1673 Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette are the first Europeans to visit Iowa.
1682 Robert de La Salle claims Iowa for France as part of the Louisiana Territory.
1788 The first permanent settlement is established in Dubuque.
1803 Iowa becomes part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase.
1804 Explorers Lewis and Clark travel through Iowa on their way to the Pacific Ocean.
1808 Fort Madison was established as a trading post for Indian trade.
1812 Iowa becomes part of the Missouri Territory.
1813 Fort Madison was abandoned after a series of Indian attacks.
1832 The Black Hawk War occurs.
1833 Bulington, Fort Madison, Peru and Bellevue were founded.
1838 The Iowa Territory is established.
1856 A train crosses the Mississippi at Davenport, the first to do so.
1846 Iowa is admitted to the Union becoming the 29th state.
1857 Des Moines becomes the capital city.
1884 Prohibition is adopted.
1928 Iowan Herbert Hoover is elected the 31st U.S. president.