Politics

Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) is elected President of the Confederate States of America.

Politics

Virginia secedes from the Union, followed within five weeks by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, thus forming an eleven state Confederacy with a population of 9 million.

Government

New State: Kansas becomes the 34th state in the United States.

Government

The United States introduces the passport system.

Government

Congress passes the first income tax in the U.S. to support the war.

Government

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) is inaugurated as the 16th President and Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891) is inaugurated as the 15th Vice President.

War

Civil War; National Capital: The U.S. Capitol houses Union soldiers, providing medical attention and a place to sleep.

War

Civil War: Pierre Beauregard (1813-1893) opens fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War begins.

War

Civil War: The Union Army under Gen. Irvin McDowell (1818-1885) suffers a defeat at Bull Run 25 miles southwest of Washington.

War

Confederates invade New Mexico from Texas.The Confederate Territory of Arizona is declared with the capital at La Mesilla.

Inventions

Elisha Otis (1811-1861) patents elevator safety brakes, creating a safer elevator.

Inventions

Linus Yale (1821-1868) invents the Yale lock or cylinder lock.

Education

The first American doctor of philosophy degree is awarded by Yale University.

Education

Women's Colleges: Vassar College for women is founded in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: George Eliot (1819-1880) (Mary Ann Evans) writes "Silas Marner."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Charles Dickens (1812-1870) writes "Great Expectations."

Lincoln, Mary

The Lincolns (Abraham: 1809-1865 and Mary Todd: 1818-1882) move into the White House in March of 1861.

Hayes, Lucy

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) joins the 23rd Ohio Volunteer infantry as a Major.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy and Rutherford Hayes’s fourth son, Joseph Thompson (1861-1863), is born on December 21 in Cincinnati.

Harrison, Caroline

Caroline (1832-1892) and Benjamin (1831-1901) Harrison’s third child and second daughter dies at birth.

Roosevelt, Edith

Edith Kermit Carow (1861-1948), future wife of Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), is born in Norwich, Connecticut on August 6.

Taft, Helen

Helen Herron (1861-1943), future wife of President William Howard Taft [1909-1913] is born in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 2.

Economics

American Money: Gold payments are suspended; greenbacks become the national currency.

Economics

Transportation: Railroad History: Leland Stanford (1824-1893) hires Chinese laborers to help build the western part of the Central Pacific Railroad.

Economics

Transportation: Railroad History: There are 30,000 miles of railroad track in the U.S.

Economics

Telegraph wires are strung between San Francisco and New York.

Economics

Pencils are mass-produced in New York by Eberhard Faber.

Economics

American Money: Congress authorizes the United States Treasury to issue paper money for the first time in the form of non-interest bearing Treasury Notes called Demand Notes.

Daily Life

Daily weather forecasts are begun in Britain.

Popular Culture

Hot Air Balloons: A record balloon trip is made between Cincinnati, Ohio and the South Carolina coast is made in 9 hours.

Popular Culture

Wartime Music: “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” is written during the Civil War by Julia War Howe for the Union.

Popular Culture

Wartime Music: “Battle Cry of Freedom” is written during the Civil War by George F. Root for the Union.

Popular Culture

Wartime Music: “Dixie Land” is written during the Civil War by Daniel Emmett for the Confederate.

Government

Railroad History: President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) signs the Pacific Railway Act, which authorizes the construction of the first transcontinental railroad.

Government

The Homestead Act is passed, decreeing that any American may have 160 acres of land in the west free, if he lives on it for five years.

Government

President Lincoln (1809-1865) issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves "henceforth and forever free."

Government

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is created by Congress.

Government

The Medal of Honor is authorized by Congress.

Government

American Money: The Secretary of the Treasury is empowered by Congress to have notes engraved and printed, which is done by private banknote companies.

War

Civil War: The bloodiest battle of the Civil War occurs at Antietam; over 23,000 are killed or wounded.

War

Civil War: The Confederate Ironclad 'Merrimac' sinks two wooden Union ships then battles the Union Ironclad 'Monitor' to a draw. Naval warfare is thus changed forever, making wooden ships obsolete.

War

Civil War: Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's (1822-1885) unprepared troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River results in a bitter struggle with 13,000 Union killed and wounded and 10,000 Confederates.

War

Civil War: 75,000 Federals under Gen. John Pope (1874-1937) are defeated by 55,000 Confederates under Gen. Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863) and Gen. James Longstreet (1821-1904) at the second battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia.

Science

The speed of light is successfully measured.

Medicine

The first children’s clinic is opened in New York City.

