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Abe Lincoln's Assassination
While Andrew Johnson was the president that oversaw Reconstruction, Lincoln was the one that wanted to start it. Had he not been assassinated, Reconstruction may have gone a lot smoother, and perhaps we would not have some of the issues we have in our country today. -
Frank and Jesse James Rob Their First Bank
Frank and Jesse James are two of the biggest names to come out of the Wild West. They are the stuff of legend to some, and horrible criminals to others. Their story would influence Hollywood for years to come. -
The US Purchases Alaska
The US bought Alaska from Russia for only 7.2 million dollars, which averages out about 2 cents an acre. Alaska had oodles of resources, such as gold, timber, copper, oil, and fishing, among other things. However, most Americans weren't happy about this when it was purchased, leaving them to call it "Seward's Folly", because William Seward, the Secretary of State at the time, bought it. -
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Johnson was in a terrible position of a Democrat president with a Republican Congress, so any and all of his ideas for Reconstruction were either vetoed or thrown out. The Republicans eventually got tired of him, and voted to impeach him. They ended up one vote shy of kicking Johnson out of office completely. But this event just further proved Johnson as a lame-duck President. -
14th Amendment to the Constitution
Defined national citizenship and forbade the states to restrict basic rights of people. Often called the discrimination amendment. This amendment was not followed very closely in the south for a long time. -
Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
The first railroad that unified the East and West coasts. You could now travel from one side of the country to the other in a week. -
Wild Bill Hickok is Killed
One of the first legends of the Wild West, Hickok had become a folk hero to legions of Americans. He was shot and killed during a poker game. The aces and eights he was holding when he died became known as the "Dead Man's Hand" -
Compromise of 1877
Informal, unwritten compromise between Republicans and Democrats that settled the 1876 presidential election, and essentially ended Reconstruction. The Democrats gave the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes, but in return got the government to remove the last troops from the south. -
Gunfight at the OK Corral
One of the most well-known gunfights, the fight at the OK Corral cemented the Earps and Doc Holliday into legend, and has come to represent the period of the Wild West when outlaws ran rampant, and law enforcement was scarce. -
Standard Oil Trust
John D. Rockefeller crested the Standard Oil Trust, which went on to control more than 95% of the oil industry. -
The Brooklyn Bridge
John Roebling starts work on the Brooklyn Bridge, creating an instant symbol of American ingenuity. -
"How the Other Half Lives"
Jacob Riis publishes his photojournal that infuriates some Americans. It showed the absolutely horrible situation that some New Yorkers were living in. -
Opening of Ellis Island
Ellis Island, the gateway to America for anyone coming from Europe, opens its door for the first time -
Ida B. Wells
Wells was a black woman who went on a crusade against lynchings in response to three of her friends being murdered by a mob in Memphis -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Supreme Court ruling that stated that segregation was legal as long as facilities were "separate but equal". -
US Declares War on Spain
The US officially decides to enter a war with Spain on account of Spain "exploding" the USS Maine, even though it was later proven that the Spanish didn't do it. -
Dewey Defeats Spanish Navy in 6 Hours
George's Dewey, an American Naval Commander, set out to fight the Spanish Navy in Manila Bay. He didn't just fight them; he destroyed their entire Navy in six hours flat. -
Consolidation of the US Steel Market
In 1901, JP Morgan bought Andrew Carnegie's steel business, United States steel, subsequently making Carnegie the richest man in America. This proved to be a major point in the charge for the Progressive Era. -
Creation of the Model T
While Henry Ford's Model T didn't exactly happen in the 1920s, the creation of it in 1908 allowed the 20s to be the decade where cars became common. While people were starting to figure out how these newfangled contraptions called automobiles worked, Ford kept cranking out new cars, and by the turn of the decade, half the cars in America were Model T's. -
Election of 1912
The election of 1912 allowed for Democrats, who hadn't been in power for a long time, to finally put a fully reform-minded, fully-democrat president in the White House. It was a big election, because it split the Republican Party in two, with Teddy Eoosevelt taking his base to the Bull Moose Party, and Taft keeping his supporters in the Republican Party. -
Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was the main catalyst for WWI. Tensions in Europe had been rising for years, and the assassination was the thing that pushed it over the edge. -
Completion of the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal was finally completed in 1914, capping off a marvelous ten-year process to dig a canal through Panama. This event showed the wonders of American ingenuity, and showed the world that the US was becoming a major player in world events. -
Sinking of the "Lusitania"
The Lusitania was a British passenger ship carrying Americans that the Germans torpedoed and sunk using one of their U-boats. Had this sinking not happened, the US may never have gotten involved in the war, and who knows the outcome after that... -
Jeannette Rankin Becomes First Woman To Hold Federal Office
In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was elected into the US House of Representatives. She became the first woman to hold federal office in the US. She was also one of only 50 members of congress opposed to the declaration of war to start WWI -
Spanish Flu Pandemic
The Spanish Flu was a horrible epidemic of influenza, and in total killed between 50 to 100 million people in 1918 and 1919. Of all Americans killed in WWI, half were killed by the Spanish Flu. -
Sedition Act
