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Period: to
Development of Modern America
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Yellowstone National Park
The United States Congress established Yellowstone National Park in 1872, and on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law. The world’s first national park was born. -
Structural Steel Bridge
The Structural Steel Bridge also known as Eads Bridge is historic for engineering and transportation being the first bridge to use steel as its primary material. The Ead Bridge was the longest arched bridge in the world in 1874. This bridge is located in St. Louis, Missouri over the Mississippi River. -
The Phonograph
Thomas Edison invented the first phonograph in 1877 at the Menlo Park lab. It was the first machine that could capture sound and play it back. -
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was the first to invent the telephone successfully and transmit speech by telegraphy. One year later, the Bell Telephone Company was formed, growing in telecommunication control in the U.S.A. Today's multinational telecommunication company AT&T is a direct descendant. -
The Light Bulb
Thomas Edison created the first glass light bulb using electricity. He presented his invention at Menlo Park, New Jersey, on New Year's Eve, where many people came to witness. -
American Red Cross
Clara Barton Learned of the red cross movement in Switzerland, a European humanitarian effort to provide neutral aid to those injured in combat. This experience and her work during the Civil War inspired Clara to bring the Red Cross movement to the US. The U.S. ratified the Geneva Conventions. Laws that protect the war-wounded and civilians in conflict zones -
The First Skyscraper
The Home Insurance Building located in Chicago, Illinois, was the first skyscraper in the United States. Civil engineer and architect Major William Le Baron Jenny used a steel frame instead of load-bearing walls with a ten-story construction. -
First Gas Powered Vehicle
The Duryea brothers, Charles and Frank, built the first gasoline-powered vehicle in the United States and went on to create the first American company, Duryea Motor Wagon Company, to produce automobiles for commercial sale. -
First Submarine
Holland made a run submerged making it the first to do so successfully. Named after its inventor, John Philip Holland, this submarine was later inspected and bought by the U.S. Navy and used as a prototype for the seven A-class boats, which followed the basic design. -
The Wright Brothers
Wilbur and Orville Wright were the first to fly a controlled flight of a power-driven plan successfully. Their plane flew for 59 seconds and a distance of 852 feet. -
The Ford Model T
The Model T was the first affordable mass-produced vehicle on the market. The vehicle was also the first to have its engine block and the crankcase cast as a single unit, the first to have a removable cylinder head for easy access -
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal cost the United States around $375,000,000. This figure includes the $10,000,000 paid to Panama and the $40,000,000 paid to the French when they abandoned the project. It was the most expensive construction project in U.S. history. The Panama Canal proved a vital component in expanding global trade routes in the 20th century. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment to the US constitution granted American women the right to vote, ending almost a century of protest. On Nov 2nd, that year, more than 8 million women across the US voted in elections for the first time. -
Robert Goddard
Robert Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-propellant rocket. The Smithsonian had funded Goddard since 1917, hoping his rocket could lift above the atmosphere. The observatory’s main program was measuring solar variability and output. He inspired others that space travel would happen if rocketry developed. -
First TV broadcast in the US
The first TV station station in the United States was W3XK in Washington DC. Charles F. Jenkins was the pioneer of early TV technology and was the first station to offer regularly scheduled broadcasting to the public. In New York, RCA launched experimental station W2XBS in 1928, which is now WNBC and holds the record for longest continuously operating station in the country. -
Wall Street crash
The wall street crash lead us into the great depression, the worst economic crisis of the 20th century. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes, and savings, leading to widespread poverty and desperation. The unemployment rate in the United States rose from 3.2% in 1929 to 25% in 1933 -
The Empire State Building
The Empire State Building was complete in a record time of 410 days with more than 3,500 workers. The Empire State Building held the record for the tallest building in the world for about 40 years. -
The New Deal
The New Deal was Franklin Roosevelt's response to the calamity to the great depression. The New Deal stabilized the banks and cleaned up the financial mess from the Stock Market crash. It stabilized farm prices, aided state and local governments, and injected a surge of federal spending into the economy, bolstering household incomes and business revenues. -
The Hoover Dam
The Hoover Dam is one of the tallest dams in the United States. It is a key reservoir that provides flood control, water storage, and irrigation along the Colorado River. It is also the largest hydroelectric facility in the nation. -
World War 2
WW2 beginning with the German attack, Great Britain and France sent Adolf Hitler and ultimatum: Germany must either withdraw his forces from Poland or Great Britain and France would go to war against him. On September 3, with Germany's forces penetrating deeper into Poland, Great Britain and France both declared war on Germany.