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Read about the tragic shipwreck in the frigid North Atlantic Ocean.

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Kids learn about the sinking of the Titanic including the construction of the unsinkable ship, the beginning of the voyage, hitting an iceberg, the ship sinks, survivors, and interesting facts. Educational article for students, schools, and teachers.

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Causes of the Revolutionary War

For more than a decade before the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, tensions had been building between colonists and the British authorities.

The French and Indian War, or Seven Years' War (1756-1763), brought new territories under the power of the crown, but the expensive conflict lead to new and unpopular taxes. Attempts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies (notably the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Acts of 1767 and the Tea Act of 1773) met with heated protest among many colonists, who resented their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as other British subjects.

Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what was known as the Boston Massacre. After December 1773, when a band of Bostonians altered their appearance to hide their identity boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party, an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures (known as the Intolerable, or Coercive Acts) designed to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts.

Did you know? Now most famous as a traitor to the American cause, General Benedict Arnold began the Revolutionary War as one of its earliest heroes, helping lead rebel forces in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775.

In response, a group of colonial delegates (including George Washington of Virginia, John and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia and John Jay of New York) met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to give voice to their grievances against the British crown. This First Continental Congress did not go so far as to demand independence from Britain, but it denounced taxation without representation, as well as the maintenance of the British army in the colonies without their consent. It issued a declaration of the rights due every citizen, including life, liberty, property, assembly and trial by jury. The Continental Congress voted to meet again in May 1775 to consider further action, but by that time violence had already broken out.

On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord, Massachusetts in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoats. On April 19, local militiamen clashed with British soldiers in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, marking the "shot heard round the world" that signified the start of the Revolutionary War.

HISTORY Vault: The Revolution

Declaring Independence (1775-76)

When the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, delegates-including new additions Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson-voted to form a Continental Army, with Washington as its commander in chief. On June 17, in the Revolution's first major battle, colonial forces inflicted heavy casualties on the British regiment of General William Howe at Breed's Hill in Boston. The engagement, known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, ended in British victory, but lent encouragement to the revolutionary cause.

Throughout that fall and winter, Washington's forces struggled to keep the British contained in Boston, but artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga in New York helped shift the balance of that struggle in late winter. The British evacuated the city in March 1776, with Howe and his men retreating to Canada to prepare a major invasion of New York.

By June 1776, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, a growing majority of the colonists had come to favor independence from Britain. On July 4, the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, drafted by a five-man committee including Franklin and John Adams but written mainly by Jefferson. That same month, determined to crush the rebellion, the British government sent a large fleet, along with more than 34,000 troops to New York. In August, Howe's Redcoats routed the Continental Army on Long Island; Washington was forced to evacuate his troops from New York City by September. Pushed across the Delaware River, Washington fought back with a surprise attack in Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas night and won another victory at Princeton to revive the rebels' flagging hopes before making winter quarters at Morristown.

Saratoga: Revolutionary War Turning Point (1777-78)

British strategy in 1777 involved two main prongs of attack aimed at separating New England (where the rebellion enjoyed the most popular support) from the other colonies. To that end, General John Burgoyne's army marched south from Canada toward a planned meeting with Howe's forces on the Hudson River. Burgoyne's men dealt a devastating loss to the Americans in July by retaking Fort Ticonderoga, while Howe decided to move his troops southward from New York to confront Washington's army near the Chesapeake Bay. The British defeated the Americans at Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, on September 11 and entered Philadelphia on September 25. Washington rebounded to strike Germantown in early October before withdrawing to winter quarters near Valley Forge.

Howe's move had left Burgoyne's army exposed near Saratoga, New York, and the British suffered the consequences of this on September 19, when an American force under General Horatio Gates defeated them at Freeman's Farm in the first Battle of Saratoga. After suffering another defeat on October 7 at Bemis Heights (the Second Battle of Saratoga), Burgoyne surrendered his remaining forces on October 17. The American victory Saratoga would prove to be a turning point of the American Revolution, as it prompted France (which had been secretly aiding the rebels since 1776) to enter the war openly on the American side, though it would not formally declare war on Great Britain until June 1778. The American Revolution, which had begun as a civil conflict between Britain and its colonies, had become a world war.

Stalemate in the North, Battle in the South (1778-81)

During the long, hard winter at Valley Forge, Washington's troops benefited from the training and discipline of the Prussian military officer Baron Friedrich von Steuben (sent by the French) and the leadership of the French aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette. On June 28, 1778, as British forces under Sir Henry Clinton (who had replaced Howe as supreme commander) attempted to withdraw from Philadelphia to New York, Washington's army attacked them near Monmouth, New Jersey. The battle effectively ended in a draw, as the Americans held their ground, but Clinton was able to get his army and supplies safely to New York. On July 8, a French fleet commanded by the Comte d'Estaing arrived off the Atlantic coast, ready to do battle with the British. A joint attack on the British at Newport, Rhode Island, in late July failed, and for the most part the war settled into a stalemate phase in the North.

The Americans suffered a number of setbacks from 1779 to 1781, including the defection of General Benedict Arnold to the British and the first serious mutinies within the Continental Army. In the South, the British occupied Georgia by early 1779 and captured Charleston, South Carolina in May 1780. British forces under Lord Charles Cornwallis then began an offensive in the region, crushing Gates' American troops at Camden in mid-August, though the Americans scored a victory over Loyalist forces at King's Mountain in early October. Nathanael Green replaced Gates as the American commander in the South that December. Under Green's command, General Daniel Morgan scored a victory against a British force led by Colonel Banastre Tarleton at Cowpens, South Carolina, on January 17, 1781.

Revolutionary War Draws to a Close (1781-83)

By the fall of 1781, Greene's American forces had managed to force Cornwallis and his men to withdraw to Virginia's Yorktown peninsula, near where the York River empties into Chesapeake Bay. Supported by a French army commanded by General Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau, Washington moved against Yorktown with a total of around 14,000 soldiers, while a fleet of 36 French warships offshore prevented British reinforcement or evacuation. Trapped and overpowered, Cornwallis was forced to surrender his entire army on October 19. Claiming illness, the British general sent his deputy, Charles O'Hara, to surrender; after O'Hara approached Rochambeau to surrender his sword (the Frenchman deferred to Washington), Washington gave the nod to his own deputy, Benjamin Lincoln, who accepted it.

Though the movement for American independence effectively triumphed at the Battle of Yorktown, contemporary observers did not see that as the decisive victory yet. British forces remained stationed around Charleston, and the powerful main army still resided in New York. Though neither side would take decisive action over the better part of the next two years, the British removal of their troops from Charleston and Savannah in late 1782 finally pointed to the end of the conflict. British and American negotiators in Paris signed preliminary peace terms in Paris late that November, and on September 3, 1783, Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris. At the same time, Britain signed separate peace treaties with France and Spain (which had entered the conflict in 1779), bringing the American Revolution to a close after eight long years.

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Revolutionary War - Timeline, Facts & Battles | HISTORY

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The Revolutionary War (1775-83), also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown.

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Overview of the American Revolutionary War

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Overview of the American Revolutionary War

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For the better part of the 17th and 18th centuries, the relationship between Great Britain and her North American colonies was firm, robust, and peaceable. The colonies enjoyed a period of "salutary neglect"; meaning that the colonial governments were more or less able to self-govern without intervention from Parliament. This laissez-faire approach allowed the colonies to flourish financially, which in turn proved profitable for the mother country as well. However, this period of tranquility and prosperity would not last.

Great Britain had amassed an enormous debt following the French and Indian War; so, as a means to help alleviate at least some of the financial burden, they expected the American colonies to shoulder their share. Beginning in 1763, Great Britain instituted a series of parliamentary acts for taxing the American colonies. Though seemingly a reasonable course of action - considering the British had come to the defense of the colonies in the French and Indian War - many colonials were livid at the levying of taxes. From 1763 to 1776, Parliament, King George III, royal governors, and colonists clashed over regulations of trade, representation, and taxation. Despite the growing unrest, many Americans perceived war and independence as a last resort.

By 1775, however, tensions reached a boiling point. Both sides prepared for war as negotiations continued to falter. Fighting began outside of Boston in the spring of 1775 during a British raid to seize munitions at Lexington and Concord. British regulars arrived on the Lexington Green early on the morning of April 19 and discovered the town's militia awaiting their arrival. The "minutemen" intended only a show of force, and were dispersing, when a shot rang out. The American War of Independence had officially begun.

The militia harassed the British all the way from Concord to Boston, and then surrounded the city. In an attempt to drive the colonials away from the city, British forces attacked the Americans at Breed's Hill on June 17th, resulting in heavy casualties for the redcoats in the war's first major battle. George Washington arrived that July to assume command of the American forces, organized as the Continental Army. Washington then forced 11,000 British soldiers to evacuate Boston the following March, when Henry Knox successfully led 12 artillery pieces from Fort Ticonderoga to Dorchester Heights overlooking the city below.

By the early spring of 1776, the war had expanded to other regions. At Moore's Creek in North Carolina and Sullivan's Island at Charleston, American forces stopped British invasions. After initial successes, particularly the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York, an American invasion of Canada stalled and ended in failure at the end of the year. As 1775 rolled into 1776, the British rapidly built up forces in New York and Canada to strike back.

After a series of five consecutive defeats for Washington's army at Long Island, Harlem Heights, White Plains, Fort Lee, and Fort Washington, the British captured New York City in the summer of 1776. Following the capture of the city, the British drove Washington's army across New Jersey, winning several additional battles along their advance. That winter, however, Washington revived the American cause by winning spirited victories at Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey.

In 1777, the British launched two major offensives. In September, General William Howe captured Philadelphia, winning battles at Brandywine and Germantown. Despite the losses, the inexperienced soldiers of the Continental Army performed well and gained a measure of confidence, believing that they could very well stand up to the British. Then, in October, British General John Burgoyne invaded upstate New York via Canada, winning several initial victories. Later, however, his army became bogged down thanks in part to efforts of American militia units at Oriskany, Fort Stanwix, and Bennington. Then, after a stunning defeat in an open battle, Burgoyne surrendered his entire field army at Saratoga, New York.

The American victory at Saratoga was a turning point of the war, for it convinced the French monarchy that the Americans could actually defeat the British in battle. As a result, a formal military alliance was signed between the French and American governments in 1778, which entailed increased financial and military support. The alliance had even more positive implications for the Continental Army, because it forced the Parliament to funnel manpower and resources to fight the French across the globe, rather than sending them to North America.

That same winter, a few months prior to the formal signing of the alliance, Washington's army retired to Valley Forge, not far from the British garrison in Philadelphia. While arriving rather disheveled, disheartened, and largely undisciplined, the army underwent a rigorous training program under the direction of Baron von Steuben. He instilled in the soldiers a sense of pride, resilience, and discipline, which transformed the army into a force that was capable of standing toe-to-toe with the British.

In 1778, the British consolidated their forces in New York and Canada and prepared to launch an invasion of the South. In the meantime, in the west, American forces under George Rogers Clark captured several British posts, culminating with a victory at Vincennes, Indiana, and the surrender of a much larger British force.

To the North, the British abandoned Philadelphia for New York with Washington hot on their heels. His army caught up to the redcoats at Monmouth, New Jersey, where an intense battle ensued. After arriving late to the battle and rallying his wavering troops, Washington made several defenses and counterattacks against the surging British force. Though inconclusive with no clear victor, the battle demonstrated the growing effectiveness of the Continental Army. Upon finally reaching New York, British forces never again ventured far from their secure base there.

In 1779, with fighting on a global scale and a stalemate developing in the North, the British began to focus their efforts on conquering the South, in hopes of quelling the rebellion once and for all. That autumn, British forces captured Savannah and Charleston and smashed General Gates' army in Camden, South Carolina, forcing his army's surrender. However, the Continental Army won battles at King's Mountain and Cowpens, stemming the tide of British advance. Undeterred, the British army under General Charles Lord Cornwallis then moved across North Carolina before fighting its way into Virginia.

