1776 — 2026
250 Years of
Building the Future
The turning points, inventions and decisions that took a young republic from thirteen colonies to the frontier of artificial intelligence.
Era I · 1776 – 1800The Founding
Declaration of Independence
The Continental Congress adopts Thomas Jefferson's declaration that "all men are created equal" and endowed with unalienable rights. The promise was far larger than the reality of its time, and the nation has spent 250 years working to live up to it.
Victory and peace
The Treaty of Paris ends the Revolutionary War, and Britain recognizes the independence of the United States.
The Constitution
Drafted in Philadelphia in 1787 and in force from 1789, it is today the oldest written national constitution still in use.
Washington steps down
After two terms, George Washington hands power to John Adams and returns to Mount Vernon. The peaceful transfer of power becomes an American tradition.
Era II · 1800 – 1860Expansion & Invention
The Louisiana Purchase
For $15 million, the United States acquires about 828,000 square miles from France and roughly doubles its size.
The Erie Canal
A 363-mile canal links the Great Lakes to the Atlantic, cuts shipping costs dramatically and turns New York into a commercial capital.
"What hath God wrought"
Samuel Morse sends the first long-distance telegraph message, from Washington to Baltimore, and the age of instant communication begins.
Era III · 1860 – 1900Union & Industry
The Civil War
The deadliest war in American history preserves the Union. In 1865 the 13th Amendment abolishes slavery.
The Transcontinental Railroad
The golden spike is driven at Promontory Summit, Utah. A coast-to-coast journey shrinks from months to about a week.
Telephone and light bulb
Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone. Three years later, Thomas Edison demonstrates a practical incandescent lamp, and in 1882 his Pearl Street Station lights up Manhattan.
World's largest industrial economy
By the end of the century, America has become the world's leading manufacturing nation, powered by steel, oil, rail and electricity.
Era IV · 1900 – 1945Rise to World Power
First flight
At Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first controlled, powered flight: 12 seconds and 120 feet.
The moving assembly line
Henry Ford's Highland Park plant cuts the time to build a Model T from about 12 hours to about 90 minutes and puts the car within reach of working families.
World War I
More than two million American troops reach France, and fresh U.S. forces help bring the war to an end in November 1918.
The 19th Amendment
Women win the constitutional right to vote.
The Arsenal of Democracy
After Pearl Harbor, American industry produces roughly 300,000 military aircraft. U.S. forces fight in Europe and the Pacific until the Allied victory in 1945.
Era V · 1945 – 2000The American Century
The transistor
John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley at Bell Labs invent the transistor, the building block of every computer and phone.
The Marshall Plan
The United States provides more than $13 billion (well over $150 billion in today's dollars) to rebuild Western Europe, including former enemies.
The Interstate Highway System
The Federal-Aid Highway Act launches what becomes a network of roughly 48,000 miles of highway.
The Civil Rights Act
Discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin is outlawed, a major step toward the promise of 1776.
Apollo 11
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon. Between 1969 and 1972, twelve Americans walk on its surface. No other nation has sent humans there.
ARPANET and the microprocessor
ARPANET sends its first message between UCLA and Stanford Research Institute, and Intel releases the 4004, the first commercial microprocessor.
GPS for everyone
After the downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, President Reagan announces that GPS will be made available for civilian use worldwide, free of charge.
The Cold War ends
The Berlin Wall falls in 1989 and the Soviet Union dissolves in 1991.
Era VI · 2000 – 2026The New Revolution
The smartphone
Apple introduces the iPhone and puts a computer, camera and the internet in billions of pockets.
The shale revolution
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing make the United States the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas.
A rocket lands
A Falcon 9 booster returns and lands upright at Cape Canaveral, opening the era of reusable rockets.
Operation Warp Speed
COVID-19 vaccines are developed and authorized in under a year, built on mRNA research pioneered in American labs.
The AI wave and the CHIPS Act
ChatGPT launches on November 30, 2022 and brings generative AI to hundreds of millions of people. The same year the CHIPS and Science Act starts a new build-out of American chip factories.
250 years
America marks its semiquincentennial, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, at the start of a new industrial revolution.
"That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom."Abraham Lincoln · Gettysburg Address · November 19, 1863