Business timeline

Significant Business Events from 1865-Present

By sambouton97
  • Congress Passes Eight-Hour Law for Federal Employees

    Congress Passes Eight-Hour Law for Federal Employees

  • Homestead Strike

    Homestead Strike

    A strike at Carnegie Steel results in ten deaths.
  • The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Published

    The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Published

    This book marks the peak of muckraking journalism's first wave. Muckraking journalism captures public outrage over the lawlessness of American business at the turn of the century.
  • Immigration to the United States Peaks

    Immigration to the United States Peaks

    Immigration peaks in 1907, when more than 1 million European immigrants passed through New York's Ellis Island.
  • The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Catches Fire

    The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Catches Fire

  • Supreme Court Orders Breakup of Standard Oil

    Supreme Court Orders Breakup of Standard Oil

    The Supreme Court affirmed the government's right to limit corporate power, ordering Rockefeller's monopoly to split into 34 different companies.
  • Ford Introduces the Assembly Line

    Ford Introduces the Assembly Line

  • The Federal Reserve is formed

    The Federal Reserve is formed

  • The Panama Canal Opens

    The Panama Canal Opens

  • Stock Market Crash of 1929

    Stock Market Crash of 1929

  • The Great Depression Begins

    The Great Depression Begins

  • First U.S. supermarket, King Kullen, opens

    First U.S. supermarket, King Kullen, opens

  • Agricultural Adjustment Act Signed

    Agricultural Adjustment Act Signed

    President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Agricultural Adjustment Act in order to end the poverty that was striking farms in the wake of the Great Depression. This act succeeds by creating price supports and controls on crop production.
  • Social Security Act Established

    Social Security Act Established

    This act provides retirement insurance.
  • The Public Utility Holding Company Act Enacted

    The Public Utility Holding Company Act Enacted

    This law broke up powerful trusts that dominated the United States' gas and electricity utilities.
  • The Hoover Dam is Completed

    The Hoover Dam is Completed

    The Hoover Dam opens up the Southwest for major settlement and development.
  • First Commercial Television Broadcast

    First Commercial Television Broadcast

  • The Baby Boom Begins (1946-1964)

    The Baby Boom Begins (1946-1964)

  • The First Computer is Invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania

    The First Computer is Invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania

  • The Marshall Plan

    The Marshall Plan

    The United States gives aid to Europe, $13 billion, for economic support and technical expertise in Europe.
  • Eisenhower creates the interstates: June 29, 1956.

    Eisenhower creates the interstates: June 29, 1956.

  • First Japanese car, a Toyota, is sold in the United States

    First Japanese car, a Toyota, is sold in the United States

  • Eisenhower Signs Act Creating NASA: The National Aeronautics and Space Act

    Eisenhower Signs Act Creating NASA: The National Aeronautics and Space Act

    This action has allowed the U.S. space program to put a man on the moon and advance computer science, communications technology, and weather research.
  • Bank of America Launches First Credit Card

    Bank of America Launches First Credit Card

  • The first Wal-Mart opens

    The first Wal-Mart opens

  • John F. Kennedy Signs the Equal Pay Act of 1963

    John F. Kennedy Signs the Equal Pay Act of 1963

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Civil Rights Act of 1964

    This act ended segregation in public places and banned any employment discrimination that is based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
  • Abraham Maslow Publishes His Book, "Eupsychian Management"

    Abraham Maslow Publishes His Book, "Eupsychian Management"

  • President Johnson signs Medicare into law

    President Johnson signs Medicare into law

  • Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

    Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

    This act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
  • The First Mobile Phone was Invented

    The First Mobile Phone was Invented

  • President Ford Signs ERISA Into Law

    President Ford Signs ERISA Into Law

    ERISA creates safeguards to retirement plans and also opens the door to the 401k plan.
  • Wall Street's Fixed Commissions End

    Wall Street's Fixed Commissions End

    The Securities and Exchange Commission ends the price-fixing practice by brokers of charging 1% on all transactions.
  • Wage Stagnation Begins

    Wage Stagnation Begins

    The income of the richest Americans began to soar in 1979, but at the same time, the earnings of the poor declined.
  • Volcker Becomes Fed Chairman

    Volcker Becomes Fed Chairman

    Paul Volcker becomes chairman of the Federal Reserve and replaces G. William Miller.
  • President Reagan Takes Office

    President Reagan Takes Office

  • Robust economy creates longest prosperity in U.S. history

    Robust economy creates longest prosperity in U.S. history

  • 9/11 Terrorist Attack

    9/11 Terrorist Attack

  • Hurricane Katrina Devastates New Orleans

    Hurricane Katrina Devastates New Orleans

  • Global financial crisis and recession begins

    Global financial crisis and recession begins

  • Affordable Care Act Established

    Affordable Care Act Established

  • President Donald Trump Takes Office

    President Donald Trump Takes Office