# What the most important dates in American history? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072 "2003-08-23T01:41:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/1 "2003-08-23T01:41:34Z")
I know that history should be about more than memorizing lists of dates and superficial knowledge of what occurred on those dates. Why did it happen? What impact did it have on people’s lives? How is it connected with previous/subsequent events? However, there are some events that are so momentous that the very mention of the date on which the occurred is all that is, or should be, needed to reference the event itself. I was interested in compiling a list of dates in American History that every educated American should know and be able to state why they are important–either by knowing the event given the date or knowing the date given the event. So, what are the dates in American history every educated American should know? Since I’m sure some of us will be ignorant of why the date is or should be known, please list a short description of what happened to make the date significant, even if it seems as if it should be obvious. After we get a few, I want to narrow it down to a manageable number, so we may do some voting on which to include or leave out if we get too many. I’ll start with a few of the more obvious ones chosen roughly at at random. Dates every educated American should know, in chronological order: April 19, 1775: The battle of Lexington and Concorde marks the start of the Revolutionary War. July 4, 1776: The Continental Congress approves the Declaration of Independence. October 29, 1929: “Black Tuesday”, the infamous beginning to the long slide into the great depression. December 7, 1941: The Japanese attack and destroy much of the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. November 22, 1963: President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. September 11, 2001: Terrorists attack and destroy the World Trade Center towers. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/2 "2003-08-23T01:54:37Z")
You left out the Civil War, which is America’s worst national tradgedy to date. January-February 1861, southern secession April 12, 1861, Battle of Fort Sumter April 7, 1865, Surrender at Appomatix April 14, 1865, Lincoln’s assassination. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/3 "2003-08-23T02:00:14Z")
You left out the Civil War, which is America’s worst national tradgedy to date. January-February 1861, southern secession April 12, 1861, Battle of Fort Sumter April 7, 1865, Surrender at Appomatix April 14, 1865, Lincoln’s assassination. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/4 "2003-08-23T03:22:09Z")
May-September 1787: Constitutional Convention September 17, 1787: Signing of the US Constitution June 21, 1788: US Constitution ratified December 15, 1791: Bill of Rights ratified August 7, 1964: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution December 19, 1998: Clinton impeached in House February 12, 1999: Clinton impeachment conviction fails in Senate September 11, 2001: Must I spell this one out? September 14, 2001: Congress authorizes blank check of war on terrorism ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/5 "2003-08-23T07:33:01Z")
June 6, 1944: The World’s largest Amphibious invasion is launched againest German forces in Europe.(Which would lead to a devided, rather then Soviet Dominated, Europe for the next 50 years). August 6, 1945: The first use of a Nuclear Weapon in Warfare. August 29, 1949: First non-American Nuclear weapon detonated. April 12, 1961: First man in space. July 20,1969: The first man lands on the moon. Nov. 9, 1989: The Berlin Wall comes down, symbolizing the end of Communist Russia and Eastern Europe Okay, so this is the “Cold War” series, but the Cold war had a lot to do with shaping our world today. A lot of these are more world history, but are important none-the-less. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/6 "2003-08-23T08:29:38Z")
August 8, 1974: Following the revelations at the Watergate hearings of his misdeeds Richard M. Nixon resigned the Presidency of the United States in disgrace. October 5, 1942: I was born. Hey! It’s significant to me. 😃 Also, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Yankees 4-2 in game 5 of the 1942 World Series, winning the series four games to one. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/7 "2003-08-23T10:37:31Z")
April 30, 1830 - Louisiana Purchase treaty. Is that the best date for this event? December 17, 1903 - The Wright Brothers’ plane flies. March 16, 1926 - Robert Goddard’s rocket flies. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/8 "2003-08-23T12:20:59Z")
Did you mean 1803 for the Louisiana Purchase, **Fern**? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/9 "2003-08-24T04:44:00Z")
Lots of good dates and some not so good. However, centuries from now history will be foggy on what our founding fathers did, what wars we fought and who got impeached, but they will know that the first landing on the moon was made on **July 20, 1969**. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/10 "2003-08-24T04:53:47Z")
14 May 1607 - The first English Settlers land at Jamestown, establishing the first permanent English colony in North America. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/11 "2003-08-24T05:01:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > \*\* > September 11, 2001: Terrorists attack and destroy the World Trade Center towers. \*\* It is way too early, IMHO, to judge Sept. 11 as an “Important Date.” Also, I seem to remember something about The Pentagon and the plane in Pennsylvania too. Sept. 11 cant possibly be that important if we don’t take care to remember ALL that happened on that day. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/12 "2003-08-24T05:03:00Z")
oops…i had something else. The Continental Congress approved the Dec. of Independence on July 2, not July 4. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/13 "2003-08-24T07:29:45Z")
Is Kennedy’s assassination really that important in the grand scheme of things? My personal opinions about the man aside, there are many, many other important dates to mention before that one should even come up for discussion. I submit: August 7, 1721 - First issue of _The Courant_, the country’s first independent newspaper, is printed September 22, 1862 - Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. While it actually freed very few slaves, it demonstrated the Union’s resolve to end slavery December 13, 1865 - 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is added and slavery is abolished August 26, 1920 - The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution becomes law, givng women the right to vote ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/14 "2003-08-24T07:37:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Babbington \* > \*\*It is way too early, IMHO, to judge Sept. 11 as an “Important Date.” Also, I seem to remember something about The Pentagon and the plane in Pennsylvania too. Sept. 11 cant possibly be that important if we don’t take care to remember ALL that happened on that day. \*\* The relative importance of historical events changes over time, true, but at this moment, September 11, 2001 is a date nearly every educated American can identify the imortance of, thus it meets the criteria in my OP. And you’re right that I didn’t include all of the events of September 11, 2001. Nor did I for any of the other dates I listed. I do think, however, that I provided enough information to identify why the date was included. > [@](#): > > oops…i had something else. The Continental Congress approved the Dec. of Independence on July 2, not July 4. On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Lee resolution for independence. The Declaration of Independence was officially adopted on July 4, 1776, hence the date that appears on that document. [Cite](http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/declaration/declaration_history.html). ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/15 "2003-08-24T07:52:54Z")
August 9th, 1974 - Richard Nixon is the first president to resign. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/16 "2003-08-24T08:10:15Z")
Very few of these are actually very important. How many of you are just posting dates because you’re happy to have been able to remember the date of something? ---
**Author:** ![starman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@starman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/17 "2003-08-24T11:12:06Z")
October 18-29, 1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis. Had the potential to be the most important two weeks in history. -Oli ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/18 "2003-08-24T12:05:35Z")
Define importance, **Eternal**. Which of the dates do you not consider important? ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/19 "2003-08-24T13:06:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > \*\*Define importance, **Eternal**. Which of the dates do you not consider important? \*\* Most of them, although the OP’s list was pretty good, excluding the JFK assassination. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072/20 "2003-08-24T13:10:36Z")
In something hundred and something two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-most-important-dates-in-american-history/197072.md?page=2)