-
Bessemer Process
The first way that steel could be mass produced was by the Bessemer process. Because of this process, steel was less expensive, lighter and stronger than iron. Henry Bessemer invented the Bessemer process. -
Edwin Drake - Drilled the first Oil Well
In Titusville, Pennsylvania, Edwin Drake drilled the first successful oil well during the year of 1859. Because of this, oil companies throughout Pennsylvania began to fluorish. -
Thomas Edison
In his early life, Thomas Edison became a telegraph operator at Stratford Junction in Ontario, Canada. He invented the telegraph repeater, and a telegraph that would let the operator control the speed of the telegraph. -
Transcontinental Railroad
On May 10, 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was completed. The Central Pacific's and the Union Pacific's railroad crew joined tracks in Promontory Summit, Utah. -
Standard Oil Company
In 1870, John D. Rockefeller and Samuel Andrews united their oil companies to create the Standard Oil Company. The owners of the company wanted to create an oil monopoly where the prices would raise when they should really have been low. -
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Credit Mobilier Scandal was the illegal change of contracts with a finance company that was connected with the Union Pacific Railroad. People saw this as post-Civil War corruption. -
Christopher Sholes - Typewriter
Throughout his life, Christopher Sholes was interested in writing. Once he was given a suggestion to create a printing device, he stuck to it and invented the Remington Typewriter. In 1874, the first typewriter was on the market. -
Phonograph and Telephone - Alexander G. Bell
Alexander G. Bell was an American inventor who helped to create the first telephone. On March 10, 1876, Alexander Bell tested the first successfull telephone with Thomas Watson. Alexander Bell also edited the phonograph during the year of 1886. -
Munn v. Illinois
The munn v. Illinois case was about regulating private industries. A farmer association know as the National Grange was going to be charged for the storage and transport of agricultural products by Illinois Legislature's. The Chicago grain warehouse firm of Munn and Scott was found guilty because they violatd the law. -
Haymarket Riot
The Haymarket Riot took place in Chicago, Illinois between labor protesters and police. It took place because workers' rights were being neglected. Labor Organziers tried to get working hours down to eight hours a week. -
Interstate Commerce Act
The Interstate Commerce Act started because of the movement toward administrative comittees. With this act. came a new type of federal agency. -
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act was the first federal law that regulates large corporations. It also eliminates possible monopolies. It was the first law to oversee interstate commerce. -
Homestead Strike
The Homestead Strike was a brutal labour dispute between the Carnegie Steel Company and their workers. The strike occured because of the companies management. -
Pullman Strike
Pullman strike was a strike agaisnt the Pullman Palace Car Company. This company built railroad cars. On May 11, 1894, the railway union started a local strike because of the little money that workers at the Pullman company were being payed. The union's national council called for a nationwide boycott - members would not handle any trains with Pullman cars on them. -
J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan was one of the world’s leading financial figure before WWI. In 1895, the US treasury was about to go bankrupt. By setting up a group of financers, J.P. Morgan was able to restock the treasury. Also in 1907, he helped Wall Street with a financial crisis. -
Mother Jones
Because she lost everything she had in the great Chicago Fire, Mother Jones looked to the Knights of Labor for help. Mother Jones became a very important figure in the American Labor Movement. In 1898 Mother Jones was one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party -
Ford Company
At a young age, Henry Ford began helping a mechanic. In 1903 he began the Ford Motor Company. Ford made every part that went into a car. When he died, Ford company was one of the worlds largest public trusts. -
First Airplane - The Wright Brothers
The Wright brothers built the first engine powered airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1905, dued to their improvments, the Wright brothers improved their aiplane so it would fly 24 miles in 38 minutes. -
Eugene Debs
Eugene Debs was the only person to run for presidency from a jail cell. He was founder of the socialist party of America. And in 1905 he found the Industrial Workers of the World. -
Lochner v. NY Decision
On April 17, 1905, the U.S Supreme Court handed down the law that said that ten hours of work per day was the "legal maximum" in the baking trade. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. did not agree wth this decision.
