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Lincoln Assasinated
Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in Washington, DC, and is succeeded by his vice president, Andrew Johnson. Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, prohibiting slavery -
Alaska acquired
U.S. acquires Alaska from Russia for the sum of $7.2 million -
President Johnson impeached
President Johnson is impeached by the House of Representatives but he is acquitted at his trial in the Senate -
Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing citizenship -
President Grant inaugurated
Ulysses S. Grant is inaugurated as the 18th president -
Railroads meet
Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads are joined at Promontory, Utah, creating first transcontinental railroad -
Fifteenth Amendment
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving blacks the right to vote -
Credit Mobiler
Crédit Mobilier scandal breaks, involving several members of Congress -
President Grant's second inauguration
Grant's second inauguration -
Battle of Little Bighorn
Lt. Col. George A. Custer's regiment is wiped out by Sioux Indians under Sitting Bull at the Little Big Horn River -
Hayes elected
Rutherford B. Hayes is inaugurated as the 19th president -
James Garfield inaugurated
James A. Garfield is inaugurated as the 20th president -
Arthur succeeds Garfield
Garfield is shot by Charles Guiteau in Washington, DC, and later dies from complications of his wounds in Elberon, N.J. Garfield's vice president, Chester Alan Arthur, succeeds him in office. -
Standard Time in America
U.S. adopts standard time -
Grover Cleveland inaugurated
Grover Cleveland is inaugurated as the 22nd president -
Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty is dedicated in America -
American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor is organized -
Benjamin Harrison inaugurated
Benjamin Harrison is inaugurated as the 23rd president -
NAWSA founded
National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) is founded, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as president -
Sherman Antitrust Act
Sherman Antitrust Act is signed into law, prohibiting commercial monopolies -
Coxey's Army
Jacob Coxey leads a march on Washington by the unemployed. -
Pullman Strike
Workers at the Pullman sleeping car plant in Chicago go on strike after the company cut wages without reducing rents in company-owned housing. On June 26, the American Railway Union begins to boycott trains carrying Pullman cars. -
Plessy vs Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson: Landmark Supreme Court decision holds that racial segregation is constitutional, paving the way for the repressive Jim Crow laws in the South -
McKinley
William McKinley is inaugurated as the 25th president -
U.S.S. Maine blown up by Spain
: USS Maine is blown up in Havana harbor, angering many Americans into wantning war war with Spain -
Spanish-American War
U.S. to declare war on Spain after building tensions reach a climax -
Battle of Manila Bay
Commodore George Dewey's flotilla defeats the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines, suffering only eight wounded -
Annexation of Hawaii
U.S. annexes Hawaii by an act of Congress -
Spanish-American War ends
Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Spanish-American War -
The Hague meeting
Delegates from the US and 25 other nations meet at The Hague to discuss disarmament, arbitration of international disputes, protection of noncombatants, and limitations on methods of warfare. -
American Samoa
U.S. acquires American Samoa by treaty with Great Britain and Germany -
Exponential Growth
According to the 1900 census, the nation's population numbers nearly 76 million. -
McKinley 2nd inauguratoin
McKinley's second inauguration -
McKinley shot
He is shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, N.Y., and later dies from his wounds -
Theodore Roosevelt
McKinley is succeeded by his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt. -
Panama Canal
U.S. acquires Panama Canal Zone -
First airplane
Wright brothers make the first controlled, sustained flight in heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk, N.C -
Theodore Roosevelt 2nd inauguration
Theodore Roosevelt's second inauguration -
San Francisco Fire
At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, a large earthquake hit San Francisco. Even greater than the damage caused directly by the earthquake, the city was ravaged by fire for four days. -
Bureau of Investigation
Bureau of Investigation, forerunner of the FBI, is established -
NAACP is founded
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on February 12, 1909 -
Structure of Atom
Ernest Rutherford discovers the structure of an atom -
Boy Scouts created
•Boy Scouts Established in U.S. -
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
Poor working conditions and improper safety codes cause this fire in New York City to kill over a hundred workers. -
Standard Oil dissolved
•Standard Oil Company Broken Up by Supreme Court ruling -
Titanic
Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage -
Income Tax
Personal income tax is introduced into the United States -
Assembly Line
Henry Ford introduces a mass assembly line into manufacturing -
Archduke Ferdinand Assassinated
Frans Ferdinand is assassinated, sparking World War I -
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is officially open to the world. -
Germany sinks Lusitania
German U-boats sink the Lusitania, and 1,198 people die. -
Invention of telephone
Alexander Graham Bell makes first transcontinental telephone call. -
Theory of relativity
Albert Einstein proposes general theory of relativity. -
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson is reelected. -
Battle of Verdun and Somme
The battles of Verdun and Somme claim millions of lives. -
US in World War I
The United States enters World War 1. -
Selective Service
The Selective Service Act sets up the draft -
Russia withdraws from the war.
Russia withdraws from the war. -
Sedition Act
Congress passes the Sedition Act. -
League of Nations
President Wilson proposes the League of Nations. -
Communism in Russia
The Bolsheviks establish a Communist regime in Russia. -
World War I ends, Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I -
18th Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment outlaws alcoholic beverages -
Gandhi
Mohandas Gandhi becomes leader of the independence movement in India. -
19th amendment
Women are given the right to vote. This legislation is taken into question and ridicule even today. -
Panama Canal completed
The Panama Canal is completed in its entirity -
Citizenship Act
Citizenship Act makes Indians citizens
without impairing status as tribal members -
Lindbergh
Lindbergh crosses
Atlantic non-stop -
Valentine's Day Massacre
Al Capone tricks and slaughters a rival gang at a local dock in this massacre. -
Stock Market crashes
Well... the stock market crashed.