Inventions

The Gatling (a 10 barrel, automatic firing) gun is invented by R.J. Gatling (1818-1903).

Inventions

A timepiece for split-second timing—the chronograph—is invented.

Inventions

Alexander Parkes (1813-1890) invents the first man-made plastic.

Inventions

Jean Lenoir (1822-1900) makes a gasoline engine automobile.

Education

Children’s Books: Christina Rossetti''s (1830-1894) long fantasy, "Goblin Market," about two sisters'' struggle to resist the tempting fruits of the goblin men, was long categorized as a children''s fairy tale, but is increasingly reread as a major poem of its period.

Education

Women's Firsts: In Ohio, Mary Jane Patterson receives a degree from Oberlin, becoming the first black woman to graduate from an American college.

Education

African American Education: One of the earliest and longest-lived freedmen’s schools, the Penn School on St. Helena Island, NC, is founded by Laura Matilda Towne (1825-1901).

Education

Women's Firsts: Geologist Florence Bascom (1862-1945) becomes the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University; she goes on to teach at Bryn Mawr.

Education

The Morrill Land-Grant Act endows colleges of agriculture and industry.

Arts and Letters

Literature; Victor Hugo (1802-1885) writes "Les Misérables."

Lincoln, Mary

The Lincolns’ son William Wallace (1850-1862) dies of typhoid fever at age 11 on February 20.

Harrison, Caroline

Benjamin Harrison (1831-1901) raises a regiment for the Union in the Civil War (1,000 men from Indiana) known as the 70th Indiana Regiment.

Van Buren, Hannah

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862), 8th President of the U.S., dies in Kinderhook, New York.

Tyler, Julia

John Tyler (1790-1862), 10th President of the U.S., dies in Richmond, Virginia.

Economics

1,000 guns a day are being produced by the Colt factory.

Economics

The first automobile with an internal combustion engine is constructed.

Economics

A process for concentrating fruit juice is patented.

Economics

American Money: Demand Notes are replaced by United States Notes.

Popular Culture

Julia Ward Howe's (1819-1910) poem, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is published and later set to music. The music for "Taps" is also composed.

Government

President Lincoln (1809-1865) issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and emphasizes the enlisting of black soldiers in the Union Army.

Government

New Mexico is divided in half, creating the Territory of Arizona.

Government

National Capital: The "Statue of Freedom" is place on top of the Capitol building and becomes the crowning feature of the dome.

Government

Congress establishes free mail delivery in cities.

Government

New State: West Virginia becomes the 35th state in the United States.

Government

President Lincoln (1809-1865) delivers the Gettysburg Address.

War

Civil War: The Union institutes a draft to recruit soldiers for the Civil War.

War

Civil War: The Battle of Gettysburg takes place.

War

Civil War: The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

Science

The National Academy of Sciences is founded in Washington, DC.

Education

Children’s Books: The Rev. Charles Kingsley’s (1819-1875) fairy tale "The Water-Babies" combines many of these enthusiasms in a tale of how a little chimney-sweep goes backward in evolution when he is wicked, and forwards when he does as he would be done by.

Arts and Letters

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) adopts the pen-name, Mark Twain.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Henry Wordsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) publishes the poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.”

Pierce, Jane

Jane Means Appleton Pierce (1806-1863), wife of Franklin Pierce (1804-1869), dies of tuberculosis in Andover, Massachusetts on December 2 at the age of 57.

Arthur, Ellen

William Lewis Arthur (1860-1863), son of Chester Alan and Ellen Arthur, dies July 7.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy and Rutherford Hayes’s fourth son, Joseph (1861-1863), dies of dysentery at the age of two on June 24.

Johnson, Eliza

Charles Johnson (1830-1863), son of Andrew and Eliza Johnson, dies April 4 in a horse accident.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes (1831-1889), her four sons, and her mother go to West Virginia to be with Rutherford (1822-1893) and his regiment.

Economics

Transportation: The world''''s first underground railway service, London''''s Metropolitan line between Paddington and Farringdon, is opened.

Economics

Traveler’s Insurance Company is founded in Hartford, CT.

Economics

American Money: The design of U.S. currency incorporates a Treasury seal, the fine line engraving necessary for the difficult-to-counterfeit itaglio printing, intricate geometric lathe work patterns, and distinctive linen paper with embedded red and blue fibers.

Daily Life

Holidays: The first national Thanksgiving Day is proclaimed by President Lincoln (1809-1865) to be the fourth Thursday of November.

Daily Life

The first paper dress patterns are developed by Ebenezer Butterick (1826-1903).

