Summary

• In ancient times, the eastern half of the state was underwater, and giant megalodon sharks roamed the waters. On land, there were woolly mammoths and mastodons. It is believed that the first Native Americans inhabited the New World 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Eventually, nearly 30 Native American groups settled across the state.
  
  
• In the 1580s, the British established two colonies in North Carolina, both of which failed. In the 1600s permanent settlers from Virginia began to move to North Carolina, and it eventually became part of a British colony known as "Carolina."
  
  
• Many people believe that in 1775 North Carolina became the first colony to declare independence from Great Britain. After the American Revolution, North Carolina became the twelfth state of the Union.
  
  
• In 1861, North Carolina seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy in the Civil War. In 1865, North Carolina troops surrendered, leaving the state to be brought back into the Union in 1868.
  
  
• The 20th century saw North Carolina transformed into a modern state, a transformation that began when the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.
  

Prior to 1500
Approximately 30 Native American tribes are scattered across North Carolina. Chief among these are the Cherokee, the Catawba, the Tuscarora, and the Croatans. Native Americans build the Town Creek Indian Mound.

1524
Giovanni de Varrazano is the first European to visit North Carolina.

1540
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto explores the southwestern part of the state in search of gold.

1584-1585
Sir Walter Raleigh sends several shiploads of people to establish the New World's first English colony on North Carolina's Roanoke Island.

1586
The colonists are forced to return to England due to hardships.

1587
July 2: John White establishes a second English colony at Roanoke.
August 18: Virginia Dare is born, becoming the first English child christened on American soil.
August 22: White returns to England for more supplies.

1590
White returns to Roanoke to find that the settlers have all disappeared. The word "CROATOAN" is found carved into a tree. The fate of "The Lost Colony" remains one of the state's most enduring mysteries.

1655
Nathaniel Batts becomes the first European man to permanently settle in North Carolina.

1705
Bath, the first town in North Carolina, is built.

1711-1713
The Tuscarora War between Native Americans and European settlers. After two years of fighting a number of military expeditions, the Tuscarora ended the war, marking the last significant effort by eastern Indians to stop the wave of white settlers crowding them out of their land. 

1718
Blackbeard the pirate is killed off the North Carolina coast.

1767-1770
Tryon Palace is built in New Bern, becoming North Carolina's colonial capitol building.

1774
The women of Edenton, led by Penelope Barker, take on British rule by putting down their tea cups in what becomes known as the Edenton Tea Party.

1776
February 27: The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge is the first battle of the American Revolution to be fought in North Carolina.
April 12: North Carolina becomes the first state to vote in favor of independence.

1789
November 21: North Carolina becomes the 12th state of the United States of America.
December 11: The University of North Carolina is chartered, becoming the first public school in the United States.

1794
The capital of North Carolina, which had previously been located in New Bern, is moved to Raleigh.

1799
The first gold nugget is found in the United States at Reed Gold Mine in Cabarrus County.

1804
The "Walton War" is fought between residents of Georgia and North Carolina.

1828
North Carolina Native Andrew Jackson becomes the 7th president of the United States.

1830s
The U. S. government forces Cherokee Indians from their homes in what becomes known as the "Trail of Tears." Many Cherokee hide in the mountains of North Carolina.

1831
Workmen attempting to fireproof the roof of the State Capitol ironically end up setting the building aflame.

1836
After years of having governors elected by the state senate, Edward B. Dudley becomes the first popularly elected governor of North Carolina.

1840
The first public schools open in North Carolina, based on a plan that had been drafted in 1817.
The new State Capitol is completed.

1845
James Polk becomes the 11th president of the United States.

1853
The first North Carolina State Fair is held.

1861
May 20: North Carolina leaves the Union. Instead of voting to secede from the United States, as other states did, North Carolina voted to "undo" the act that had brought it into the United States.

1861-1865
The United States Civil War. Some 40,000 North Carolinians are killed over the course of the war.


1865
March 19-21: The Battle of Bentonville becomes the bloodiest battle fought in North Carolina. The Confederates are defeated by Union troops.
April 26: A large number of Confederates surrender at Bennett Place, outside of Durham, North Carolina.
May 6: The last Confederate troops in North Carolina surrender.
April 15: Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th president of the United States.

1866
Tuscarora Indian Henry Berry Lowrie leads a revolt in Robeson County, becoming a folk hero to many Native Americans. Six years later, he mysteriously disappears.


1868
July 4: North Carolina is readmitted to the Union.


1877
The last federal reoccupation troops leave North Carolina.
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture is created.

1878
A Cherokee reservation is formed in Western North Carolina, providing protection for those Native Americans who lived in that area.


Late 1800s
The textile and furniture industries grow rapidly in North Carolina.


1897
The first bill to give women the right to vote in North Carolina is proposed, but is sent to a committee on insane asylums and is never passed.

1903
The Wright brothers make man's first successful flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1917
The United States enters World War I. 

1918
Fort Bragg is established.

1920
The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution passes, giving women the right to vote across the country, including in North Carolina.

1920s
Tobacco becomes an important crop in North Carolina.

1929
The Great Depression begins.

1941
The United States enters World War II.

1943
Pembroke State College for Indians (now UNC-Pembroke) becomes the nation's first public four-year college for Native Americans.

1954
Hurricane Hazel, one of the most destructive hurricanes in state history, batters the Carolina coast.

1959
Research Triangle Park opens in between Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, ushering in an era of high-tech growth in North Carolina.

1950s-1960s
The Civil Rights Movement.

1960
Governor Terry Sanford starts his "Go Forward" program to improve education in North Carolina.
February 1: The first ever sit-in occurs in Greensboro, North Carolina, to protest segregation at a lunch counter. Within days, sit-ins are occurring across the state.

1960s
The North Carolina Fund, established by Governor Sanford, works to end poverty in North Carolina and becomes a model for programs across the nation.

1965-1973
Vietnam War.

1989
Hurricane Hugo strikes North Carolina, reaching as far inland as Charlotte, and doing major damage.

1993
The Smart Start program to improve school readiness begins. The program is looked upon as a national model.

1994
The Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina is ranked as the best place to live in the United States.

1996
Hurricane Fran strikes North Carolina, causing massive damage across the state.
Governor Jim Hunt is re-elected to a record 4th term.
Elaine F. Marshall becomes the first female to be elected Secretary of State in North Carolina.

1999
Hurricane Floyd slams into North Carolina, bringing with it flood waters that devastate many areas in the eastern part of the state.