1498—English explorer John Cabot sails along Massachusetts coast
1620—Pilgrims built the Plymouth Colony
1630—Puritans founded Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston
1635—Harvard, the nation’s first college, is founded
1676—The end of King Philip’s War
1691—Both colonies in Massachusetts are united under England
1692—Witchcraft trials held in Salem
1770—The Boston Massacre
1773—The Boston Tea Party
1775—Battles at Lexington and Concord start the Revolutionary War
1780—The Massachusetts Constitution if adopted
1788—Massachusetts becomes the 6th state
1815—Francis Lowell opens the first textile mill in Waltham
1876—Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
1912—Textile workers go on strike in Lawrence
1959—The first nuclear surface ship, Long Beach, is launched at Quincy
1974—Federal court orders the integration of Boston public schools