CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUCETTS, December 4, 2014 (Harvard University): The Pluralism Project at Harvard University was created to help Americans engage with the realities of religious diversity through research, outreach, and the active dissemination of resources. It is a two-decade-long research program to engage students in studying the new religious diversity in the United States.
The Hinduism in America Timeline begins in the 1780’s when trade is started between India and America and ends in 2012 when the first Hindu American, Tulsi Gabbard, is elected to Congress.
According to the timeline, in 1820-70 Ralph Waldo Emerson discovered Hindu thought as an undergraduate at Harvard. In 1893 Hindus at the World’s Parliament of Religions presented their teaching to American audiences. Immediately afterward Swami Vivekananda toured America. In 1920 Paramahansa Yogananda becomes the first Hindu Vedanta and yoga teacher to settle in the U.S. In 1957 Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami established the Palaniswami Temple in San Francisco, CA which was the first Hindu temple in North America performing traditional deity worship.
More of the interesting 100 entries at source.