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Theodore Roosevelt is born
With the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest President in the Nation’s history. -
Named President when McKinley is assassinated
President William McKinley is shaking hands at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York when a 28-year-old anarchist named Leon Czolgosz approaches him and fires two shots into his chest. -
Energy crisis
A great strike in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania threatened a coal famine. -
Elkins Act passed
The Elkins Act gave federal courts the power to end rate discrimination. -
Pelican Island, Florida named first national wildlife refuge
in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt’s executive order designated the island as the nation’s first national wildlife refuge for the protection of nesting birds. -
Wins first full term as President
Roosevelt’s win marked the first time that a president not originally elected to office succeeded in retaining the presidency. -
Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, named first national monument
A sacred place to over 20 Native American tribes -
Passage of Pure Food And Drug Act
prohibited the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs in interstate commerce -
Yosemite under Federal Control
Native Americans were the main residents of Yosemite Valley, located in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range until the 1849 gold rush brought thousands of non-Indigenous miners and settlers to the region. -
Leaves presidency, visits Africa
Roosevelt set out for Africa to hunt big game and collect specimens for the Smithsonian Institution. -
Runs for presidency, unsuccessfully for Bull-Moose Party
Roosevelt portrayed himself as an advocate for the average citizen, whom he said should play a larger role in government.