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Period: to
Civil War to Present Day
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The Typewriter
The typewriter was first patented in 1868 by Christopher Soles, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel Sholes. The idea was inspired by Johann Gutenberg's printing press, it was to make a machine that could quickly type things up as opposed to writing them. The first typewriter was put together by Sholes, Soule, and Glidden in 1867. This made the process of writing letters, reports, and instructions much easier, less time consuming, and much more productive. -
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire has an unknown beginning but we do know the first building to go up in flames was a small barn in an alleyway. This fire caused many homes and businesses to be ruined. -
The Telephone
The telephone wasn't just Graham Bell mind you, he's just the person who got the patent for it. Other people who assisted are as follows: Antonio Meucci, Cromwell Varley, Thomas Edison, etc. -
Gas Powered Car
The invention of the Gas Powered Car by Mr. Benz surely sparked a roaring fire of the automobile industry leading to great companies like Ford to prosper. -
The Gospel of Wealth
"This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of Wealth: First, to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds" - The Gospel of Wealth, Andrew Carnegie -
Kinetoscope
On this day, the Kinetoscope, invented by Thomas Edison, was publically desplayed at the Brooklyn Insitute of Arts and Sciences. This is the first steps of early motion pictures. -
The Airplane
The invention of the airplane was a major stride in human history, because now humans could now become ligher than air and lead to many advancements in transport and warfare. -
Creation of the Model T
The creation of one of the most influential products of the early twentieth-century.
It was created by Henry Ford who wanted to create a cheaper automobile for the average family. He brought to the market in 1908 where it was a booming sucess. During its time of production over 15 million Model T's were built. -
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Model T Production
The Model T almost single-handedly caused the automobile industry to become one of the largest influences on the US Economy . -
Assembley Line Created
The creation of the assembly line was a monumentally large influence of the standard practices of manufacturing which we perform present day.
At the time, it cut production costs of the Model T, allowing a higher profit to Ford as well as a greater reduced price for the product on the market.
The effeciency of the assembley line also reduced the average production time of a Model T from 12 hours to around 90 minutes. -
Beginning of World War I
World War 1 begins in the world. We began selling supplies and equipment to Europe which resulted in large production of said supplies in the US. Unemployment goes down as more demand for production goes up and military rediness increases with more troops. -
US enters WW1
America enters the war and massive government spending takes place. -
World War 1 Ends
After armistice was signed, an economic boom followed from debits which we collected from those we assisted. This caused what we know as "The Roaring 20s" -
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Roaring Twenties
An economic and cultural boom after WW1 ended. Over the course of these nine years America's wealth almost doubled. It was the first time America had seen a "consumer's market" of its' own. -
Wall Street Crash/The Great Depression Begins
Preceeding this event, the stock market began to decline in September causing worry. On October 18th, stocks began to fall rapidly, causing panic in shareholders and investors. Everyone wanted to sell their stock and caused the market to completely collapse which caused the loss of billions of dollars. This was a major cause of the start of the Great Depression -
Social Security Act becomes law
Provides benefits for retirees and the unemployed, as well as the elderly in general. -
Manhattan Project begins
Between 1939 and 1945, the U.S, with help from the British, secretly began putting resources into the development of atomic weapons as originally adivised by Albert Einstein in order to put the U.S ahead of the axis powers in military technology. The success of the program would make the U.S the first atomic power and enter the world into the nuclear age. -
World War 2 begins
Germany invades Poland, thus marking the start of the second world war. The U.S begins supplying arms and munitions to the allied powers in Europe, which in turn creates U.S jobs and significant wealth in the U.S economy. -
McDonald's Founded
McDonald's is founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald. In the years to follow, McDonald's would become one of the largest and most successful restaurant chains in the world. -
U.S enters World War 2
After the attack on Pearl Harbor the U.S declares war on Japan. The other axis powers then proceed to declare war on the U.S, thus pulling the U.S into both the eastern and western fronts. Massive production of arms and munitions begins in factories across the U.S, acting as a boon to the U.S economy. -
The United Nations estabilished
The United Nations is formed shortly after WW2 to replace the failed League of Nations and work towards promoting world peace and keeping international law and security, while also providing an effective platform for diplomacy amongst the world's powers, thus also facilitating better trade between said powers as well. -
Cold War begins