While General Cornwallis fought his way into Virginia, a brutal civil war erupted among the civilian population of the Carolinas. General Nathanael Greene recaptured most of South Carolina, fighting battles at Ninety Six, Hobkirk's Hill, and Eutaw Springs. While Greene lost most of the battles in which he fought, he skillfully used his mixed force of militia and Continental regulars to maneuver the British out of the Carolinas' interior, forcing them toward the coastal cities and towns.

By the summer of 1781, Virginia was ablaze with battles along the colony's coast and across its center. As General Marquis de Lafayette doggedly forced Cornwallis toward the coastal defenses around Yorktown, Virginia, he persuaded Washington to move the Continental Army from Connecticut to Virginia. Washington, along with a French fleet and army commanded by General Rochambeau, arrived in Virginia on September 19th, 1781, effectively sealing shut any escape route for Cornwallis. Following a siege and a series of attacks on the British position, Cornwallis surrendered his army to Washington.

Following Yorktown, both sides consolidated their forces and waited while peace negotiations took place in Paris. There were many small actions near New York City, in western Pennsylvania, and along the Carolina coast, but large-scale fighting had ended. At the time that the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, ending the war in favor of the American colonists, the British still controlled Savannah, Charleston, New York, and Canada.

The War of Independence is forever ingrained within our American identity and provides all Americans a sense of who we are, or, at the very least, who we should be. Our forefathers fought for liberty, freedom, and republican ideals the likes of which had never before been seen in any style of organized government preceding them. In many ways then, the American Revolution was an experiment: an experiment which overthrew the rule of a foreign power; an experiment which defeated the world's most powerful military; and an experiment which laid the groundwork for a nation attempting to create itself. The low din of battle, fought all those years ago, continues to echo the hearts and minds of Americans to this very day.

Further Reading:

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Overview of the American Revolutionary War

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The American Revolutionary War is forever ingrained within our American identity, and provides all Americans a sense of who we are, or, at the very least, who we should be. Our forefathers fought for liberty, freedom, and republican ideals the likes of which had never before been seen in any style of organized government preceding them.

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The French and Indian War

June 19-July 11: The Albany Congress

Oct. 7: Proclamation of 1763

April 5: The Sugar Act
September 1: The Currency Act

March 22: The Stamp Act
March 24: The Quartering Act of 1765
May 29: Patrick Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!" speech
May 30: The Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions
Oct. 7-25: The Stamp Act Congress

March 18: The Declaratory Act

June 29: The Townshend Revenue Act

August 1: Boston Non-Importation Agreement

March 5: The Boston Massacre

June 9: The Gaspee Affair

May 10: The Tea Act Dec. 16: The Boston Tea Party

March 31: Boston Port Act, one of the " Intolerable Acts" May 20: Administration of Justice Act, one of the " Intolerable Acts" May 20: Massachusetts Government Act, one of the " Intolerable Acts" June 2: Quartering Act of 1774, one of the " Intolerable Acts" June 22: Quebec Act, one of the " Intolerable Acts" Sept. 5-Oct. 26: The First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia and issues Declaration and Resolves Oct. 10: Battle of Point Pleasant, Virginia (disputed as to whether it was a battle of the American Revolution or the culmination of Lord Dunmore's War) Oct. 20: The Association (prohibition of trade with Great Britain) Oct. 24: Galloway's Plan rejected

March 23: Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech Apr. 18: The Rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes Apr. 19: Minutemen and redcoats clash at Lexington and Concord, "the shot heard 'round the world." May 10: Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys seize Fort Ticonderoga May 10: The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia June 15: George Washington named Commander-in-Chief June 17: Battle of Bunker Hill: The British drive the Americans from Breed's Hill July 3: Washington assumes command of the Continental Army Nov. 13: Richard Montgomery's Continental Army forces occupy Montreal in Canada Dec. 11: Virginia and NC patriots rout Loyalist troops and burn Norfolk Dec. 22: Colonel Thomson with 1,500 rangers and militia capture Loyalists at Great Canebrake, SC Dec. 23-30: Snow Campaign, in SC, so called because patriots are impeded by 15" of snow Dec. 30-31: American forces under Benedict Arnold fail to seize Quebec

Jan. 1: Daniel Morgan is taken prisoner during his attempt to take Quebec City Jan. 15: Paine's Common Sense published Feb. 27: Revolutionaries drive the loyalists from Moore's Creek Bridge, North Carolina March 3: The Continental fleet captures New Providence Island in the Bahamas March 17: The British evacuate Boston; British Navy moves to Halifax, Canada June 8: Revolutionaries fail to take Three Rivers, Quebec June 12: The Virginia Declaration of Rights June 28: Sullivan's Island, SC, failed British naval attack June 29: The First Virginia Constitution June 28: American forces decisively defeat the British Navy at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina July 1: At the instigation of British agents, the Cherokee attack along the entire southern frontier July 1-4: Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence. See Chronology of the Declaration July 4: Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence; it's sent to the printer July 8: The Declaration of Independence is read publicly July 15: Lyndley's Fort, SC, Patriots fend off attack by Indians and Tories dressed as Indians Aug. 1: Ambushed by Cherokees, Patriots are saved by a mounted charge at Seneca, SC Aug. 2: Delegates begin to sign The Declaration of Independence Aug. 10: Tugaloo River, SC, Andrew Pickens defeats Cherokees Aug. 12: Andrew Pickens' detachment surrounded by 185 Cherokee Indians, forms a ring and fires outward. It is known as the "Ring Fight." Aug. 12: Colonel David Williamson and Andrew Pickens burn Tamassy, an Indian town Aug. 27: Redcoats defeat George Washington's army in the Battle of Long Island. Washington's army escapes at night. Sept. 15: The British occupy New York City Sept. 16: Generals George Washington, Nathanael Greene, and Israel Putnam triumphantly hold their ground at the Battle of Harlem Heights Sept. 19: Colonel David Williamson's Pennsylvania militia forces attacked by Cherokees at Coweecho River, NC Oct. 11: Benedict Arnold defeated at the Battle of Valcour Island (Lake Champlain), but delayed British advance Oct. 28: The Americans retreat from White Plains, New York. British casualties (~300) higher than American (~200). Nov. 16: The Hessians capture Fort Washington, NY Nov. 20: Lord Cornwallis captures Fort Lee from Nathanael Greene Dec. 26: Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton from Hessians

Jan. 3: Washington victorious at Princeton Jan. 6-May 28: Washington winters in Morristown, NJ Apr. 27: Benedict Arnold's troops force a British retreat at Ridgefield, Connecticut. May 20: Treaty of DeWitt's Corner, SC: Cherokees lose most of their land east of the mountains June 14: Flag Resolution July 5: St. Clair surrenders Fort Ticonderoga to the British July 27: Lafayette arrives in Philadelphia Aug. 6: The Redcoats, with Iroquois support, force the patriots back at Oriskany, NY, but then have to evacuate Aug. 16: American Militia under General Stark victorious at the Battle of Bennington, VT (actually fought in Walloomsac, New York, several miles to the west) Aug. 23: British withdraw from Fort Stanwix, NY, upon hearing of Benedict Arnold's approach Aug. 25: British General Howe lands at Head of Elk, Maryland Sept. 11: The British win the Battle of Brandywine, Pennsylvania Sept. 16: Rainout at the Battle of the Clouds, Pennsylvania Sept. 19: Burgoyne checked by Americans under Gates at Freeman's Farm, NY. This is part of the "Battles of Saratoga." Sept. 21: Paoli Massacre, PA Sept. 26: British under Howe occupy Philadelphia Oct. 4: Americans driven off at the Battle of Germantown Oct. 7: Burgoyne loses second battle of Freeman's Farm, NY (at Bemis Heights). This is part of the "Battles of Saratoga." Oct. 17: Burgoyne surrenders to American General Gates at Saratoga, NY Oct. 22: Hessian attack on Fort Mercer, NJ repulsed Nov. 16: British capture Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania Dec. 5-7: Americans repulse British at Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania Dec. 19: Washington's army retires to winter quarters at Valley Forge

Feb. 6: The United States and France sign the French Alliance March 7: British General William Howe replaced by Henry Clinton May 20: Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania. Lafayette with 500 men and about 50 Oneida Indians successfully evade British onslaught June 18: British abandon Philadelphia and return to New York June 19: Washington's army leaves Valley Forge June 28: The Battle of Monmouth Court House ends in a draw July 4: George Rogers Clark captures Kaskaskia, a French village south of St. Louis Aug. 8: French and American forces besiege Newport, RI Sept. 28: The Tappan Massacre ("No Flint" Grey kills 30 Americans by bayonet) Dec. 29: The redcoats occupy Savannah

Feb. 3: Major General Moultrie defeats British detachment at Port Royal Island, SC Feb. 14: Patriots Andrew Pickens and Elijah Clarke beat Loyalists at Kettle Creek, GA Feb. 23-24: American George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes (in what is now Indiana) on the Wabash in the Western campaign March 3: British Lt. Colonel Jacques Marcus Prévost defeats Americans under General John Ashe at Brier Creek, GA May 11-13: Major General Augustin Prévost (brother of Jacques, see above) breaks his siege when American forces under Major General Lincoln approach June 20: Stono River, SC, Major General Lincoln inflicts extensive British casualties in indecisive battle June 21: Spain declares war on Great Britain July 8: Fairfield, CT, burned by British July 11: Norwalk, CT, burned by British July 15-16: American "Mad" Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, NY Aug. 19: Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee attacks Paulus Hook, NJ Aug. 29: Newtown, NY, after two massacres, American forces burn Indian villages Sept. 23: John Paul Jones, aboard the Bonhomme Richard, captures British man-of-war Serapis near English coast
Oct. 9: American attempt to recapture Savannah, GA fails Nov.-June 23, 1780: Washington's 2nd winter at Morristown, NJ (the harshest winter of the 18th century)

May 12: British capture Charleston, SC May 29: British crush Americans at Waxhaw Creek, SC June 20: Patriots rout Tories at Ramseur's Mill, NC July 11: French troops arrive at Newport, RI, to aid the American cause Aug. 6: Patriots defeat Tories at Hanging Rock, SC Aug. 16: British rout Americans at Camden, SC Sept. 23: John André arrested, leading to the exposure of Benedict Arnold's plans to cede West Point to the British Oct. 7: King's Mountain, SC: battle lasts 65 minutes. American troops led by Isaac Shelby and John Sevier defeat Major Patrick Ferguson and one third of General Cornwallis's army Oct. 14: Washington names Nathanael Greene commander of the Southern Army

Jan. 1: Mutiny of unpaid Pennsylvania soldiers Jan. 17: American General Daniel Morgan overwhelmingly defeats British Colonel Tarleton at Cowpens, SC Feb. 1: The Battle of Cowan's Ford, Huntersville, NC March 2: Articles of Confederation adopted March 15: British win costly victory at Guilford Courthouse, NC April 25: Greene defeated at Hobkirk's Hill, SC May 15: British Major Andrew Maxwell cedes Fort Granby, SC to Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee June 6: Americans recapture Augusta, GA June 18: British hold off Americans at Ninety Six, SC July 6: "Mad" Anthony Wayne repulsed at Green Springs Farm, VA Sept. 8: Greene defeated at Eutaw Springs, SC Sept. 15: French fleet drives British naval force from Chesapeake Bay Oct. 19: Cornwallis surrounded on land and sea by Americans and French and surrenders at Yorktown, VA

March 8: Gnadenhutten massacre, a.k.a. the Moravian massacre.
March 20: Lord North resigns as British prime minister July 11: British evacuate Savannah, GA Nov. 30: British and Americans sign preliminary Articles of Peace Dec. 14: British leave Charleston, SC

April 19: Congress ratifies preliminary peace treaty Sept. 3: The United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Paris Nov. 25: British troops leave New York City Dec. 23: Washington resigns as Commander

Sept. 17: U.S. Constitution signed

June 21: U.S. Constitution adopted, when New Hampshire ratifies it

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The French and Indian War June 19-July 11: The Albany Congress Oct. 7: Proclamation of 1763 April 5: The Sugar Act September 1: The Currency Act March 22: The Stamp Act March 24: The Quartering Act of 1765 May 29: Patrick Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!"

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Independence Declared: 1775 to 1777

War Breaks Out

April 19, 1775
The first shots of the Revolutionary War are fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. The news of the bloodshed rockets along the eastern seaboard, and thousands of volunteers converge-called "Minute Men"-on Cambridge, Mass. These are the beginnings of the Continental Army.

