-
Abraham Lincoln was elected as the first replublican president.
-
The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing. Lee then withdraws to Virginia.
-
The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery. The amendment is then submitted to the states for ratification.
-
Confers citizenship on African Americans and guarantees equal rights.
-
Black Codes was a name given to laws passed by southern governments (white southerners) after the Civil War (in 1865) that was established during the presidency of Andrew Johnson.
-
A secret organization to intimidate African Americans and restore white rule is founded in Pulaski, Tennessee.
-
Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to guarantee equal use of public accommodations and places of public amusement. It also forbids the exclusion of African Americans from jury duty.
-
In 1879, Thomas Edison developed the world’s first practical incandescent electric light bulb. He displayed it by electrically lighting the Menlo Park Laboratory. While Edison did not technically invent the light bulb, he did improve upon the invention to make it practical, safe, and economical for home use.
-
Karl Benz was granted a patent for an automobile powered by a gasoline engine. While he is credited with the invention of the modern automobile, several other German engineers worked on building automobiles at the same time.
-
The Sherman Antitrust Act was signed into law in 1890, and was intended to prevent businesses from increasing the cost of goods to the consumer.
-
Workers at the Pullman sleeping car plant in Chicago go on strike after the company cut wages without reducing rents in company-owned housing.
-
The US Supreme Court rules that segregation of blacks and whites was permitted under the Constitution so long as both races receive equal facilities.
-
The Teller Amendment was an amendment to a joint resolution of the United States Congress, Cuba fought for their independence.
-
This shows the beginning of Spain's downfall as one of the major European countries in imperialism. The United States rises with new territories gained from the Spanish, and become more powerful and wealthy in the near future.
-
Big Stick policy refers to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy: "speak softly, and carry a big stick." The idea of negotiating peacefully.
-
The Battle of Verdun begins. The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of World War I and was one of the bloodiest.
-
Germany sends the secret Zimmerman Telegram to Mexico in an effort to entice Mexico to join the war. The British intercept and decipher the coded message.
-
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on June 28 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I were dealt with in separate treaties.
-
The Palmer Raids begin, launching a period of intense government persecution of radical political dissidents in response to the postwar Red Scare sweeping the nation.
-
The Sacco-Vanzetti trial begins; immigrant Italian radicals Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti will eventually be convicted of murder and executed.
-
Fifteen nations, including the United States, sign the Kellogg-Briand pact "outlawing" war. The unenforceable pact will be made a mockery through the rise of European fascist states in the 1930s.
-
Black tues. was when all stores lowered all prices because economy was so bad, no one could afford anything
-
Adolph Hitler seizes power in Germany. Hindenburg is reduced to a figure head.
-
A West Coast longshoremen's strike, conducted with significant aid from the Communist Party, paralyzes shipping and trade in California, Oregon, and Washington. The strike ends with a victory for the longshoremen's union.
-
Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to a second term as president, winning in a landslide over Republican Alf Landon. Roosevelt wins every state but Maine and Vermont.
-
The United States Congress amends the Neutrality Acts to favor Britain and France, lifting the embargo and authorizing cash & carry.
-
The Yalta Conference occurs, deciding the post-war status of Germany. The Allies of World War II (the USA, the USSR, Great Britain and France) divide Germany into four occupation zones.
-
The Atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.
-
Ho Chi Minh declares an independent Vietnam, called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
-
Red Scare is the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism used by anti-leftist proponents.The second Red Scare occurred after World War II and was popularly known as "McCarthyism" after its most famous supporter, Senator Joseph McCarthy.
-
South Vietnam declares itself the Republic of Vietnam, with newly elected Ngo Dinh Diem as president.
-
Civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger, spurring the Montgomery boycott and other efforts to end segregation.
-
The Little Rock Nine were the nine African-American students involved in the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.
-
John F. Kennedy was elected as President of the USA
-
The Black Panthers believed that the non-violent campaign of Martin Luther King had failed and any promised changes to their lifestyle via the 'traditional' civil rights movement, would take too long to be implemented or simply not introduced.
-
The North Vietnamese join forces with the Viet Cong to launch the Tet Offensive, attacking approximately one hundred South Vietnamese cities and towns.