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President William McKinley wins his second term as president, this time with Theodore Roosevelt in the second spot on the ticket, again defeating William J. Bryan by an Electoral Margin of 292 to 155. -
President William H. McKinley is shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York while shaking hands with fair visitors, following his speech at the event on President's Day the day before. Anarchist Leon Czolgosz is arrested for the crime. On September 14, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt is inaugurated as President upon the death of William McKinley from gunshot wounds sustained the week earlier. -
Panama Canal built
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Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine -
The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act is passed. -
In the first election of a Democratic candidate since 1892, Woodrow Wilson overcame a three-way race for the presidency when former President Teddy Roosevelt donned the nomination of the Progressive Party to tackle the election against Wilson and incumbent President and Republican William Howard Taft. This split caused the election of Wilson, who garnered 435 Electoral College votes to 88 for Roosevelt and only 8 for Taft. -
A major reform of the American financial and banking system occurs with the authorization of the U.S. Congress for the establishment of the Federal Reserve System.
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Hostilities would begin on July 28 when Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia for failing to meet conditions set after the assassinations. -
The British ship Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat submarine, causing 128 American passengers to be lost. Germany, although it warned of the pending crises to passengers, issued an apology to the United States and promised payments. -
Four days after receiving the request from President Woodrow Wilson, the United States Congress declares war on Germany and join the allies in World War I. -
Hostilities in World War I begin to end with the Austria-Hungary alliance for an armistice with the allies on November 3. -
The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers.