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Woodrow Wilson is elected president
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), the 28th U.S. president, served in office from 1913 to 1921 and led America through World War I (1914-1918). ... After the war, he helped negotiate a peace treaty that included a plan for the League of Nations. -
USS Maine Explodes
Recent research suggests that the explosion may have been an accident, involving a spontaneous combustion fire in the coal bunker. -
Spanish American War Starts
On February 15, 1898, a mysterious explosion sank the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor, triggering a war between the United States and Spain. The Maine had come to Cuba to protect American citizens while Cuban revolutionaries were fighting to win independence from Spain. -
Battle of San Juan Hill
United States forces, including Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, defeated greatly outnumbered Spanish forces at San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill near the Spanish stronghold of Santiago de Cuba. ... The American press was effusive in its praise of the United States forces.Jul 1, 2011 -
United States Annexes Hawaii
House Joint Resolution 259, 55th Congress, 2nd session, known as the "Newlands Resolution," passed Congress and was signed into law by President McKinley. Once annexed by the United States, the Hawaiian islands remained a U.S. territory until 1959, when they were admitted to statehood as the 50th state. -
Spanish American War Ends
The war officially ended four months later, when the U.S. and Spanish governments signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. Apart from guaranteeing the independence of Cuba, the treaty also forced Spain to cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. -
Treaty of Paris 1898
The cession of the Philippines involved a payment of $20 million from the United States to Spain. The treaty was signed and ended the Spanish–American War. The Treaty of Paris came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the documents of ratification were exchanged. -
Boxer Rebellion in China
Boxer Rebellion. Boxer Rebellion, officially supported peasant uprising of 1900 that attempted to drive all foreigners from China. “Boxers” was a name that foreigners gave to a Chinese secret society known as the Yihequan (“Righteous and Harmonious Fists”). -
United States builds naval base at Pearl Harbor
The U.S. government first obtained exclusive use of the inlet and the right to maintain a repair and coaling station for ships here in 1887. -
Theodore Roosevelt becomes president after McKinley is assassinated
He was shaking hands with the public when Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot him twice in the abdomen. McKinley died eight days later on September 14 of gangrene caused by the gunshot wounds. He was the third American president to have been assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881. -
William Taft is elected president
As U.S. president from 1909 to 1913 and chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1921 to 1930, William Howard Taft became the only man in history to hold the highest post in both the executive and judicial branches of the U.S. government. From early in his career, Taft aspired to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. -
Mexican Revolution Begins
The Mexican Revolution started in 1910, when liberals and intellectuals began to challenge the regime of dictator Porfirio Díaz, who had been in power since 1877, a term of 34 years called El Porfiriato, violating the principles and ideals of the Mexican Constitution of 1857. -
The Panama Canal Opens
The Panama Canal was opened to traffic. Panama later pushed to revoke the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, and in 1977 U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos signed a treaty to turn over the canal to Panama by the end of the century. -
Puerto Ricans become US Citizens
The United States conquered the island during the Spanish-American War and it became a US territory. It wasn't until 1917 that Puerto Ricans became American citizens under the Jones-Shafroth act, just in time for them to fight for the United States during World War I.
