Ellis Island Time line Compiled by Matthew Bunson
1620s
-Finding oyster beds near the future Ellis Island, Dutch settlers name it "Oyster Island."
-Salem is founded on Massachusetts Bay by fifty colonists.
-Bubonic Plague kills half the population of Lyons, France, later ravaging much of northern Italy.
1760s
-After the execution of pirates on the island, including one named Anderson, it is known as "Gibbet Island."
1765
-The Stamp Act is passed by British Parliament in 1765 to defray he costs of troops stationed in the colonies.
-Independence is won in the American Revolution, 1775-1783.
1785
-Samuel Ellis, owner of the island, tries unsuccessfully to sell the property, although New York will buy it, after his death, in 1807.
-The dollar is declared the official currency of the United States.
1808
-The United States Government buys Ellis Island from New York for $10,000.
-Congress outlaws importation of slaves, although trade continues illegally.
-Napoleon invades Spain, starting the Peninsular War (1808-1814).
1813
-Ellis Island houses Fort Gibson (named after the Battle of Lake Erie hero), housing large amounts of ammunition.
-The term "Uncle Sam" is coined, in an editorial in the Troy (New York) Post on September 7.
-Napoleon defeated at the Battle of Leipzig by combined allied armies.
1847
-Ellis Island is first proposed as a depot to house thousands of Irish immigrants, although Castle Garden is chosen, and serves as depot until 1890.
-The United States receives the First Wave of immigrants fleeing troubles in Europe (the Second Wave lasts from 1890 1924.)
-Ireland is in the grip of the Potato Famine; over one million die.
1861
-Fort Gibson is dismantled and Ellis Island becomes the island's official name.
-America's Civil War begins at Fort Sumter.
-Tsar Alexander II of Russia emancipates the serfs, yet their condition remains desperate.
1890
-The Federal government establishes the Bureau of Immigration and selects Ellis Island as the site for construction of a new Federal immigration station for the port of New York.
-The Battle of Wounded Knee in South Dakota results in the massacre of hundreds of American Indian men, women, and children.
-In London, the first electric underground railway is put into service, costing two pence a journey.
1892
-The immigration station on Ellis Island is opened on January 1.
-Financier J.P. Morgan organizes the creation of the General Electric Company.
1897
-Fire destroys the original wooden buildings on Ellis Island.
-The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, largest hotel in the world, is opened By John Jacob Astor IV.
1900
-The Ellis Island Immigration Center reopens in its present Beaux-Arts style, designed by the architectural firm of Boring and Tilton.
-U.S. Troops help to suppress the Boxer Rebellion in China.
-The Trans-Siberian Railway opens, connecting Moscow with Irkutsk.
1907
-In a single day, 11,747 immigrants pass through Ellis Island.
-Women in Norway are granted suffrage. (American women are granted the Right to vote in 1920.)
1924
-The tide of immigrants through Ellis Island begins to wane.
Congress passes a law making all American Indians U.S. citizens.
-Lenin dies in Russia, succeeded by a triumvirate that includes Josef Stalin.
1943
-Ellis Island is used as a detention center for enemy aliens.
-Allied forces invade southern Italy after taking Sicily.
1954
-Ellis Island is officially closed and offered for bid. More than 12 million immigrants have passed through Ellis Island since 1892.
-The U.S. Supreme Court declares racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
-French Foreign Legion troops and pro-French Vietnamese are defeated at Dien Bien Phu by the forces of Ho Chih Minh.
1965
-Ellis Island becomes part of the National Park Service.
-President Lyndon B. Johnson unveils his "Great Society" program to end poverty in the U.S.
-The People's Republic of China is gripped by the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution," instituted by Mao Tse-tung.
1974
-The Restore Ellis Island Committee is formed to raise funds for renovation.
-President Richard Nixon resigns and is replaced by Gerald Ford.
-Famine induced by severe droughts threatens millions of Africans.
1983
-Restoration of the main building on Ellis Island is begun.
-Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, on the Space Shuttle Challenger.
-Lech Walesa, head of the Polish labor union Solidarity, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1990
-The Ellis Island Immigration Museum opens on September 10.
United States forces are sent to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Desert Shield.
-Communism collapses in Eastern Europe, and the "Cold War" ends.
1992
-Ellis Island celebrates its centennial.
1998
-Landmark Supreme Court decision in dispute over Ellis Island ownership between New York and New Jersey.