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William Kelly and Henry Bessemer discover a way to process iron ore into steel
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron prior to the open hearth furnace. -
Edwin Drake strikes oil in Pennsylvania
Drake Well in Titusville, Pa., became the first well in the United States to strike oil, sparking the rise of America’s multibillion-dollar oil industry -
National Labor Union is organized
a political-action movement that from 1866 to 1873 sought to improve working conditions through legislative reform rather than through collective bargaining. -
Joseph McCoy established a cattle trading station in Kansas
The first large-scale effort to drive cattle from Texas to the nearest railhead for shipment to Chicago occurred in 1866, when many Texas ranchers banded together to drive their cattle to the closest point that railroad tracks reached, which at that time was Sedalia, Missouri. -
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. an Air brake is a type of friction brake for vehicles in which compressed air pressing on a piston is used to apply the pressure to the brake pad needed to stop the vehicle. -
Christopher Sholes invents the typewriter
He invented the first typewriter that was commercially successful. -
Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads meet at Promontory Point, Utah
On May 10 in anticipation of the ceremony, Union Pacific's No. 119 and Central Pacific's No. 60 locomotives were drawn up face-to-face on Promontory Summit, separated only by the width of a single tie -
John D. Rockefeller creates Standard Oil in Ohio
by the early 1880s, Standard Oil company controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines -
The Great Railroad Strike
It started in response to the cutting of wages for the third time in a year by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O). Striking workers would not allow any of the trains, mainly freight trains, to roll until this third wage cut was revoked. -
Edison invents the phonograph
an early sound-reproducing machine that used cylinders to record as well as reproduce sound. It was his favorite invention. -
Terrence Powderly becomes the leader of the Knights of Labor
a nationwide labor union whose goal was to organize all workers, skilled and unskilled, into one large union united for workers' rights and economic and social reform. He opposed the immigration of Chinese wokrers. -
Samuel Gompers becomes leader of American Federation of Labor
It was a national federation of labor unions in the United States. He was the first and longest-serving president of the AFL. -
Haymarket Square Riot
he Haymarket Riot was viewed a setback for the organized labor movement in America, which was fighting for such rights as the eight-hour workday. At the same time, the men convicted in connection with the riot were viewed by many in the labor movement as martyrs. -
The Statue of Liberty is unveiled
The Statue of Liberty, a gift to the United States from the people of France, was officially unveiled to the public by President Grover Cleveland. -
Andrew Carnegie publishes The Gospel of Wealth
An article that describes the responsibility of philanthropy by the new upper class of self-made rich -
Rivers and Harbors act passed
It makes it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse matter of any kind into the navigable waters, or tributaries thereof, of the United States without a permit -
Andrew Carnegie sells US steel to JP Morgan for 480 million
He was getting close to retirement so he sold steel to JP morgan and he 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.
