-
The Dead Rabbits Riot
The Dead Rabbits riot was a two-day civil disturbance in New York City evolving from what was originally a small-scale street fight between members of the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys into a citywide gang war, which occurred July 4–5, 1857. -
John D. Rockefeller Creates Standard Oil
In 1870, he established Standard Oil, which by the early 1880s controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing and colluding with railroads to eliminate his competitors in order to gain a monopoly in the industry. -
The Ku Klux Klan is Established
Ku Klux Klan, either of two distinct U.S. hate organizations that employed terror in pursuit of their white supremacist agenda. One group was founded immediately after the Civil War and lasted until the 1870s. The other began in 1915 and has continued to the present. -
Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone
On March 7, 1876, 29-year-old Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for his revolutionary new invention: the telephone. The Scottish-born Bell worked in London with his father, Melville Bell, who developed Visible Speech, a written system used to teach speaking to the deaf. -
The Great Oklahoma Land Race
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of former Indian Territory, which had earlier been assigned to the Creek and Seminole peoples. An estimated 50,000 people were lined up at the start, seeking to gain a piece of the available two million acres. -
Ellis Island Opens to Process Immigrants
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor that was once the busiest immigrant inspection station in the United States. From 1892 to 1924, nearly 12 million immigrants arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey were processed there under federal law. -
J.P. Morgan Founds U.S. Steel
United States Steel was built by combining ten different steel companies, including the two largest at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Carnegie Steel Company and the Federal Steel Company. The effort to unite these companies was led by J. P. Morgan (1837-1913), America's leading banker at the time. -
Teddy Roosevelt Becomes President of the United States
Roosevelt took office as vice president in 1901 and assumed the presidency at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated the following September. He remains the youngest person to become President of the United States. -
The Wizard of Oz (Book) is Published
Frank Baum's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," upon which the movie is based, was a political allegory for American politics at the dawn of the 20th century. Dorothy, the Kansas innocent, represents the nobility of middle (and Midwestern) America; the Tin Man is industry, the Scarecrow is agriculture. -
Ford Motor Company is Founded
Image result for Ford Motor Company is Founded
Leland who had founded and named the company in 1917 for Abraham Lincoln whom Henry Leland admired. The Mercury division was established later in 1938 to serve the mid-price auto market between the Ford and Lincoln brands. Ford Motor Company dedicated the largest museum of American History in 1929, The Henry Ford. -
Ida Tarbell Publishes Her Article About Standard Oil
Born in Pennsylvania at the onset of the oil boom, Tarbell is best known for her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil Company. The book was published as a series of articles in McClure's Magazine from 1902 to 1904. It has been called a "masterpiece of investigative journalism", by historian J. -
The 16th Amendment is Passed
Passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913, the 16th amendment established Congress's right to impose a Federal income tax. ... At first, Congress placed a flat 3-percent tax on all incomes over $800 and later modified this principle to include a graduated tax. -
Angel Island Opens to Process Immigrants
In January 1910, over the late objections of Chinese community leaders, this hastily built immigration station was opened on the northeastern edge of Angel Island, ready to receive its first guests. -
The 17th Amendment is Passed
Passed by Congress May 13, 1912, and ratified April 8, 1913, the 17th amendment modified Article I, section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. Senators. Prior to its passage, Senators were chosen by state legislatures. -
The Empire State Building Opens
These buildings are a celebration of modern technology and innovation. ... Of these, none is more famous than the Empire State Building in New York City, built between 1929 and 1931. Since its construction, the Empire State Building has symbolized the technological prowess and economic strength of the United States.