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Bessemer Process
In 1855, Henry Bessemer invented the first process for mass-producing steel inexpensively, essential to the development of skyscrapers. This was known as the Bessemer Process. -
Edwin Drake
In August 1859, Edwin L. Drake successfully drilled into an oil well about 70 feet below the surface of Titusville, Pennsylvania, using a drill of his design, the "Drake Well." This sparked the beginning of the Mordern Oil Industry in America. -
Christopher Sholes
Christopher Sholes is responsible for inventing the first modern typewriter. He also was the first to create the "QWERTY" keyboard design, used commonly on computers and keyboards today. -
Transcontinental Railroad Completed
On May 10, 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. This made transcontinental railroad travel possible for the first time in U.S. history. Journeys that had taken months by wagon train or weeks by boat now took only days. Their work had an immediate impact: The years following the construction of the railway were years of rapid growth and expansion for the United States, due in large part to the speed and ease of travel that the railroad provided. -
John D. Rockefeller
In 1870, John Rockefeller established the Standard Oil Company, which by the early 1880s controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines. -
Credit Mobilier Scandal
The Credit Mobilier of America was a company created to underwrite the construction of the transcontinental Union Pacific Railroad. The company sold shares at low rates or gave away shares to influential congress members in return for political favors, which is very illegal. -
Alexander Graham Bell
In March, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented and sucessfully used the telephone. He was granted the patent and three days later communicated the first coherent complete sentence via telephone. -
Munn v. Illinois
In the Munn v. Illinois case, Munn was convicted of exceeding maximum rates that private companies could charge for the storage and transport of agricultural products. The Chicago grain warehouse firm of Munn was subsequently found guilty of violating the law. Munn v. Illinois, one of the Granger cases, was a watershed in the struggle for public regulation of private enterprise. Later court decisions, however, sharply curtailed the government’s power to regulate business. -
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison invents the first long-lasting, safe and affordable lightbulb that can be sold commerically to anybody. He discovered that he could use carbonized bamboo instead of the platinum filament in his original design for the lightbulb, which proved to be the key to a long-lasting affordable lightbulb. -
Haymarket Riot
On May 4, 1886, a labor protest rally near Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police. The Haymarket Riot was viewed a setback for the organized labor movement in America, which was fighting for such rights as the eight-hour workday. -
Interstate Commerce Act
In 1887, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act, making the railroads the first industry subject to federal regulation. Legislators designed the law, which established a five-member enforcement board known as the Interstate Commerce Commission, largely in response to public demand that the railroads' conduct should be constrained. -
John Sherman - Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts; it was named for Senator John Sherman. The act, based on the constitutional power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce, declared illegal every contract, combination (in the form of trust or otherwise), or conspiracy in restraint of interstate and foreign trade. -
Homestead Strike
The Homestead strike, in Homestead, Pennsylvania, pitted one of the most powerful new corporations, Carnegie Steel Company, against the nation’s strongest trade union, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. The strike inspired many workers, but it also underscored how difficult it was for any union to prevail against the combined power of the corporation and the government. -
Eugene Debs
Debs organized the American Railway Union, which waged a strike against the Pullman Company of Chicago in 1894. After embracing socialism, he became the party’s standard-bearer in five presidential elections. -
Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike was a national protest in which the entire railway labor force of the U.S would walk away from their jobs, crippling the U.S railway system. It started because of the Pullman Palace Car Company, in Pullman, Illinois, treating their workers unfairly and lowering their wages. The Pullman Strike would show the power of united national unions. -
J.P. Morgan
J.P. (John Pierpont) Morgan, one of the most powerful bankers of his era, financed railroads and helped organize U.S. Steel, General Electric and other major corporations. In 1895, their firm was reorganized as J.P. Morgan & Company, a predecessor of the modern-day financial giant JPMorgan Chase. Morgan used his influence to help stabilize American financial markets during several economic crises, including the panic of 1907. -
Mother Jones
Mary Harris Jones, otherwise known as Mother Jones, became a legendary labor organizer and champion of workers' rights. At a time when women were denied a role in politics, Jones played an active part in helping to correct the excesses of the Industrial Revolution. It was in June of 1897 when workers of the union began calling her "Mother Jones." -
Wright Brothers
Wilbur and Orville Wright were American inventors and pioneers of aviation. On December 17, 1903, they succeeded in flying the first free, controlled flight of a power-driven, heavier than air plane. Wilbur flew their plane for 59 seconds, at 852 feet. -
Lochner V. NY Decision
In 1905, baker Joseph Lochner was to be fined for having his employee work more than 60 hours which was prohibited by the Bakershop Act. He took his case to the Supreme Court, The Supreme Court held that the act was unconstitutional and that the conviction of Lochner must be reversed. The decision, and the resulting "Lochner era" it ushered in, led to the abrogation of many progressive era and Great Depression laws regulating working conditions. -
Henry Ford
In October 1908, the first automobile, the "Model T" made it's debut. It was designed by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company. It revolutionized transportation and marked the birth of automobiles. Shortly after, Ford introduced revolutionary new mass-production methods, including large production plants, the use of standardized, interchangeable parts and, in 1913, the world’s first moving assembly line for cars.
