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First oil well is drilled, Pennsylvania
The Drake Well was built in Titusville, PA. It was built by George Bissell and Edwin L. Drake and is known as the first commercial oil well in the United States. -
Transcontinental railroad is completed
The transcontinental railroad was a transportation structure that was built from opposite sides of the U.S., and finally connected in Utah. This connection of the railroad allowed for the whole U.S. to be in contact with each other more easily, which benefited citizens in many ways. -
Rockefeller founded Standard Oil
Rockefeller built an oil refinery, and eventually incorporated and founded the first standard oil, which means the company produced, transported, refined, marketed company, and monopolized oil. -
Bell patents telephone
The telephone was first invented by Alexander Graham Bell, and the new device revolutionized communication because it allowed people to instantly talk to each other across long distances. -
First telephone in White House
In 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes had the first telephone installed in the telegraph room of the White House. Since it was such a new technology, he used it very rarely. -
Edison perfects incandescent light bulb
Between 1878 and 1880, Edison and his team tested more than 3000 designs for bulbs at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. -
Railroads set up standard time zones
The men that controlled the railroad decided that it would be best for them to develop time zones in order to schedule train departures and arrivals. In doing this, they created four different time zones. -
First electric trolley line, Richmond, VA
Called the Richmond union passenger railway, it was the first “tram”, and paved the way for advancements in trolly systems around the world, and was a major milestone in engineering. -
Sherman Antitrust Act is passed
The Sherman Antitrust Act was the act that was passed in order to put an end to the business practice of monopolies. This also prohibited trusts in the business world. -
Carnegie Steel Company is formed
The Carnegie Steel Company was founded in Downtown Pittsburg, PA, and rapidly grew to form one of the leading steel empires. -
J.P. Morgan forms U.S. Steel
JP Morgan was an American financier who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street as the head of a banking firm and founded US steel along with Elbert H. Gary by combining Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie SteelCompany with Gary's Federal Steel Company and William Henry "Judge" Moore's National Steel Company.
