1682: In 1682 René-Robert Cavelier claimed the area first when he named all the territory drained by the Mississippi River and its tributaries for France, naming it the Louisiana Territory.

1803: In the year 1803, the area that is now Nebraska was bought as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

1804-1806: American explorers Lewis and Clark sail along the Missorui River on their way to the Pacific.

1824: The U.S. Government establishes Fort Atkinson to protect the region's fur trade.

1840s: Thousands of settlers travel through Nebraska on the Oregon and Mormon Trails. Chimney Rock in western Nebraska becomes a well-known landmark.

1842: John C. Fremont and Kit Carson complete exploration of the Platte River Valley.

1854: The Kansas-Nebraska Act established boundaries between the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Both territories were authorized to decide for themselves concerning the issue of slavery.

1854: The settlement of Omaha is founded by Iowa land speculators.

1861: Establishment of the Colorado and Dakota Territories reduces the size of the Nebraska Territory.

1867: Nebraska is admitted as the 37th state and the capital is moved from Omaha to Lincoln. The name of the Nebraska capital was changed to Lincoln by officials in Omaha because they thought it would anger the state's slavery adovcates who wanted to move the capital from Omaha.

1867: Union-Pacific Railroad is built through the state, opening it up to mass settlement (in conjunction with the Homestead Act of 1867 which offered free land.)

1872: Arbor Day is established as an American holiday in Nebraska City.

1892: The first National Convention of the Populist Party is held in Omaha. The party was formed, in part, by associations of farmers who had been hit hard by drought and depression, and who wanted to align themselves with farmers in the south and industrial workers in the east.

1920: Kool-Aid is invented in Hastings.