What's your country before and after?

If we're talking about other important dates in US history

March 5, 1770 - Boston Massacre: During a time of resentment amongst colonists, an angry mob harassed some British soldiers in Boston. Said soldiers panicked and fired on the crowd. While the soldiers were ultimately acquitted of murder charges, propaganda at the time depicted the incident as a deliberate act of cold-blooded murder, and all in all, it dramatically escalated tensions in the Thirteen Colonies.

April 19, 1775 - Battle of Lexington and Concord: British and American forces exchange fire for the first time, starting the Revolutionary War and ending any prospect of a peaceful resolution to the crisis in the 13 Colonies.

July 4, 1776 - Declaration of Independence: The United States officially declares independence from the Great Britain.

March 4, 1789 - Current constitution goes into effect

April 12, 1861 - Bombardment of Fort Sumter: Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, starting the American Civil War.

October 24, 1929 - Black Thursday: The New York Stock Exchange crashes, starting the Great Depression.

December 7th, 1941 - Pearl Harbor bombed: After two years of pacifist policy, America is dragged kicking and screaming into WW2.

August 6, 1945 - Hiroshima nuked: The US, and by extension, the entire world, enters a grim new era of warfare. After Nagasaki is nuked three days later, Japan surrenders soon afterwards.

February 9, 1950 - Beginning of McCarthyist Era: Backbench senator Joseph McCarthy delivers a speech accusing several members of the US State Department (our foreign ministry) of being communist sympathizers, starting an era of paranoia and fear of communist subversion that has serious consequences for American political discourse to this day.

November 22, 1963 - John F Kennedy assassinated

June 17, 1972 - Watergate Scandal begins: Several burglars are caught and arrested attempting to break into the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. The resulting attempted cover-up and scandal would lead to president Richard Nixon resigning in 1974.

April 20, 1999 - Columbine High School massacre: Two armed students kill twelve of their classmates and a teacher at their high school in Littleton, Colorado. The incident sparks a national debate on gun control (and a sad string of similar incidents of death and atrocity) that continues today.

September 11, 2001 - Nuff said.

/r/AskEurope Thread