| Date | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 1400s | Tympani are strapped to the backs of horses and are marched into battle | |
| 1610 | The first written drum march. It was not broken into bars, but had sounds written to indicate each note; pou-tou, Rpoung, etc. (the early version of drummers' mouth music?) The special march was first played in Prince Harry's presence. | |
| 1700s | Origin of back-sticking and the technique of it. Drummers for different units in the British army used back sticking to impress each other with their chops and prowess |
British Military Drummers |
| 1863 | Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to a drummer of Company D, 3rd Vermont Volunteer Infantry. | Willie Johnston |
| 1950s | Introduction of back sticking to modern corps | Archer Epler |
| 1955 | First Use of Mallet instrument in Competition - Bugle Bells | Madison Scouts |
| 1957 | First Use of Plastic Heads | Cavaliers |
| 1958 | Spinning Cymbals | Appleknockers |
| 1960s | Suspended Cymbals | Boston Crusaders |
| 1961 | First on field use of timbales | Hawthorne Caballeros |
| 1962 | Introduced the first rudimental bass drum | Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights |
| 1965 | First use of tuned bass drums | Chicago Royal Airs |
| 1965 | Use of multiple pitch tenor drums | St. Josephs Cadets |
| 1967 | Marching of two attached bass drums horizontally - in competition | Boston Crusaders Gerry Shellmer |
| 1967 | First marching tympani | Ludwig, Boston Crusaders, Boston Crusaders, Des Plaines Vanguard, SCV, St Joes, Madison Scouts, Royal Airs |
| 1967 | Marching Timbale/Bongo set | Emerald Statesmen |
| 1968 | First Triple Bass | Reading Buccaneers |
| 1968 | Development of the early double/triple toms | Ludwig, Boston Crusaders, Des Plaines Vanguard, Anaheim Kingsmen, St Joes, Norwood Park Imperials, Reading Bucaneers Jerry Shellmer, Glen Smith |
| 1969 | First mallet instrument carried in DCA competition | Sunrisers |
| 1969 | Marching Cymbal Rack (5 cymbals) | St. Lucy's Cadets |
| 1971 | First quad bass drums carried | Yankee Rebels |
| 1971 | Fielding of 8 snare drums | Blue Rock, Yankee Rebels |
| 1973 | First use of carriers/harnesses | Santa Clara Vanguard |
| 1973 | Fielding of 9 snare drums | St. Andrew Bridgeman |
| 1976 | Fielding of 14 snare drums | New York Skyliners |
| 1977 | First time the highest scoring drumline at Nationals didn't go home with the trophy | Oakland Crusaders |
| 1977 | First use of sep-toms - seven drums per rack | Spirit of Atlanta |
| 1977 | First use of cut-away style tenors | Santa Clara Vanguard Oakland Crusaders Slingerland |
| 1978 | KevlarŪ drumhead created - Introduced in 1978 as Duraline | Peter De Bear and Sam Muchnick |
| 1978 | World record for constant drum playing during a march - 20 miles | Royal Crusaders |
| 1978 | First use of Quints | Cavaliers |
| 1978 | Tom-Tom's "iso-drums" mounted on the snare drums | Boston Crusaders |
| 1978 | Fielding of 12 snare drums | Phantom Regiment, 27th Lancers, Madison Scouts |
| 1977-79 | Three consecutive DCA drum titles | Sunrisers |
| 1979 | The Chrome Wall - split snare roll | Northstar |
| 1979 | The "DC10" stick is introduced | Promark |
| 1979 | Bongos mounted on the snare drums | Blue Devils |
| 1980 | Spirit - Bridgemen "tie" for drums - Bridgemen win when the GE sheets are added. | DCI |
| 1980 | Use of two tenor lines [high & low] four players each | Santa Clara Vanguard |
| 1981 | North snares and tenors for first tour - tenors are tri toms - Spirits Line that year consisted of 12 snares, 7 tenors, and 7 basses | Spirit of Atlanta |
| 1981 | "Hi Volume" snares from Ludwig - middle section of snare shell removed | Guardsmen, Phantom Regiment, Marty Hurley |
| 1982 | Last use of sling in DCI | Bayonne Bridgemen |
| 1980-82 | Three consecutive DCI drum titles | Bayonne Bridgemen |
| 1983 | Blindfolded Snare Line performs Dennis Delucia's "Black Market Juggler" | Bayonne Bridgemen |
| 1983 | Full conga/bongo/timbale line instead of traditional snare/tenor lineup | San Jose Raiders |
| 1983 | Use of Hi Hats From Sideline | Spirit of Atlanta |
| 1984 | Three stick toss during solo | Spirit of Atlanta |
| 1984 | Feature of marching xylophone solo | Cadets |
| 1985 | 25 sets of marching cymbals for feature | Blue Devils |
| 1985 | Synthesizer used as a feature instrument in drum solo | Boston Crusaders |
| 1983-86 | DCI - Most Consecutive High Drum Trophy Wins (4) | Blue Devils |
| 1986 | 100 score in snare drum individuals at DCI | Steven Campbell - Blue Devils |
| 1987 | Development of the first "Free Floating" snare drum | Premier |
| 1987 | Perfect Drum Score In DCI - ends Blue Devil's four consecutive drum titles | Cadets |
| 1987 | Fielding of 15 Snares | Bluecoats |
| 1988 | Fielding of 20 Snares | Bluecoats |
| 1989 | 9 bass drums with "pony" toms on top Spirit also used the "pony toms" in 88 but with only 6 bass drums | Spirit of Atlanta |
| 1989 | 10" snare drum in place of a gok drum | Star of Indiana |
| 1986-91 | DCA - Most Consecutive High Drum Trophy Wins (6) | Harrison Bushwackers |
| 1991 | Use of 15 sets of tenors | Cadets of Bergen County |
| 1991 | Helicopter effect with tom pods at start of Miss Saigon | Santa Clara Vanguard |
| 1981-93 | Most Consecutive Drum Placements in the Top 5 | Santa Clara Vanguard |
| 1994 | Monkey Sticking: Led to a trend in high school lines evident still today. Some would attribute this to Star in '93 | Blue Devils |
| 1994 | Largest Drumline Fielded - 29 Snares | 27th Lancers Reunion Corps |
| 1995 | Shell-less snares used in competition | Boston Crusaders |
| 1997 | Experimental use of Black Max heads | Crossmen & Santa Clara Vanguard |
| 1998 | Return to tilted snare drums | Santa Clara Vanguard |
| 2000 | Olympic Marching Band fields 39 snares, 38 Basses, 24 tenors and 40 cymbals | Sydney 2000 Olympic Marching Band |