1. The first permanent English settlement in North America was Jamestown, Virginia, founded in 1607.
2. The Mayflower Compact, signed in 1620 by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower ship, is considered the first written constitution in America.
3. The first African slaves were brought to the English colonies in 1619.
4. The first successful representative assembly in America was the House of Burgesses in Virginia, established in 1619.
5. The first college in America was Harvard University, founded in 1636.
6. The first printing press in America was established in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1638.
7. The first public library in America was established in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1653.
8. The first newspaper in America was published in Boston in 1690.
9. The first post office in America was established in Boston in 1691.
10. The first intercolonial congress, the Albany Plan of Union, was held in 1754 to coordinate the defense of the British colonies against the French.
11. The first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts in 1775.
12. The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, declared the colonies' independence from Great Britain.
13. The Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, were adopted in 1781.