There are more detailed timelines in the Links section below.

1497 – John Cabot sails up the coast of Massachusetts.

1620 – The Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth and establish the first permanent English settlement.

1621 – The Pilgrims hold the first “Thanksgiving Festival.”

1629 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony is founded.

1691 – The Province of Massachusetts is formed when the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Plymouth Colony combine.

1692 – Nineteen people are put to death for witchcraft during the Salem witchcraft trials.

1770 – Five Boston colonists are shot by British troops in the Boston Massacre.

1773 – Colonists in Boston dump crates of tea into the harbor in the Boston Tea Party.

1775 – The Revolutionary War begins with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

1788 – Massachusetts becomes the sixth state of the United States.

1820 – Maine separates from Massachusetts to become the 23rd state.

1961 – John F. Kennedy becomes the 35th President of the United States.

1987 – The “Big Dig” construction project begins in Boston.