Learn more about Minute Man National Historical Park

Britain Forms an Alliance with Patriot Slaves

November 1775
The British governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, issues a proclamation offering freedom to any slaves of rebellious Americans who are able to enter British lines. Throughout the course of the war, tens of thousands of African Americans will seek their freedom by supporting the British. A smaller number will fight on the patriot (pro-independence) side, despite policies that discourage their enlistment

Battle of Bunker Hill: Americans Hold Their Own

June 17, 1775
In the first major action of the war, inexperienced colonial soldiers hold off hardened British veterans for more than two hours at Breed's Hill. Although eventually forced to abandon their position, including the high ground of Bunker Hill overlooking Boston, the patriots show that they are not intimidated by the long lines of red-coated infantrymen. Of the 2,200 British seeing action, more than 1,000 end up dead or wounded.

Learn more about Boston National Historical Park

Moores Creek: Loyalists Defeated

February 27, 1776
A force of loyalists (Americans who want to remain British subjects), most of them of Scots descent, is defeated by a patriot army at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. This setback will largely quiet loyalist activity in the Carolinas for three years.

Learn more about Moores Creek National Battlefield

South Carolinians Repel British Attempt to Take Charleston

June 28, 1776
A British invasion force mounts an all-day attack on a patriot force on Sullivan's Island. The invaders are unable to land their troops on the island, and the tricky waters of Charleston Harbor frustrate the British navy. The fleet retires in defeat, and South Carolina will remain untouched by the enemy for three more years.

Learn more about Fort Moultrie National Monument

America Declares Its Independence

July 1776
The Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress. Following a decade of agitation over taxes and a year of war, representatives make the break with Britain. King George III isn't willing to let his subjects go without a fight, and loyalist sentiment remains strong in many areas. Americans' primary allegiance is to their states; nationalism will grow slowly.

Learn more about Independence National Historical Park

George Washington Crosses the Delaware River

December 1776 to January 1777
In a bold move, Washington moves his troops into New Jersey on Christmas night. The patriots then surprise a force of German troops fighting for Britain at Trenton on December 26. They achieve a similar victory over British troops at Princeton on January 3, reviving hopes that the war just might be winnable. The army then encamps for the winter at Morristown, New Jersey.

Learn more about Morristown National Historical Park

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Timeline of the Revolution - American Revolution (U.S. National Park Service)

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April 19, 1775 The first shots of the Revolutionary War are fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. The news of the bloodshed rockets along the eastern seaboard, and thousands of volunteers converge-called "Minute Men"-on Cambridge, Mass. These are the beginnings of the Continental Army.

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-I survived: The American Revolutionary War not included

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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American Revolutionary War Book Collection on Epic

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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I survived: Titanic, 1912 Included

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Titanic: A Remembrance | National Geographic

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WWII: D-Day Invasion - 1944  | Today in History | 6 June 16

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I survived: Nazi Invasion, 1944 not included

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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The Nazi Invasion Book Collection on Epic

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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D-Day - Normandy Invasion, Facts & Significance

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Codenamed Operation Overlord, the invasion began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region during World War II. The operation was one of the largest amphibious mil…

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In May 1944, the Western Allies were finally prepared to deliver their greatest blow of the war, the long-delayed, cross-channel invasion of northern France, code-named Overlord. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was supreme commander of the operation that ultimately involved the coordinated efforts of 12 nations.

After much deliberation, it was decided that the landings would take place on the long, sloping beaches of Normandy. There, the Allies would have the element of surprise. The German high command expected the attack to come in the Pas de Calais region, north of the river Seine where the English Channel is narrowest. It was here that Adolf Hitler had put the bulk of his panzer divisions after being tipped off by Allied undercover agents posing as German sympathizers that the invasion would take place in the Pas de Calais.

The challenges of mounting a successful landing were daunting.

Surprise was an essential element of the Allied invasion plan. If the Germans had known where and when the Allies were coming they would have hurled them back into the sea with the 55 divisions they had in France. The invaders would have been on the offensive with a 10-to-1 manpower ratio against them.

The challenges of mounting a successful landing were daunting. The English Channel was notorious for its rough seas and unpredictable weather, and the enemy had spent months constructing the Atlantic Wall, a 2,400-mile line of obstacles. This defensive wall comprised 6.5 million mines, thousands of concrete bunkers and pillboxes containing heavy and fast-firing artillery, tens of thousands of tank ditches, and other formidable beach obstacles. And the German army would be dug in on the cliffs overlooking the American landing beaches.

At the Tehran Conference in August 1943, Allied leaders scheduled Overlord to take place on or about May 1, 1944. In the meantime, they prepared ceaselessly for the attack. Trucks, tanks, and tens of thousands of troops poured into England. "We were getting ready for one of the biggest adventures of our lives," an American sergeant said. "We couldn't wait." Meanwhile, the American and British air forces in England conducted a tremendous bombing campaign that targeted railroad bridges and roadways in northern France to prevent the Germans from bringing in reserves to stop the invasion.

Allied leaders set June 5, 1944, as the invasion's D-Day. But on the morning of June 4, foul weather over the English Channel forced Eisenhower to postpone the attack for 24 hours. The delay was unnerving for soldiers, sailors, and airmen, but when meteorologists forecast a brief window of clearer weather over the channel on June 6, Eisenhower made the decision to go. It was one of the gutsiest decisions of the war.

Just after midnight on June 6, Allied airborne troops began dropping behind enemy lines. Their job was to blow up bridges, sabotage railroad lines, and take other measures to prevent the enemy from rushing reinforcements to the invasion beaches. Hours later, the largest amphibious landing force ever assembled began moving through the storm-tossed waters toward the beaches. Most of the Americans were packed into flat-bottomed Higgins boats launched from troop transports 10 miles from the French coastline. Vomit filled the bottom of the boats, and as water kept rushing in over the gunwales, the green-faced men had to bail this vile stew with their helmets. Though it was cold, the men were sweating.

Planners had divided the landing zone into five separate beaches. The British and Canadians landed at Juno, Gold, and Sword beaches. The Americans landed at Omaha and Utah beaches.

The fiercest fighting was on Omaha Beach where the enemy was positioned on steep cliffs that commanded the long, flat shoreline. Troops leapt from their landing boats and were pinned down for hours by murderous machine-gun fire that turned the beach into a vast killing field. "If you (stayed) there you were going to die," Lieutenant Colonel Bill Friedman said. "We just had to . . . try to get to the bottom of the cliffs on which the Germans had mounted their defenses." By midday, the Americans had surmounted the cliffs and taken Omaha Beach at a heavy cost: over 4,700 killed, wounded, or missing out of the total of approximately 35,000 who came ashore that day, a loss rate of more than 13 percent.

"If you (stayed) there you were going to die"

Lieutenant Colonel Bill Friedman

Like this article? Read more in our online classroom.

From the Collection to the Classroom: Teaching History with The National WWII Museum

By nightfall, about 175,000 Allied troops and 50,000 vehicles were ashore with nearly a million more men on the way that summer.

The Normandy invasion was one of great turning points of 20th-century history. An immense army was placed in Nazi-occupied Europe, never to be dislodged. Germany was threatened that same month by a tremendous Soviet invasion from the east that would reach the gates of Berlin by the following April. The way to appreciate D-Day's importance is to contemplate what would have happened if it had failed. Another landing would not have been possible for at least a year. This would have given Hitler time to strengthen the Atlantic Wall, harass England with the newly developed V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets, continue to develop jet aircraft and other so-called "miracle weapons," and finish off his killing campaign against ethnic and sexual undesirables.

The Museum's original exhibit, located on the third floor of Louisiana Memorial Pavilion, helps you understand what the Allies faced in Normandy, from the comprehensive preparations beforehand to the daunting challenges once troops landed on Normandy beaches.

Road to Berlin brings to life the drama, sacrifices, personal stories, and strategies of America's campaign to defeat the Axis powers and preserve freedom.

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D-Day: The Allies Invade Europe | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

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In May 1944, the Western Allies were finally prepared to deliver their greatest blow of the war, the long-delayed, cross-channel invasion of northern France, code-named Overlord.

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Hurricane Katrina made landfall off the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with winds reaching speeds as high as 120 miles per hour. Because of the ensuing destruction and loss of life, the storm is often considered one of the worst in U.S. history. An estimated 1,200 people died as a direct result of the storm, which also cost an estimated $108 billion in property damage, making it the costliest storm on record.

The devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina exposed a series of deep-rooted problems, including controversies over the federal government's response, difficulties in search-and-rescue efforts, and lack of preparedness for the storm, particularly with regard to the city's aging series of levees-50 of which failed during the storm, significantly flooding the low-lying city and causing much of the damage. Katrina's victims tended to be low income and African American in disproportionate numbers, and many of those who lost their homes faced years of hardship.

Ten years after the disaster, then-President Barack Obama said of Katrina, "What started out as a natural disaster became a man-made disaster-a failure of government to look out for its own citizens."

(What are hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons?)

The city of New Orleans and other coastal communities in Katrina's path remain significantly altered more than a decade after the storm, both physically and culturally. The damage was so extensive that some pundits had argued, controversially, that New Orleans should be permanently abandoned, even as the city vowed to rebuild.

The population of New Orleans fell by more than half in the year after Katrina, according to Data Center Research. As of this writing, the population had grown back to nearly 80 percent of where it was before the hurricane.

Timeline of a Storm

Katrina first formed as a tropical depression in Caribbean waters near the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. It officially reached hurricane status two days later, when it passed over southeastern Miami as a Category 1 storm. The tempest blew through Miami at 80 miles per hour, where it uprooted trees and killed two people. Katrina then weakened to a tropical storm, since hurricanes require warm ocean water to sustain speed and strength and begin to weaken over land. However, the storm then crossed back into the Gulf of Mexico, where it quickly regained strength and hurricane status. (Read a detailed timeline of how the storm developed.)

On August 27, the storm grew to a Category 3 hurricane. At its largest, Katrina was so wide its diameter stretched across the Gulf of Mexico.

Before the storm hit land, a mandatory evacuation was issued for the city of New Orleans, which had a population of more than 480,000 at the time. Tens of thousands of residents fled. But many stayed, particularly among the city's poorest residents and those who were elderly or lacked access to transportation. Many sheltered in their homes or made their way to the Superdome, the city's large sports arena, where conditions would soon deteriorate into hardship and chaos.

Katrina passed over the Gulf Coast early on the morning of August 29. Officials initially believed New Orleans was spared as most of the storm's worst initial impacts battered the coast toward the east, near Biloxi, Mississippi, where winds were the strongest and damage was extensive. But later that morning, a levee broke in New Orleans, and a surge of floodwater began pouring into the low-lying city. The waters would soon overwhelm additional levees.

The following day, Katrina weakened to a tropical storm, but severe flooding inhibited relief efforts in much of New Orleans. An estimated 80 percent of the city was soon underwater. By September 2, four days later, the city and surrounding areas were in full-on crisis mode, with many people and companion animals still stranded, and infrastructure and services collapsing. Congress issued $10 billion for disaster relief aid while much of the world began criticizing the U.S. government's response.

Geography of New Orleans

The city of New Orleans was at a disadvantage even before Hurricane Katrina hit, something experts had warned about for years, but it had limited success in changing policy. The region sits in a natural basin, and some of the city is below sea level so is particularly prone to flooding. Low-income communities tend to be in the lowest-lying areas.

Just south of the city, the powerful Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico. During intense hurricanes, oncoming storms can push seawater onto land, creating what is known as a storm surge. Those forces typically cause the most hurricane-related fatalities. As Hurricane Katrina hit, New Orleans and surrounding parishes saw record storm surges as high as 19 feet.

Levees

Levees can be natural or manufactured. They are essentially walls that prevent waterways from overflowing and flooding nearby areas. New Orleans has been protected by levees since the French began inhabiting the region in the 17th century, but modern levees were authorized for construction in 1965 after Hurricane Betsy flooded much of the city. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers then built a complex system of 350 miles of levees. Yet a report by the

Corps released in 2006 concluded that insufficient funding, information, and poor construction had left the flood system vulnerable to failure.

