View fuller explanations of each item by clicking on the linked terms (underlined). Access summary paragraphs and more detailed graphs of each century by clicking "More." These timelines are under construction and will be continually revised and updated.
1492 Christopher Columbus lands at Hispaniola
1537 Alvar Cabeza de Vaca publishes account of expedition to Gulf Coast
1571 Fr. Juan Segura and companions killed near Jamestown
1597 Franciscan martyrs killed on coast of Georgia
1634 Catholic settlers arrive in Maryland
1646 St. Isaac Jogues and companions killed by Iroquois
1673 Fr. Marquette and Joliet undertake Mississippi expedition
1676 Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha converts to Catholicism
1711 Fr. Eusebio Kino dies in Arizona
1769 Fr. Junipero Serra founds first California mission at San Diego
1776 Charles Carroll of Carrollton signs Declaration of Independence
1789 John Carroll consecrated first Catholic bishop of United States
1790 Mathew Carey publishes first American edition of Douay-Reims bible
1793 Fr. Stephen Badin first priest ordained in U.S.
1808 Dioceses of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Bardstown created
1815 Trusteeism controversy begins
1818 St. Phillipine Duchesne and Sacred Heart Sisters arrive in New Orleans
1834 Charlestown convent burned
1852 St. John Neumann becomes bishop of Philadelphia
1858 Fr. Isaac Hecker founds Paulist Fathers
1868 Fr. Pierre de Smet brokers a peace with Sioux in Dakota Territory
1889 St. Frances Cabrini arrives in U.S.
1891 St. Katharine Drexel founds Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
1908 US removed from jurisdiction of Propaganda Fide (ends mission status)
1918 Knute Rockne becomes head coach of Notre Dame football team
1919 National Catholic Welfare Council formed
1926 Fr. Virgil Michel founds liturgy journal Orate Fratres
1927 Fr. Daniel Lord assists production of feature film King of Kings
1928 Al Smith wins Democratic nomination for president, loses general election
1933 Dorothy Day publishes Catholic Worker
1937 Association of Catholic Trade Unionists founded
1939 Card. Francis Spellman named archbishop of New York
1944 GI Bill passes, enabling college education for working-class Catholics
1946 Clare Booth Luce converts to Catholicism
1948 Thomas Merton publishes Seven Storey Mountain
1952 Abp. Fulton Sheen's Life is Worth Living debuts on ABC
1956 Thomas Dooley publishes Deliver Us From Evil
1960 John F. Kennedy elected president of the US
1962 Abp. Joseph Rummel integrates New Orleans Catholic schools
1967 Catholic educators issue Land o' Lakes Statement
1968 Pope Paul VI issues Humanae Vitae, American theologians protest
1972 Phyllis Schlafly begins campaign against Equal Rights Amendment
1975 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton canonized (first native-born US citizen)
1984 The US government establishes diplomatic relations with Holy See