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Alaska is purchased from Russia
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Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
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John D. Rockefeller started Standard Oil
Within this time, Rockefeller owned one third of Standard Oil's stock. Rockefeller later became one of the most rich and powerful men in America. Standard Oil later came to be as a monopoly, as Rockefeller bought out refineries and promoted them throughout the U.S. -
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
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Thomas Edison brings light to the world with the lightbulb
Theoretically, Edison was not the first people to invent the lightbulb. In fact, there were supposedly 23 people who made the light bulb before him. Edison is known commonly as the first one mainly because he was the first person to patent the lightbulb on January 27, 1880 -
Chinese Exclusion Act
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Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL)
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Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was named after the main author for this act, Senator John Sherman. This act helped to maintain and stop monopolies from happening in the first place, like the monopolies with Rockefeller's Standard Oil. This act also helped towards the case of future antitrust laws such as the Clayton Antitrust Act, which outlaws ruthless business practices and acted as an extension of previous antitrust laws. -
Ellis Island Opens
Ellis Island was significant for being a place of inspection for immigrants coming into the U.S. through Sn Francisco. Around the years 1890-1920, around 12 million immigrants, mainly from Europe, came through this island. Out of all these immigrants, around 1.2 million immigrants came in 1907 alone. -
Carnegie Steel's Homestead Strike
In the weeks leading up to the strike, Andrew Carnegie let his assistant Henry Frick run the steel mill operations and enforce long hours and low wages. However, when the workers went on strike, Frick called in the Pinkerton guards to stop them, ultimately leading to a tragedy. The significance of this event is how the tragedy struck, with many workers shot on the spot, and citizens got a negative impression from the work field, especially Frick, who they held responsible for this. -
Plessy V. Ferguson
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U.S. declares war on Spain
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Hawaii is annexed
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Rudyard Kipling publishes "The White Man's Burden."
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Start of the Boxer Rebellion
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Tenement Act
The Tenement Act of 1901 finally brought about the end of construction for tenements, which were poor, crowded apartments with little to no ventilation. Tenements have, obviously, been trouble for workers for ages. The significance behind this is that this act required that any new apartments or tenements have better ventilation, more bathrooms and plumbing, fire protection, etc. -
President McKinley is assassinated and Progressive Theodore Roosevelt becomes president.
At the time of McKinley's assassination, Theodore Roosevelt was known as the vice president. McKinley was shot at the American Expositon at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York in 1901. Ironically enough, Roosevelt didn't strongly desire being vice president, even when McKinley wanted him to be one, before these events took place. -
The Philippine Insurrection (Philippine-American War) comes to an end
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The Roosevelt Corellary to the Monroe Doctrine declares the U.S. the right to intervene in the Western Hemisphere
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Upton Sinclair publishes "The Jungle."
The author himself, Upton Sinclair is known as a muckraker. In "The Jungle," the conditions and terrors of the meat packing plant are exposed. The significance of this book is how Congress became forced to pass the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. -
Peak year of immigration through Ellis Island
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Pure Food and Drug Act & Meat Inspection Act are passed
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Henry Ford produced his first Model T car
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Creation of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
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Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
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Assassination of Austria's archduke Franz Ferdinand starts WWI
This assassination of Ferdinand triggered the events that led up to the start of WW1. In the war, there were two Alliances; the Triple Entente and the Central Powers. After WW1, when the Central Powers won, there were over 16 million deaths, which is why this event is so signifact, as the assassination started it all. -
Panama canal is completed and ready for traffic
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The United STates enter WW1
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Ratification of the 18th Amendment
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Women got the right to vote
Women finally got the right to vote when Wilson gave in and helped allow the 19th Amendment to pass. A fun fact about this is originally, the state South Carolina completely ignored this amendment, but later passed in on July 1, 1969. The significance of this is that this was a campaign by NAWSA (National Association for Women's Suffrage in America), formed by Alice Paul.
