| 1600 | Spanish colonists made diversions in New Mexico on the Rio Grande and other streams. |
| 1634 | One of the first American water power projects at Lower Falls, Neponset River, Massachusetts, was completed. |
| 1824 | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began water project development on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. |
| 1868 | Compaction in earthfill construction first recommended. |
| 1874 | Failure of the Mill River Dam in Massachusetts due to uncontrolled seepage. |
| 1889 | Failure of South Fork Dam in the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania due to overtopping. |
| 1913 | W. E. Fuller proposes a flood frequency formula for flood estimation. |
| January 27, 1916 | Failure of Lower Otay Dam in San Diego, California due to flood overtopping. |
| June 29, 1925 | Failure of Sheffield Dam in Santa Barbara, California due to seismic forces. |
| March 12, 1928 | Failure of St. Francis Dam in Los Angeles County, California focuses public scrutiny on safety of dams in the U.S. |
| 1933 | The Procter test revolutionized the design and construction of earthfills. |
| 1965 | The Federal Power Commission issued Order No. 315 defining the responsibilities of power licensees to ensure safe construction and operation of dams. |
| August 8, 1972 | Public attention to the hazards created by water reservoirs after the February 26, 1972 failure of a mine tailings embankment at Buffalo Creek, West Virginia led to the enactment of the National Dam Inspection Act (Public Law 92-367). |
| May, 1975 | The Army Corps of Engineers issued a report, "National Program of Inspection of Dams" including an inventory of U.S. dams and inspection guidelines. |
| June 5, 1976 | Failure of Teton Dam in Idaho due to internal erosion. This failure led to widespread review by federal agencies regarding dam inspection, evaluation, and modification. |
| November 6, 1977 | Failure of the Kelly Barnes Lake Dam in Toccoa, Georgia. There were 39 fatalities due to the resulting flood. |
| 1979 | Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety was published. |
| 1982 | U.S. Committee on Large Dams (USCOLD) passed a resolution urging state governments to give high priority to enacting dam safety legislation and to allocating resources to dam supervision. |
| 1984 | Morgan Hill earthquake near San Jose, California brought new attention to dam safety. |
| 1985 | National Research Council issued the report "Safety of Dams: Flood and Earthquake Criteria." |
| 1985 | The Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) became active. The Interagency Committee on Dam Safety (ICODS) formed. |
| 1994 | National Performance of Dams Program (NPDP) officially started. |
| October 12, 1996 | The Water Resources Development Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-303) was signed into law by President Clinton. A National Dam Safety Program was established (Section 215 of Public Law 104-303). |