Colonists wage and win a guerilla war for American independence from England
Along the U.S. Atlantic Coast and the West Indies, an undeclared war with France begins; the U.S. wins 9 of 10 naval encounters.
Tripoli (now Libya) declares war on the U.S.; the U.S. responds by blockading and then invading Tripoli.
Across Indiana and Michigan, U.S. forces, led by Tecumseh defeat Native Americans and burn a city, Prophetstown.
The U.S. wars with Great Britain over freedom of the seas, capture of seamen, and a blockade of U.S. ports. Battles were fought in and around Lake Erie; New Orleans, Louisiana; and the nation's capital.
Following Native American raids in Florida, U.S. forces destroy Seminole villages and break tribal resistance.
In the first U.S. armed intervention in Asia, the U.S. retaliates against an attack on a U.S. merchant vessel, killing 100 Sumatrans and burning the town of Quallah Battoo, located in what is now Indonesia.
In Illinois and Wisconsin, Sac and Fox tribes under Sac leader Black Hawk attack white settlers, but are defeated at the Battle of Bad Axe.
Texas settlers revolt against Mexico.
In Florida, American troops clash with Native Americans led by Osceola; the Seminole people are reduced to 350 in number by 1842.
The U.S. fights an undeclared war with England over Maine's boundaries. Approximately 10,000 troops camp along the Aroostook River in a conflict without casualties.
The U.S. declares war against Mexico; the war ends with Mexico ceding all rights to Texas, and the U.S. purchase of New Mexico and California.
In Washington state, Cayuse destroy the intrusive mission of Marcus Whitman, blaming the missionaries for a smallpox outbreak. In addition to Whitman, his wife, and their helpers, 14 Native Americans are killed. The U.S. military forces the Cayuse to surrender and hangs five people.
Brigadier General William S. Harney subdues Billy Bowlegs and other Seminole warriors in Florida.
Conflict erupts in Kansas between pro- and anti-slavery forces, including John Brown; federal troops quell the fighting.
The U.S. Army subdues Mormons who refuse to obey federal law in Utah.
Americans go to war over slavery and the attempted secession of southern states from the United States.
After merchants are killed in Korea, the U.S. kills 250 Koreans in battle; a treaty is secured in 1882.
Apache leaders Geronimo and Victorio raid white settlers and soldiers in Arizona; Geronimo surrenders in 1886.
In California and Oregon, U.S. cavalry fight to return the Modoc people and their leader, Kintpuash (known to whites as Captain Jack), to an Oregon reservation; Kintpuash is hanged and the Modoc are exiled to Oklahoma.
Gold in South Dakota brings in whites to Sioux land. Colonel George A. Custer and 264 soldiers are killed at Little Bighorn; subsequently, the U.S. Army destroys Indian resistance.
Across Idaho, Oregon, and the Washington border, the U.S. moves against the previously peaceful Nez Percé people in the Northwest; Chief Joseph leads a skillful retreat towards Canada, but is caught.
Native Americans of the Bannock tribe attack white settlers in Idaho before they suffer heavy losses and are forced back to Fort Hall Reservation.
The U.S. apprehends Sioux leader Sitting Bull, who is killed when followers try to free him. The Sioux surrender but are massacred at Wounded Knee in South Dakota, in this final fight between Native Americans and the U.S. Army.
U.S. Marines land in the kingdom of Hawaii to aid the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani.
U.S. victories against Spain lead to the Treaty of Paris, which establishes the independence of Cuba, and cedes Puerto Rico and Guam to the U.S.. The U.S. also purchases the Philippines for $20 million.
Marines arrive in Nicaragua to bolster the government of Adolfo Diaz; the last marines depart in 1934.
After U.S. Marines are arrested at Tampico, U.S. forces bombard Veracruz, Mexico, and occupy the city.
U.S. Marines occupy Haiti after a civil war; a treaty between the U.S. and the Haitian Senate makes the island nation a virtual U.S. protectorate. Troops withdraw in 1934.
The U.S. military invades Northern Mexico to capture Mexican Pancho Villa, who had raided New Mexico, killing 18; U.S. forces numbering 11,000 withdraw, unable to capture Villa.
The U.S. ends three years of neutrality in the European conflict, declaring war on Germany. An armistice is declared November 11, 1918.
The U.S. and other Allied troops invade Russia to protect war supplies during the Russian Revolution.
One hundred Marines land in Shanghai to defend U.S. property during a civil war there.
The U.S. enters World War II after Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor in Hawaii; in 1945, Germany and Japan surrender to Allied forces
The U.S. battles North Korean soldiers and then Chinese soldiers in Korea before an armistice is signed in 1953.
The U.S. 7th Fleet helps Nationalist Chinese evacuate 25,000 troops and 17,000 civilians from China to Taiwan to escape victorious Communist forces.
In 1955, U.S. advisers are sent to Vietnam; in 1964 Congress authorizes President Lyndon B. Johnson to "repel any armed attack" in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. A cease-fire is declared in 1973.
A CIA-backed invasion of Cuba fails.
President John F. Kennedy orders 5,000 troops to Thailand to support the right-wing Laotian government.
Marines invade the Dominican Republic at the start of a civil war; troops withdraw in 1966.
A U.S. merchant ship is rescued from Cambodians by U.S. Navy and Marines off the coast of Cambodia.
A military mission to free American hostages in Iran fails.
U.S. Marines and Rangers remove U.S. medical students from Grenada.
U.S. war planes strike Libya in retaliation for the Libyan bombing of a West Berlin disco.
The U.S. leads a multi-nation coalition against Iraq after that country invades Kuwait; Iraq surrenders.
U.S. troops go to Somalia to help restore order and deliver food during a period of unrest and famine.
The U.S. Army sends troops to Haiti in September 1994 to help restore a democratic government.
The United States bombs Bosnia to prevent "ethnic cleansing" by Serbs in that region and then sends troops to Bosnia to join a NATO peacekeeping force there, as well as in other Balkan areas including Macedonia and Kosovo.
A minute-by-minute account, on both sides of the Pacific, leading up to the surprise attack on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Ten years after American troops arrived in South Vietnam, communists seized Saigon in an attack that brought the war to a startling conclusion.
Insurmountable odds. Unforgiving conditions. Unyielding courage.
A nation comes of age
An American Communist family that had fled to Moscow in the late 1920s, return to America in 1935 but can not bring their 5-year-old son.
Winner, 2010 Peabody Award --- The 1968 My Lai massacre, its subsequent cover-up, and the soldiers who broke ranks to bring the atrocity to light.
The Alaskan Highway stands today as one of the boldest homeland security initiatives ever undertaken.
The international race to develop biological weapons during the 20th century.