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Alaska is purchased from Russia
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Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
The Transcontinental Railroad connected the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and stretched 1,776 miles. The railroad had a significant impact on the economic, cultural, and political development in the United States. It also opened markets for goods that were not previously available. -
Plessy v Ferguson
The Plessy v Ferguson case challenged the legality of racial segregation, known as "separate but equal". It resulted when a group of New Orleans men decided to test the mandated segregation on passenger railways by having Homer Plessy, a mixed-race man, sit in the whites only section. Plessy was arrested, argued that the Fourteenth Amendment states all American citizens receive equal treatment under the law, and eventually fought his case at the United States Supreme Court, but lost his case. -
John D. Rockefeller starts Standard Oil
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Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
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Thomas Edison brings light to the world with the light bulb
Edison worked with a team of lab researchers in inviting the lightbulb and did not work alone despite common belief. Edison's lightbulb was not the first to be invented, as there were 23 different lightbulbs developed before his. However, he was the first to successfully develop an electric lightbulb, using carbonized cotton thread. It originally produced 13 hours of continuous light, and was later redeveloped to produce 1,200 hours. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
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Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL)
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Sherman Antitrust Act
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Ellis Island opens
Ellis Island's opening was intended to be an immigration station, and allowed millions of immigrants to enter. After its opening, fewer arrivals came from western Europe and the amount from southern and eastern Europe increased. Immigrants who entered through Ellis Island made up more than half of those entering the United States. -
Carnegie Steel’s Homestead Strike
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The U.S. declares war on Spain April 25 1898
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Hawaii is annexed
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Rudyard Kipling published “The White Man’s Burden” in The New York Sun
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The start of the Boxer Rebellion
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Tenement Act
The Tenement Act required each room to have windows and each apartment to have its own toilet facilities. It also included improved lighting and ventilation, and banning windowless floors from the second floor up. The Tenement Act was placed in order to reduce the dangers and unsanitary conditions. -
Pres. McKinley is assassinated and Progressive Theodore Roosevelt becomes President
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The Philippine Insurrection comes to an end
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The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe doctrine declares the U.S. right to intervene in the Wesern Hem
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Upton Sinclair releases “The Jungle”
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Pure Food & Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act are passed
The products being sold were packed with chemicals to mask the smell of rotten meat, treated with coloring agents, and other methods to make the meat appear fresh. For years muckrakers reported the appallingly unsanitary conditions of the manufacturing plants. These acts were put in place to protect the citizens, and prohibited the manufacture, transportation, and sale of mislabeled or adulterated food and drug products. -
Peak year of immigration through Ellis Island
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Henry Ford produced his first Model T (car)
Ford's Model T was not the first four-wheeled motor vehicle, but was the first affordable one. His inexpensive automobile was produced on assembly lines, making them able to mass-produce. His automobiles came in 9 styles and different colors, but eventually were only available in black. -
Creation of the NAACP
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The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
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The Assassination on Austria’s archduke Franz Ferdinand starts WWI
The Serbian government was blamed for the assassination, and Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Serbia had lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, beginning World War I. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers were victorious, more than 16 million soldiers and civilians were dead. -
The Panama Canal is completed and opened for traffic
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The United States enters WWI
President Woodrow Wilson fought for two and a half years to keep the United States out of the war and opted for the US to be neutral. After the German's use of U-boats and the interception of the Zimmerman telegram, the US declared war on Germany and entered WW1. The US helped end the four-year stalemate of the war and lead the Allies to victory. -
Ratification of the 18th Amendment - Prohibition
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Women got the right to vote
The accomplishment of the 19th Amendment was greatly due to two reform groups: the NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association) and the NWP (National Women's Party). The fight for women to vote lasted around 70 years, and included African American women. Many of the suffragettes were imprisoned for protesting, and continued to face discrimination after gaining the right to vote.
