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The Dead Rabbits Riot
The Dead Rabbits riot was a two-day civil disturbance in New York City evolving from what was originally a small-scale street fight between members of the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys into a citywide gang war, which occurred July 4–5, 1857. Taking advantage of the disorganized state of the city's police force—brought about by the conflict between the Municipal and Metropolitan police—the fighting spiraled into widespread looting and damage of property by gangsters. -
The Ku Klux Klan is Established
The Ku Klux Klan. commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is the name of several historical and current American white supremacist, far-right terrorist organizations and hate groups. Various historians, including Fergus Bordewich, have characterized the Klan as America's first terrorist movement. Their primary targets, at various times and places, have been African Americans, Jews, and Catholics. -
John D. Rockefeller Creates Standard Oil
John D. Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company on January 10, 1870 with his business partners and brother. The success of this business empire made Rockefeller one of the world's first billionaires and a celebrated philanthropist. -
Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone
On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell successfully received a patent for the telephone and secured the rights to the discovery. Days later, he made the first ever telephone call to his partner, Thomas Watson. The telephone revolutionized communication by allowing conversations to take place between individuals at different locations. -
The Great Oklahoma Land Race
April 22, 1889, was a day of chaos, excitement, and utter confusion. Men and women rushed to claim homesteads or to purchase lots in one of the many new towns that sprang into existence overnight. An estimated eleven thousand agricultural homesteads were claimed. -
Ellis Island Opens to Process Immigrants
Ellis Island officially opened as an immigration station on January 1, 1892. Seventeen-year-old Annie Moore, from County Cork, Ireland was the first immigrant to be processed at the new federal immigration depot. -
The Wizard of Oz (Book) is Published
A little farm girl named Dorothy and her pet dog, Toto, get swept away into the Land of Oz by a Kansas cyclone. Upon her arrival, she is hailed as a sorceress; liberates a living Scarecrow; and meets a man made entirely of tin and a Cowardly Lion. But all Dorothy really wants to know is how she can return home. The ruler of Oz, the great Wizard, who resides in an Emerald City, may be the only one powerful enough to help her. -
J.P. Morgan Founds U.S. Steel
Early in 1901, J. P. Morgan, the country's most powerful banker, merged Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Corporation with nine other steel companies to form the world's largest corporation. The United States Steel Corporation, usually known as U.S. Steel or simply Big Steel, was capitalized at $1.4 billion. -
Teddy Roosevelt Becomes President of the United States
The presidency of Theodore Roosevelt started on September 14, 1901, when Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th president of the United States upon the assassination of President William McKinley, and ended on March 4, 1909. Roosevelt had been the vice president for only 194 days when he succeeded to the presidency. -
Ida Tarbell Publishes Her Article About Standard Oil
da M. Tarbell's The History of the Standard Oil Company was first serialized in McClure's Magazine starting in 1902 and then published as a best-selling book in 1904. Tarbell grew up around the Pennsylvania oil industry, where her father suffered from, and protested, John D. Rockefeller's business practices. -
Ford Motor Company is Founded
The Ford company effectively halved the number of legal immigrants allowed from Mexico each year. This also established the Ford English School. This is also where the automaker's diverse immigrant employees could learn the English language and take civics lessons in preparation for becoming U.S. citizens. -
Angel Island Opens to Process Immigrants
When it opened in 1910, the new detention facility on Angel Island was considered ideal because of its isolation. Access to and from the Island was very important to control and enforce the relatively new immigration laws and deal with the threat of disease from the many new people arriving daily to America. -
The 17th Amendment is Passed
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. -
The 16th Amendment is Passed
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. -
The Empire State Building Opens
The Empire State Building was built to host corporate business offices. This was also the tallest building in the world. The building was also built during the great depression.