Even before Katrina made landfall off the Gulf, the incoming storm surge had started to overwhelm the levees, spilling into residential areas. More than 50 levees would eventually fail before the storm subsided. While the winds of the storm itself caused major damage in the city of New Orleans, such as downed trees and buildings, studies conducted in the years since concluded that failed levees accounted for the worst impacts and most deaths.

The aftermath

An assessment from the state of Louisiana confirmed that just under half of the 1,200 deaths resulted from chronic disease exacerbated by the storm, and a third of the deaths were from drowning. Hurricane death tolls are debated, and for Katrina, counts can vary by as much as 600. Collected bodies must be examined for cause of death, and some argue that indirect hurricane deaths, like being unable to access medical care, should be counted in official numbers.

Hurricane Katrina was the costliest in U.S. history and left widespread economic impacts. Oil and gas industry operations were crippled after the storm and coastal communities that rely on tourism suffered from both loss of infrastructure and business and coastal erosion.

An estimated 400,000 people were permanently displaced by the storm. Demographic shifts followed in the wake of the hurricane. The lowest-income residents often found it more difficult to return. Some neighborhoods now have fewer residents under 18 as some families chose to permanently resettle in cities like Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta. The city is also now more racially diverse, with higher numbers of Latino and Asian residents, while a disproportionate number of African-Americans found it too difficult to return.

Rebuilding part of New Orleans's hurricane defenses cost $14.6 billion and was completed in 2018. More flood systems are pending construction, meaning the city is still at risk from another large storm. A series of flood walls, levees, and flood gates buttress the coast and banks of the Mississippi River.

Simulations modeled in the years after Katrina suggest that the storm may have been made worse by rising sea levels and warming temperatures. Scientists are concerned that hurricanes the size of Katrina will become more likely as the climate warms. Studies are increasingly showing that climate change makes hurricanes capable of carrying more moisture. At the same time, hurricanes are moving more slowly, spending more time deluging areas unprepared for major flooding.

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Hurricane Katrina was the costliest storm in U.S. history, and its effects are still felt today in New Orleans and coastal Louisiana.

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Hurricane Katrina: Before the Storm

The tropical depression that became Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005, and meteorologists were soon able to warn people in the Gulf Coast states that a major storm was on its way. By August 28, evacuations were underway across the region. That day, the National Weather Service predicted that after the storm hit, "most of the [Gulf Coast] area will be uninhabitable for weeks...perhaps longer."

Did you know? During the past century, hurricanes have flooded New Orleans six times: in 1915, 1940, 1947, 1965, 1969 and 2005.

New Orleans was at particular risk. Though about half the city actually lies above sea level, its average elevation is about six feet below sea level-and it is completely surrounded by water. Over the course of the 20th century, the Army Corps of Engineers had built a system of levees and seawalls to keep the city from flooding. The levees along the Mississippi River were strong and sturdy, but the ones built to hold back Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne and the waterlogged swamps and marshes to the city's east and west were much less reliable.

Levee Failures

Before the storm, officials worried that surge could overtop some levees and cause short-term flooding, but no one predicted levees might collapse below their designed height. Neighborhoods that sat below sea level, many of which housed the city's poorest and most vulnerable people, were at great risk of flooding.

The day before Katrina hit, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin issued the city's first-ever mandatory evacuation order. He also declared that the Superdome, a stadium located on relatively high ground near downtown, would serve as a "shelter of last resort" for people who could not leave the city. (For example, some 112,000 of New Orleans' nearly 500,000 people did not have access to a car.) By nightfall, almost 80 percent of the city's population had evacuated. Some 10,000 had sought shelter in the Superdome, while tens of thousands of others chose to wait out the storm at home.

By the time Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans early in the morning on Monday, August 29, it had already been raining heavily for hours. When the storm surge (as high as 9 meters in some places) arrived, it overwhelmed many of the city's unstable levees and drainage canals. Water seeped through the soil underneath some levees and swept others away altogether.

By 9 a.m., low-lying places like St. Bernard Parish and the Ninth Ward were under so much water that people had to scramble to attics and rooftops for safety. Eventually, nearly 80 percent of the city was under some quantity of water.

Hurricane Katrina: The Aftermath

Many people acted heroically in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Coast Guard rescued some 34,000 people in New Orleans alone, and many ordinary citizens commandeered boats, offered food and shelter, and did whatever else they could to help their neighbors. Yet the government-particularly the federal government-seemed unprepared for the disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took days to establish operations in New Orleans, and even then did not seem to have a sound plan of action.

Officials, even including President George W. Bush, seemed unaware of just how bad things were in New Orleans and elsewhere: how many people were stranded or missing; how many homes and businesses had been damaged; how much food, water and aid was needed. Katrina had left in her wake what one reporter called a "total disaster zone" where people were "getting absolutely desperate."

Failures in Government Response

For one thing, many had nowhere to go. At the Superdome in New Orleans, where supplies had been limited to begin with, officials accepted 15,000 more refugees from the storm on Monday before locking the doors. City leaders had no real plan for anyone else. Tens of thousands of people desperate for food, water and shelter broke into the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center complex, but they found nothing there but chaos.

Meanwhile, it was nearly impossible to leave New Orleans: Poor people especially, without cars or anyplace else to go, were stuck. For instance, some people tried to walk over the Crescent City Connection bridge to the nearby suburb of Gretna, but police officers with shotguns forced them to turn back.

Katrina pummeled huge parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but the desperation was most concentrated in New Orleans. Before the storm, the city's population was mostly black (about 67 percent); moreover, nearly 30 percent of its people lived in poverty. Katrina exacerbated these conditions and left many of New Orleans's poorest citizens even more vulnerable than they had been before the storm.

In all, Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people and affected some 90,000 square miles of the United States. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees scattered far and wide. According to The Data Center, an independent research organization in New Orleans, the storm ultimately displaced more than 1 million people in the Gulf Coast region.

Political Fallout From Hurricane Katrina

In the wake of the storm's devastating effects, local, state and federal governments were criticized for their slow, inadequate response, as well as for the levee failures around New Orleans. And officials from different branches of government were quick to direct the blame at each other.

"We wanted soldiers, helicopters, food and water," Denise Bottcher, press secretary for then-Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana told the New York Times. "They wanted to negotiate an organizational chart."

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin argued that there was no clear designation of who was in charge, telling reporters, "The state and federal government are doing a two-step dance."

President George W. Bush had originally praised his director of FEMA, Michael D. Brown, but as criticism mounted, Brown was forced to resign, as was the New Orleans Police Department Superintendent. Louisiana Governor Blanco declined to seek re-election in 2007 and Mayor Nagin left office in 2010. In 2014 Nagin was convicted of bribery, fraud and money laundering while in office.

The U.S. Congress launched an investigation into government response to the storm and issued a highly critical report in February 2006 entitled, " A Failure of Initiative."

Changes Since Katrina

The failures in response during Katrina spurred a series of reforms initiated by Congress. Chief among them was a requirement that all levels of government train to execute coordinated plans of disaster response. In the decade following Katrina, FEMA paid out billions in grants to ensure better preparedness.

Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers built a $14 billion network of levees and floodwalls around New Orleans. The agency said the work ensured the city's safety from flooding for the time. But an April 2019 report from the Army Corps stated that, in the face of rising sea levels and the loss of protective barrier islands, the system will need updating and improvements by as early as 2023.

HISTORY Vault

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Hurricane Katrina - Facts, Affected Areas & Lives Lost

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Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 storm that made landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast in August 2005. The storm triggered catastrophic flooding, particularly in the city of New Orleans, and caused more than 1,800 deaths.

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I survived: Hurricane Katrina included

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Hurricane Katrina Book Collection on Epic

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View the Hurricane Katrina collection on Epic plus over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids.

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The Battle of Gettysburg marked the turning point of the Civil War. With more than 50,000 estimated casualties, the three-day engagement was the bloodiest single battle of the conflict.

How it ended

Union victory. Gettysburg ended Confederate general Robert E. Lee 's ambitious second quest to invade the North and bring the Civil War to a swift end. The loss there dashed the hopes of the Confederate States of America to become an independent nation.

In context

After a year of defensive victories in Virginia, Lee's objective was to win a battle north of the Mason-Dixon line in the hopes of forcing a negotiated end to the fighting. His loss at Gettysburg prevented him from realizing that goal. Instead, the defeated general fled south with a wagon train of wounded soldiers straining toward the Potomac. Union general Meade failed to pursue the retreating army, missing a critical opportunity to trap Lee and force a Confederate surrender. The bitterly divisive war raged on for another two years.

Before the Battle

On June 3, soon after his celebrated victory over Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Gen. Robert E. Lee leads his troops north in his second invasion of enemy territory. The 75,000-man Army of Northern Virginia is in high spirits. In addition to seeking fresh supplies, the depleted soldiers look forward to availing themselves of food from the bountiful fields in Pennsylvania farm country, sustenance the war-ravaged landscape of Virginia can no longer provide.

Hooker also heads north, but he is reluctant to engage with Lee directly after the Union's humiliating defeat at Chancellorsville. This evasiveness is of increasing concern to President Abraham Lincoln. Hooker is ultimately relieved of command in late June. His successor, Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade, continues to move the 90,000-man Army of the Potomac northward, following orders to keep his army between Lee and Washington, D.C. Meade prepares to defend the routes to the nation's capital, if necessary, but he also pursues Lee.

On June 15, three corps of Lee's army cross the Potomac, and by June 28 they reach the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. While Lee loses precious time awaiting intelligence on Union troop positions from his errant cavalry commander, Gen. Jeb Stuart, a spy informs him that Meade is actually very close. Taking advantage of major local roads, which conveniently converge at the county seat, Lee orders his army to Gettysburg.

During the Battle

July 1. Early that morning a Confederate division under Maj. Gen. Henry Heth marches toward Gettysburg to seize supplies. In an unplanned engagement, they confront Union cavalry. Brig. Gen. John Buford slows the Confederate advance until the infantry of the Union I and XI Corps under Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds arrives. Reynolds is killed in action. Soon Confederate reinforcements under generals A.P. Hill and Richard Ewell reach the scene. By late afternoon, the wool-clad troops are battling ferociously in the sweltering heat. Thirty thousand Confederates overwhelm 20,000 Federals, who fall back through Gettysburg and fortify Cemetery Hill south of town.

July 2. On the second day of battle, the Union defends a fishhook-shaped range of hills and ridges south of Gettysburg. The Confederates wrap around the Union position in a longer line. That afternoon Lee launches a heavy assault commanded by Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet on the Union left flank. Fierce fighting rages at Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard, and Cemetery Ridge as Longstreet's men close in on the Union position. Using their shorter interior lines, Union II Corps commander Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock and others move reinforcements quickly to blunt Confederate advances. On the Federal right, Confederate demonstrations escalate into full-scale assaults on East Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill. Although the Confederates gain ground on both ends of their line, the Union defenders hold strong positions as darkness falls.

July 3. Believing his enemy to be weakened, Lee seeks to capitalize on the previous day's gains with renewed attacks on the Union line. Heavy fighting resumes on Culp's Hill as Union troops attempt to recapture ground lost the previous day. Cavalry battles flare to the east and south, but the main event is a dramatic infantry assault by 12,500 Confederates commanded by Longstreet against the center of the Union position on Cemetery Ridge. Though undermanned, the Virginia infantry division of Brig. Gen. George E. Pickett constitutes about half of the attacking force. Pickett, ordered by Lee to advance his division toward the enemy through a mile of unprotected farmland, replies, "General, I have no division," but the order stands. During Pickett's Charge, as it is famously known, only one Confederate brigade temporarily reaches the top of the ridge-afterwards referred to as the High Watermark of the Confederacy. This daring strategy ultimately proves a disastrous sacrifice for the Confederates, with casualties approaching 60 percent. Repulsed by close-range Union rifle and artillery fire, the Confederates retreat. Lee withdraws his army from Gettysburg late on the rainy afternoon of July 4 and trudges back to Virginia with severely reduced ranks of wasted and battle-scarred men.

