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Panama Canal treaty
The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed by the United States and Panama, which established the Panama Canal Zone and the subsequent construction of the Panama Canal -
Bloody sunday
Blood Sunday is the name given to the events of Sunday, 22 January 1905, in St Petersburg, Russia, when unarmed demonstrators led by Father Georgy Gapon were fired upon by soldiers of the Imperial Guard as they marched towards the Winter Palace to present a petition to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. -
U.S warships are sent to Nicaragua
On Nov. 18, 1909, President William Howard Taft sent U.S. warships to take position against the elected government of Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya. Taft’s administration had close relations with U.S. corporations operating in Nicaragua. Those corporations were not pleased with how Zelaya defended the economic interests of his country and the region from exploitation by American businesses. -
Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burned, killing 145 workers. It is known as one of the most infamous incidents in American industrial history, as the deaths were largely preventable. Most of the victims died as a result of neglected safety features and locked doors within the factory building. The tragedy brought widespread attention to the dangerous sweatshop conditions of factories. -
16th Amendment is ratified by Congress
The Sixteenth Amendment is passed by Congress in 1909 and ratified in 1913. The United States Constitution allows Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states on the basis of population. It was passed in response to the 1895 Supreme Court case of Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co -
Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, occurred on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo when they were mortally wounded by Gavrilo Princip. Princip was one of a group of six assassins.The assassination led directly to the First World War. When Austria-Hungary subsequently then declared war on Serbia, triggering actions leading to war between most European states. -
The United States declares war on Germany
On April 6, 1917, the United States formally declared war against Germany and entered the conflict in Europe. Fighting since the summer of 1914, Britain, France, and Russia welcomed news that American troops and supplies would be directed toward the Allied war effort. -
Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles was a peace document signed at the end of World War I by the Allied and associated powers and by Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France, on June 28, 1919, and it took force on January 10, 1920.