Sports

The four-wheeled roller skate is patented by James Plimpton of New York.

Sports

Horse Racing: The Grand Prix horse race is first held in Paris.

Popular Culture

Stephen Foster (1826-1864) composes “Beautiful Dreamer.”

Religion

Olympia Brown (1835-1926) is ordained a minister by the Northern Universalists in Weymouth, MA.

Religion

The Seventh Day Adventist church was officially founded by Ellen G White, James White and Joseph Bates.

Social Issues

Native Americans: Kit Carson (1809-1868) begins resettling Navajo and Apache Indians on reservations by force.

Social Issues

Slavery: The Emancipation Proclamation delivered by President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) decrees that all slaves in Rebel territory are free on January 1, 1863.

Law

Chief Justices: President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) nominates Salmon Portland Chase (1808-1873) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; he is confirmed by the Senate on the same day, and holds the position for eight years, until his death in 1873.

Politics

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) is reelected for a second term as President of the United States, and Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) is elected as the nation's 16th Vice President.

Government

New State: Nevada becomes the 36th state in the United States.

Government

The territory of Montana is organized.

Government

Twenty-six nations sign the Geneva Conventions, an agreement to respect humanitarian rules of war with respect to prisoners, sick soldiers, Red Cross neutrality, and civilians in war zones.

Government

American Money: Congress authorizes the inscription, "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins.

War

Civil War: General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) marches his Union army through Georgia, captures Atlanta and Savannah, and leaves a 300 mile path of destruction, 60 miles wide, all the way to the sea.

Medicine

Women's Firsts: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919) is appointed assistant surgeon in the Union Army.

Inventions

African American Inventors: Inventor Norbert Rillieux (1806-1894) patents a process for refining sugar that is used by sugar processing plants all over the world.

Technology

Airplanes: Count Ferdinand d’Esterno, France, publishes the first scientific observations of the effects of the wind on a wing in his pamphlet, "Du Vol des Oiseaux."

Education

Public Education: Native Americans: Indian Education: Congress makes it illegal for Native Americans to be taught in their native languages. Native children as young as four years old are taken from their parents and sent to Bureau of Indian Affairs off-reservation boarding schools, whose goal, as one BIA official put it, is to "kill the Indian to save the man."

Education

Women’s Firsts: Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1846-1922) becomes the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree. She graduated from the New England Female Medical College.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) begins writing his epic, "War and Peace."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Jules Verne (1828-1905) publishes "A Journey to the Center of the Earth."

Harrison, Anna

Anna Tuthill Symmes (1775-1864) Harrison dies on February 25 in North Bend, Ohio, at the age of eighty-eight.

Hayes, Lucy

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) runs for Congress from Ohio and wins without ever leaving his troops.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy and Rutherford Hayes’s fifth son, George Crook (1864-1866) is born on September 29 in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Cleveland, Frances

Frances Folsom (1864-1947), future wife of President Grover Cleveland (1837–1908), is born in Buffalo, New York, on July 21. She is the sixth of ten First Ladies born in New York, the "mother state" of presidential wives. (Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, sister of Grover Cleveland, served as his First Lady during the first two years of his presidency, and is the fifth First Lady born in New York State).

Economics

Transportation: Railroad History: The Pennsylvania Railroad begins using steel for its rails.

Daily Life

Taking pictures that will be become famous as a record of the Civil War, New York photographer Matthew Brady (1822-1896) travels through the nation's battlefields.

Daily Life

Newspapers: In Louisiana, the New Orleans Tribune begins publication. It is one of the first African-American-run daily newspapers.

Social Issues

Immigration: European immigration to the U.S. increases, due in large part to the Homestead Act and also because immigrants are excluded from the draft.

Social Issues

Native Americans: Many Navahos die as they make the "Long March" through New Mexico to their grim reservation at Bosque Redondo.

Social Issues

Native Americans: The massacre of Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians at Sand Creek, CO occurs.

Reform

Labor Movement: The first International Workingmen's Association is founded by Karl Marx (1818-1883) in London and New York.

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Thirteenth Amendment, forbidding slavery, is passed by the Congress, ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Government

Warren G. Harding (1865-1923), 29th President of the United States, is born near Marion, Ohio.

Government

American Money: Gold Certificates are issued by the Department of the Treasury against gold coin and buillion deposits and are circulated until 1933.

Government

American Money: The Department of the Treasury establishes the United States Secret Service to control counterfeit money.

Government

Following the assassination of President Lincoln, his Vice-President, Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), becomes the 17th President of the United States. No new Vice President is selected.

