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Rutherford B. Hayes becomes the 19th President of the United States. -
Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the first official telephone. -
The Compromise of 1877 takes place when President Grant signs the Electoral Commission Act. The purpose of this act is to settle the heavily disputed election of 1876. This results in the U.S. government taking the last troops out of the Southern states and the end of the Reconstruction Era. -
Thomas Edison displays his lights and generators to reporters and investors. -
Sitting Bull surrenders to the United States Army, ending major Native American resistance to white settlers. -
James A. Garfield becomes the 20th president on March 4, 1881. Unfortunately, he is assassinated six months later.
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The Tariff Act of 1890 is passed to protect household industries from any foreign competition by raising the rates on certain goods. -
Workers at the Pullman rail car factory strike. They are aided by the American Railway Union. The strike is broken by the arrest of the union's leader, Eugene Debs. -
The Supreme Court rules that discrimination is legal as long as the separate facilities are equal. -
Congress passes the Gold Standard Act, ending the monetary debate by putting the United States on a gold standard.