U.S. Business History By vtouch09 Feb 1, 1861 The South Creates a Government Mar 1, 1861 Lincoln's Inauguration Apr 1, 1861 Attack on Fort Sumter Jul 1, 1861 First Battle of Bull Run Mar 1, 1862 Battle of Monitor and Merrimac Apr 1, 1862 Battle of Shiloh Dec 1, 1862 The Battle of Fredericksburg Jan 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation Nov 1, 1864 Abraham Lincoln Is Re-Elected Apr 9, 1865 Civil War Ends Jan 1, 1867 U.S. Buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 Million May 1, 1867 Alexander Graham Bell receives the first telephone patent Sep 1, 1867 Edison Electric Founded by Thomas Alva Edison Mar 2, 1877 Bell Telephone Company is formed Apr 2, 1903 Ford Motor Company is founded Sep 2, 1903 Wright Brothers Make First Flight Jan 1, 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act Sep 16, 1908 GM Motors is found Dec 23, 1913 The Federal Reserve Act enacted Oct 24, 1929 Great Stock Crash May 2, 1939 1st Commercial Television Broadcast Jan 16, 1952 Korean War Sep 2, 1957 The first Japanese car, a Toyota, is sold in the United States Oct 4, 1957 Launch of Sputnik Feb 2, 1958 Bank of America launches the first credit card Jul 2, 1962 First Walmart Opens Nov 4, 1975 Bill Gates and Paul Allen form Microsoft to develop software for personal computers Sep 2, 1976 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak form the Apple Computer Company and sell their first personal computers Sep 2, 1980 U.S. Government Bails Out Chrysler Oct 7, 1983 Verizon Jun 2, 1987 Black Monday Crash Aug 7, 1991 World Wide Web available to the public Oct 2, 1995 Jeff Bezos opens Amazon.com on the Internet Sep 11, 2001 9-11 Attack on the U.S. Feb 3, 2004 Facebook was founded Aug 23, 2005 Hurricane Katrina Oct 5, 2011 Steve Job dies