| 1638 | | 29 Mar:
Swedish colonists establish a settlement near present day Wilmington, Delaware, naming it Nya Sverige, New Sweden.F&P DEGov |
|
| 1681 | | 4 Mar:
William Penn receives a charter for "New Wales", which became "Sylvania" and finally Pennsylvania.XPH HSP |
|
| 1752 | | 10 May:
Thomas-François Dalibard validates Benjamin Franklin's conclusion that lightning is electricity.USNA APS |
|
| | 15 Jun:
Benjamin Franklin performs his kite experiment.PSU HC |
|
| 1753 | | 11 Feb:
The first patients are admitted to the first hospital in America, Pennsylvania Hospital, founded by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin in 1751.PennMed UMW |
|
| 1758 | | 25 Nov:
Fort Duquesne is captured from the French, which will later become Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.F&IWS |
|
| 1763 | |
| 1774 | |
| 1775 | |
| | 19 Apr:
The first battles of the American Revolution. British troops fight American Minutemen at Lexington, killing eight. The British then move to Concord where they again engage the colonials. By the end of the battle, 93 colonists are dead. The British, having lost 273, retreat to Boston.LoC NPS |
|
| | 22 Jun:
The Continental Congress resolves to issue a paper currency backed by 2 million Spanish milled dollars in order to fund the fight with Britain.POLITICO LoC |
|
| | 10 Nov:
A resolution is approved calling for two battalions of Marines able to fight for independence at sea and on shore.WHS USNI |
|
| |
| 1776 | | 4 Jul:
The United States is founded when the Second Continental Congress declares its independence from Great Britain.USHistory USNA |
|
| |
| 1783 | |
| 1784 | | 21 Aug:
Benjamin Franklin makes mention of, in letters, bi-focal eyeglasses he had invented earlier about 1780.eNotes AS |
|
| 1787 | |
| | 17 Sep:
The U. S. Constitution is signed by 38 of the 41 delegates present at the Constitutional Convention.LoC CC |
|
| |
| 1791 | |
| 1793 | |
| 1794 | | 1 Aug:
The Whiskey Rebellion occurs after Congress attempts to levy an excise tax on distilled goods.ABT PSU |
|
| 1797 | | 10 Mar:
Thomas Jefferson presents a scientific paper on a Megalonyx fossil to the American Philosophical Society that is considered the first American contribution to vertebrate paleontology.USNA SA |
|
| 1803 | | 31 Aug:
Meriwether Lewis begins a 982 mile voyage down the Ohio River to pick up William Clark.L-C NPS |
|
| 1804 | |
| 1830 | | 6 Apr:
Joseph Smith and his followers organize the Church of Christ, the Mormon Church.LDS PBS |
|
| 1836 | | 23 Mar:
The first powered coin press begins production at the Philadelphia Mint.NN NGC |
|
| 1839 | | 24 Feb:
William Otis receives a patent for his steam shovel, a device that will shape the world.Google Books MFSW |
|
| 1844 | | 15 Jun:
Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanized rubber.MassMoments SciAm |
|
| 1847 | | 5 May:
The American Medical Association is founded.NEJM AMJMS |
|
| 1854 | |
| 1858 | | 30 Mar:
The first pencil with a built-in eraser is patented.Haaretz GAF |
|
| 1859 | | 21 Mar:
The charter is approved and signed for the first zoo in the U. S..PhillyMag AZA |
|
| |
| 1861 | |
| 1862 | | 8 Apr:
John D. Lynde receives the first patent for an aerosol dispenser.DC GooglePatents |
|
| 1863 | |
| | 19 Nov:
President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.LoC  |
|
| 1868 | | 23 Jun:
Christopher Sholes patents the first practical typewriter.USNA SI |
|
| 1876 | | 2 Feb:
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which comes to be more commonly known as the National League is formed.Reds SABR |
|
| 1887 | | 2 Feb:
Groundhog Day! Six more weeks of winter if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow.GD 3RP |
|
| |
| 1888 | | 11 Mar:
The Great Blizzard of March 1888 or the Great White Hurricane, hits the northeastern United States.HI LoC |
|
| 1889 | | 31 May:
The South Fork Dam, 14 miles upstream from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, fails taking 2200 lives.JAHA NPS |
|
| 1902 | |
| 1903 | | 1 Oct:
The first baseball World Series begins - the Boston Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates.MLB BA |
|
| 1913 | | 31 Oct:
The first transcontinental highway, the Lincoln Highway, is dedicated.DOT ILH |
|
| 1927 | | 23 Aug:
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti die in the electric chair.ZEP MA |
|
| 1933 | | 24 Oct:
Charles Brace Darrow copyrights his Monopoly game.LLG PI |
|
| 1946 | | 13 Feb:
ENIAC, the first Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electronics.KurzweilAI AA |
|
| | 14 Feb:
ENIAC, the first large scale, general purpose, digital computer is announced to the public.UPenn CH |
|
| 1950 | | 24 Sep:
Black Sunday occurs when smoke from forest fires in western Canada makes its way east, darkening the skies in the eastern United States and Canada and as far away as western Europe.BLM WR |
|
| |
| 1951 | | 31 Mar:
UNIVAC I, the first commercially produced computer, is delivered to the United States Census Bureau.Census ETHW |
|
| 1954 | |
| 1955 | | 19 Aug:
Hurricane Diane becomes the first storm to top $1 billion in damages in the U. S..NEHS NWS |
|
| 1957 | | 3 Jan:
The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first battery operated, electric watch, the Ventura.W I R E D VHW |
|
| 1962 | | 2 Mar:
Wilt Chamberlain sets the NBA single-game scoring record of 100 points. NBA PennLive |
|
| |
| 1978 | |
| 1979 | | 28 Mar:
A partial core meltdown occurs in the unit-2 nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island.NRC NEI |
|
| 1986 | |
| 2001 | |
| 2003 | |
Pennsylvania