War

Civil War: Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia; the Civil War ends.

War

Indian Wars: Escalation of the Plains War between the U.S. military and the Sioux and Cheyenne.

Science

Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) proposes the laws of heredity.

Medicine

Antiseptic surgery is initiated by Joseph Lister (1827-1912) using carbolic acid.

Medicine

The Chicago Hospital for Women and Children is established, in part, by Dr. Mary Harris Thompson, one of the best-known surgeons of her era.

Medicine

Women's Firsts: Dr. Mary Walker (1832-1919) becomes the first woman to receive the Medal of Honor, for her service during the Civil War.

Inventions

The coffee percolator is invented.

Education

Higher Education: The Universities of Maine and Kentucky, Purdue University and Cornell University are all founded.

Education

Higher Education: Yale University opens the first Department of Fine Arts in the U.S.

Education

Higher Education: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is founded.

Education

Women's Colleges: Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) is the first woman appointed as a professor of astronomy, at Vassar College.

Education

Children''s Books: Lewis Carroll''s (1832-1898) "Alice in Wonderland" is published.

Education

Children''s Books: "Hans Brinker," or "The Silver Skates" is written by Mary Mapes Dodge (1831-1905).

Education

Public Education (1865-1877): African Americans mobilize to bring public education to the South for the first time. After the Civil War, and with the legal end of slavery, African Americans in the South make alliances with white Republicans to push for many political changes, including for the first time rewriting state constitutions to guarantee free public education. In practice, white children benefit more than Black children.

Arts and Letters

Opera: Wagner’s (1813-1883) opera "Tristan and Isolde," premiers in Munich.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Jules Verne (1828-1905) writes "From the Earth to the Moon."

Jackson, Rachel

Andrew Jackson Jr. (1808-1865), Andrew and Rachel Jackson's adopted son (he was one of the pair of twins born to a sibling of Rachel Jackson), dies.

Lincoln, Mary

Assassination: President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) is assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC.

Johnson, Eliza

Eliza McCardle Johnson (1810-1876) is the first First Lady to teach her husband, Andrew Johnson, to read and write.

Lincoln, Mary

Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) and her family move to Chicago.

Hayes, Lucy

Rutherford (1822-1893) and Lucy (1831-1889) Hayes go to Washington for his first term in Congress. The children stay in Chillicothe with their grandmother.

Harrison, Caroline

General Benjamin Harrison (1831-1901) and the 70th Indiana are mustered out of Federal service on June 8, 1865.

Economics

The Atlantic cable is completed.

Economics

The first oil pipeline is laid in Pennsylvania (6 miles).

Economics

The Union Stockyards open in Chicago.

Daily Life

The first carpet sweeper comes into popular use.

Daily Life

Transportation: George Pullman''s (1831-1897) railroad sleeping cars appear in the U.S.

Daily Life

The first fire department with paid firefighters is founded in New York City.

Sports

Billiard balls made out of a composition material replace balls made of ivory.

Sports

Boxing: Boxing's Queensbury Rules are laid out.

Sports

Women in Sports: Matthew Vassar opens Vassar College with a special School of Physical Training with classes in riding, gardening, swimming, boating, skating and "other physical accomplishments suitable for ladies to acquire ... bodily strength and grace."

Popular Culture

Another popular favorite published this year is Mark Twain's (1835-1910) short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

Social Issues

Hate Groups: The Ku Klux Kan is founded in Tennessee.

Social Issues

Poverty: The Salvation Army is founded in England by William Booth (1829-1912).

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting voter discrimination, is passed by the Congress.

Government

Civil Rights Movement: The Freedman’s Bureau Bill is established to provide assistance to freed slaves.

Government

American Money: Congress authorizes the issuance of the 5-cent piece, the “nickel.”

Government

Tennessee becomes the first state readmitted to the Union.

Government

Civil Rights Movement: Despite the veto of President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), the U.S. passes a Civil Rights Law, protecting the rights of citizenship for former slaves freed by the Thirteenth Amendment.

Inventions

Dynamite is developed by Swedish engineer Alfred Nobel (1801-1872).

Inventions

Englishmen Robert Whitehead (1861-1947) invents a torpedo.

Inventions

A 12-horsepower steam automobile is developed in Connecticut.

Technology

Battery Technology: Georges Leclanche (1839-1882), a French engineer, patents a new system, which is immediately successful. In the space of two years, twenty thousand of his cells are being used in the telegraph system.

Technology

Airplanes: The Aeronautical Society is founded in England.

