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1869
On May 10, 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad is completed in the United States. -
1870
The Elementary Education Act of 1870, aka Foster’s Education Act, in Great Britain makes school attendance mandatory for children between the ages of 5 and 10. -
1875
Public Health Act gives the British government responsibility to ensure public health for housing and sewage. -
1876
Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone. -
1877
On February 12, 1877, Alexander Graham Bell publicly demonstrates the telephone for the first time at the Lyceum in Salem, Massachusetts by placing a phone call to the Boston Globe in Boston, Massachusetts. -
1879
On December 31, 1879, Thomas Edison demonstrates the first practical incandescent light bulb by lighting up a street in Menlo Park, New Jersey. -
1880
Elementary Education Act of 1870 is extended in Great Britain. -
1882
The world’s first coal-fired power station, the Holborn Viaduct power station, went into operation in London, England. -
1884
The Berlin Conference of 1884 paves the way for widespread colonization of Africa by European countries, such as Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Germany, who are in search of raw materials needed for industrialization and new captive markets to sell their goods to. -
1886
On December 8, 1886, the American Federation of labor is founded in Columbus, Ohio. -
1891
Russia begins construction on the Trans-Siberian Railway, which eventually becomes the longest railway line in the world. -
1897
On September 1, 1897, the first subway in the United States opens in Boston, Massachusetts. -
1903
On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers make their first successful airplane flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. -
1908
On October 1, 1908, Ford begins production of the Model T automobile.