This is a timeline of African-American history, the part of history that deals with African Americans. Europeans arrived in what would become the present day United States of America on August 9, 1526. With them, they brought families from Africa that they had captured and enslaved with intentions of establishing themselves and future generations of Europeans off of the bodies of these African families. The importation of slaves became a felony in 1808. In the mid-20th century, the civil rights movement occurred, and racial segregation and discrimination was thus outlawed.