Education

Women’s Firsts: Lucy Hobbs (1833-1910) becomes the first woman to graduate from dental school, the Ohio College of Dental Surgery.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) writes "War and Peace."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Feodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) writes "Crime and Punishment."

Van Buren, Hannah

John Van Buren (1810-1866), son of Martin and Hannah Van Buren dies October 13 of kidney failure while at sea.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) returns to Chillicothe in March; the older boys study German.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy and Rutherford Hayes’s fifth son, George Crook (1864-1866), dies of scarlet fever on May 24 at the age of 20 months.

Economics

The first refrigerated railroad car is built in Detroit.

Economics

Laying of the second Atlantic cable is completed.

Economics

American Money: National Bank Notes, backed by U.S. government securities, becomes predominant.

Daily Life

The first Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) opens in Boston.

Sports

Women in Sports: Baseball: Vassar College fields the first two women''s amateur baseball teams.

Religion

An early congregation of Reform Jews builds the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Social Issues

Jim Crow Laws: The former Confederate States enact "Black code" (later known as Jim Crow) laws to counteract the thirteenth amendment.

Reform

Labor Movement: The National Labor Union is founded in Baltimore, the first such industrial trade-union confederation and a landmark in the U.S. labor movement.

Reform

Animal Rights Movement: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded in New York City.

Reform

Women's Rights Movement: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Martha Coffin Pelham Wright, Lucretia Mott, and Ernestine Rose found the American Equal Rights Association, seeking both black and women’s suffrage.

Government

The Dominion of Canada is established by The British North America Act.

Government

Education: The federal Office of Education is established to provide information on the condition of education in the United States.

Government

New State: Nebraska becomes the 37th state of the Union.

Government

Alaska is purchased from Russia for the sum of $7.2 million, approximately two cents an acre.

Medicine

Lister (1827-1912) publishes "Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery," based partly on Pasteur's work.

Inventions

Christopher Sholes (1819-1890) invents the first practical and modern typewriter.

Inventions

The first motorcycle is invented.

Inventions

Barbed wire is first patented by Lucien B. Smith of Ohio.

Inventions

Joseph Monier (1823-1906) of Paris first patents reinforced concrete.

Inventions

Elizabeth Hawks receives a patent for a stove with a separate “air chamber” for baking.

Education

Higher Education: The first U.S. dental school is established at Harvard.

Education

Higher Education: Howard University, the first predominantly Negro college to offer comprehensive university facilities, is chartered.

Education

Special Education: The Clark Institute for Deaf Mutes is chartered; it is the first U.S. school to teach the deaf using German principles of articulation and lip-reading.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) writes "Peer Gynt."

Arts and Letters

Opera: Charles Gounod’s (1818-1893) opera, "Romeo et Juliette," is performed in Paris.

Arts and Letters

Walt Whitman (1819-1992) circulates this fourth edition as four separately paginated books stitched together between two covers: a vastly re-edited version of the 1860 "Leaves of Grass," a reissue of "Drum-Taps," a reissue of the "Sequel to Drum-Taps," and a striking coda called "Songs Before Parting."

Ideas

"Das Kapital" is published by Karl Marx (1818-1883).

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy and Rutherford Hayes’s first and only daughter, Fannie (1867-1950), is born in Cincinnati on September 2.

Hayes, Lucy

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) resigns his seat in Congress, runs for Governor of Ohio, and wins by less than 3,000 votes.

Harrison, Caroline

Benjamin Harrison (1831-1901) runs for Governor of Indiana; is defeated by the Democrats.

Economics

Transportation: Railroad History: The first elevated railroad is built in New York City.

Economics

The first paperback books are published in Leipzig, Germany.

Discovery

Diamond fields are discovered in South Africa.

Discovery

Gold is discovered in Wyoming.

Daily Life

Magazines: Mary Louise Booth (1831-1889) becomes editor of the new "Harper’s Bazaar" magazine.

Sports

Horse Racing: The Belmont Stakes horserace is run for the first time in New York.

Sports

Women in Sports: Golf: St. Andrew''s in Scotland is the first ladies golf club.

Popular Culture

“The Blue Danube Waltz” is written by Johann Strauss II (1825-1899).

Popular Culture

The first of the popular “rags to riches” stories, "Ragged Dick," or "Street Life in New York" is published by Horatio Alger.

Religion

Children’s Books: Religious books for children are often more attractively produced, and also much gentler, even sentimental, in religious messages like "The Pretty Village."

