This timeline is a chronology of significant events in the history of the U.S. State of Colorado and the historical area now occupied by the state. __NOTOC__
Timeline 2020s YearDateEvent2026August 1The State of Colorado celebrates the sequicentennial of its statehood. Colorado joined the Union on August 1, 1876, four weeks after the United States Centennial Celebration, to become the 38th U.S. state.July 28The Colorado Secretary of State declares that the Town of Hartman had been abandoned after all the town trustees had resigned.July 12Pilot Nicholas Dale dies as his Kaman K-1200 helicopter crashes into Silver Jack Reservoir while fighting the Gold Mountain Fire.June 29The Aspen Acres Fire ignites northwest of Rye, Colorado. Up to 1,934 firefighters attempt to control the wildfire which will destroy over 850 structures including 319 homes and burn to become the Colorado's eighth most extensive wildfire. On August 16, Henry Humphreys of Beulah drowned as a flash flood raged through the burn scar.June 27The Ferris Fire ignites northeast of Pleasant View. Up to 1,105 firefighters attempt to control the wildfire which will burn .The Knowles Fire ignites west of Grand Junction. Five helitack firefighters are caught in a burnover entrapment that night which kills three, and a fourth will later die from burns. The Knowles Fire will soon merge with the Jones, Snyder Mesa, and Gore fires in Utah to form the combined Snyder Fire which will burn .May 15Colorado Governor Jared Polis commutes the state prison sentence of Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk convicted of tampering with election equipment, from nine years to 18 months.May 8Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 strikes an unhoused Colorado Springs man during an attempted takeoff from Denver International Airport. The upper portion of the man's body was sucked into the plane's right engine, causing a fire and aborting the takeoff. A total of 224 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated from the plane, with five passengers taken to local hospitals. The trespasser's death was later ruled a suicide.April 16The Colorado Avalanche win the National Hockey League's Presidents' Trophy with a regular season record of 55 wins, 16 losses, and 11 ties. The Avalanche will loose the Western Conference Finals.April 1March temperature records are shattered across Colorado. Denver International Airport reports a March 2026 average temperature of , 10.1 °F (5.6 °C) above the historic Denver March average.February 22The 2026 Winter Olympics conclude in Italy. Mikaela Shiffrin of Edwards, Alex Ferreira of Aspen, Elizabeth Lemley of Vail, Jaccob Slavin of Erie, and