may 14, 1607 - Colony of Jamestown founded

Description:

The first permanent English settlement in the New World, Jamestown, was founded by John Smith of the Virginia Company for the purposes of finding gold. It was mainly composed of the poor who had fled England because of discrimination. 104 settlers arrived in 1607. They suffered from a variety of diseases, including malaria, typhoid, and dysentery. Their numbers rose to 400 in 1609 after a new shipment of colonists, but was succeeded by a harsh winter referred to as the "starving time," in which all but 65 settlers died. Smith ruled with an iron fist to keep the colonists working so that they may have had enough to eat, but was forced to leave after being injured in a gunpowder explosion.

Nevertheless, it would go on to become a successful town until its destruction in 1676.