Social Issues

Native Americans: The Treaty of Medicine Lodge between the U.S. and the Cheyenne and Arapaho forces the two tribes to move to a reservation in Indian Territory, on land that was ceded by Indian tribes to the U.S. after the end of the Civil War.

Social Issues

Native Americans: Reservations in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) are set up by Congress for the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles).

Reform

Civil Rights Movement: Congress gives blacks the right to vote in Washington, D.C.

Law

Native Americans: A clause in the 14th Amendment “excluding Indians not taxed” prevents Native-American men from receiving the right to vote.

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting states from infringing on the rights of American citizens is ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Politics

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) is elected as the 18th President of the United States, and the first from Ohio; Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885) is elected as the nation's 17th Vice President.

Politics

Impeachment: Current President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) is impeached by the House of Representatives, but escapes conviction by one vote.

Government

Civil Rights Movement: Congress makes black suffrage mandatory for a Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.

Science

A Cro-Magnon skeleton (the first homo sapiens) is found in France.

Inventions

The air brake is invented by George Westinghouse (1846-1914).

Inventions

An electric voting machine is patented by Thomas Edison (1847-1931).

Inventions

George Westinghouse (1846-1914) invents the compressed air locomotive brake, which enables trains to be stopped with fail-safe accuracy.

Inventions

Railroad History: Major Eli Janney (1831 – 1912), a confederate veteran of the civil war, invents the knuckle coupler. This semi-automatic device locks upon the cars closing together without the rail worker getting between the cars.

Technology

Airplanes: Jean-Marie Le Bris (1817-1872) tests an improved version of his glider, making several unmanned glides before it crashes.

Technology

Airplanes: John Stringfellow, England, proposes a man-carrying triplane, similar to Henson’s aerial steam carriage. It captures the public’s imagination, although the model does not perform well when tested.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) writes "Little Women."

Arts and Letters

Brahams’ (1833-1897) “Lullaby” is published.

Lane, Harriet

James Buchanan (1791-1868), 15th President of the U.S. and the only bachelor to be elected President, dies June 1 at Wheatland (near Lancaster, Pennsylvania).

Lincoln, Mary

Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) travels to Europe with her son, Tad.

Hayes, Lucy

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) is inaugurated as Governor of Ohio in January. His salary is $4,000.

Economics

The Armour meat-packing factory is opened in Chicago.

Daily Life

The world's first traffic lights, built near London's Parliament Square, begin operation.

Sports

The first recorded bicycle race is held in Paris.

Sports

Golf: Golf''s first recorded hole-in-one is scored in Scotland.

Sports

The game of badminton is invented in England.

Sports

The sport of skating is regulated at a meeting of an American skating congress in Pittsburgh.

Sports

The first indoor track and field meet is held in New York City.

Religion

Brigham Young (1801-1877) marries his 27th and final wife.

Religion

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” is written by Episcopal clergyman Phillips Brooks (1835-1893).

Social Issues

Immigration: Japanese laborers arrive in Hawaii to work in sugar cane fields.

Reform

Labor Movement: The first 8-hour day begins for government workers. Others continue to work long hours.

Law

Women’s Firsts: Arabella Mansfield (1846-1911) is granted admission to practice law in Iowa, making her the first woman lawyer.

Law

In "Texas v. White," the U.S. Supreme Court rules that secession is illegal. Following this decision, Congress restores a republican government in Texas.

Law

The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, affirming the right to vote and forbidding states to deny that right based on race, color, or "previous condition of servitude," is passed by Congress.

Politics

Third Parties: The National Prohibition Party is formed in Chicago.

Government

The first Black U.S. diplomat, Ebenezer D. Bassett (1833-1908), becomes minister-resident to Haiti.

Government

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) is inaugurated as the 18th President of the United States, and Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885) is inaugurated as the nation's 17th Vice President.

Government

Stamps: First U.S. pictorial stamps appear; this is the first time that U.S. stamps show something other than a dead person.

Inventions

Ives W. McGaffey of Chicago patents an early suction type vacuum cleaner.

Inventions

Celluloid is invented by J.W. Hyatt.

Inventions

Chewing gum is patented by William F. Semple.

Inventions

Margarine is patented in France.

Inventions

Railroad History: George Westinghouse (1846-1914), an inventive Civil War veteran, develops the straight air brake.

Education

Children’s Books: A beautiful Victorian illustrated "Cinderella" is published, along with a new versification of the story by Robert Willis, as "The Children''s Christmas Annual for 1869."

Education

Education of Women: Three women are admitted to the Chicago Medical College.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: There are 21 theatres in New York and 6 in Boston.

Ideas

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) writes "On the Subjugation of Women."

