1786: Fanners in Massachusetts, burdened by the debt of the Revolutionary War, participated in Shays' Rebellion in order to protest against having to pay the colonial government with cash. The rebellion was fairly small-scale— rebels broke up a session of the state Supreme Court and tried unsuccessfully to take the state arsenal—but symbolically it was reminiscent of the uprising against oppression that led to the foundation of the country. The rebellion was one of the most glaring proofs that the Articles of Confederation that then governed the United States were inadequate: the following year the Constitution was drafted.

1990s: Twenty-seven amendments have been added to the Constitution, representing very little change needed in a document written over two hundred years ago.

1786: Inventor Ezekiel Reed developed a machine that could produce nails. Previously, all buildings were held together with wooden pegs or handmade nails.

1990s...