Following the division of Germany at the hands of the allied powers, tension begins to build between the U.S and the Soviet Union. Over the course of several decades the two super powers vie for predominance on a global scale. Both nations spending heavily in order to stay technologically ahead of the other, subsequently leading to the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 50s. -
World War 2 ends
Shortly after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S, Japan officially surrenders, ending the conflict in the Pacific as well as marking the official end of the war, thus returning the United States to a state of normalcy. -
Microwave Oven Invented
Percy Spencer creates the first Microwave Oven, which would continue on as a staple appliance in the homes of American citizens for decades to come. -
First instant camera introduced
Inventor Edwin Land introduces the first instant camera to the commercial world. The cameras are manufactured by Polaroid. The camera turns out to be a commercial success and later leads to spearhead the future creation of more advanced cameras and similar technologies. -
Korean War begins
The new communist regime of North Korea invades right- wing South Korea, prompting the United Nations Security Council to authorize military action in the region. Once again the U.S became embroiled in a war on foreign soil which would strain on the U.S economy and further tensions between the U.S and the U.S.S.R. -
Korean War ends
The Korean War ends (Unofficially) with a ceasefire and the withdrawal of the United States military from the region. The war was generally forgotten and ignored by the general public. -
First Color TV Broadcast
NBC broadcasted the very first television broadcast in color. This would prove to be a milestone in television technology which would greatly impact the television market for decades to come. -
Segregation Ruled illegal
In the supreme court case, Brown v. Board of Education, all segregation laws were overturned. Although the effects of the supreme court decision wouldn't be felt until several years later, it proved to be an indelible milestone in the civil rights movement that would change the social workings of the U.S forever. -
Vietnam War begins
The U.S sends military advisors into French Indochina to assess the conflict between the communist North Vietnamese and the U.S backed South Vietnamese. The United States's involvement in the conflict would escalate in the 60s as the U.S would attempt to stop the North Vietnamese forces and communist South Vietnamese guerilla fighters from uniting Vietnam under communist rule. The war was costly as well as negatively recieved by the general public, which would hurt the U.S economy significantly -
Eisenhower Signs Road Bill
President signed a bill that would enable the construction of the interstate system. It created plenty of jobs for the construction of it and was built quite rapidly. It made the transportation across the countyr to become much quicker so materials, people, mail, etc. would get to its destination much quicker. -
First Industrial Robot
In 1961 the first industrial robot was implemented into a General Motors assembly line. It was conceived by George C. Devol Jr. While the US didnt give much of a good reception, Japan loved the idea. -
Video Games
Steve Russell, Martin Graetz and Wayne Wiitanen came up with the idea for one of the earliest video games, and by february 1962 the first version had been released. -
US Enters the Vietnam War
The US began sending Ground Troops to Vietnam to assist the South Vietmanese army. US involement became heavy between the years of 1965-1969. The draft that ended up happening caused many people to become employed within the military. -
Oil Crisis
In 1973, the Yom Kippur war began, OPEC officials in response raised the prices of oil by nearly 70 percent. Despite the fighting stopping around the end of October, the prices remained the same. The auto industry pushed for more fuel efficient cars to compensate for the higher price of gas. Gas also had to be rationed due to how little there was available. -
Microsoft
The software company Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975, and has sinse become the worlds largest software maker and one of the worlds most valuable companies. It dominated the personal computer market during the 80's. They also created the first web browser, Windows Internet Explorer, and they continue to offer a wide range of computing related products. -
Tax Reform Act of 1986
Simplified the income tax code -
The Stock Market Crash of 1987
The dow lost 22.6% of its value or $500 billion dollars. Short-term interest rates were lowered to prevent a recession and banking crisis. The markets recovered fairly quickly from the worst one-day staock market crash. -
Savings and Loan Crisis
This created the greatest banking collapse since the Great Depression of 1929. It led to nearly a fourth of all savings and loan associations requiring bailout, due to an easing of regulatory oversight and sparce real estate lending. This year is also when Microsoft Office was released, which we still use today! -
Attack on World Trade Center and Pentagon
The attacks reulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering U.S. initiatives to combat terroism. -
War in Iraq Begins
President Bush launches invasion after 9/11 occured. A month later he signs a $79 billion supplemental spending bill. -
The Great Recession
Led to the collapse of the United States housing bubble, which contributed to a global financial crisis as oil and food prices soared. It also led to a collapse of many of United States largest financial institutions. It ended in 2009. -
Iraq War Ends
Although the war ended, the goal to find weapons of mass destruction was not met. President Obama puts half the money that was being spent on the war toward rebuilding roads, bridges, runways, and schools in the United States and uses the other half to help pay down the debt.
