1541 - Francisco Vasquez de Coronado first explored the region for Spain
1714 - Saint Denis from New Orleans ascended the Red River along the southern boundary of Oklahoma.
1717 - The Spanish under Padilla marched from the Spanish settlements on the Rio Grande across the Great Plains to punish the Comanche for making warfare on them. They fought a hard battle on the western border of Oklahoma and captured seven hundred prisoners.
1719 - French explorer Jean-Baptiste de la Harpe explores Oklahoma, claiming it for France.
Bernard de la Harpe, under direction of Governor Bienville at New Orleans, set out from Natchitoches on the Red River to explore the valley- of that stream. He passed over Southern and Southeastern Oklahoma.
1723 - New Orleans was proclaimed as the seat of government for the territory of Louisiana. Etienne Venyard du Bourgmount crossed Oklahoma, visiting the Pawnee, Kaw, Osage, Missouri, and then the Comanche on the Arkansas River in what is now Central Kansas. He loaded the Indians with presents in an effort to win their attachment to the French, thus beginning the rivalry with the Spanish for the Great Plains region.
1895 -May 23rd - the Kickapoo Land Run was held in central Oklahoma
1995 - Terrorist bomb blows up the Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, and injuring hundreds more
2011 - Tornadoes struck in several areas of the state, killing five
