first English child born on American soil; White returned to England for supplies
• (1590) White returned to Roanoke, all settlers gone; "CORATOAN" carved into tree

• (1663) King Charles II assigned Carolinas territory to eight court favorites, they became "true and absolute Lords Proprietors"
• (1669) Colonial Carolina Fundamental Constitution legalized slavery
• (1705) First town in North Carolina, Bath, was built
• (1712) North Carolina made separate colony; war with Tuscarora Indians began
• (1714) Tuscarora Indians defeated, moved north to join Iroquois
• (1718) Pirate Blackbeard killed off coast
• (1729) North Carolina became royal English colony
• (1768) Back-country farmers organized Regulator Movement in attempt to reduce excessive taxes
• (1771) Regulators suppressed at Alamance; Gov. Tyron had seven Regulators executed
• (1774) Edenton Tea Party took place (Edenton women protested British rule by putting down their tea cups)
• (1775) Hurricane struck Outer Banks; 165 killed; crops destroyed, mill-dams broken; unsuccessful attempt to instigate a slave revolt (Merrick's Slave Insurrection) frightened North Carolina slaveholders
• (1776) North Carolina first state to vote for independence; North Carolina's first American Revolution battle fought at Moores Creek Bridge
• (1789) North Carolina admitted to Union as 12th state; University of North Carolina received charter, first public school in U. S.
• (1794) Capital moved from New Bern to Raleigh
• (1799) First gold nugget in U. S. found at Reed Gold Mine, Cabarrus County

• (Early 1800's) Very little progress made in state, appeared to be asleep, became known as "Rip Van Winkle" state
• (1804) Walton War - dispute between North Carolina and Georgia over 12-mile strip of land in North Carolina
• (1805) Georgia ceded 12-mile strip of land
• (1828) North Carolina native, Andrew Jackson, became 7th president of U.S.
• (1830's) U.S. government forced Cherokee Indians from homes "Trail of Tears"; many hid in mountains
• (1831) Workmen fire proofing roof of State Capitol set building on fire; Nat Turner slave insurrection in Virginia caused execution of dozen North Carolina slaves
• (1845) North Carolina native, James Polk, became 11th president of U.S.
• (1851) Antislavery preachers, Adam Crooks, Jesse McBride, run out of state
• (1853) First North Carolina state fair held
• (1861) North Carolina left Union, voted to "undo" the act that had brought it into the United States, rather than secede
• (1861 - 1865) Civil War took place; over 40,000 North Carolinians killed during war
• (1865) Bloodiest battle in North Carolina occurred at Bentonville, Confederates defeated; large number of Confederates surrendered at Bennett Place
• (1866) Tuscarora Indian, Henry Berry Lowrie, led revolt in Robeson County
• (1868) North Carolina readmitted to Union
• (1877) Federal reoccupation troops left state
• (1878) Cherokee reservation formed in western N.C.

• (1903) Wright brothers made man's first successful flight at Kitty Hawk
• (1918) Fort Bragg established
• (1920) 19th amendment gave women right to vote
• (1943) Pembroke State College became nation's first four-year college for native Americans
• (1954) Hurricane Hazel struck, 19 people killed, several hundred injured, 15,000 homes destroyed
• (1955) Hurricane Ione caused $600 million in damages to crops
• (1960) First sit-in occurred in Greensboro to protest segregation at lunch counters
• (1986) Beaufort native, astronaut and pilot, Michael J. Smith, killed in Space Shuttle Challenger explosion
• (1989) Hurricane Hugo struck, caused over $1 billion in damages
• (1994) Raleigh-Durham area ranked best place to live in U.S.
• (1996) Hurricane Fran struck, four people killed, 1.3 million left without power, over $500 million in damages; Governor Jim Hunt re-elected to 4th term; Elaine Marshall first female elected Secretary of State
• (1999) Hurricane Floyd struck, 35 people killed, billions of dollars in damages

• (2003) Police arrested Olympic bombing suspect, Eric Robert Rudolph, in Murphy
• (2005) State legislature voted implementation of state lottery
• (2006) North Carolina Hurricanes won hockey's Stanley Cup; 17,000 people evacuated after explosion at chemical plant near Apex
• (2009) Seven people in North Carolina charged with plotting terror attacks in foreign countries, including Israel and Jordan
• (2010) Duke University won NCAA Championship
• (2011) Huricane Irene made landfall in North Carolina