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Congress authorizes transcontinental railroad
Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, which authorized the construction of a transcontinental railroad. The first such railroad was completed on May 10, 1869. Four of the five transcontinental railroads were built with assistance from the federal government through land grants. -
Bell invents telephone
The telephone is a technology that has become an integral part of our life since it was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. The nineteenth century was era of communication revolution when many electronic communication devices were invented. The telephone has had a big impact on the world. -
Johns Hopkins University graduate school established
Founded in Baltimore in 1876 as the first US institution to specialize in advanced graduate studies. Emphasized research and free inquiry. -
First immigration-restriction laws passed
The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. In 1917, the U.S. Congress enacted the first widely restrictive immigration law. -
Dawes Severalty Act
The Dawes Severalty Act was important for tribal life because it helped to reduce the tribes' ability to live in their traditional ways. The Dawes Act ended communal ownership of the land and parceled it up into pieces to be owned by individual Native Americans. -
Indians granted U.S. citizenship
Until 1924, Native Americans were not citizens of the United States. But on June 2, 1924, Congress granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. Yet even after the Indian Citizenship Act, some Native Americans weren't allowed to vote because the right to vote was governed by state law.
