From Columbus's 1492 voyage and St. Augustine to Jamestown, Plymouth, the Great Migration, Bacon's Rebellion, the Pueblo Revolt, and Salem.
Golden rules (General American pronunciation): vowels and silent or glide letters (w, h, y) carry no digit · silent letters are ignored (knife /naɪf/ → 28) · doubled letters count once (bell → 95, hammer → 34) · sound, never spelling, decides.
| Date | Event | Peg word | IPA | Digits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1492 | Christopher Columbus reaches the Caribbean, inaugurating the Columbian Exchange | ribbon /ˈɹɪbən/ | /ˈɹɪbən/ | 492 |
| 1565 | Spanish establish St. Augustine in Florida, oldest continuously inhabited European-founded city in the continental United States | owl +shell /aʊl/ + /ʃɛl/ | /aʊl/ + /ʃɛl/ | 565 |
| 1607 | Founding of Jamestown, Virginia, first permanent English settlement in North America | shoe +sock /ʃu/ + /sɑk/ | /ʃu/ + /sɑk/ | 607 |
| 1619 | Virginia House of Burgesses holds its first assembly and the first enslaved Africans arrive at Point Comfort, Virginia | shoe +tub /ʃu/ + /tʌb/ | /ʃu/ + /tʌb/ | 619 |
| 1620 | Pilgrims settle Plymouth and sign the Mayflower Compact | chain +saw /ˈtʃeɪn/ + /sɑ/ | /ˈtʃeɪn/ + /sɑ/ | 620 |
| 1630 | John Winthrop leads the Puritan Great Migration to Massachusetts Bay ("City upon a Hill") | shoe +moose /ʃu/ + /muːs/ | /ʃu/ + /muːs/ | 630 |
| 1676 | Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia and the climax of King Philip's War (Metacom's War) in New England | shoe +cage /ʃu/ + /keɪdʒ/ | /ʃu/ + /keɪdʒ/ | 676 |
| 1680 | Pueblo Revolt (Popé's Rebellion) expels Spanish settlers from New Mexico for twelve years | shoe +vase /ʃu/ + /veɪ̯s/ | /ʃu/ + /veɪ̯s/ | 680 |
| 1692 | Salem witch trials in Massachusetts Bay Colony | sheep +hen /ˈʃiːp/ + /hɛn/ | /ˈʃiːp/ + /hɛn/ | 692 |
1492 — On a sunlit Caribbean beach as Columbus steps ashore, a long crimson satin ribbon coils across the white sand between wooden caravels and palms, tying two worlds together in the Columbian Exchange. (ɹ·b·n → 492)
1565 — At dusk outside the coquina walls of St. Augustine, a sharp-eyed owl perches on a driftwood post beside a large fluted scallop shell resting on the Florida sand. (l → 5 · ʃ·l → 65)
1607 — Inside the timber palisade of Jamestown on the muddy James River bank, a settler sets one low-cut buckled leather shoe beside a thick knitted wool sock drying on a wooden post. (ʃ → 6 · s·k → 07)
1619 — On the timber wharf at Point Comfort as Virginia's first assembly gathers nearby, a low-cut leather shoe rests beside a wide shallow coopered wooden wash tub filled with clear water. (ʃ → 6 · t·b → 19)
1620 — On the rocky shore of Plymouth Harbor as the Pilgrims seal the Mayflower Compact, a heavy iron anchor chain lies coiled next to a carpenter's steel saw ready to build the first shelters. (tʃ·n → 62 · s → 0)
1630 — On a grassy ridge overlooking Massachusetts Bay, John Winthrop's low-cut Puritan shoe stands beside a towering dark bull moose gazing down toward the rising "City upon a Hill." (ʃ → 6 · m·s → 30)
1676 — In a tense frontier clearing as Bacon's Rebellion and King Philip's War shake the colonies, a muddy colonial shoe sits beside an empty wrought-iron cage with its barred door swung open. (ʃ → 6 · k·dʒ → 76)
1680 — Beneath the sun-baked adobe mesas of New Mexico during the Pueblo Revolt, a dusty colonial shoe sits beside a tall painted ceramic vase standing unbroken in the desert sun. (ʃ → 6 · v·s → 80)
1692 — In a quiet pasture beside Salem Village during the 1692 trials, a plump white woolly sheep grazes calmly next to a speckled brown laying hen settled in her straw nest. (ʃ·p → 69 · n → 2)