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Edwin Drake discover oil
Edwin Drake patents and implements a new system for finding oil via drilling. By doing this he finds oil in seneca falls and begins the industry of big oil in the US -
National Labour Union is Founded
One of the first oranized labor unions in the US. Paved the way for how other unions would attempt to politically arrange better conditions for workers. -
Christopher Sholes invents typewriter
Trying to compensate for a workers strike at the newspaper he was an editor for, Sholes eventually created the typewriter which would forever change the way that personal documents were written. -
Joseph McCoy establishes a cattle trading station in Kansas
Joseph McCoy promotes a system for texas ranchers to ship their cattle to the east coast for consumption, creating the brief era of american cowboys. This also began the meatpacking industry in the US. -
Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads meet at Promotory Point, Utah
The two seperate railroad companies build rail lines from opposite sides of the country in order to finally link the country from sea to sea by railroad. This would allow for coast-to-coast transportation. -
John D. Rockefeller creates Standard Oil in Ohio
This company soon becomes the largest monopoly in the country, becomes wealthiest man in the US. also creates the first oil pipeline -
George Westington Patents Air-Brakes
The entrepeneur George Westinghouse had created a new type of railway brakes for trains. These new brakes were much more efficient than those previous and were universally accepted by railways quickly after sales began. -
Edison invents Phonograph
Edison invented a device that could record and then reproduce sound. This was a major leap in auditory invention and would soon lead to the ability for other inventions such as the telephone and the gramophone to be created -
The Great Raildroad Strike Begins
the post Civil-War economic boom created a massive growth in railroads, creating a bubble for many new jobs in railroad work. When the growth stopped and the bubble popped, a huge depression swept across the nation making thousands unemployed and many worker's wages cut. These wage cuts sparked isolated pockets of violent protests and strikes that eventually had to be put down by federal, local, and state troops. -
Terrence Powderly becomes leader of Knights of Labor
Powderly was an Irish-American worker who was eventually elected into the Knights of Labor, in which he organized the great southwestern strike of 1885 and created a rapid growth in membership during his time. He also supported the Chineses Exclusion Act and cooperative negotiations over strikes. -
Samule Gompers becomes leader of American Federation of Labor
Gompers creatted the AFL to conglomerate the many different craft unions under one ubrella so that negotiations could be backed up with more resources. -
Haymarket Square Riot
A peaceful labor protest rally came into violence when someone threw a bomb a the police. The resulting riot ended up killing 8 people and putting a damper on the public's view of labor unions. -
Statue of Liberty Unveiled
A gift from the French to commerate American support of their revolution. Though there were delays in the building the building was unveiled and used as a symbol of American's openness to immigration. -
Andre Carnegie and The Gospel of Wealth
Carnegie, a well known tycoon owner during the era, published a book that introduced the idea of philanthropism. The idea of taking the wealth that one has aquired and instead of giving it out to heirs, investing it in the public. -
Rivers and Harbors Act Passed
Kept people from being able to dump refuse into any bodies of water without a permit. -
Andre Carnegie Sells US Steel to JP Morgan
A previous investment banker, JP Morgan saw the potential in Carnegie's company conglomerate and decided to buy the entire group for about $480 million. -
Standard Oil is dissolved
After the entire country was known to be completely dependent on the Standard Oil Trust group. Public distaste enventually made the Supreme Courts rule that the trust was in violation of the Sherman AntiTrust act and split into over 34 seperate companies.
