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Transcontinental Railroad
The Transcontinental Railroad was created to help those travel west to settle on land. Before this, people could only ride on wagon and with limited resources. Instead of taking almost a year people could get to their destination in less than a few months. -
Spanish-American War
One of the shortest wars in history, the Spanish-American War ended up lasting only 8 months. This war started due to America's support towards the ongoing struggle Cubans, as well as Filipinos later on, were facing under Spanish rule. However, they also used the explosion of the battleship U.S.S. as another reason for their war to go on. -
Theodore Roosevelt's presidency
Known as one of the progressive presidents who created the Square Deal which increased the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railroads, telephones, and the telegraph. -
The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, an archduke of Austria, Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia. This, of course, was done by the hands of Gavrillo Princip. Before he died, he managed to narrowly escape an assassin's bomb only to be shot by the assassin's bullets moments later. After this happened, a month later, Austria-Hungary ended up declaring war on Serbia, causing Europe to start descending into chaos due to all the alliances made between countries. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
In early April of 1917, America sent out a ship known as the Lusitania to export supplies towards those within the Allied powers. This completely went against America's own policy of neutrality and not wishing to get involved with foreign affairs. At this time, Germany was still acting out unrestricted submarine warfare. One of the ships just so happened to be America's Lusitania. This carried 128 American passengers, causing America to officially join WWI. -
Stock Market Crash of the 1920s
On October 29th, 1929 the stock market ended up crashing. Of course, this was caused by a variety of factors such as investments in the stock market with people selling them rather rapidly as the crash went on. -
Fall of Poland
So far Hitler had already invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia. Both times nobody ever thought to stop him. In fact, the League of Nations simply let him since it was "reasonable" but he still wanted more. On the morning of September 1st, 1939 Germany officially stated that Poland attacked them and that they had "started to fire back at 5:45 am" which was a blatant lie. The invasion lasted around 35 days before falling on October 6th. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
During WWII, America ended up ceasing trade with Japan due to their current plans of actions in reclaiming territory even if, in Japan's mind, it's similar to what America ended up doing in the past. In response, due to resource shortages, Japan ordered a preemptive strike to cripple the US Pacific fleet. This resorted in more than 3,500 American troops and civilians severely damaged in the fleet. -
March on Washington
In 1963, a march was held in Washington for Civil rights. This is known as one of the largest demonstrations of human rights within history. During this event, Martin Luther King Jr. ended up giving out his 'I Have a Dream' speech stating that he '[looks] to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.' This was one of the key factors that ended up inspiring a new willingness in Congress to pass civil rights legislation. -
September 11th, 2001 - 9/11
On 9/11 a terrorist group led by Osama Bin Laden took control over 4 planes of which hit the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. After this event, people went into a panic. Domestic policy within the country started to change such as the Dept. of Homeland Security forming and the passing of the Patriot Act. Both of these were made to help investigate those who were viewed as suspects. In the end, it did help find out some of who were "spies" against them.