Aftermath

As many as 51,000 soldiers from both armies are killed, wounded, captured or missing in the three-day battle. The carnage is overwhelming, but the Union victory buoys Lincoln's hopes of ending the war. With Lee running South, Lincoln expects that Meade will intercept the Confederate troops and force their surrender. Meade has no such plan. Even as Lee's escape is hampered by flooding on the Potomac, Meade does not pursue them. When Lincoln learns of this missed opportunity on July 12, he laments, "We had only to stretch forth our hands & they were ours." Months later, in November 1863, a portion of the Gettysburg battlefield becomes a final resting place for the Union dead. President Lincoln uses the dedication ceremony at the Gettysburg's Soldiers' National Cemetery to honor the fallen and reassert the purpose of the war in his historic Gettysburg Address:
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

Gettysburg: Featured Resources

Related Battles

Adams County, PA | July 1, 1863

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In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Forces collided at the crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania from July 1-3, 1863. It resulted in an estimated 51,000 casualties on both sides, the bloodiest single battle of the entire war.

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Battle of Gettysburg: Summary, Facts & Casualties | HISTORY

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The Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three hot summer days, from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. The South lost the battle—and many men—and it marked a turning point in the bloody war that left the South mostly on the defensive.

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The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline can be broken down into three days. The first day was a Confederate victory, but the Union was able to maintain the high ground. The Second was a union victory but had some fierce fighting. The third was a devastating defeat for the Confederates that crippled their offensive campaign.

Battle of Gettysburg Timeline: Day 1
Full Article: Battle of Gettysburg Day 1

5 am - Confederate Major General Henry Heth's Division sets out for Gettysburg from Cashtown. To the west of town Union Brig. General John Buford's Cavalry Division sits just west of town with 2,700 troops. Advanced skirmishers have been deployed to meet the Confederate advance.

7:30 am - Lieutenant Marcellus Jones of the 8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry fires the first shot at the Battle of Gettysburg at advancing Confederates. Skirmishing ensued as the Union lines held out stubbornly though seriously outnumbered.

9:30 am - Heth finally gets his men into position to attack as his men form battle lines to advance on Buford's dismounted cavalry.

10:15 am - Union General John Reynolds' I Corps arrived on the scene to reinforce Buford's Division against increasing pressure from the roughly 13,500 advancing Confederates.

10:30 am - While deploying the Iron Brigade near McPherson's Ridge, General Reynolds is struck by a bullet to the head and is killed instantly. Some believe it was a sharpshooter's bullet, but since none were operating in the area, it is more likely to have come from the 7th or 14th Tennessee infantry.

1:30 pm - Confederate Major General Robert Rodes deploys his Second Corps divisions just north of town as they begin attacks from Oak Hill.

- The Confederates renew their attacks on McPherson's Ridge west of town as the 2:45 pm Iron Brigade is sent forward to repulse their attack.

3:30 pm - Union forces begin to retreat from the area as the Confederates troops massed there begin to push them back.

- Union troops reform a defensive line at 4:00 pm Seminary Ridge and await the Confederate advance. To the north of town on Oak Ridge, the Union troops are pushed back.

4:15 pm - Outnumbered, disorganized and tired, the Union forces crumble and retreat back through Gettysburg.

4:20 pm - Colonel Charles Coster's First Brigade is ordered down Cemetery Hill and into town to slow down the Confederate advance, and protect the Union retreat.

4:35 pm - Outnumbered almost 3 to 1, they held their ground. The 134th New York anchoring the Union was overlapped and was forced to withdraw but the other 3 regiments stood tall.

4:40 pm - Coster's brigade is overwhelmed and of the 922 men deployed, only 359 made it back safely to Cemetery Hill.

Late Evening-Overnight: As Union reinforcements arrive they are positioned along Cemetery Hill into defensive positions. The retreating Union troops are reformed as well. The days fighting ends as Confederate Lt. General Richard Ewell makes the decision not to attack the Union positions on Cemetery Hill.

Full Article: Battle of Gettysburg Day 2
Battle of Gettysburg Timeline: Day 2

12:15 am - Commanding Union General George Meade arrives on the battlefield and meets with his generals to survey the situation. He is assured that the Union army holds strong positions on the high ground south of Gettysburg, and makes the decision to stay and fight.

Dawn-4:30 pm - General James Longstreet moves his army into position to begin attacks against the Union left to be coordinated en echelon to break the Union lines. Longstreet's attacks would not begin until late in the afternoon on July 2.

4:30 pm - Confederate regiments from Texas and Alabama overrun Union skirmishers on Big Round Top and make their way toward Little Round Top. Union Brigadier General Gouverneur K. Warren notices that Little Round Top is undefended and after sending aides for help, Colonel Strong Vincent reinforces the hill just as the Confederate assault begins.

4:45 pm - Regiments under Vincent form defensive positions with the famous 20th Maine led by Colonel Joshua Chamberlain covering the Union left flank.

5:00-5: 15 pm - Confederate attacks are repulsed as Colonel Strong Vincent is mortally wounded.

- Nearly out of ammunition, and his men exhausted, Chamberlain orders a bayonet charge of the 20th Maine down the hill and effectively ending the Confederate assault on 5:30 pm Little Round Top.

Devils Den and the Slaughter Pen

4:15-5:30 pm - After Union General Daniel Sickles advanced his entire corps to higher ground ½ mile out of line with the rest of the Union army, a dangerous salient was created. It did, however, put his men in a position that the Confederates did not expect so heavy fighting ensued immediately upon the initial assault. Confederate General John Bell Hood led the assault and his men from Alabama, Texas and Georgia fought valiantly but were unable to unseat the Union forces. The

Wheatfield and Stony Hill

4:15pm-7:30 pm - Often referred to as the "Bloody Wheatfield" due to the catastrophic losses by both sides in just a few hours of fighting on this 20-acre site. Time-after-time the Wheatfield exchanged hands and was the scene of frantic hand-to-hand fighting that was a rarity in Civil War battles. In the end, the Confederates failed to capitalize on their successes and the Union forces commanded the field.

Peach Orchard

5:45-7:00 pm - Initially, Brigadier General Joseph B. Kershaw's South Carolina brigades attacked the Union lines at Stony Hill. General Sickles who had been leading his troops from the Trostle house began to withdraw due to the pressure of the advancing Confederates. A cannonball caught Sickles in the right leg and he was quickly put on a stretcher and taken to the rear. The Confederates had taken advantage of the salient created by Sickles' tactical error and driven the Union troops out of the Peach Orchard but fortunately for the Union, they held adjacent areas and the Confederates failed to capture the high ground.

Culp's Hill

8:00-midnight - Culp's Hill was a substantial hill with wooded slopes on the extreme right flank of the Union army. It made up the point on the "fishhook" as part of the Union defenses and saw considerable action on July 2. The Union XII Corps under Brigadier General George S. Greene arrived on the morning of July 2, 1863, and helped fortify the hill. When Longstreet finally attacked the Union left at 4 pm, Ewell began his demonstration with an artillery barrage from a nearby hill. It was Major General Edward Johnson's division that was given the order by Ewell to attack later that day. It was close to 7 pm by the time Johnson moved his division of 4,700 men into position.

Union Major General George Meade had shifted many troops to the Union left to reinforce including much of XII Corps. This left Greene to defend the hill with only 1,400 men and he quickly deployed them in a long line behind the breastworks without the benefit of reserves.

Badly outnumbered, Greene skillfully shifted his men along the breastworks to thwart each Confederate attack. Finally, the fight subsided close to midnight and the Confederates retreated to lower Culp's Hill.

Full Article: Battle of Gettysburg Day 3
Battle of Gettysburg Timeline: Day 3

5:30-10:30 am - Confederate Major General Edward Johnson planned to renew the attack at first light once more reinforcements were available and still believed he faced larger numbers. Early in the morning on July 3, the Union artillery perched on Baltimore Pike opened up on the Confederates. This was followed by a Union infantry assault in which they swept downhill off Culp's Hill and attacked through the woods. The fighting was fierce, and for several hours the two armies battled back and forth. The Union commanders did a superb job of rotating troops so that a constant rate of fire could continue. Johnson attempted multiple charges up the hill but each time the attacks were repelled.

1:00-3:50 pm - General Robert E. Lee's plan of attack was to assault the Union center with 12,000 troops with General James Longstreet coordinating the attack. After a devastating artillery attack that was intended to loosen up the Union defenses, the Confederates attacked across a mile of open ground.

On the other side of the battlefield stood Union General Winfield S. Hancock and the II Corps. The "copse of trees" in the center of Hancock's lines were the focus of the Confederate assault. The Confederate ranks were close to a mile wide and through a series of obliques, would concentrate their forces in the middle by the copse of trees marking the Union lines.

The Confederates were under constant long-range artillery fire and this created ghastly holes in their ranks. The Confederate ranks were steadily decimated and their lines were now close to 1/2 mile long as Pettigrew moved to the right and Pickett toward the left, converging toward the Union lines.

On the Union side, General Hancock was wounded in the thigh and he issued an order that he not be removed from the battlefield until the engagement was decided.

Late Afternoon - The Confederates reached the stone wall with roughly 200 men and led by General Armistead who had put his hat on his sword, they stormed the wall and fought hand-to-hand with the Union soldiers. Shortly thereafter, General Armistead was mortally wounded and as Union reinforcements arrived, Pickett's Charge stalled. Without leaders, the remainder of the Confederates either retreated, were killed or were captured.

The Confederates had over 50% casualties while the Union had only 1,500 casualties total. General Lee rode up to meet his troops as they retreated and exclaimed that the failure "was all my fault".

Related Pages

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Battle of Gettysburg Timeline - The History Junkie

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The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline can be broken down into three days. The first day was a Confederate victory, but the Union was able to maintain the high ground. The Second was a union victory but had some fierce fighting. The third was a devastating defeat for the Confederates that crippled their offensive campaign.

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Average Price Gallon of Gas 2008 - 2021

2008 $3.39 2009 $2.51 2010 $2.73
2011 $3.89 2012 $3.91 2013 $3.80
2014 $2.75 2015 $2.21 2016 $2.49
2017 $2.43 2018 $2.93 2019 $2.26
2020 $2.38 2021 $3.28
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College Tuition 2008 - 2021

Wrangler Jeans 2008 - 2019

Average House Rent 2008 - 2021

Average House Purchase 2008 - 2021

2008 $238,880 2009 $232,880 2010 $268,700 2011 $202,100 2012 $263,200 2013 $289,500 2014 $373,500 2015 $364,100 2016 $379,800 2017 $371,200 2018 $318,500 2019 $236,500 2021 $408,800

KW/Hr Electric 2008 - 2019

Wages 2008 - 2021

Unemployment Percentage 2008 - 2021

Fed Base Rate Percentage 2008 - 2021

Dow Jones 2008 - 2021

Inflation US Gov 2008 - 2021

CPI US Gov ## based upon a 1982 Base of 100 ## 2008 - 2019

Gold per Ounce 2008 - 2021

90 years of price Change

We spent many hours researching cost of living information for each year and I created this page after being asked a number of times about why I did not include current prices alongside our cost of living information for each year and thought this was the easiest way to make the information available. includes Average Cost Of New Home, Average Wages, New Car cost, Gallon Of Gas and a 1lb Hamburger Meat, 1920 to 2021

Healthcare Costs

We have struggled to find reliable, unbiased figures on the cost of healthcare over the past few years so we do not include that in what we have provided but thought it was important to address the subject with a few observations. Over the past few years, healthcare costs for the average person have seemed to increase significantly, taking up a larger portion of a person's wages than before. What many figures and reports tell us, and what many working people already know, is that employers have been shifting the cost of healthcare to employees by reducing the number of fuller coverage options available for insurance and encouraging employees to use high-deductible plans which end up costing more out of pocket for the individual or family. These changes can significantly contribute to the reasons that wage stagnation has felt particularly hard on the American consumer's wallet in the past few years. There have also been prescription drug price increases as well as decreases with more generic options available, these can also effect the overall cost of healthcare.

