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A brutal, two-day gang war in New York City's Five Points district between the Irish-American Dead Rabbits and the nativist Bowery Boys, escalating from street fights into city-wide chaos with widespread looting, property damage, and at least 8-12 deaths, requiring the state militia to restore order amidst a divided police force -
Formed by former Confederate soldiers in the post-Civil War South, it sought to resist Black freedom and Republican Reconstruction through violence and intimidation. -
Building a massive oil refining and marketing empire through aggressive business tactics, notably horizontal integration (buying competitors) and vertical integration (controlling all aspects of production), securing secret deals, and using trusts to manage his monopoly, which eventually controlled 90% of the U.S. oil industry, leading to antitrust action and its breakup in 1911 but establishing Rockefeller as history's first billionaire. -
"apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically," describing a method to convert sound vibrations into varying electrical currents (electrical undulations) that mirrored the original sound, allowing them to be sent over wires and reproduced at a distance, a revolutionary system for real-time voice communication that built upon telegraphy but aimed to send speech, not just coded dots and dashes. -
A series of events, starting in 1889, which the U.S. government opened vast tracts of formerly Native American-held land in the Oklahoma Territory for settlement, allowing settlers (Boomers) to race for 160-acre homesteads under the Homestead Act, leading to rapid, chaotic growth. -
When Ellis Island opened as the main U.S. immigration station on January 1, 1892, it marked a new era for millions seeking America, processing them through medical exams and legal interviews in its Great Hall, where immigrants faced inspections for disease or undesirable status, leading to either quick entry or deportation, symbolizing hope and hardship for over 12 million arrivals by 1954, notes History.com and the Facebook post from the National Archives Foundation, and USCIS. -
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, was published on May 17, 1900, by the George M. Hill Company, becoming America's first successful fantasy fairy tale about Dorothy's journey from Kansas to the magical Land of Oz with her dog Toto, seeking the Wizard to get home, befriending the brainless Scarecrow, heartless Tin Woodman, and cowardly Lion along the Yellow Brick Road. Illustrated by W.W. Denslow, it features iconic characters. -
J.P. Morgan founded U.S. Steel in 1901 by orchestrating the massive merger of Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel with several other major steel companies (like Federal Steel, National Steel), creating the world's first billion-dollar corporation, a titan of industry formed to stabilize the chaotic steel market through consolidation, vertical integration, and controlling nearly half of U.S. steel production initially. -
Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States at age 42 in September 1901, following the assassination of William McKinley, making him the youngest president ever; he transformed the office by using executive power boldly for progressive reforms, conservation, and a strong foreign policy, moving the nation toward a more active federal role in society and world affairs. -
Ford Motor Company was founded by Henry Ford on June 16, 1903, in a rented factory in Detroit, Michigan, with 11 investors and $28,000, aiming to build affordable cars for the masses, a goal achieved with the revolutionary Model T and the moving assembly line that democratized car ownership, transforming industry and society. -
Exposed Standard Oil's ruthless monopoly tactics, like secret railroad deals, predatory pricing, and espionage, revealing how John D. Rockefeller eliminated rivals through unfair means, setting new standards for investigative journalism and influencing antitrust action against the company. -
Granted Congress the explicit power to levy and collect income taxes from any source, without needing to apportion them among states based on population -
Opened in 1910 to process immigrants entering through San Francisco, notably Chinese immigrants facing exclusion, but also people from over 80 countries, becoming a place of intense scrutiny, humiliation, and detention, where immigrants endured harsh interrogations, medical exams (often humiliating), mental tests, and prolonged waits (weeks to months) before admission or deportation, leaving behind powerful carved poems of hope and despair. -
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. -
The Empire State Building opened on May 1, 1931, with President Herbert Hoover remotely lighting its iconic spire from Washington D.C., becoming the world's tallest building, a marvel of Art Deco design and rapid construction, though nicknamed the "Empty State Building" due to low occupancy during the Great Depression until its observation deck and eventual office tenants brought it success and landmark status as a symbol of American ambition.