-
Bessemer Process
This was the first method that had been discovered to allow steel to be mass-produced. Many people were involved in contributing ideas to the create this final method that made steel a major production industry in the Industrial Revolution -
Edwin Drake Drills First Oil Well in the U.S.
Edwin Drake was the man who drilled the first productive oil well in the United States. He studied the techniques of drilling salt wells and decided to try for himself with the Seneca Oil Company. He began drilling in May 1858 and reached the top of the oil deposit in August 1859. Oil became a major industry throughout the Industrial Revolution. -
Crédit Mobilier Scandal
A construction and finance company became involved with the building of the Union Pacific Railroad through illegal manipulation of contracts. This event proved that there was still civil war corruption in America throughout the Industrial Revolution. -
Christopher Sholes invents the Typewriter
Sholes was an American inventor who developed the typewriter. He began his work as a numbering machine, but decided to turn this device into a lettering machine as well. After he sold his work to the Remington Arms Company, the typewriter was used throughout the Industrial Revolution to create new inventions and to share information between people. -
John D. Rockefeller Incorporates the Standard Oil Company
Rockefeller was an American industrialist as well as a philanthropist. The Standard Oil Company, which he founded, completely dominated the oil industry and was the first great business trust in the United States. -
Alexander Graham Bell invents the Telephone
He was an American scientist and inventor and he taught the deaf. His most famous accomplishments are the refinement of the phonograph and the invention of the telephone. These discoveries significantly impacted how people communicated during the Industrial Revolution. -
Thomas Edison Invents the Lightbulb
Edison revolutionized how light was used in the Industrial Revolution. Electric lighting had already been invented, he found a way to make it practical for home use involving bamboo filaments and a vacuum bulb. -
Haymarket Riot
This was when labor protestors and Chicago police got involved in a violent confronation over getting the workday to be reduced to eight hours. This event symbolized the international struggle for workers' rights during the Industiral Revolution. -
Interstate Commerce Act
This act states that all commercial transactions or traffic that cross state boundaries are not to be impeded with. The Interstate Commerce Commission was established to regulate the railroad industry. -
Munn v. Illinois
This was a law case passed by the Supreme Court that allowed them to uphold the government to regulate private industries. -
Mother Jones becomes Figure of American Labour Movement
After Jones had turned to a labour foundation offering improved working conditions, she became a highly visible figure of this movement. She travelled all around the U.S. organizing events, planning strikes, and gaining public support. She was known as a fiery agitator for coal miners union rights. -
Sherman Antitrust Act
This act was passed by the United States Congress to hold back concentrations of power that were interfereing with the business of trade and diminishing econcomic competititon. This act outlawed anything that restriced foreign exchange and made all attempts of changing any part of trade and commerce in the U.S. This influenced the Industrial Revolution by not allowing any trade agreements to be interfered with in the U.S. -
Homestead Strike
The Homestead Strike was a labour dispute of violence between the Carnegie Steel Company and a variety of its workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The riot was against the company's management structure, newly hired replacement employees, and the detective agency that worked for the company. There was a contract that was about to expire that the company had with the detective agency, and it would result in all of the current workers to be replaced by nonunioned labourers. A gun battle resulted. -
Pullman Strike
This was a strike in the United States that boycotted railroads, causing railroad traffic in the Midwest to be disrupted completely. Severe economic problems caused the Pullman Palace Car Company to dramatically cut wages of their workers. The workers began a local strike, which eventually grew into a national boycott. This strike influenced the Industrial Revolution because the railroad industry was a very large part of the U.S. culture and it provided many people with jobs. -
J.P. Morgan forms the United States Steel Corporation
John Pierpont Morgan was one of the world's most prominent financial figure during the Industrial Revolution. Morgan merged many successful steel companies together to form the United States Steel Company, the first billion-dollar corporation in the world. -
Henry Ford becomes head of Ford Motors
Henry Ford was an American industrialist who created methods involving assembly-lines that revolutionized factory production. His company, Ford Motors, significantly changed the economy and social character during the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. -
The Wright Brothers Invent the Airplane
Orville and Wilbur Wright designed and flew the first successful sustained and controlled flight of an aircraft driven by a motor in the world. -
Lochner v. NY Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court made this decision. It stated that states did not have the right to put a limit on the amount of work hours per day people could take part in. This decision was later struck down due to companies needing maximum working hours for employees by law. -
Transcontinental Railroad Completed
The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1914. Though the Columbian government negotiated making the railroad with American investors in 1847, political and health problems kept it from being operational until 1855. -
Eugene Debs Gets Nominated for President of U.S. for the fifth time
Eugene Debs led the establishment of the Socialist Party of America. The Socialist political party nominated him for president of the United States of America in 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920. He was in prison at the time he was elected in 1920 for criticizing the U.S. government and in which violating a law.