College Tuition and Student Loans

The cost of college tuition in most public institutions has also increased dramatically over the past few years, with out-of-state prices increasing a little more than in-state, in general. This has contributed to the fact that more students are leaving college with larger student loans than before. Having large student loans can impact the amount of extra income that many new entrants into the working world have at their disposal as those loans have to be paid back and often have higher interest rates than the current Federal rate. This can make it more difficult for the younger generations to save money, buy homes, and contribute to the economy through spending on higher ticket items like cars and other investment options.

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The battle of Gettysburg timeline gives a brief summary of everything from the events leading up to the battle at Gettysburg to life after the Civil War. My goal here is to briefly summarize the battle at Gettysburg and basic Civil War facts in a chronology.

I hope that this overview will make the order and sequence of events understandable. This is not a timeline of the entire Civil War, but only covers how troops ended up in Gettysburg and how the town became what it is today.
The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline
The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline
Gettysburg Battle Summary for Day One: Wednesday, July 1, 1863 Key Events Leading up to the Battle at Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline
The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline Aftermath and Life After the Civil War Gettysburg Battle Summary for Day Three: Friday, July 3, 1863

1820 Congress passes the Missouri compromise, prohibiting slavery in most of the western territories.

1854 Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repeals the Missouri Compromise.

1854, July Antislavery northerners found the Republican Party.

1857 In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court rules that congress cannot prohibit slavery in the territories.

1859 White northerner John Brown, who hoped to start a slave rebellion, attacks the government with a raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia.

1860 Upon Republican Abraham Lincoln's election as president, 11 southern states secede from the Union.

1861, April 12 The Confederates attack Fort Sumter and the Civil War begins.

1863, May 1-3 General Lee leads Confederate troops to victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia.

1863, June 28 General Robert E. Lee and Lieutenant General James Longstreet are in Chambersburg, PA and receive word that the Federal Army of the Potomac is heading into Pennsylvania.

1863, June 30 Two brigades from John Buford's Union cavalry division scout ahead and enter Gettysburg. Finding signs of Confederates nearby to the Northwest, Buford sends word to Major General John Reynolds in Emmitsburg, Maryland to bring his infantry as soon as possible.

7:30am First shot fired 3 miles NW of Gettysburg at intersection of Knoxlyn Rd and US Rt. 30 Chambersburg Pike by Lieutenant Marcellus Jones of the Eighth Illinois Calvary, Buford's cavalry division, against Major General Henry Heth's division of A. P. Hill's corps as they march towards Gettysburg.

10:30am Major General John Reynolds and two brigades of the Union First Corps infantry arrive and join the line along McPherson Ridge. One is the Iron Brigade, the other is the PA Bucktail Brigade. A bullet through the base of his skull kills Reynolds. Major General Abner Doubleday takes command of the Union First Corps.

11:00am Two divisions of the Union Eleventh Corps arrive and take positions north of town.

2:00pm One of one-legged Confederate Lieutenant General Richard Ewell's divisions arrives and engages the right flank of the Union First Corps.

2:10pm General Robert E. Lee arrives to find Heth preparing for a new attack.

2:15pm Another division of Ewell's attacks the Eleventh Corps position.

3:00pm Where the Eternal Light Peace Memorial now stands, Confederate Major General Robert Rhode's division launches an attack. With five brigades, it's the largest division in either army.

4:00pm Jubal Early's division of Ewell's corps arrive from the northeast on Harrisburg Rd and cause the right flank of the Eleventh Corps, two small divisions known as the Dutch Corps (mainly German-Americans), to buckle. This sets off a chain reaction down the 2 mile Union line. The First and Eleventh Corps retreat through town to Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill. Major General Oliver Otis Howard, one-armed commander of the Eleventh Corps, had reserved a third smaller division to fortify Cemetery Hill incase of retreat.

5:00pm Confederates appear to have won, but to complete the job, Lee tells Ewell, whose third division is arriving, to attack Cemetery Hill "if practicable." Ewell decides against it.

After midnight Union General Meade arrives and decides to stay and fight the next day from the strong defensive position.

The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline
Gettysburg Battle Summary for Day Two: Thursday, July 2, 1863

Before dawn All of the Rebel Army of Northern Virginia reaches Gettysburg except Major General Jeb Stuart's cavalry and, from Longstree's corps, Major General George Pickett's division and Brigadier General Evander Law's brigade. They arrive during the day after marching all night.

4:00pm After a long march to avoid observation, Longstreet's troops attack, led by Evander Law's brigade. The army's chief of engineers, Brigadier General Gouverneur K. Warren, spots them coming, and Brigadier General Strong Vincent leads his men into position on Little Round Top. The Twentieth Maine, commanded by Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (and made famous in the novel The Killer Angels and in the movie Gettysburg), is positioned on the left side. Over the next three hours, battle rages across the Wheatfield. Confederates take Rose farm, the Peach Orchard, the Wheatfield, Trostle farm, and Devil's Den. Major General Daniel E. Sickles has a leg shot off, which he has preserved in formaldehyde.

7:00pm In a desperate defensive position on Little Round Top, Chamberlain gives the order, "Bayonet!", and the Union men charge down the hill.

8:00pm The Confederates still hold the Peach Orchard, the Wheatfield, Trostle farm, and Devil?s Den. They will control Spangler's Spring overnight. Fighting between Brigadier General George S. Greene's brigade and Major General Edward Johnson's division with two brigades of Early's division becomes intense across Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill as dusk approaches.

Overnight There is frequent firing by pickets. On the Confederate side, Pickett's division and Stuart's three cavalry brigades arrive. On the Union side, Major General John Sedgwick's Sixth Corps arrive. In Meade's headquarters, he takes a vote from his generals and they decide to stay and fight.

4:30am Union troops renew the fight at Culp's Hill. Attacks and counterattacks continue for nearly seven hours.

8:30am Sniper fire between Confederate troops barricaded in town and Union troops on Cemetery Hill continues throughout the day. Twenty year old Mary Virginia "Jenny" Wade is shot by a stray bullet in her sister's kitchen on Baltimore Street as she makes biscuits for Union soldiers. She is the only civilian casualty of the battle.

1:00pm Stuart leads his Confederate Calvary around to confront the Union rear, including Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer, along Cemetery Ridge.

1:07pm Two cannon shots fire from Seminary Ridge, the signal for Confederates to harden the attack near the now famous copse of trees on Cemetery Ridge. The Union side retaliates. There are almost two hours of rapid fire from 250 cannons. It is reportedly heard in Pittsburgh, 150 miles west, but not in Chambersburg, only 15 miles west.

Between 2:00pm and 3:00pm The Confederate batteries run low on ammunition. Major General George E. Pickett asks Longstreet, "General, shall I advance?" and receives a nod to carry out the now famous Pickett's Charge.

4:00pm Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistad and about 200 men make it through the angle in the stone wall, but he is mortally wounded as he places his hand on an enemy cannon to capture it. The high water mark of the Confederacy is reached and the survivors retreat.

5:00pm Union cavalry division commander Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick learns of the successful repulse and organizes his own counterattack against Confederates west of the Round Top hills. It is unsuccessful without infantry.

1863, July 4 Rain.

1863, July 5 Troops leave Gettysburg.

1863, July 13 The last of Lee's troops cross the Potomac River back into Virginia.

1863, November 19 Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the opening of the cemetery for Union soldiers killed in the battle.

1865, April 9 Lee surrenders his army at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.

1865 April 14-15 Lincoln is assassinated at Ford?s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

1868, July 9 The Fourteenth Amendment is passed, giving all former slaves equal rights by law.

1872 The Soldiers' National Cemetery is completed.

1895 Congress establishes the Gettysburg National Military Park based on a bill introduced by veteran Dan Sickles who is serving as a New York congressman.

1913, July 1-3 Approximately 54,000 veterans reunite for the 50th Anniversary of the battle. Veterans of Pickett's Charge reenact the attack on July 3rd but shake hands with their former enemies upon reaching the wall.

1933 The National Park Service, created in 1916, takes over management of the battlefields from the US War Department.

1938, July 3 President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial on the 75th Anniversary with over 1,800 battle veterans in attendance.

1955 President Dwight D. Eisenhower runs the nation from his farm in Gettysburg while recovering from a heart attack. America is in the Cold War, so the site of a fight for freedom and unity is a fitting background.

1963, July 1-3 The town celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the battle.

1992 The movie Gettysburg is filmed in Gettysburg. Fifteen thousand reenactors participate.

1993, October 8 The movie Gettysburg is released and sparks renewed interest in the battle.

1996, April A Fort Clapsop National Park ranger on vacation in Gettysburg finds bones in a railroad cut just north of Chambersburg Pike. They are identified as the remains of a soldier who suffered a slight head wound and massive trauma to the spine on the first day of fighting, but nothing remains to identify which side he fought on.

1997, July 1 The unknown solider is interred in the national cemetery with full military honors. Two Civil War widows, a white woman from Alabama and a black woman from Colorado, attend. They were widows in their nineties who had married Civil War veterans in the 1920's when they were teenagers.

2000, July 3 The huge Gettysburg National Battlefield Tower is demolished live on TV as the Gettysburg National Military Park launches into an era of battlefield restoration. Just before the implosion, reenactors symbolically fire cannon toward the tower.

2008, April 14 The new visitors center opened in a spot that did not receive major action. The old center will be demolished and the site restored.

2013, July 1-3 The town celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

I hope this chronological Gettysburg battle summary will make things easier to understand when you tour the battlefields. Check the historical battle of Gettysburg map to see where the events in the battle of Gettysburg timeline occured. Civil War facts make more sense when you can visualize where things happened.

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The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline - Visit Gettysburg

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The Battle of Gettysburg Timeline The battle of Gettysburg timeline gives a brief summary of everything from the events leading up to the battle at Gettysburg to life after the Civil War. My goal here is to briefly summarize the battle at Gettysburg and basic Civil War facts in a chronology.

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Battle of the Atlantic: September 3, 1939 to May 8, 1945

World War II's longest continuous campaign takes place, with the Allies striking a naval blockade against Germany and igniting a struggle for control of Atlantic Ocean sea routes. The Axis, with its U-boats, responds with a counter-blockade that is at first successful, but the Allies' use of convoys, aircraft and technology eventually turns the tide. Over five years, thousands of ships engage in 100-plus battles in the Atlantic Ocean with approximately 100,000 lives lost.

Battle of Dunkirk from May 26 to June 4, 1940

A German invasion around the French coastal town of Dunkirk separates the French and British armies, marooning Allied forces. But with Adolf Hitler halting Germany's advance there, the Allies are able to perform a daring-and successful-evacuation, called Operation Dynamo. Germany claims victory with remaining Allied troops surrendering, but the evacuation serves to boost British morale, still referred to as the "Dunkirk spirit."

Battle of Britain, July 10 to October 31, 1940

After a nearly four-month air campaign waged over England, Britain's Royal Air Force and Navy respond to heavy bombing attacks from Germany's Luftwaffe air force, including " the Blitz," in an attempt to destroy the RAF before invading. Defense systems, including radar, and Hitler's decision to bomb London, rather than military bases, allows Britain to regroup and eventually win the battle.

Battle of Crete: May 20 to June 1, 1941

Nazi paratroopers invade the Greek island of Crete, marking history's first mostly airborne attack. Day one of the campaign results in heavy losses for the Germans, but fearing a sea assault, Allied forces soon withdraw and evacuate in defeat. With nearly 4,000 Allies and more than 3,000 Germans killed, however, Hitler decries "the day of the parachutist is over" and it is the country's last airborne campaign.

The Siege of Leningrad: September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944

German and Finnish soldiers begin a nearly 900-day siege and blockade of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the second-biggest Soviet city and a major center of industry. With supplies, water, electricity and transportation cut off, 1.3 million people are evacuated. As the Red Army finally begins to break through the blockade, the siege ends and the city is freed, but approximately 800,000 civilians die, most from hunger.

Battle of Moscow: October 2, 1941 to January 7, 1942

Following Germany's Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of the Soviet Union, the Axis launches a campaign to capture the capital city of Moscow before winter sets in. In preparation, the Soviets fortify the city and bring in reinforcements. After a series of gains and losses on both sides during harsh weather, the Germans are eventually beaten back and forced to retreat.

