(1634) French explorer Jean Nicolet arrives in
the Green Bay area
 1650s: Fur trading industry begins
1673: Explorers Louis Jolliet and Fr. Jacques
Marquette discover the upper Mississippi River
1763: Control of the Wisconsin area is
transferred to England after the French and Indian War
1776: Green Bay settlement established by
Augustin Monet de Langlade
1783: With the Treaty of Paris the overall area
is given to the U.S., but the British continue to claim
it until after the War of 1812
1822: Lead mining begins in southwestern
Wisconsin
1836: Madison selected as territorial capital
1848: Wisconsin becomes 30th U.S. State
1854: Republican Party is founded in Ripon
1871: Severe forest fire devastates Peshtigo
area, over 1,200 die
1901: Robert LaFollette becomes the first native
governor
1932: Wisconsin passes the first unemployment
compensation legislation
1953: Baseball Braves move to Milwaukee, win
World Series in 1957
1959: St Lawrence Seaway opens, provided access
to the world for shipping ports on the Great Lakes
1967: Green Bay Packers win first Super Bowl.
Win again in 1968
1980: Eric Heiden of Madison wins five Olympic
Gold Medals in ice skating competition
1998: Tammy Baldwin becomes the first women from
Wisconsin elected to the U.S. Congress
2001: Governor Tommy Thompson assumes the office
of U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in the
George W. Bush Administration
|