| Year | Event | Year | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1884 | Harry S. Truman is born in Lamar, Missouri - May 8 | 1884 | Grover Cleveland is elected U.S. President. The Statue of Liberty's cornerstone is laid. |
| 1890 | Harry S. Truman's family moves to Independence, Missouri from grandparent's farm in Grandview. | 1890 | Idaho is admitted as the 43rd state. Wyoming is admitted as the 44th state. |
| 1892 | Enter elementary school in Independence, Missouri. | 1892 | Abraham Lincoln's birthday becomes an official national holiday. One of America's first successful automobiles is built - a horse-buggy powered by an engine. |
| 1900 | Serves as page at the Democratic National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri | 1900 | William Jennings Bryan wins the Democratic nomination. |
| 1901 | Graduates from high school and begins as a clerk for the Santa Fe Railroad | 1901 | President Wm. McKinley is assassinated. Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 25th President. |
| 1906 | Harry S. Truman moves to grandparents' farm and operates it until 1917. | 1906 | Susan B. Anthony, pioneer of the women's suffrage movement, dies in New York. |
| 1917 | Truman joins the army to fight in World War I; later promoted to lieutenant, captain, then major. | 1917 | USA enters war against Germany. Women are given the right to vote in New York. The first Congresswoman is seated in the House of Representatives. |
| 1919 | Harry S. Truman is discharged as a major; begins a men's clothing store with an army buddy; marries his childhood sweetheart, Bess Wallace. | 1919 | The 18th Amendment prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol is ratified. Navy seaplane makes the first air crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, taking 18 days. |
| 1920 | Haberdashery fails due to the troubled economy; it took Harry Truman 15 years to pay off his business debts. | 1920 | The 19th Amendment is passed giving women the right to vote in national elections. |
| 1922 | Serves as a Jackson County judge for one 2-year term; lost his bid for re-election. | 1922 | The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington D.C.. Alexander Graham Bell dies in Nova Scotia |
| 1924 | Daughter Mary Margaret is born to the Trumans. | 1924 | The U.S.S.R. adopts its constitution giving the Communist Party complete control of the government. Lenin dies. |
| 1926 | Serves as presiding judge supervising county road construction until 1934. | 1926 | Gertrude Ederle, a 19 year old American, becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 14 hours, 13 minutes. |
| 1934 | Harry Truman is elected to the U.S. Senate; in 1940 while Senator, Truman heads a committee to investigate wartime expenses; committee saves the federal government millions of dollars. | 1934 | Criminal careers of Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson come to an end. |
| 1944 | Harry S. Truman is elected Vice President of the United States. | 1944 | FDR is re-elected for a 4th term as President - a first in history. World War II continues. |
| 1945 | Harry S. Truman becomes the 33rd President upon the death of FDR. World War II is still being fought. | 1945 | Truman orders the use of the atomic bomb against Japan. Germany surrenders at Reims, Germany. Japan surrenders at Tokyo Bay, ending WWII. |
| 1946 | President Truman ends steel strike by using National Guard Troops. The United Nations is established. | 1946 | A radar beam from a U.S. Army lab is bounced off the moon, returning to earth in 2.4 seconds. The Philippine Islands is given full independence from the U.S. |
| 1948 | Philippines gives the U.S. 99-year leases on several military and naval bases. U.S. sends aid to Greece and Turkey. Program announced to check on the loyalty of U.S. government workers. Marshall Plan is proposed to assist European economic recovery. U.S. sends more than 18,000,000 tons of food to the starving throughout the world. Truman asks Congress to pass civil rights legislation and to study job discrimination. The White House is gutted and renovated. The first family lives in Blair House during renovation. Truman adds a balcony to the White House. | 1948 | Margaret Truman debuts as a singer with the Detroit Symphony. Jackie Robinson becomes the first black man to sign with a major league baseball team. Orville Wright dies in Ohio. The largest telescope in the world is dedicated at Mount Palomar Observatory in California. The Supreme Court rules that Oklahoma must provide equal educational facilities for the study of law to black and white students. |
| 1949 | President Truman signs a bill raising the annual presidential and vice presidential salaries. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is signed by 12 nations. | 1949 | The 17-month "Wilhelmstrasse" trial ends with the conviction of 19 of 21 Nazi officials for cruel acts during WWII. The minimum wage is raised from $.40 to $.75 per hour. |
| 1951 | Truman fires General MacArthur for insubordination. | Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death in Federal Court for conspiring to steal atomic secrets. | |
| 1952 | CIA is established. Truman announces that the Soviet Union has developed and tested the atomic bomb. Truman signs a bill to provide economic assistance to the Navajo and Hopi Indians. Truman seizes the steel mills. He signs a veteran's bill to provide educational and other benefits for Korean War veterans. Truman announces he will not run for a third term and begins plans for a Korean peace parley. | 1952 | The 22nd Amendment prohibiting any President from holding office more than two terms. U.S. Supreme Court upholds a New York state law banning public school teachers who are members of subversive organizations. Floods in Kansas and Missouri kill 41 and leave 200,000 homeless. Dwight David Eisenhower is elected President of the U.S. |
| 1953 | The Trumans return to Independence. President Truman writes and gives lectures. | 1953 | President Eisenhower becomes President. Conflict in Korea ends. |
| 1955 | Mr. Truman's book Memoirs is published. | 1955 | Scientist Albert Einstein, 76, dies |
| 1956 | Margaret marries Clifton Daniels. | 1956 | President Eisenhower wins re-election by a huge majority |
| 1957 | Harry S. Truman Library is dedicated. Mr. Truman works on "Mr. Citizen" in his retirement at the Library. | 1957 | The first atomic power plant in the U.S. begins to produce electric power. |
| 1960 | Truman published his book Mr. Citizen which told about his years as a former president. | 1960 | John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson are nominated for President and Vice President at the Democratic convention in Los Angeles. |
| 1965 | Truman High School, of Independence, Missouri, is dedicated to both President and Mrs. Truman. The class selected Patriots as its team name and red, white and blue as the school colors. Mr. Truman attends first graduation ceremonies. | 1965 | Doug Allen and Gary Krohm, part of the team that helped put this program together, were in that first graduating class of Truman High, and were fortunate to meet and shake hands with Mr. Truman at the graduation ceremony. |
| 1972 | Mr. Truman dies and is buried in the courtyard of the Truman Library following a military and Masonic funeral. | 1972 | Four men arrested in the break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate building complex. |