Pierce, Jane

Franklin Pierce (1804-1869), the 14th president of the United States, dies October 8 in Concord, New Hampshire.

Hayes, Lucy

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) runs for a second term as Governor of Ohio and is once again elected. Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) continues her role as First Lady of Ohio.

Johnson, Eliza

Robert Johnson (1834-1869), son of Andrew and Eliza Johnson, dies April 22 by taking his own life.

Grant, Julia

Julia Dent Grant (1826-1902) is the first President's wife to have the Inaugural Ball in the Treasury. She also had the first closets built in the White House, and was the first First Lady to close the White House grounds to the public.

Economics

Transportation: Railroad History: The first trans-continental railroad is finished when the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads are joined on May 10.

Economics

The Suez Canal is opened, after more than 10 years of construction.

Economics

Gypsy moths are brought to Massachusetts to start a silk industry. They escape, however, and cause all kinds of problems around the country.

Economics

Transportation: The clipper ship, "Cutty Sark," is launched.

Sports

Soccer: Intercollegiate football (soccer) is begun by Rutgers and Princeton.

Sports

The first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, is founded.

Sports

Women in Sports: Frenchwomen enter cycling races at Bordeaux, France.

Popular Culture

Mark Twain (1835-1910) publishes his book "Innocents Abroad."

Religion

The first Vatican Council meets in Rome.

Social Issues

Native Americans: The Transcontinental Railroad cuts across Native American lands.

Reform

Women’s Firsts: Arabella Mansfield (1846-1911) is granted admission to practice law in Iowa, making her the first woman lawyer.

Reform

Temperance Movement: The National Temperance Convention meets in Chicago to form the Prohibition Party.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: Susan B. Anthony founds the American Women’s Suffrage Association. The newspaper she founds has the slogan “Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.”

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: The Wyoming Territory becomes the first state to grant women suffrage.

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution affirming the right to vote and forbidding states to deny that right based on race, color, or "previous condition of servitude," is ratifiedby two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Politics

Hiram Revels (1827-1901) (Mississippi) becomes the first Black elected to U.S. Senate.

Politics

Jefferson Long (1836-1901) (Georgia) becomes the first Black elected to U.S. House of Representatives.

Government

The U.S. Congress readmits Texas to the Union.

Government

The U.S. Justice Department is created.

Government

Congress authorizes the registration of trademarks.

Medicine

Louis Pasteur (1822- 1895) and Robert Koch (1843-1910) establish the germ theory of disease.

Inventions

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) invents the stock ticker.

Inventions

Mary Carpenter patents a sewing machine with a self-threading, self-setting needle.

Technology

Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.

Technology

Airplanes: Alphonse Penaud (1850-1880), France, uses twisted rubber bands to power a miniature helicopter. It’s copied by dozens of toymakers in Europe in America.

Education

Education of Women: The first sorority: Kappa Alpha Theta, is established at De Pauw University.

Education

Education of Women: Ada H. Kepley (1847-1925) becomes the first woman to graduate from law school (at Union College of Law, Chicago).

Arts and Letters

Museums: The Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded in New York City.

Lincoln, Mary

Congress appropriates a pension for Mary Todd (1818-1882) Lincoln of $3,000, later raised to $5,000.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) and Rutherford (1822-1893) successfully campaign for official Ohio state support for the establishment of a home for children orphaned by the Civil War.

Economics

Standard Oil Co. of Ohio is incorporated, with John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) as president and majority stockholder.

Economics

Census: The U.S. population is 39.8 million, including, for the first time, African Americans listed by name.

Economics

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. (the A&P) is founded.

Discovery

Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) begins excavations on the site of Homer's Troy.

Daily Life

A donkey first appears in a cartoon to symbolize the U.S. Democratic Party.

Daily Life

The Marcel wave becomes a popular women’s hairstyle.

Popular Culture

Jules Verne (1828-1905) writes "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea."

Religion

The first Vatican Council declares the dogma of papal infallibility.

Reform

Abolition Movement: The American Anti-Slavery Society is dissolved.

Reform

Black Suffrage Movement: The 15th Amendment of the Constitution provides African-American males with the right to vote.

Government

The first Civil Service Commission is appointed by President Grant.

Science

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) writes "The Descent of Man," in which he asserts that all mammals descend from a single ancestor.

Medicine

The bacillus that causes leprosy is discovered.

Inventions

The first cable car is invented.

Technology

Airplanes: Alphonse Penaud (1850-1880) builds a planophore, a 20-inch long monoplane with a pusher propeller powered by a rubber band. It flies 131 feet in 11 seconds — the first flight of an inherently stable aircraft.

