U.S. National Park Service — Super Volcanoes

63 facts cite this source

History War & Conflict

In 1983, one Soviet officer's hunch may have stopped a nuclear war

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Earth & Climate Natural Disasters

A hurricane swallowed a Spanish treasure fleet off Florida

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History Modern

Abraham Lincoln was elected president, hastening the Civil War

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Technology Inventions

Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone

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History War & Conflict

Britain and France declared war on Russia

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History War & Conflict

British forces surrendered at Yorktown

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History Modern

Captain Cook becomes the first European to reach Hawaii

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History Modern

Colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor

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Geography Countries

Columbus reached Puerto Rico on his second voyage

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History War & Conflict

Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, ending the war in Virginia

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Society & Economy Politics & Law

Congress passed the women's suffrage amendment

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Nature & Animals Evolution

Dinosaurs ruled the Earth for over 150 million years

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History Modern

English settlers establish Jamestown, Virginia

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History War & Conflict

A submarine sinks a warship for the first time

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Society & Economy Economics

FDR was inaugurated amid the Great Depression

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History Modern

George Washington born in Virginia

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History Modern

George Washington was sworn in as the first US President

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Science Chemistry

Glass is made by melting sand, and lightning strikes can make it naturally

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History Modern

Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill, sparking the Gold Rush

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Earth & Climate Geology

The Grand Canyon becomes a national park

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History Modern

Jamestown colonists go ashore and begin building in Virginia

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History Modern

Juan Ponce de Leon sighted Florida and named it for Spain

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History War & Conflict

Mexican forces defeat the French at the Battle of Puebla

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Religion & Beliefs Major Religions

Mormon founder Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in Illinois

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Geography Landmarks & Wonders

Mount Rushmore was declared complete

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History Modern

Paul Revere made his midnight ride to warn of British troops

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History Modern

President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre

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History War & Conflict

South Carolina seceded from the Union

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History War & Conflict

The American Revolutionary War began at Lexington and Concord

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Society & Economy Politics & Law

Boston Latin School, the oldest US public school, was founded

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History Modern

The Boston Massacre inflamed colonial anger

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Technology Engineering

The Golden Gate Bridge opens, the world's longest suspension span

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Earth & Climate Natural Disasters

The Johnstown Flood kills more than 2,200 in Pennsylvania

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History Modern

The Louisiana Purchase transferred to the United States

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History War & Conflict

A border ambush opened the Mexican-American War

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Society & Economy Trade

The Pony Express began carrying mail across the American West

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Culture & Arts Art

The rainbow Pride flag was first flown

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History Modern

The Selma to Montgomery march set off under federal protection

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History Modern

The Seneca Falls Convention launched the women's rights movement

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Geography Landmarks & Wonders

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated

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Society & Economy Politics & Law

The Stonewall uprising sparked the gay rights movement

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Technology Transportation

The transcontinental railroad is completed at Promontory, Utah

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Geography Borders & Maps

The U.S. formally took possession of Alaska

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History War & Conflict

The U.S. won the Battle of Lake Erie

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Society & Economy Politics & Law

The US and USSR signed the START nuclear arms treaty

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Society & Economy Politics & Law

The US Supreme Court rules school segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board

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Culture & Arts Music

The Woodstock festival opened

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Nature & Animals Microbes

A Yellowstone hot-spring microbe made modern DNA testing possible

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Technology Inventions

Thomas Edison is born in Milan, Ohio

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Culture & Arts Film & TV

Thomas Edison was granted a patent for the Kinetographic Camera

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Culture & Arts Performing Arts

Walt Disney World opened in Florida

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Nature & Animals Reptiles & Amphibians

Wood frogs freeze solid all winter, then thaw back to life

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History War & Conflict

World War I ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day

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Geography Landmarks & Wonders

Yellowstone became the world's first national park

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Earth & Climate Natural Disasters

Yellowstone is a supervolcano whose last giant eruption ejected 1,000 cubic km of rock

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Earth & Climate Ecosystems

Returning wolves to Yellowstone may have helped regrow its riverbanks

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History Modern

The 1861 telegraph linked America coast to coast — and killed the Pony Express

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Earth & Climate Weather & Climate

The hottest air temperature ever was 56.7°C

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Nature & Animals Plants & Fungi

Hyperion, the tallest living tree, is a coast redwood

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Nature & Animals Plants & Fungi

Bristlecone pines are the oldest non-clonal living trees

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Nature & Animals Insects

No single monarch butterfly completes the migration

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Culture & Arts Film & TV

Early movie film could catch fire — and burn underwater

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Earth & Climate Natural Disasters

Volcanoes are ranked on a scale where each step is ten times bigger

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