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A coalition of Native American tribes annihilated the 7th Calvary Regiment of the U.S. Army, under Lt. Colonel George Custer.
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Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was elected president in one of the most controversial elections in American history, despite losing the popular vote and doubts about the validity of several electoral votes. In the end, the election was settled by negotiation and a compromise which required the end of Reconstruction in exchange for Tilden ceding the election.
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Rutherford B. Hayes continued the streak of Republican presidents elected since the end of the Civil War. He served only one term.
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Thomas Edison successfully tests an incandescent light bulb, which soon became a massive commerical success that transformed the American way of life.
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James A. Garfield won the fourth post-war presidential election in a row for the Republican Party, but his presidency was cut short due to assassination.
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President James A. Garfield died on September 19, 1881, over two months after being shot by assassin Charles Guiteau, who sought revenge against Garfield for not giving him a post in the administration.
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Chester A. Arthur served out the remainder of James A. Garfield's term, but was not nominated to seek election in his own right.
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In 1884, Democrat Grover Cleveland was elected president, breaking the post-war streak of Republican presidents. However, he was defeated for re-election.
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In a public relations disaster for the labor movement, anarchists bombed and killed several police officers during a strike and protest in Chicago. The incident effectively destroyed the Knights of Labor organization.
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Republican Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland for reelection in 1888, despite losing the popular vote, but Harrison was defeated for re-election himself at the hands of Cleveland four years later.
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An economic depression ravaged the country for about four years, causing severe damage to the stock market, the financial system, American business, and agriculture.
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Democrat Grover Cleveland became the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms, after defeating his own successor, Benjamin Harrison, in 1892. However, Cleveland's second term was marred by economic difficulties.
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In the landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court established the doctrine of "separate but equal," which laid the foundation for decades of racial segregation in the South.
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Republican William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan in the 1896 election, restoring Republican rule. His presidency saw the rapid rise of American power on the world stage, due to the Spanish-American War. Despite winning reelection, his presidency was cut short by assassination.
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Triggered by the explosion of the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba, which Americans widely blamed on Spain, the Spanish-American War was a short four-month conflict that resulted in a decisive victory for the United States. The United States annexed several Spanish territories as a result of the war, elevating America to the status of world power.