Big Businesses and the West by Jason Chung and Ryan Li

By jasonchung

  • First oil well is drilled, Pennsylvania

    First oil well is drilled, Pennsylvania
    Takes place in a woodland valley along a creek in remote northwestern Pennsylvania. It was drilled by Edwin L. Drake who had been hired by the Seneca Oil Company of New Haven, Connecticut and was 69.5 feet deep.

  • Transcontinental railroad is completed

    Transcontinental railroad is completed
    The railroad was completed at Promontory, Utah. The completion of this railroad made the American West easily accessible, creating a boon of trade, business, and population.

  • Rockefeller founds Standard Oil

    Rockefeller founds Standard Oil
    Rockefeller and his associates incorporated the Standard Oil Company which immediately prospered due to ideal and favorable economic/industry conditions and Rockefeller’s desire to dominate the industry by buying out its competitors.

  • Bell patents telephone

    Bell patents telephone
    Alexander Graham Bell received that patent for the telephone and revolutionizes communication.

  • First telephone on White House

    First telephone on White House
    President Rutherford B. Hayes had a telephone installed in a telephone room in the white house.

  • Edison perfects incandescent light bulb

    Edison perfects incandescent light bulb
    Thomas Edison patents an electric lamp with a carbon filament.

  • Railroads set up standard time zones

    Railroads set up standard time zones
    Four standard time zones were created because trains needed a new time plan for arrivals and departures.

  • First electric trolley line, Richmond, VA

    First electric trolley line, Richmond, VA
    The Richmond Union Passenger Railway was the first electric trolley system and started other electric trolley systems around the US.

  • Sherman Antitrust Act is passed

    Sherman Antitrust Act is passed
    Probihited monopolies and was the first step in prohibiting trusts.

  • Carnegie Steel Company is formed

    Carnegie Steel Company is formed
    Was created by Andrew Carnegie and took place in Downtown, Pittsburgh, PA. This company would become a steel empire by maximizing profits and minimizing inefficiencies through ownership of factories, raw materials, and transportation infrastructure.

  • JP Morgan forms US Steel

    JP Morgan forms US Steel
    J.P. Morgan combined Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company, Gary's Federal Steel Company and William Henry "Judge" Moore's National Steel Company.