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The Bessemer process was created
Henry Bessemer created the process and was named after it. Patented at this date, the Bessemer process was the first process used to mass produce steel. It was used widely as it was inexpensive and effective.
http://inventors.sciencedaily.com/q/32/7628/When-was-the-Bessemer-Process-for-Steelmaking-invented -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
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Edwin Drake
Drake was on his last day digging and was about to give up when he struck "black gold". Over time he drilled seventy feet down and spent more than a fortune doing so. Oil was finally found and ultimately started Pennsylvania oil rush.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/drake_hi.html -
Christopher Sholes creates the typewriter
This year Christopher created the first usable type writer and the "qwerty" keyboard system still in use today. Chris is a printer by trade so he knows what a time consuming process it is to copy pages with single incked characters.Though in the end, he doubted the machine would sell well so he sold it away to E. Remington and Sons Company.
http://www.nndb.com/people/360/000162871/ -
Transcontinental Railroad completed
Seven years after the Pacific Railroad Act, the transcontinental railroad was completed on May 10, 1869 in Promontory, Utah. As the first railroad that spanned across the US, the transcontinental railroad made the less populated western US far easier to access, which promoted new businesses and trading. The completion of the railroad also brought the country together psychologically.
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/may-10-1869-first-transcontinental-railroa -
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Occured from 1872-1873.
This event happened from the illegal manipulation of contracts associated with the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. Stockholders of the railroad would illegally sell their stocks in return for favors from politicians and people of power.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Crédit+Mobilier+scandal -
Munn v. Illinois
In this case the Supreme Court showed the public their power to regulate private industries. This occured when the prices of elevator use and grain warehouses were to high. The government imposed a maximum price on them.
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1851-1900/1875/1875_0 -
Alexander Graham Bell makes the telephone
Alex began trying to transmit sound clearly since he was only 18. He successfully experimented with his assistant, Thomas Watson, in transmitting a single sentence clearly. Over the next few years he improved on the invention and eventually a whole system was built to allow a network for conventional use.
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/bell.htm -
Thomas Edison makes the Phonograph
Thomas Edison officially created the first model of the phonograph on this date. The phonograph was made to recreate messages through voice.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledison.htm -
John D. Rockefeller
In 1882, Rockefeller created the "model" of future monopolies. Rockefeller had an oil company that competely dominated everything else. He was so rich that the government had to impose antitrust and antimonopoly laws to prevent another company like Rockefellers to rise again. By the end of his time in the oil companies he had almost total control of all the oil in the country.
http://www.biography.com/people/john-d-rockefeller-20710159 -
Haymarket Riot
This riot occured from the over-time build up of the feeling of unfairness of working conditions. People who participated in these strikes ranged from those who only wanted 8 hour work days to radicals like anarchists. A lot of police violence occured during the riot and many workers and policemen were killed.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Haymarket+Riot -
Interstate Commerce Act
With the act, the railroads officially became the very first federally regulated industry. The act was imposed to stop corrupt practice from occuring on the railroads any longer. It also was imposed to go against laissez-faire, as it clearly wasn't working well.
http://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/interstate-commerce-act -
Sherman Antitrust Act
This act was imposed to stop trusts from forming again. Trusts occured when two (or more) companies decide to "share" their supplies when there are no other similar products. This created a monopoly with no competition as they would price their products how they want to, completely nullifying the point of a capatalist society.
http://www.linfo.org/sherman.html -
Homestead Strike
This was a strike that occured at a steel making plant in which the workers were told that their pay would be cut by 20 percent. Soon that plant closed and the workers had formed a small "militia" and open fired on Pinkerton agents. Many died and the workers felt they had won, but instead had cut down their pay even more and had increased work hours.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h769.html -
Pullman Strike
After a wage reduction and a walk out of the Pullman Palace Car Company, a boycott occured that affected the entire nation. The boycott had the ARU (which the workers appealed to for help) not work on any trains that were sent by this company, which were a good amount. The government was forced to step in to get the trains running again, even resorting to violence. The strike showed many that unions might be necessary in some work areas
http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1029.html -
Mother Jones
The name "mother" stuck to Mary as she was a mother figure to the men of the union. She helped millions and worked on the behalf of the miners. She tragically lost her children and her husband to the yellow fever epidemic when she was young, and proceeded to help the working class with great passion.
http://www.aflcio.org/About/Our-History/Key-People-in-Labor-History/Mother-Jones-1837-1930 -
J.P. Morgan
In the early 1900's, Morgan was the main force behind trusts as he had trusts with nearly all the countries basic industries. Morgan was a millionaire who had a lot of control of the railroad industry. He was also the one who backed the American currency with gold, saving the U.S. dollar from collapse.
http://www.nndb.com/people/965/000082719/ -
The Wright Brothers
Wilbur and Orville Wright became the pioneers of aviation as they created the world's first airplane. The first prototype they tested in 1900 failed. The Wright brothers improved the design and aspects of the prototype and planned to test it at a later date. The "Flyer" flew for the first time in December, 1903 for 12 seconds. By the end of the day, Wilbur flew it for almost a whole minute, flying 852 feet.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/page/w/wright.shtml. -
Lochner v. NY Decision
The Lochner v. NY Decision was finished at the date above. In the case a baker named Lochner was jailed and sentenced for allowing his worker to work more than 60 hours a week. Lochner appealed his conviction and the supreme court ruled the law unconstitutional as, unlike mining, baking was not "unsafe trade".
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/capitalism/landmark_lochner.html -
The Model T
Henry Ford created the Model T after proclaiming that he would "build a car for great magnitude". This car sold over 15 million and became the go-to car for many average people. It also changed the car from a luxury item to an item for the common man. The car was released sometime in October, 1908.
http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventors/a/HenryFord.htm -
Eugene Debs
Debs was a labor Union leader. He was in a presidential election as a socialist in 1912 and would always oppose president Wilson. He was later arrested by the strict Espionage Act for making a "anti-war" speech even if the speech mentioned war once. He was arrested multiple times before this for being so against how companies handled labor. He was one who strongly supported the want for 8 hours a day to work.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wilson/peopleevents/p_debs.html
