In what years…? By E. AYERS

The hardest thing for me to keep track of is exact dates. It least I can remember July 4, 1776, beyond that I'd better have a list someplace. So I thought I'd share one of my lists with all of you. Besides if I'm not writing, I'm probably reading. And I'll be honest; I can get so confused so quickly if I can't remember certain dates. I was one of those kids who couldn't remember most of this stuff anyway. Give me something about the way they lived and I could snap that into my brain's storage files faster than Jack Sprat could jump that candle stick. Give me a date and I couldn't remember it long enough to write it down! I haven't improved one iota over the years. In fact, I've managed to get the birth dates of the grandchildren mixed up. (Oh was I in trouble when I did that!)

Keeping lists is important to me otherwise I can screw up even a poem that is supposed to help us remember. In 1642 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. That's totally wrong. I have to look it up each time! It's 1492. I remembered the one, four, and two! Do I get credit for anything? (And why are we celebrating Columbus? Never mind, that's a whole different time in history and a whole different story.) So I keep timelines on my computer and Wikipedia has a very comprehensive one. I figured I'd share with you the one that I use frequently now that I'm writing about American history. The dates are when the states were admitted or ratified. That's why the gap between the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the formation of the first 13 states. I like this list because it tells which piece of land became which state.

State	Order	Date	From
Delaware	1	December 7, 1787	Crown Colony of Delaware
Pennsylvania	2	December 12, 1787	Crown Colony of Pennsylvania
New Jersey	3	December 18, 1787	Crown Colony of New Jersey
Georgia	4	January 2, 1788	Crown Colony of Georgia
Connecticut	5	January 9, 1788	Crown Colony of Connecticut
Massachusetts	6	February 6, 1788	Crown Colony of Massachusetts Bay
Maryland	7	April 28, 1788	Crown Colony of Maryland
South Carolina	8	May 23, 1788	Crown Colony of South Carolina
New Hampshire	9	June 21, 1788	Crown Colony of New Hampshire
Virginia	10	June 25, 1788	Crown Colony of Virginia
New York	11	July 26, 1788	Crown Colony of New York
North Carolina	12	November 21, 1789	Crown Colony of North Carolina
Rhode Island	13	May 29, 1790	Crown Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Vermont	14	March 4, 1791	Vermont Republic (AKA New Hampshire Grants)
Kentucky	15	June 1, 1792	Virginia (District of Kentucky: Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties)
Tennessee	16	June 1, 1796	Southwest Territory
Ohio	17	March 1, 1803	Northwest Territory
Louisiana	18	April 30, 1812	Territory of Orleans
Indiana	19	December 11, 1816	Indiana Territory
Mississippi	20	December 10, 1817	Mississippi Territory
Illinois	21	December 3, 1818	Illinois Territory
Alabama	22	December 14, 1819	Alabama Territory
Maine	23	March 15, 1820	Massachusetts (District of Maine)
Missouri	24	August 10, 1821	Missouri Territory
Arkansas	25	June 15, 1836	Arkansas Territory
Michigan	26	January 26, 1837	Michigan Territory
Florida	27	March 3, 1845	Florida Territory
Texas	28	December 29, 1845	Republic of Texas
Iowa	29	December 28, 1846	Iowa Territory (part)
Wisconsin	30	May 29, 1848	Wisconsin Territory (part)
California	31	September 9, 1850	unorganized territory (part)
Minnesota	32	May 11, 1858	Minnesota Territory (part)
Oregon	33	February 14, 1859	Oregon Territory (part)
Kansas	34	January 29, 1861	Kansas Territory (part)
West Virginia	35	June 20, 1863	Virginia (Trans-Allegheny region counties
Nevada	36	October 31, 1864	Nevada Territory
Nebraska	37	March 1, 1867	Nebraska Territory
Colorado	38	August 1, 1876	Colorado Territory
North Dakota	39	November 2, 1889	Dakota Territory
South Dakota	40	November 2, 1889	Dakota Territory
Montana	41	November 8, 1889	Montana Territory
Washington	42	November 11, 1889	Washington Territory
Idaho	43	July 3, 1890	Idaho Territory
Wyoming	44	July 10, 1890	Wyoming Territory
Utah	45	January 4, 1896	Utah Territory
Oklahoma	46	November 16, 1907	Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory
New Mexico	47	January 6, 1912	New Mexico Territory
Arizona	48	February 14, 1912	Arizona Territory
Alaska	49	January 3, 1959	Territory of Alaska
Hawaii	50	August 21, 1959	Territory of Hawaii

Here are a few other important dates:

Civil War

1861-1865

Begins at Fort Sumter, the seaport of Charleston, SC, Ap 12, 1861

Ends when Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House, VA. May 13, 1865

Transcontinental RR

1863-1869

Started in 1863 and completed May 10 1869

WWI

1914-1918

July 28,1914 - Nov 11, 1918

Great Depression

1929-1939

Stock Market crash

Oct 29,1929

Dust Bowl

1930 -1936

WWII

Sept 1, 1939-Sept 2,1945

Pearl Harbor

Dec 7,1941

Vietnam War

Nov1, 1955 - Ap 30, 1975

Hope these lists help you as you read and write about American history. They are far from complete because so many important things have happened. There no dates for the Wright brother's first flight or the first automobiles. I could have written fifty pages worth of important and interesting dates such as the death of Wild Bill Hickok, Lincoln's assassination, our presidents, the first telephones, or a gazillion other things. Instead I tried to just give a few of the bigger things along the way.