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William Kelly and Henry Bessemer discover a way to process iron ore into steel
He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was an American inventor. He is credited with being one of the inventors of modern steel production, through the process of injecting air into molten iron, which he experimented with in the early 1850s. -
Edwin Drake strikes oil in Pennsylvania
Edwin Drake was hired by the Seneca Oil Company to investigate suspected oil deposits in Titusville, Pennsylvania. James Townsend, President of the Seneca Oil Company, sent Drake to the site in the spring of 1858. -
National Labor Union
in U.S. history, a political-action movement that from 1866 to 1873 sought to improve working conditions through legislative reform rather than through collective bargaining. -
George Westinghouse invents airbrakes
The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) was founded on September 28, 1869 by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Earlier in the year he had invented the railway air brake in New York state. -
Joseph McCoy established a cattle trading station in Kansas
n 1867 he conceived the idea of establishing a shipping depot for cattle at some point in the west and knew that the railroad companies were interested in expanding their freight operations -
Christopher Sholes invents the typewriter
The first row was made of ivory and the second of ebony, the rest of the framework was wooden. It was in this form that Sholes, Glidden and Soule were granted patents for their invention on June 23, 1868[1 -
Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads meet at Promontory Point, Utah
The presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet in Promontory, Utah, and drive a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connects their railroads. This made transcontinental railroad travel possible for the first time in U.S. history. -
John D Rockefeller creates Standard Oil in Ohio
On January 10, 1870, the Standard Oil Company of Ohio was created by John D. Rockefeller (30%), William Rockefeller (13.34%), Henry Flagler (16.67%), Samuel Andrews (16.67%), Stephen Harkness (13.34%), and O. B. Jennings (brother-in-law of William Rockefeller, 10%). -
The Great Railroad Strike
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 started on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, 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 invent phonograph
While working on improvements to the telegraph and the telephone, Edison figured out a way to record sound on tinfoil-coated cylinders. In 1877, he created a machine with two needles: one for recording and one for playback -
Terence Powderly becomes the leader of the Knights of Labor
Powderly attained the highest leadership office, Grand Master Workman, in the Knights of Labor. Under Powderly's leadership, the Knights of Labor's membership rose to 700,000 laborers. -
Samuel Gompers becomes leader of American Federation of Labor
He helped to found the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions. When it was reorganized as the American Federation of Labor (1886), Gompers became its first president, serving, except for 1895, until his death. -
Haymarket Square Riot
a labor protest rally near Chicago's Haymarket Square turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police. At least eight people died as a result of the violence that day. -
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
Carnegie proposed that the best way of dealing with the new phenomenon of wealth inequality was for the wealthy to redistribute their surplus means in a responsible and thoughtful manner. -
Forest Reserve Act passed
It is a law that allowed the President of the United States to set aside forest reserves from the land in the public domain. -
Rivers and Harbors Act passed
At that time Congress appropriated $75,000 to improve navigation on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers by removing sandbars, snags, and other obstacles. -
Andrew Carnegie sells U.S. Steel to J.P Morgan for $480 million
Andrew Carnegie sold his steel company to J.P. Morgan for $480 million in 1901. Retiring from business, Carnegie set about in earnest to distribute his fortune. -
Standard OIl is dissolved
the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil Company, ruling it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Ohio businessman John D. Rockefeller entered the oil industry in the 1860s and in 1870, and founded Standard Oil with some other business partners.
