Home
USA States
Delaware Timeline History
1609: Henry
Hudson sails his
ship, the Half
Moon, up
Delaware Bay, and
became the first
European to visit
the area

1613: The
explorer, Cornelius
Jacobsen May,
arrives in the area
and trades with
local Indians

1638: Dutch
settlers on two
ships, led by Peter
Minit, arrive in the
Wilmington area,
naming it
Christina

1655: The
Governor of New
York, Peter
Stuyvesant, along
with a large fleet,
capture all of New
Sweden, thus ending
Swedish rule in the
colonies

1682:
William Penn, the
new owner of both
Delaware and
Pennsylvania, sails
up the Delaware
River on his way to
Philadelphia

1704:
Becomes British
Colony

1776: Caesar
Rodney, suffering
from cancer, makes
his famous ride from
Wilmington to
Philadelphia on
horseback, and casts
the deciding vote
for the Declaration
of Independence

1787:
Delaware ratified
the U.S.
Constitution and
became the First
State

1802: Du
Pont gunpowder mill
established

1812:
Delaware's Captain
Thomas MacDonough's
victory in the
battle of Lake
Champlain, during
the War of 1812,
becomes that war's
turning point

1829:
Delaware Canal opens

1862: At the
Civil War battle of
Antietam, half of
the state's
Continental Army
soldiers were
killed. Delaware
troops were among
the most effective
soldiers of the
Continental Army,
distinguishing
themselves in
battle. Because of
their reputation as
fighters, they were
called Blue Hens
after the famous
bluish cocks they
took with them on
their campaigns

1910: U.S.
Battleship
Delaware
commissioned

1935: Nylon
invented at Du Pont
Company

1951:
Delaware memorial
Bridge opens,
connecting New
Jersey

1978: By
order of the U.S.
Supreme Court,
Delaware began the
busing of children
from the inner-city
neighborhoods of
Wilmington to the
more affluent
suburbs, thus
helping to establish
busing across the
nation
Try Amazon Prime Video For Free
|
|