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John Rockefeller establishes the Standard Oil Trust, one of the first big businesses of its time and one of the paving businesses for a movement towards big businesses and trusts.
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General Custer's army is badly defeated by the Lakota Indians in battle and Custer himself is killed.
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Reconstruction of the South post-civil war finally ends after twelve or so years.
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President Garfield is shot and wounded at a train station in Washington DC.
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Garfield ultimately dies from his wound earlier in the year and is replaced by Chester Arthur.
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Cleveland is Elected as president of the United states
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In response to the emergence of big businesses such as Standard Oil, the government outlawed trusts, monopolies, and cartels, so that there would be a more competitive economy and bigger businesses would not simply swallow and take on smaller businesses.
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What was really a massacre of Lakota Indians, including women and children, by US soldiers during what was initially supposed to be a peaceful interaction but turned violent when a shot was fired by either a soldier or an Indian.
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After the court case in the Supreme Court against the Farmers' Trust company, the decision is made to eliminate the income tax forced by Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act which was deemed disproportional.
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War between the US and Spain on account of the US' intervention in the Cuban Revolution and the explosion of the USS Maine
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Hawaii is annexed as a US state
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US makes peace with Spain and receives the Philippines, Samoa, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
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American currency shifts from a Silver standard to being determined on a comparative value to gold.