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Theodore Roosevelt is born
Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York into a wealthy family. As a child he was home schooled and then attended Harvard University where he graduated in 1880. Before he passed, he was a leader of the progressive movement which promised the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. -
Wins first full term as President
Theodore Roosevelt defeated Alton B. Parker. This win made him the first president who ascended to the presidency upon the death of his predecessor to win a full term in his own right. -
Named President when McKinley is assassinated
President McKinley from a grenade that had gone off. After that Theodore Roosevelt was immediately president. He remains the youngest person to become president in the United States. -
Energy Crisis
Rockefeller encountered a high cost of transporting his oil to his Cleveland refineries. The oil was refined to New York. The Roosevelt administration sued Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company to break up the monopolies. -
Elkins Act passed
This act prohibited rebates and made the railroad cooperation providing the rebate as well as the shipper receiving it, liable under the law. The large shippers would pay a standard shipping rate but then demand that the companies provide a refund. -
Pelican Island, Florida named first national wildlife refuge
President Roosevelt signed an executive order establishing Pelican Island as a federal bird reservation. This island was created to protect egrets and other birds from extinction through plume hunting. This was the first time that the federal government set aside land for the sake of wildlife. -
Yosemite under Federal Control
Congress set aside over 1,500 square miles of land which soon became Yosemite National Park. The land was set aside to preserve and distribute a utilitarian resource, much like our present national forests. -
Passage of Pure Food And Drug Act
Since 1879, 100 bills were introduced in Congress to regulate food and drugs. This law provided improved medical care for people getting sick from unsafe food. It was required that food must be checked by the government to make sure it is safe. -
Devils Tower
Devils Tower was the first national monument in the United States. It rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River and standing 867 feet from summit to base. The tower is considered the birthplace of wisdom. -
Leaves presidency, visits Africa
The Smithsonian–Roosevelt African Expedition was an expedition to Africa led by Theodore Roosevelt and outfitted by the Smithsonian Institution. The purpose was to collect specimen for the Smithsonian's new Natural History museum. This trip collected around 11,400 specimens which took 8 years to catalog. -
Runs for presidency, unsuccessfully for Bull-Moose Party
The Progressive Party was nicknamed "Bull Moose Party" when Roosevelt boasted that he thought he was "strong as a bull moose" after losing the Republican nomination.