Did You Know? North Carolina

Important Dates in North Carolina History

1587 Birth of Virginia Dare, first child born of English parents in America

Blackbeard the Pirate1663 Carolina Charter issued by Charles II—our “birth certificate”

1718 Blackbeard the pirate killed near Ocracoke Inlet

1776 (12 April) Halifax Resolves, first formal sanction of American independence

1789 North Carolina ratifies the Constitution

1789 Chartering of University of North Carolina, first state university

1836 Edward B. Dudley becomes first North Carolina governor elected by popular vote

1839 First public school law in North Carolina

1856 Completion of the North Carolina Railroad

1861 (May 20) Secession convention takes North Carolina out of the Union

1865 (March 17–20) Battle of Bentonville, last major battle of the Civil War

1865 (April 26) Last major Confederate army surrenders at Bennett house in present-day Durham County

1874 Reynolds and Duke establish tobacco factories

1898 Wilmington Race Riot

1900 North Carolina Literary and Historical Association established

1903 Wright brothers achieve powered flight

1921 First commercial radio broadcast (WBT)

1948 First commercial television broadcast (WBTV)

Henry Frye became the first African American elected to the N.C. House of Representatives in the twentieth century. He served for 12 years and then served two years in the N.C. Senate. In 1983 he became the first African American to serve on the N.C. Supreme Court and in 1999 was appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. 1954 With Brown v. Board of Education, U.S. Supreme Court declares public school segregation unconstitutional

1958 Research Triangle Park established

1960 First lunch counter sit-in occurs in Greensboro

1962 Susie Sharp becomes first woman on the North Carolina Supreme Court

1977 Governor authorized to succeed himself

1983 Henry E. Frye becomes first African American on the North Carolina Supreme Court

1997 Governor obtains veto power

2008 Beverly E. Perdue becomes North Carolina's first female governor.

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Content created by the Research Branch, Office of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. Revised January 2009 by the North Carolina Museum of History. North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Treasure N.C. Culture North Carolina Museum of History