Battle of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

In a surprise wave of attacks on the U.S. naval base at Oahu Island, Hawaii's Pearl Harbor, Japan, aligned with the Axis, takes out America's Pacific fleet (the fleet's three aircraft carriers are not present during the attack). With approximately 2,400 U.S. troops killed and another 1,000 wounded, President Franklin D. Roosevelt calls it "a date which will live in infamy" and, the next day, the U.S. officially enters World War II, declaring war on Japan.

Second Battle of Kharkov: May 12-28, 1942

In a counter-offensive after Germany's attack on Moscow, the Soviet Red Army attacks Kharkov, Ukraine with the aid of 1,500 tanks and 1,000 aircraft but German intelligence alerts the Axis to the campaign. Facing nearly 300,000 casualties and gaining little traction, the Soviets are forced to concede.

Battle of Midway, June 4-7, 1942

In one of America's most important World War II naval wins, American intelligence is able to break codes to thwart a Japanese attack on the US. at Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean. With Japan focused on Midway, U.S. forces, including dive bombers, attack, sinking four of Japan's aircraft carriers and the victory serves as a turning point in the conflict.

Battle of the Guadalcanal Campaign: August 7, 1942 to February 9, 1943

Weeks after Japan begins building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal, part of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, U.S. forces launch a surprise attack, taking control of the airfield and forcing the Japanese into initial retreat. But with reinforcements arriving, hand-to-hand jungle combat follows with Japan finally retreating six months later, with 31,000 casualties and the loss of 38 ships. The Allies lose 29 ships and 7,100 soldiers.

Battle of Stalingrad, August 23, 1942 to February 2, 1943

In a conflict that marks the war's outcome tipping in the favor of the Allies, the Red Army defends the Russian city of Stalingrad from German attack, bringing an end to the Axis's eastern Europe advances and handing it its first decisive defeat. One of the longest, biggest and deadliest battles of the war, it ends with close to 2 million casualties, including civilians, with brutal winter weather and a Russian blockade causing many Germans to starve to death.

Operation Torch: November 8-16, 1942

The Allies invade French North Africa in an attempt to draw the Axis away from Soviet attacks on the Eastern Front and gain control of the Mediterranean shipping lanes. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower leads attacks on Oran, Algiers and Casablanca before advancing on Tunis and causing the Vichy French to realign with the Allies. The victory is touted by Winston Churchill as the "end of the beginning."

Battle of Kursk, July 5 to August 23, 1943

Military history's largest tank battle takes place on the Eastern Front involving an estimated 6,000 tanks, 4,000 aircraft and 2 million soldiers. In its last blitzkrieg offensive, Germany attacks the Red Army near Kursk, Russia, but due to delays and the cracking of the German Wehrmacht code, the Soviets are prepared and keep Hitler from conquering Russia.

Battle of Monte Cassino: January 17 to May 18, 1944

Advancing in Italy toward Rome, the Allies attack the Gustav Line, held by the Axis, at the mountain town of Monte Cassino, home to a Benedictine abbey dating to 524 A.D. Evacuated by the Germans, both sides tell the Vatican it will not be attacked or used in military operations. However, in a bomber attack by the Allies, the abbey is destroyed, leading to public outcry and, post-bombing, as shelter for the Nazis. Polish troops capture the abbey on May 18, leading the way for the Allied capture of Rome soon after.

Battle of Anzio: January 22 to June 5, 1944

Attempting to liberate Italy, the Allies land at Anzio, catching the Germans by surprise and quickly securing a beachhead during Operation Shingle. However, continued Axis resistance and counter-attacks ensue, resulting in a stalemate that doesn't end until the fall of Rome. It's seen as a failure for the Allies, although it does keep German troops from moving to France in the days before the invasion at Normandy.

Battle of the Philippine Sea: June 19-20, 1944

Japan attacks Allied forces who have advanced in the Pacific Theater to the Marianas Islands in the war's largest aircraft carrier battle. Prepared for the strike, the United States launches a stunning counter-attack, and the battle is later called the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" due to minimal U.S. casualties and the Japanese losing some 600 aircraft, two oilers and three carriers.

Battle of Normandy, June 6 to August 30, 1944

American, British and Canadian troops storm five beaches at Normandy France June 6, known as D-Day, waging one of military history's largest water invasions. At Omaha Beach, more than 2,000 American casualties are suffered with some 4,000 deaths that day. But by June 11, the beaches are secured and 325,000-plus forces have landed. The Allies begin their advance across Normandy, eventually liberating Paris.

Battle of Leyte Gulf: October 23-26, 1944

In World War II's largest naval battle, the Allies invade the Philippines to retake the commonwealth and create a Southeast Asian blockade. In a counter-attack, Japan deploys its first kamikaze, or suicide, bombers. Despite heavy U.S. casualties-more than 23,000 U.S. soldiers and sailors are killed-Japan suffers nearly 420,000 casualties and the conflict serves to cripple most of Japan's surface fleet, giving the Allies command of the Pacific.

Battle of the Bulge: December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945

Fought in brutal, frigid winter conditions, Hitler's forces launch a surprise, last-ditch counter-attack in an attempt to split the line of the Allies on the Western Front at the forested region of Ardennes in Belgium and Luxembourg. The battle becomes known as Battle of the Bulge, because the Germans created a "bulge" around the area of the Ardennes forest in pushing through the American defensive line.

After early German success, the Allies regain their positions thanks, in part, to reinforcements and an eventual Christmas Day airstrike once the weather clears. The Allies win (German casualties number 100,000-plus and American casualties are estimated to be 81,000) and continue their advance toward Berlin.

Battle of Iwo Jima: February 19 to March 26, 1945

Fought 660 miles south of Tokyo, U.S. Marines invade the volcanic island of Iwo Jima seeking a strategic staging area for a possible attack on Japan's mainland. Weeks of bloody battle follow and while the Americans eventually gain control, 7,000 Marines are killed, with 20,000 wounded. All but 216 of 18,000 Japanese soldiers are killed. The island later serves as an emergency landing sight for B-29 bombers.

Battle of Berlin, April 16 to May 2, 1945

Soviet forces, with support from American and British aircraft, launch an offensive against the German capital of Berlin in one of World War II's final major battles. As the Red Army encircles the city, capturing Gestapo headquarters, Hilter commits suicide April 30 in the Führerbunker and Germany surrenders a few days later, essentially ending the war.

Battle of Okinawa: April 1 to June 22, 1945

World War II's final major battle-and one of the war's bloodiest-begins Easter Sunday as U.S. Army and Marine forces invade Okinawa in the Ryukyus island chain southwest of Japan with the orders of taking the island to execute air strikes against Japan and create a blockade.

Counter-striking with kamikaze attacks, the Japanese sink 26 Allied ships and damage nearly 170 more, causing more than 12,000 American deaths over the three-month battle. Finally overpowered by the Americans, many surviving Japanese kill themselves rather than surrender. In the end, more than 100,000 Japanese are killed, along with 150,000 civilians.

HISTORY Vault: World War II

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II. Over the next six years, the conflict took more lives and destroyed more land and property around the globe than any previous war.

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This Titanic timeline features dates related to construction of the ship, its maiden voyage, and a precise breakdown of critical moments in its last night

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In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world's most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events that changed the lives of millions in our World War 2 facts....
World War 2 facts

1. World War 2 was a battle between two groups of countries

- the " Allies" and the " Axis ". The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States. The major Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan.

(AD)

2. Before World War 2 began, Germany was ruled by a man named Adolf Hitler

Together with the Nazi Party, he wanted Germany to rule Europe. To gain more land and power, on 1 September 1939 German troops invaded Poland. After Hitler refused to stop the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany - World War II had begun.

3. During the course of the war, German forces advanced through Europe.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Second World War primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

4. Millions of Germans were imprisoned and killed because they didn't fit the image of the 'perfect' German

Hitler wanted to create what he thought was the "best" and strongest race - and to the Nazi Party, this excluded certain groups, such as Jews, Gypsies and those with physical and mental disabilities. In an attempt to eliminate a "racial enemy" outside of Germany, such groups were also persecuted in the countries invaded by German forces.

5. The group most heavily targeted by the Nazis were the Jews

Around six million Jewish people were killed during World War 2 in one of history's most terrible events - the Holocaust. Racist in his views, Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany losing World War I and claimed they were dangerous to German people and society.

6. Around the same time that Germany fought for power in Europe, Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific

In 1937 (before World War 2 had officially begun) under Emperor Hirohito, Japan attacked China, bringing the two nations into years of conflict.

7. The US didn't join the war until 1941, when Japan attacked the United States

- at their Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On 8 December 1941 (the very next day), the US declared War on Japan and, in turn, its German allies.

8. Some countries remained 'neutral' in World War 2

Such countries were Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - who chose not to join either side.

9. The Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945

In 1944, an Allied army crossed from Britain to free France from Nazi rule. One year later, Allied armies invaded Germany, forcing the Germans to surrender. After nuclear attacks on Japan's major cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan also surrendered to Allied forces in August the same year. World War 2 had ended.

10. Around 64 million people died in World War 2

- that's more than the entire population of the United Kingdom.

Find out more about the countries involved in World War 2 with our Germany, Japan and USA facts. Plus, learn about the life of Anne Frank, a young German girl who wrote a world-famous diary...

*Yugoslavia was a country established in 1918 in south-east Europe, which included modern-day Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

*USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union) was a former country which included modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Estonia, as well as other socialist states.

What did you think of our World War 2 facts? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Learn astonishing World War 2 facts with Nat Geo Kids. When did the war start? Who fought in in the war and why? How did it change the course of history?

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World War II in Europe During World War II, Germany overran much of Europe using a new tactic called the "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war). Blitzkrieg involved the massing of planes, tanks, and artillery. These forces would break through enemy defenses along a narrow front. Air power prevented the enemy from closing the breach. German forces encircled opposing troops, forcing them to surrender.

Using the Blitzkrieg tactic, Germany defeated Poland (attacked in September 1939), Denmark (April 1940), Norway (April 1940), Belgium (May 1940), the Netherlands (May 1940), Luxembourg (May 1940), France (May 1940), Yugoslavia (April 1941), and Greece (April 1941). Yet Germany did not defeat Great Britain, which was protected from ground attack by the English Channel.

German forces attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, pushing more than 600 miles to the gates of Moscow. A second German offensive in 1942 brought German soldiers to the shores of the Volga River and the city of Stalingrad. But the Soviet Union, together with Great Britain and the United States, which had entered the war against Germany in December 1941, turned the tide of battle against Germany.

In the east, the battle for Stalingrad proved a decisive turning point. After the defeat at Stalingrad in winter of 1942-43, German troops began the long retreat. In April 1945 Soviet forces entered Berlin. In the west, Allied soldiers landed on June 6, 1944 (known as D-Day) in Normandy, France. More than two million Allied soldiers poured into France. In July, Allied forces broke out of the Normandy beachhead. The Allies continued the attack into Germany. In March 1945, Allied forces crossed the Rhine, advancing into the heart of Germany.

Nazi Germany surrendered in May 1945.

Key Dates

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World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945, when the Allies defeated the Axis powers. Learn about key invasions and events during WWII, also known as the Second World War.

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Timeline of Events - Before 1933 — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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Explore WWII History | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

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The National WWII Museum is here to help you explore the history and lessons of WWII and to learn how WWII helped shape the world we live in today.

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Discover the life of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who was forced into hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts...
All people should be treated equally, right? Well, sadly, throughout history, there have been many people who have been treated differently because of where they come from, what religion they follow, or whether they're a boy or a girl. And sometimes, this still happens today!

Thankfully, the incredible stories that people leave behind can be used to educate and inspire people to be kinder to one another, no matter their background. One such story, is that of Anne Frank...

Anne Frank facts
Anne Frank in 1942, Photo Collection Anne Frank House
Full name: Annelies Marie Frank

Born: 12 June 1929

Hometown: Frankfurt, Germany

Occupation: Jewish diarist

Died: February 1945

Best known for: Her diary entries during World War II

Also known as: Anne Frank

Who was Anne Frank?

Anne Frank was born in Germany in 1929 during a time when the country was troubled. Many people had lost their jobs and were becoming poorer and Adolf Hitler - the leader of the Nazi* party - was blaming Jews* for Germany's problems.

