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Bessemer Process
The first method discovered for mass-producing steel. -
Edwin Drake
Drake struck gold after nearly a year of attempting in different ways. -
Christopher Sholes
Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter in 1864 -
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Illegal manipulation of contracts by a construction and finance company associated with the building of the Union Pacific Railroad -
Transcontinental Railroad Completed
This made transcontinental railroad travel possible for the first time in U.S. history, and meant that western-bound travelers would no longer have to take a dangerous wagon train trip. -
John D. Rockefeller
founder of the standard oil company, established in 1870
donated more than 500 million dollars in his life to philanthropic causes
the standard oil company controlled some 90 percent of the nation’s refineries and pipelines -
J.P. Morgan
one of the most powerful bankers in his era
financed railroads and helped organize U.S. Steel, General Electric, other major corporations.
In 1871 formed a partnership with Philadelphia banker Anthony Drexel. In 1895, their firm was reorganized as J.P. Morgan & Company, a predecessor of the modern-day financial giant JPMorgan Chase. -
Alexander Graham Bell
Bell completes the invention of the telephone. -
Munn vs. Illinois
A case in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the power of government to regulate private industries. The case developed as a result of the Illinois legislature’s responding in 1871 to pressure from the National Grange by setting maximum rates that private companies could charge for storing and transporting agricultural goods. The Chicago grain warehouse firm of Munn and Scott was found guilty of violating the law. -
Thomas Edion
Thomas Edison invented many things such as a telegraph, phonograph, electric light bulb, alkaline storage batteries and Kinetograph (a camera for motion pictures). -
Haymarket Riot
A labor rally near Haymarket Square turned into a riot because somebody threw a bomb at police. Although there was no evidence, eight labor activists were convicted in connection with the bombing. -
Interstate Commerce Act
An act making the railroads the first industry subject to federal regulation -
Sherman Antitrust Act
first legislation enacted by the United States Congress to curb concentrations of power that interfere with trade and reduce economic competition. A key provision outlaws all combinations that restrain trade between states or with foreign nations. -
Homestead Strike
Henry Clay Frick stepped up production demands, and when the union refused to accept the new conditions, the workers began to get locked out of the plant. An advisory committee began to direct a strike. After many strikers had been arrested, the strike lost momentum and ended on November 20th. -
Pullman Strike
Widespread railroad strike that disrupted rail traffic in the midwest. This was caused by The Pullman Palace Car Company cutting low wages, and workers got upset and tried to ask them to change it. They refused to listen and ordered them fired, so the workers went on strike. -
Lochner vs NY Decision
1905- Supreme Court ruled that a New York law setting maximum working hours for bakers was unconstitutional. Since Joseph Lochner was fined and had the possibility of going to jail, he appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court held that the act was unconstitutional and that the conviction of Lochner must be reversed. -
Mother Jones
A fearless fighter for workers’ rights
Became referred to as "mother" by the men of the union after she addressed the railway union convention.
She was once called "the most dangerous woman in America" by a U.S. district attorney. -
Wright Brothers
They succeeded in building and flying the first free, controlled flight airplane. It flew their plane for 59 seconds, at 852 feet. Two years later, they built and flew the first fully practical airplane. -
Henry Ford
1903, established Ford Motor Company
1908, created the Ford Model T Car -
Eugene Debs
Opposed Woodrow Wilson as socialist party in the 1912 presidential election. He continued to rally against Wilson and his decision to take America into war, and eventually got jailed for it.
