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Introduction of the Automobile
In 1901 Ransom Olds designed the Curved Dash Oldsmobile which sold for $650.00 -
Air Conditioning
The first air conditioner was invented by Willis Haviland Carrier. In a sense, it was mechanization of labor. Since many people worked in factories at this time, the air conditioner made the working conditions more pleasing. Since these building were humid most of the time, the air conditioner improved work conditions. -
Mechanization and the Gasoline Powered Tractor
The invention of the tractor made a farmer's job a lot easier. It also made it possible to produce more products which strengthened the economy. -
Henry Ford's Assembly Line
First experiments with assembly line begin at Highland Park Plant. Early trials with assembly of components like magnetos and transmissions are followed by development of chassis assembly line in August 1913. -
Trouble on the Water
Seattle docks were idled by a strike in January and U.S, Marines were sent in response to a plea from the mayor. -
The Start of Prohibition
The states ratified the Eighteenth Amendment that forbade the manufacture, disrtibution, and sale of alcohol anywhere in the United States. -
Another event during the Red Scare
In November, a labor organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) was seized by citizens of Centralia, Washington, and was then castrated and hanged. -
The Beginning of the Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids (1919–1920) involved mass arrests and deportation of radicals at the height of the post–World War I era red scare. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer encouraged the raids in the hope that they would advance his presidential ambitions. -
Immigration Bill
The House of Representatives passed the Johnson Bill establishing a temporary bar against all labor immigration. -
Bessie Coleman
She became the first person to receive an international pilot's license as a graduate of the Federation Aeronautique International in France. She was also honored to be the first black woman pilot and stunt aviator. -
The Lie Detector
John A. Larson was a medical student at the University of California when he invented the Polygraph, or lie detector. This devise measured heartbeats and breathing to learn if a person is lying or not. It later included a skin monitoring system to tell if a person is sweating. If a person was sweating and their breathing and pulse became higher, an alarm would sound concluding that the person was lying. -
Invention of the Bulldozer
Engineer Benjamin Holt built a crawling tractor, which he called “caterpillar” in 1885. Later, scraping blades were attached and in 1923, LaPlant-Choate Manufacturing Company produced the first bulldozer in 1923. -
Threats Made by the KKK
On this day, the Ku Klux Klan demonstrated their power and made threats to the immigrant and African Americans in Monticello. -
National Origins Act
A law that severely restricted immigration by establishing a system of national quotas that discriminated against immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and excluded Asians. The policy stayed in effect until the 1960s. -
Nellie Tayloe Ross
The first and only woman governor of Wyoming. -
Immigration Restriction Act
It established a permanent quota system based on the previous system created in the Temporary Quota Act of 1921. -
Ku Klux Klan Marches
Members of the Ku Klux Klan marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC. -
Gertrude Ederle
At the age of 19, she was the first woman to swim the English Channel. -
Changing the Role of African Americans
ten young African Americans created the Credjafawn Social Club. The name was devised from a letter out of each of the names of the ten charter members. -
Invention of the Bread Slicer
Otto Frederick Rowedder of Iowa worked on his idea of a bread slicer since 1912. Finally he completed a machine that could successfully cut and wrap a loaf of bread. This machine was later improved by baker Gustav Papendick. -
The End of Prohibition
The Twenty-first Amendment repealed Prohibition.