The Sedition Act expanded on the Espionage Act of 1917, and made it a crime to speak out about the US government or war efforts while in times of war. This was an incredible overreach of power by the US government, and took away inalienable rights from American citizens. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles officially ended WWI in armistice. It was written in a way to completely punish Germany for all the atrocities committed in the war. It took away land, dismantled their military, and destroyed their economy. The Treaty destroyed the German people's morale so much that they would allow Hitler to rise in 20 years and begin a Second World War. -
18th Amendment Passed
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution passed, enacting prohibition. This was a good idea in theory, but failed majorly, introducing more crime and lawlessness than before. To this day, the 18th Amendment remains the only one to have been repealed. -
Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment
Tennessee narrowly ratified the 19th Amendment, officially allowing women to vote. The 1920 election became the first presidential election that allowed women to vote in it. -
Quota System Implemented
Quotas in 1922 begin to restrict immigration into the US, favoring "desirables" over others -
Valentine's Day Massacre
The Valentine's Day Massacre was the event that set off Al Capone's downfall. He sent in his men to take out Bugs Moran and his crew. While Moran got away, his men were killed in a horrific murder spree that left 7 of them dead. The public were disgusted, and pinned all the blame on Capone, which lead to a massive manhunt. -
Stock Market Crash
Crash of the New York Stock Exchange, leading to the acceleration of the Great Depression, ultimately causing huge loss of money, jobs, and life for Americans. -
Smoot-Hawley Tariff
Congress passes the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which massively increased the import taxes in a last-ditch effort to protect American-made goods. This led to countries not wanting to do trade with America. -
Roosevelt Wins Election
Franklin Delano Roosevelt wins the 1932 election over incumbent Herbert Hoover, and this election most likely had a significant impact over how Americans got through the Great Depression. -
Hitler Appointed Chancellor in Germany
President Paul von Hindenburg appointed a young Adolf Hitler to Chancellor, and the Enabling Act of 1933 basically granted the Chancellor full dictatorial power without any repercussions. -
21st Amendment Passed
The 21st Amendment officially repealed the 18th, signaling the end of Prohibition. While it officially passed in the '30s, it really meant the end of the Roaring '20s. It shut down a lot of the crime and bootlegging going on, and made the streets safer. -
Share Our Wealth Society Founded
Huey Long founds the Share Our Wealth Society, which is basically a communism club, but because so many people are poor and can't imagine anything like actually having money, they go along with it. -
Huey Long Assassinated
Huey Long, the advocate for the Share Our Wealth society, is assassinated in the Louisiana Capitol Building. His society had grown to over 7.5 million Americans by the time of his assassination. -
Germany Invades Poland
Adolf Hitler decides to invade Poland, officially marking the start of WWII. This proves to be a bad choice on his part, but he won't know it until about 6 years later. -
Pearl Harbor Bombing
Japan bombs the American naval base in Pearl Harbor. This signals the start of direct American involvement in WWII, and also begins the Pacific Front of the war. -
D-Day
"Operation Overlord" was the attack on the beaches of Normandy by the Allied troops to hopefully push the Germans back. It was the turning point in the war, but it also became the deadliest battle the American troops ever had, with over 34,000 killed. -
Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
In August of 1945, America dropped two Atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombings in essence ended the war, since the Germans pulled out months ago. America tried to find a quick way to end it, and had they not done this, there may have been millions more lives lost in a ground war. -
First Human in Space
Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes first human in space, accelerating the Space Race between the US and the USSR. -
The Berlin Wall Goes Up
Construction for the Berlin Wall begins, and with it, comes incredible tension between the sides. Families and friends were split up by the Wall, and it was nearly impossible to cross over once it was finished. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This is the closest America has ever gotten to being attacked by a nuclear warhead. A US spy plane flew over top of Cuba, and found out that the Soviets had been storing and building missiles there. JFK orders a naval blockade of Cuba, and demands that the Soviets remove the missiles. They comply, on the exception that America doesn't invade Cuba. America agrees, and on the 28th of October, the Soviets remove their missiles. -
Jack Ruby Kills Lee Harvey Oswald
Two days after Oswald assassinated JFK, he was being brought to a county jail, but before he could get there, night club owner Jack Ruby whips out a .38 and shoots Oswald in the stomach, fatally wounding him. Conspiracy theories abound in question of why Ruby would do this before Oswald had a chance to say what he did, but Ruby died while in prison just four years later due to lung cancer. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Two American warships off the coast of Vietnam get attacked, resulting in America to officially send in troops to North Vietnam, signaling the start of direct US involvement in the Vietnam War. -
Tet Offensive
A series of coordinated attacks on American and South Vietnamese occupied cities by the North Vietnamese. It was launched on the Vietnamese New Year, Tet, hence the name. After initial drives by the North surprised the American troops, the Americans pushed back and inflicted heavy damage to the North Vietnamese Army. It was a huge turning point in the war. However, it was portrayed back to the Americans at home as a loss by the media, and support for the war back home was negatively impacted. -
Last US Troops Leave Vietnam
The last active American soldiers leave Vietnam, signaling an end to the American involvement in one of the bloodiest and most grueling wars the US has ever been a part of. It's also the first real war the America didn't "win". They didn't stop communism, and they lost the south Vietnamese people. -
Gorbachev Resigns/End of the Soviet Union
On Christmas Day, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the president of the Soviet Union. The next day, the hammer and sickle flag was lowered for the final time, and Russia formally recognized the end of the Soviet Union.
