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The Dead Rabbits Riot
The Dead Rabbits riot was a two-day civil disturbance in New York City evolving from what was originally a small-scale street fight between members of the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys into a citywide gang war, which occurred July 4–5, 1857. -
The Ku Klux Klan is Established
The Ku Klux Klan, commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is the name of an American white supremacist, far-right terrorist organization and hate group. Various historians, including Fergus Bordewich, have characterized the Klan as America's first terrorist group. -
John D. Rockefeller Creates Standard Oil
John D. Rockefeller created the Standard Oil Company in 1870 with his brother William, Andrews, Henry M. Flagler, and Steven V. Harkness. The company's origins date back to 1863 when Rockefeller, Andrews, and M. B. Clark started the oil refining business Andrews, Clark, and Co. Rockefeller bought out Clark's interest in 1865 and the company became Rockefeller Andrews. -
Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone
On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell successfully received a patent for the telephone and secured the rights to the discovery. Days later, he made the first-ever telephone call to his partner, Thomas Watson. -
The Great Oklahoma Land Race
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of the former western portion of the federal Indian Territory, which had decades earlier since the 1830s been assigned to the Creek and Seminole native peoples. -
Ellis Island Opens to Process Immigrants
Ellis Island officially opened as an immigration station on January 1, 1892. Seventeen-year-old Annie Moore, from County Cork, Ireland was the first immigrant to be processed at the new federal immigration depot. -
The Wizard of Oz (Book) is Published
The first edition had a printing of 10,000 copies and was sold in advance of the publication date of September 1, 1900. On May 17, 1900, the first copy came off the press; Baum assembled it by hand and presented it to his sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster. -
J.P. Morgan Founds U.S. Steel
Early in 1901, J. P. Morgan, the country's most powerful banker, merged Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Corporation with nine other steel companies to form the world's largest corporation. The United States Steel Corporation, usually known as U.S. Steel or simply Big Steel, was capitalized at $1.4 billion. -
Teddy Roosevelt Becomes President of the United States
The presidency of Theodore Roosevelt started on September 14, 1901, when Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th president of the United States upon the assassination of President William McKinley, and ended on March 4, 1909. Roosevelt had been the vice president for only 194 days when he succeeded to the presidency. -
Ford Motor Company is Founded
On June 16, 1903, Henry and 12 others invested $28,000 and created Ford Motor Company. The first car built by the Company was sold July 15, 1903. Henry owned 25.5% of the stock in the new organization. He became president and controlling owner in 1906. -
Angel Island Opens to Process Immigrants
The new Immigration Station opened on January 21, 1910 and became the major port of entry to the U.S. for Asians and other immigrants coming from the west. -
The 16th Amendment is Passed
granted the U.S. Congress the power to levy an income tax on individuals, allowing them to tax income "from whatever source derived" without having to distribute the tax burden based on population among the states, essentially paving the way for a modern federal income tax system as we know it today. -
Ida Tarbell Publishes Her Article About Standard Oil
Tarbell's study of Standard Oil excoriated Rockefeller and his company and helped spur new legislation and litigation to regulate interstate commerce and counter monopoly. In 1911, the United States Supreme Court broke up the Standard Oil Trust into more than thirty different independent companies. -
The 17th Amendment is Passed
Direct Election of Senators” Amendment Seventeen to the Constitution was ratified on April 8, 1913. It overrides the previous Constitution's provisions on the election of senators, changing it so that they are elected directly by the voting public during elections. -
The Empire State Building Opens
Construction started on March 17, 1930, and the building opened thirteen and a half months afterward on May 1, 1931. Despite favorable publicity related to the building's construction, because of the Great Depression and World War II, its owners did not make a profit until the early 1950s.