Wednesday, November 14, 2007

US Historical Events: 1900 - 1920




1900
- President is currently William McKinley with no vice president
- Hurricane ravages Galveston (off Texas Port) and 8,000 killed
- Carrie Chapman Catt replaces Susan B. Anthony as president of National Woman Suffrage Associate
1901
- President McKinley began his second term in office, but was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz on Sept 6. Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as successor on Sept. 14
- J.P. Morgan creates the United States Steel Co. (This will later become the first $1 billion corporation in the world)
- First set of Nobel Prices are awarded
1902
- Bureau of the Census is established – this will later become the Dept of Commerce
- Approx. 150,000 United Mine Workers strike in Pennsylvania – they were striking for wage increases and more suitable hours
1903
- Henry Ford created and organized the Ford Motor Company
- The first automobile transcontinental trip was achieved - it took 52 days to get from San Francisco to New York
- The Wright Brothers’ first successful powered flight
1904
- New York City’s first subway opens
- U.S. Supreme Court rules that citizens of Puerto Rico cannot be denied entry to the continental U.S.
- U.S. begins manufacturing of the Panama Canal
- Olympic Games are held in St. Louis
1905
- “Industrial Workers of the World” is founded in Chicago – the formation was created in hopes of uniting all workers and giving more control to unions
- Advancements in train service include 18-hr rides between New York and Chicago and the first train ever equipped with electric lights.
- President Theodore Roosevelt is joined by VP Charles W. Fairbanks
- Einstein prepares his “Special Theory of Relativity”
1906
- Over 500 people are killed during the San Francisco earthquake and three day fire
- President Roosevelt sails to the Panama Canal Zone – this would mark the first time a U.S. president has traveled outside the country while in office
1907
- Fall of the stock market ignites financial panic across the U.S
- Oklahoma becomes the country’s 46th state
1908
- President Roosevelt holds White House Conservation Conference - that leads to the establishment of the “National Conservation Commission”
- Albert Einstein presents “Quantum Theory of Light”
- Ford Model T is introduced by Ford Motor Company
1909
- “The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People” is founded by well-known black and white intellectuals
- Congress enacts Republican-sponsored “Payne-Aldrich Tariff” - this only led to great disappointments by the public
- President William Taft is elected president with VP James S. Sherman
1910
- Boy Scouts of America is introduced
- Angel Island, in San Francisco Bay, becomes the immigration center for Asians entering the U.S.
1911
- 146 people killed in the “Triangle Shirtwaist Company” fire in New York
- Supreme Court finds “Standard Oil Company” on May 15 and “American Tobacco Company” on May 29 to be in violation of the “Sherman Antitrust Act” – this is one of the first antitrust laws introduced in the U.S. limiting cartels and monopolies
1912
- New Mexico and Arizona are admitted as states 47 and 48
- Woodrow Wilson is elected president
- Girl Scouts of America founded by Juliette Gordon Low
- Titanic sinks after hitting iceberg and 1,513 passenger drowned
1913
- Garment workers strike in New York and Boston - they win pay raises and reduced hours
- 16th Amendment for income tax and 17th for popular election of U.S. senators are adopted
- Bill creating “U.S. Federal Reserve System” becomes a law
- Woodrow Wilson becomes 28th U.S. President with VP Thomas R. Marshall
1914
- Congress sets up “Federal Trade Commission” and passes “Clayton Antitrust Act”
- U.S. Marines engage Vera Cruz, Mexico, in civil war to protect Americans
- The world’s first red and green traffic lights are installed in Cleveland
- World War I begins, although the U.S. was not involved this early
- The Panama Canal is opened to public
1915
- The one millionth Ford automobile drives off the assembly line
- “The Superior Court in Fulton County, GA accepts the charter for the establishment of the Ku Klux Klan” on Dec 4
- U.S. population exceeds 100 million people
1916
- In June, Congress authorized a plan to expand the U.S. armed forces over the next five years
- Montana voters elect Republican Jeannette Rankin (36) becoming the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress
- U.S. National Park Service is created by act of Congress on Aug 20
- Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic in the country (in Brooklyn)
1917
- U.S. declares war (World War 1) with Germany on April 6
- “I Want You” – James Montgomery Flagg’s poster, featuring Uncle Sam, attracts thousands of U.S. recruits to WWI duty
- On June 28, between 10 – 15,000 blacks walked down New York City’s Fifth Avenue to protest racial discrimination and violence
1918
- Daylight Savings Time goes into effect in March
- New York subway accident kills 92 and injuries 100 after a train jumps a track in Brooklyn at 30 mph, which is five times the speed limit, on November 2
1919
- Massachusetts Governor John Calvin Coolidge acts to dismiss strikers, saying that no one has the right to strike against public safety
- In July, race riots explode in 26 U.S. cities during the course of the year, including Washington D.C. and Chicago, IL
- The 18th amendment, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages anywhere in the U.S., is ratified on Jan 16
- Alcohol Prohibition was introduced and began enforcement
1920
- Woman’s suffrage goes into effect
- The 19th amendment, guaranteeing woman the right to vote, ratified on Aug 26
- A bomb explodes in the J.P. Morgan bank building in New York City, killing 30 and injuring 200 on Sept 16

References:

Craig, J. (2003). Timelines: 1900 – 1920. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from
http://www.designingwithtype.com/timelines.php?year=1900&id=9

Whitley, P. (2006). American cultural history the twentieth century. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from Kingwood College Library
Web site: year=1900&id=9http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade10.html

Year by Year: 1900 - 2007. (2007) Retrieved November 14, 2007, from Pearson Education
Web site: http://www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html

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