Afraid for their safety, Anne's parents moved the family to Holland when Anne was just four years old. Anne lived and went to school in Amsterdam, and had to learn Dutch. She made lots of friends, and spent her free time reading and playing table tennis.

But when World War II broke out, life for Anne and her family became much harder. The Nazis imposed strict rules on Jews, restricting the places they could visit, the shops they could use and even the schools they went to. Anne's father lost his company, as Jewish people were no longer allowed to run their own businesses.

Anne Frank's house

In 1942, the Nazis wanted to take Anne's elder sister, Margot, to Germany, but her family refused to be separated and went into hiding. Anne's father had spent several months preparing a hiding place, in the backhouse of his company at Prinsengracht 263. Anne later named it the ' Secret Annex'.

The Secret Annex was above the warehouse. The entrance to the Annex was later hidden behind a bookcase. Anne's father, Otto Frank, enlisted help from four of his employees who worked at the office and who became known as ' the helpers ' - Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, Johannes Kleiman and Victor Krugler. The helpers brought the family food, clothing and other supplies while they were in hiding. The people working in the warehouse didn't know about the people in hiding, except for Johannes Voskuijl, Bep's father, who made the book case.

The Franks were the first family to move into the Secret Annex. Soon after, another family moved in - Hermann and Auguste van Pels, and their son Peter. Later followed by Fritz Pfeffer.

The diary of Anne Frank
Anne Frank's first, red chequered diary. Photo Collection Anne Frank House.
On her 13th birthday, Anne was given a diary. She loved writing and dreamed of becoming a famous writer one day. She named her diary, Kitty.

Anne would write about everyday events in her diary; things that probably didn't seem that important at the time, but that have helped us form a picture of what life was like during this incredibly difficult time in history.

She wrote about what she ate, the film stars that she admired, the books she read, and the arguments she would have with her mother. She also wrote about being in hiding, the fears and difficulties, and how she longed to go outside.

"Footsteps in the house, the private office, the kitchen, then... on the staircase. All sounds of breathing stopped, eight hearts pounded... Then we heard a can fall, and the footsteps receded. We were out of danger, so far!"

- An extract from Anne's diary
When in hiding, the Franks, the van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer had to be incredibly careful to ensure they weren't discovered. For example, they weren't allowed to flush the toilet during the day in case the warehouse workers heard them, and Anne was only rarely allowed to open a window. She could never go outside, either.

How did Anne Frank die?

On 4th August 1944, the Nazis raided the Prinsengracht 263 and found the hiding place. They took the 8 people in hiding to Westerbork - a camp that held Jewish people and others captive - in Holland. A month later, they were sent to Auschwitz, a larger concentration camp* in Poland. Men and women were separated. Eventually, Anne and her sister Margot were separated from their mother and sent to another concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, on a crowded train.

Conditions at the camp were extremely poor. It was cold and wet, there was little food to eat and disease was common. Anne and Margot both died at the camp in February 1945 - just a few months before the end of World War II. It is believed that they died of a disease called typhus.

Anne and Margot's mother, Edith, also died at Auschwitz. Their father Otto was the only survivor of the eight people in hiding in the Secret Annex.

Anne Frank's story

Anne's diary was saved by one of the helpers, Miep. When Anne's father Otto - the only surviving member of the Frank family - returned to Amsterdam at the end of the war, he received his daughter's diary from Miep, at the day he heard that Anne and Margot died in Bergen-Belsen. He started to read Anne's diary and published it, making Anne's dream of becoming a writer a reality. The diary was published in 1947, titled: The Secret Annex.

Since its publication, Anne Frank's diary has sold millions of copies around the world and has been translated into more than 70 languages. It remains an important account of the treatment that Jewish people suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Otto hoped that his daughter's diary would educate readers on the dangers of hatred against others, prejudice and discrimination.

In 1960, with the help of Otto, the former hiding place opened its doors as a museum, named the Anne Frank House. Each year, it is visited by more than 1.2 million people from around the world, wanting to learn more about Anne Frank's life story.

*The Jews are people born into a Jewish family or practice the religion of Judaism.

*The Nazis were a group of people who followed the ideas of a German leader named Adolf Hitler.

*Concentration camps were places where Nazis held Jews and others. Many people lost their lives in camps due to the harsh treatment they faced, like being forced to work, and the lack of food, space and healthcare. Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp complex was based in Poland.

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Anne Frank facts - National Geographic Kids

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Discover the life of a Jewish family in hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts. Who was Anne Frank? What did Anne write in her diary during World War II?

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Hurricane Katrina was one of three Category 5 hurricanes to spin up during the overactive 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Unknown at the time, it would also be the first of two major hurricanes to strike the same stretch of Louisiana coastline within the span of one month. (Hurricane Rita would make landfall a mere three weeks later.)

While Katrina impacted the Bahamas, South Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, the Gulfport-Biloxi metro area and the city of New Orleans were the hardest hit. In total, the storm caused damages to the tune of $172.5 billion (adjusted cost in 2005 U.S. dollars), earning it the rank of costliest Atlantic hurricane in U.S. history-a rank it still holds as of the publication date of this article.

Hurricane Katrina Timeline

On Aug. 19, would-be Katrina developed north of Puerto Rico when a tropical wave and the remnants of an earlier tropical depression, Tropical Depression Ten, combined. On Aug. 23, about 175 miles southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas, the storm system strengthened into a tropical depression. It was named "Tropical Storm Katrina" the following day.

On the evening of Aug. 25, Katrina strengthened into a weak Category 1 hurricane. Mere hours later, it made its initial U.S. landfall near North Miami Beach, Florida.

Shortly after midnight on Aug. 26, Katrina's eye passed directly over the National Hurricane Center office building in Miami, Florida. Within an hour of exiting the Florida peninsula, the storm, which had weakened to a tropical storm while over mainland Florida, regained Category 1 intensity while over the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

In the Gulf, Katrina underwent rapid intensification, becoming a low-end Category 3 storm by the morning of Aug. 27. The storm also nearly doubled in size, and its tropical-storm-force winds extended out to about 140 nautical miles from the storm center-far enough to produce heavy winds and rains over western Cuba.

That same day, President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Within the 48-hour period from Aug. 26 to Aug. 28, Katrina "bombed out" when her central pressure dropped from 968 mb to 902 mb. By the morning of Aug. 28, Katrina reached Category 5 strength with maximum sustained winds of about 167 mph. That same morning, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency and also ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city, the first in New Orleans history. As many as 30,000 evacuees sought refuge in the then-Louisiana Superdome (known today as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome).

In the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 29, Katrina made its second U.S. landfall in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana; it was a Category 3 major hurricane with winds of 125 mph and a central pressure of 920 mb.

Before 10 A.M. local time, floodwaters breached the Industrial, 17th Street, and London Avenue Canals, submerging New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward, a predominately African-American neighborhood, and the city with up to 16 feet of water.

By sunset, Katrina had weakened to a tropical storm just north of Laurel, Mississippi.

Katrina weakened into a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee, on Aug. 30, and by day's end on Aug. 31, dissipated over the eastern Great Lakes.

The Aftermath of Katrina

In its wake, Katrina left over $161 million in damages and over 1800 fatalities. Over 1.2 million Louisianans were displaced by the storm, making it the greatest climate-driven migration in the United States since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s (according to the University of California-Davis, an estimated 2.5 million people left the Great Plains).

Mississippi (namely, the Gulfport-Biloxi area) actually bore the brunt of the storm itself, including a maximum storm surge of nearly 30 feet high along the Mississippi coast, which traveled at least six miles inland.

While New Orleans didn't suffer a direct hit, its location along the Mississippi River, proximity to Gulf of Mexico inlets, and its low elevation (NOLA's average elevation is 1-2 feet below sea level) make it highly vulnerable to flooding. So, when the levee breached in New Orleans, it compounded the damage Katrina dealt to the city.

As a result of the levee failures and storm surge, 80% of all structures in New Orleans Parish were flooded, and more than 800,000 residents were displaced from the city.

The World Meteorological Organization retired the name "Katrina," barring its use for any future tropical storms or hurricanes in the Atlantic. It was replaced by "Katia."

Socioeconomic Factors

Exacerbating Katrina's damage was the fact that the hardest hit states were also some of the United States' poorest. At the time Katrina hit the Gulf coastline, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama ranked as the first, second, and eighth poorest states, respectively, in the nation. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that of the 5.8 million people in these states who were affected by Katrina, over one million-nearly one-fifth of the population impacted by the hurricane-lived in poverty prior to the storm's landfall.

Zoom in on the city of New Orleans, and the disparities are even more disturbing. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 28% of New Orleans residents lived below the poverty line before Katrina hit, and over half of poor households lacked a vehicle.

This lack of resources made evacuation impossible for many storm victims. Unable to evacuate, they instead took refuge in the Superdome, which had been set up as a shelter of last resort. It made recovery efforts for individuals less feasible after the storm.

Political Criticism

Despite warnings from the NHC that " some levees in the greater New Orleans area could be overtopped," and those from the NWS that " most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks," the Bush administration led an unorganized recovery response after Katrina's landfall. Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Guard had been activated, it took several days for resources-food, water, buses (to evacuate the city's remaining residents), and troops-to be distributed. The reason for these delays remains unclear, but most likely stemmed from a lack of communication between federal, state, and local governments, and from the overwhelming size and catastrophic nature of the disaster. Others, particularly New Orleanians, felt the delay in aid was a form of discrimination against the city's significant low-income and African-American populations.

Ironically, FEMA had worked with Louisiana state officials just three years earlier during the "Hurricane Pam" exercise -a disaster-planning exercise meant to prepare emergency managers for the possibility of a major hurricane striking a major, Gulf Coast city, such as New Orleans. Unfortunately, the project ended early due to the Bush administration cutting its funding, but not before it predicted that the New Orleans levee system would flood major portions of the city.

The Bush administration, FEMA, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, and Mayor Ray Nagin weren't the only subjects of criticism during the Katrina disaster. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) also drew public ire when it was found that four of the 50 major levee breaches resulted from foundation-induced failures. Since it was USACE who designed and built the flood walls, many blamed their flawed construction work for the city's catastrophic flooding, flood damage, and flood-related deaths.

Reconstruction

Cleanup efforts in The Big Easy were anything but easy-going. While residents were initially cleared to return to New Orleans on Sept. 5, they were again ordered to evacuate the next day due to the city's deteriorating conditions. (Those who had initially sheltered in the Superdome were bussed to the Houston Astrodome.) Meanwhile, the USACE was making emergency repairs to floodwalls, patching levee breaches with sandbags, and employing pumps to drain the city. By Sept. 15, floodwaters which had covered about 80% of New Orleans had reduced by half. However, this progress was interrupted when, on Sept. 24, 2005, a Category 3 Hurricane Rita made landfall in southwestern Louisiana, inundating New Orleans with an additional six inches of rainfall, and triggering renewed flooding across the city.

On Oct. 11, 43 days after Katrina's landfall, the USACE finished removing all floodwaters-a total of 250 billion gallons -from the city of New Orleans. In response to the catastrophic levee failures, USACE issued new guidelines in levee building in 2018.

The Louisiana Superdome, which sustained 32.5 million in damages when Katrina's winds peeled off sections of its roof, took 13 months to renovate.

One of the most daunting post-Katrina challenges was the rebuilding of homes and neighborhoods. To assist with this effort, the Make It Right Foundation was formed by actor-philanthropist Brad Pitt in 2007. The nonprofit was meant to build 150 sustainable, storm-resistant homes for residents of the decimated Lower Ninth Ward. However, only 109 homes were completed before Make It Right was struck with a series of lawsuits for supposedly using defective materials, among other complaints.

Today, more than fifteen years post-Katrina, New Orleans' population still hasn't fully recovered-it stands at 86% of its pre-Hurricane Katrina levels. Four neighborhoods, including the Lower Ninth Ward, where, as reported by NPR, only about 37% of households have returned, still have less than half the population they had prior to Katrina.

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Hurricane Katrina was one of three Category 5 hurricanes to spin up during the overactive 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Unknown at the time, it would also be the first of two major hurricanes to strike the same stretch of Louisiana coastline within the span of one month.

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Hurricane Katrina: Timeline of a Tragedy

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