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Transcontinental Railroad completed
a golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, stating the accomplishment of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. -
Bell patents telephone
Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone. Captain James Cook discovered the Northwest coast of the Americas on this day. He discovered what is now the coast of Oregon, and was the first European to do so. -
First telephone on White House
President Rutherford B. Hayes had the White House's first telephone installed in the mansions telegraph room. President Hayes loved the new technology. -
Edison perfects incandescent light bulb
Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. It was during this time that he said: "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles." -
Railroads set up standard time zones
Operators of the new railroad lines needed a new time plan that would offer a set train schedule for departures and arrivals. Four standard time zones for the continental United States were introduced on November 18, 1883. -
First electric trolley line
The Richmond Union Passenger Railway, in Richmond, Virginia, was the first practical electric trolley (tram) system, and set the pattern electric trolley systems around the world. It is an IEEE milestone in engineering. But he Richmond system was not the first attempt to operate an electric trolley. -
Sherman Antitrust Act is passed
The Sherman Antitrust Act is a act that banned monopolies passed by Congress in 1890 under the presidency of Benjamin Harrison. -
Carnegie Steel Company is formed
Carnegie Steel Company created by Andrew Carnegie and some friends of his, in order to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. -
First Oil Well
George Bissell and Edwin L. Drake made the first successful use of a drilling rig on a well drilled to produce oil, at a site on Oil Creek near Titusville, Pennsylvania. -
J.P. Morgan forms U.S. Steel
J. P. Morgan and Elbert H. Gary founded U.S. Steel on March 2, 1901 by combining Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company with Gary's Federal Steel Company and William Henry "Judge" Moore's National Steel Company for $492 million ($14.16 billion today). -
Rockefeller founds Standard Oil
The Supreme Court ordered the end of Standard Oil Company, declaring that it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. John D. Rockefeller made his way in the oil industry in the 1860s and in 1870, and founded Standard Oil with some other business partners.
