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William Kelly and Henry Bessemer discover a way to process iron ore into steel
Unable to achieve more than minimal success with their respective patents and processes, the two companies pooled their resources in 1866, and thereafter steel production expanded rapidly -
Edwin Drake strikes oil in Pennsylnavia
he was the first to drill oil -
National Labor Union is Organized
was the first national labor federation in the United States. Founded in 1866 and dissolved in 1873, it paved the way for other organizations, such as the Knights of Labor and the AFL lead by William Sylvis -
Joseph McCoy established a cattle trading station in kansas
this became known as the Chisholm trail -
CHristopher Sholes invents the typewriter
this machine mimicked the appearance of typeset pages by impressing one inked character into a page at a time -
George Westinghouse invents the air brakes
Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse -
the union and central pacific railroads meet at promontory point in utah
this created the transcontinental railroad -
John D. Rockefeller creates Standard Oil in Ohio
by the 1880's, his Standard Oil controlled nearly 90% of the US refineries and pipeline -
Edison invents the Phonograph
He figured out a way to record sound on tinfoil-coated cylinders by creating this machine with two needles one for recording and one for playback -
The Great Railroad Strike
the cutting of wages for the third time in a year by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Striking workers would not allow any of the trains to roll until this third wage cut was revoked. -
Terrence Powderly becomes leader of the knights of labor
He opposed the immigration of Chinese workers to the US. He was a nativist. He argued that immigrants took jobs away from native-born Americans and drove down wages -
Samuel Gompers becomes leader of American Federation of Labor
he sought to build a national federation of trade unions dedicated to these principles. He immediately threw himself into the organization's first big effort support of an eight-hour workday. -
Haymarket Square Riot
a labor protest rally near Chicago's Haymarket Square turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police. -
The Statue of Liberty is unveiled
given to the US from france as a symbol of freedom and democracy -
Andrew Carnegie publishes The Gospel of Wealth
that describes the responsibility of philanthropy by the new upper class of self-made rich. -
Forest Reserve Act passed
law that allowed the president to set aside forest reserves from the land in the public domain -
Rivers and Harbors Act passed
The Act makes it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse matter of any kind into the navigable waters, of the United States without a permit -
Andrew Carnegie sells US Steel to J.P Morgan for $480 million
this created the US Steel corporation -
Standard Oil is dissolved
the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil Company, ruling it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
