Most significant events in American history?

What do you think are the most significant events in American history? Here's my list just off the top of my head. By "significant", I mean events that have had the most far-reaching political and/or social effects.

In no particular order ...

1. publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852
2. world's first atomic explosion in New Mexico in 1945
3. resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974
4. stock market crash of 1929
5. first flights by Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903
6. Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962
7. Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941
8. discovery of gold in California in 1848
9. forced relocation of Native Americans to Oklahoma by President Andrew Jackson, in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling, in 1834
10. Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and Civil Rights Act of 1964
11. the 19th Amendment (women's suffrage) in 1920
12. appearance of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964
13. the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the trust-busting by President William Howard Taft in the early 1900's
14. publication of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair in 1901, and the muckraking movement by Teddy Roosevelt and others in the early 1900's
15. the IBM personal computer in 1980
16. first black man in professional sports ... Jackie Robinson in 1947
17. development of oral contraceptives
18. the first 10 amendments to the Constitution ... the Bill of Rights ... in 1791
19. the graduated income tax in 1913
20. the Reconstruction of the South following the Civil War, begun in 1865 by President Andrew Johnson
21. development of communication systems ... telegraph, telephone, radio, television, internet
22. construction of the Interstate Highway System, begun in 1954 by President Eisenhower
23. extermination of the buffalo from the Great Plains between 1870 and 1900
24. formation of the alliance with France during the American Revolution in 1777
25. creation of Federal Reserve System by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913
26. "The Jazz Singer", the first motion picture with sound, in 1927

 

wow cali, i`m sure there are many more, but that`s some good ones. i guess i can give it a whirl.

construction of locks on the missippi.
tesla`s inventions.
landing on the moon.
louisiana purchase.

 

Add:

The assassinations of MLK Jr. and JFK.

 

first drug laws making what you put into your body illegal and immoral


i go with Tesla too a monster intellect that hasnt even reached potiential yet---hes already solved all our energy problems but no one wants to do anything about it

 

...i guess i'd add .the factories etc in detroit and elseware.changeing over from buggy and wagon makers into automobiles...related ford's plant and innovations made there.....the transcontinental railroad.......building of canals.....edison's laboratories in new jersey.....oliver kelly and the grange movement started in minnesota....immigration ...fdr new deal...the anti saloon leaugue with cary nation chargeing ahead.personally i think she had some good ideas...i guess the food and drug policies are part of the result of upton sinclair's novel.i think that was about the time some drugs were discontinued as over the counter medicines...rereading the novel i was impressed with his skill as a writer.his description of chicago at the turn of the century.the opening chapter describes a wedding party.i felt i was in the story.drinking beer ,eating all i could and danceing before facing another day at work.anyway i think the new medicine rules were part of the roosevelt years....public libraries and schools

 

Good lists! I totally agree with the Louisana Purchase. I'd include the Lewis-Clark expedition along with it, also.

The development of assembly line techniques in Ford's auto plant, for sure.

I had heard of this Tesla guy but don't really know anything about him, so I'm gonna read up on him.

 

If you're going to include the work of Nicolas Tesla, you have to add George Westinghouse winning the debate with Edison over AC vs. DC for the national electrical standard.

I would also list these:

John Brown incident at Harpers Ferry
Emancipation Proclamation
Alaska Purchase
completion of the Erie Canal to Buffalo
Marconi invents radio - the first real-time broadcast medium
Prohibition & its repeal
first vaccinations for major diseases
US role in forming the UN and NATO
Theory of Relativity
first use of a nuclear weapon in war
first controlled nuclear chain reaction
Elvis records his first single - Sun Records, Memphis, TN
Roe vs. Wade
Prodigy - the first online community
9-11

 

You would have to add these...and some overlap a bit, like WWII with the earlier mention of 1st nuclear explosion...

Native Americans crossing land bridge 20,000 to 85,000 years ago
Landing in Virginia in 1607
Signing of Declaration of Independence
The Constitution (of course then the Bill of Rights which was previously mentioned)
Mayflower Compact
Washington Crossing the Delaware River - Christmas Eve to defeat the Hessians - a last gasp effort in the Revolutionary War
The War of 1812 - The White House burned to the ground
The Mexican American War
The Civil War
The Great Depression
WWI
WWII

and a lot more little stuff that made it a hell of an interesting experiment...

:cheers2:

 

The end of WWII in 1945 bringing an end to tyranny of the Nazi regime. In 1945 two countries also emerged as the most powerful forces on the face of the earth; Soviet Union and the United States. Thus the Cold War began, which during the 46 year long "war" between the two countries brought many significant events in American history. Such as the space race, arms race, and wars. To be specific the creation and testing of nuclear weapons and the first man on the moon, and also the Vietnam War.

 

The short list:
-"Common Sense" published
-Battle of Saratoga(for convincing the French to help all out)
-Constitution/Connecticut compromise
-Louisiana purchase
-War of 1812
-Monroe Doctrine
-Lincoln elected president
-Transcontiental railroad finished
-McKinley assassinated(for bringing Roosevelt into the office)
-"The Jungle" published
-The Titanic sinking
-The Lusitania sinking
-Keeping cool with Coolidge
-The market crash
-The atom bomb
-Stuff
ah shit what isn't important in American history

 

Not a bad list. I'm curious why you included the Titanic, though. What far-reaching effects did it have?

And what's with Coolidge? He's not usually considered a particularly important president. How do you see his presidency having long-range effects?

 

The Titanic just because of the public outcry it caused. It was to the world of shipping(which remember in 1912 there were no transatlantic flights, it was all ships) as what The Jungle was to food making, plus the shockwaves it sent through culture that man maybe hadn't mastered nature in an era of invention where people thought man could never be stopped. Can you imagine if ships went into WW1 2 years later not carrying enough lifeboats for all?

Coolidge, I'm a big fan of Coolidge. But yes he's gone into that obscure level of presidents, no one really likes or hates him because no one remembers him. But he presided over the roaring 20's, gave native americans full citizenship and the right to vote, upholding the Washington naval treaty, lowering income tax and replacing it with a higher estate tax and gift tax(small government conservative with a sense of realism). Hell he was more free market then modern presidents are, he twice vetoed a bill that would have the government buy surplus farm goods and sell abroad at a deflated price. Coolidge was also an adocate against lynching and the KKK which lost much of it's power during his time that it had gained in the early 20's. Though one of the best things I think Coolidge did, despite the fact it quasi failed since WW2 did break out was this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellogg-Briand_Pact
Which is never talked about

Not to say Coolidge didn't do bad things, but if you want a true conservative and not the moral crusader kind, fuck Reagan, it's all about keeping cool with Coolidge