College History II

Lincoln Assasinated

Apr 14, 1865

Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in Washington, DC, and is succeeded by his vice president, Andrew Johnson. Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, prohibiting slavery

Alaska acquired

Mar 30, 1867

U.S. acquires Alaska from Russia for the sum of $7.2 million

President Johnson impeached

Feb 24, 1868

President Johnson is impeached by the House of Representatives but he is acquitted at his trial in the Senate

Fourteenth Amendment

Jul 9, 1868

Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing citizenship

President Grant inaugurated

Mar 4, 1869

Ulysses S. Grant is inaugurated as the 18th president

Railroads meet

May 10, 1869

Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads are joined at Promontory, Utah, creating first transcontinental railroad

Fifteenth Amendment

Feb 3, 1870

Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving blacks the right to vote

Credit Mobiler

Sep 1, 1872

Crédit Mobilier scandal breaks, involving several members of Congress

President Grant's second inauguration

Mar 4, 1873

Grant's second inauguration

Battle of Little Bighorn

Jun 25, 1876

Lt. Col. George A. Custer's regiment is wiped out by Sioux Indians under Sitting Bull at the Little Big Horn River

Hayes elected

Mar 5, 1877

Rutherford B. Hayes is inaugurated as the 19th president

James Garfield inaugurated

Mar 4, 1881

James A. Garfield is inaugurated as the 20th president

Arthur succeeds Garfield

Sep 19, 1881

Garfield is shot by Charles Guiteau in Washington, DC, and later dies from complications of his wounds in Elberon, N.J. Garfield's vice president, Chester Alan Arthur, succeeds him in office.

Standard Time in America

Nov 18, 1882

U.S. adopts standard time

Grover Cleveland inaugurated

Mar 4, 1885

Grover Cleveland is inaugurated as the 22nd president

Statue of Liberty

Oct 28, 1886

Statue of Liberty is dedicated in America

American Federation of Labor

Dec 3, 1886

American Federation of Labor is organized

Benjamin Harrison inaugurated

Mar 4, 1889

Benjamin Harrison is inaugurated as the 23rd president

NAWSA founded

Jul 2, 1890

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) is founded, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as president

Sherman Antitrust Act

Jul 7, 1890

Sherman Antitrust Act is signed into law, prohibiting commercial monopolies

Coxey's Army

May 1, 1894

Jacob Coxey leads a march on Washington by the unemployed.

Pullman Strike

May 10, 1894

Workers at the Pullman sleeping car plant in Chicago go on strike after the company cut wages without reducing rents in company-owned housing. On June 26, the American Railway Union begins to boycott trains carrying Pullman cars.

Plessy vs Ferguson

May 18, 1896

Plessy v. Ferguson: Landmark Supreme Court decision holds that racial segregation is constitutional, paving the way for the repressive Jim Crow laws in the South

McKinley

Mar 4, 1897

William McKinley is inaugurated as the 25th president

U.S.S. Maine blown up by Spain

Feb 15, 1898

: USS Maine is blown up in Havana harbor, angering many Americans into wantning war war with Spain

Spanish-American War

Apr 25, 1898

U.S. to declare war on Spain after building tensions reach a climax

Battle of Manila Bay

May 1, 1898

Commodore George Dewey's flotilla defeats the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines, suffering only eight wounded

Annexation of Hawaii

Jul 7, 1898

U.S. annexes Hawaii by an act of Congress

Spanish-American War ends

Dec 10, 1898

Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Spanish-American War

The Hague meeting

Jul 29, 1899

Delegates from the US and 25 other nations meet at The Hague to discuss disarmament, arbitration of international disputes, protection of noncombatants, and limitations on methods of warfare.

American Samoa

Dec 2, 1899

U.S. acquires American Samoa by treaty with Great Britain and Germany

Exponential Growth

Sep 28, 1900

According to the 1900 census, the nation's population numbers nearly 76 million.

McKinley 2nd inauguratoin

Mar 4, 1901

McKinley's second inauguration

McKinley shot

Sep 6, 1901

He is shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, N.Y., and later dies from his wounds

Theodore Roosevelt

Nov 30, 1901

McKinley is succeeded by his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt.

Panama Canal

Nov 17, 1903

U.S. acquires Panama Canal Zone

First airplane

Dec 17, 1903

Wright brothers make the first controlled, sustained flight in heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk, N.C

Theodore Roosevelt 2nd inauguration

Mar 4, 1905

Theodore Roosevelt's second inauguration

San Francisco Fire

Apr 18, 1906

At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, a large earthquake hit San Francisco. Even greater than the damage caused directly by the earthquake, the city was ravaged by fire for four days.

Bureau of Investigation

Jul 26, 1908

Bureau of Investigation, forerunner of the FBI, is established

NAACP is founded

Oct 19, 1909

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on February 12, 1909

Structure of Atom

Oct 19, 1909

Ernest Rutherford discovers the structure of an atom

Boy Scouts created

Oct 19, 1910

•Boy Scouts Established in U.S.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Oct 5, 1911

Poor working conditions and improper safety codes cause this fire in New York City to kill over a hundred workers.

Standard Oil dissolved

Oct 19, 1911

•Standard Oil Company Broken Up by Supreme Court ruling

Titanic

Apr 19, 1912

Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage

Income Tax

May 19, 1913

Personal income tax is introduced into the United States

Assembly Line

Oct 19, 1913

Henry Ford introduces a mass assembly line into manufacturing

Archduke Ferdinand Assassinated

Jul 18, 1914

Frans Ferdinand is assassinated, sparking World War I

Panama Canal

Oct 22, 1914

The Panama Canal is officially open to the world.

Germany sinks Lusitania

Jun 24, 1915

German U-boats sink the Lusitania, and 1,198 people die.

Invention of telephone

Jun 25, 1915

Alexander Graham Bell makes first transcontinental telephone call.

Theory of relativity

Oct 3, 1915

Albert Einstein proposes general theory of relativity.

Woodrow Wilson

Nov 12, 1916

Woodrow Wilson is reelected.

Battle of Verdun and Somme

Dec 12, 1916

The battles of Verdun and Somme claim millions of lives.

US in World War I

May 12, 1917

The United States enters World War 1.

Selective Service

Sep 15, 1917

The Selective Service Act sets up the draft

Russia withdraws from the war.

Nov 5, 1917

Russia withdraws from the war.

Sedition Act

Mar 4, 1918

Congress passes the Sedition Act.

League of Nations

Jun 25, 1918

President Wilson proposes the League of Nations.

Communism in Russia

Nov 9, 1918

The Bolsheviks establish a Communist regime in Russia.

World War I ends, Treaty of Versailles

Jun 11, 1919

Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I

18th Amendment

Aug 22, 1919

Eighteenth Amendment outlaws alcoholic beverages

Gandhi

Dec 15, 1919

Mohandas Gandhi becomes leader of the independence movement in India.

19th amendment

Aug 18, 1920

Women are given the right to vote. This legislation is taken into question and ridicule even today.

Panama Canal completed

Dec 12, 1920

The Panama Canal is completed in its entirity

Citizenship Act

Dec 12, 1924

Citizenship Act makes Indians citizens
without impairing status as tribal members

Lindbergh

Dec 12, 1927

Lindbergh crosses
Atlantic non-stop

Valentine's Day Massacre

Feb 14, 1929

Al Capone tricks and slaughters a rival gang at a local dock in this massacre.

Stock Market crashes

Oct 24, 1929

Well... the stock market crashed.