Technology

Airplanes: Francis Herbert Wenham and John Browning, England, invent the wind tunnel. They use it to prove that cambered wings produce more lift than other shapes.

Education

Children’s Books: Mother Goose is reprinted, with verses set to music.

Education

Parochial Education: The Archdiocese of New York receives $700,000 in public funds for schooling.

Education

Public Education: Michigan, New Hampshire, and Washington enact compulsory school attendance laws.

Arts and Letters

Opera: "Aida," by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), is performed in Cairo, where the opera is set; it is written in honor of the opening of the Suez Canal.

Arts and Letters

Literature: George Eliot (1819-1880) writes "Middlemarch."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Henry James’ (1843-1916) first novel, "Watch And Ward", is written as he travela through Venice and Paris.

Ideas

Marx’s (1818-1883) "Communist Manifesto" appears for the first time in English.

Lincoln, Mary

Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) returns to the United States. Her son Thomas (1853-1871) dies of tuberculosis at age 18.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes’s sixth son, Scott Russell (1871-1923), is born in Columbus, Ohio on February 8. His sister Fanny calls him “little boy sister.”

Tyler, Julia

Julia Tyler Spencer (1849-1871), daughter of John Tyler and his second wife Julia, dies May 8 from childbirth complications.

Arthur, Ellen

Ellen Herndon "Nell" Arthur (Pinkerton) (1871-1915), daughter of Chester Alan and Ellen Arthur, is born November 21.

Mckinley, Ida

Katherine "Katie" McKinley (1871-1875), the first child of William and Ida McKinley, is born December 25.

Economics

The S.S. Oceanic, the first of the White Star Line luxury liners, is launched.

Daily Life

Disasters: The Chicago Fire burns down about three and one half miles of the city.

Sports

The National Rifle Association is founded by Union Army officers

Sports

Women in Sports: Miss Carrie A. Moore demonstrates a variety of roller skating movements at the Occidental Rink in San Francisco. Later in the same day, she exhibits her skill on a velocipede.

Popular Culture

“The Greatest Show on Earth”—P.T. Barnum’s (1810-1891) circus—opens in Brooklyn, NY.

Popular Culture

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) writes "Through the Looking Glass."

Popular Culture

The poem, “The Owl and the Pussycat” is written by Edward Lear (1812-1888).

Religion

The hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” is composed.

Social Issues

Native Americans: The Indian Appropriation Act is passed by Congress, making Native Americans wards of the federal government.

Reform

Labor Movement: Labor unions are legalized in Britain.

Politics

President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) is elected for a second term, and Henry Wilson (1812-1875) is elected as the nation's 18th Vice President.

Politics

Third Parties; Women's Firsts: The Equal Rights Party nominates Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) as the first woman candidate for President and African American leader Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) as her running mate.

Government

Presidents: Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), 30th President of the United States, is born in Plymouth, Vermont.

Government

Congress abolishes the income tax it had imposed during the Civil War.

Science

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) shows that fermentation is caused by microorganisms.

Science

Bacteriology is established as a science.

Science

"Popular Science Monthly" begins to be published.

Inventions

The doughnut cutter is patented by John F. Blondel of Maine.

Inventions

A crude forerunner of the movie projector—the “zoopraxiscope”—is invented.

Inventions

African American Inventors: Elijah McCoy (1843-1929) invents an oiling devise that allows machines to be oiled while in motion.

Education

Public Education: Connecticut enacts compulsory school attendance laws.

Education

Parochial Education: About 30,000 children attend Lutheran parochial schools.

Education

Public Education: The Tileston Normal School is opened in Wilmington, NC as one of the first free schools in the area open to poor students.

Education

Children’s Books: Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) writes a books of shorter verses for young children entitled "Sing-Song."

Arts and Letters

Painting: James Whistler (1834-1903) paints a portrait of his mother.

Ideas

The Granger Movement is formed, a forerunner of the populist movement of the 1890s.

Wilson, Edith

Edith Bolling Galt (1872-1961), future second wife of President Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), is born in Wytheville, Virginia on October 15.

Economics

Montgomery Ward opens in Chicago.

Economics

Railroad History: George Westinghouse (1846-1914) patents the first automatic air brake. This is basically the same system as is used by today's railroads.

Daily Life

Yellowstone, the world's first National Park, is opened.

Daily Life

Disasters: The American ship "Mary Celeste" is found abandoned in the Atlantic en route to Genoa.

Daily Life

The Brooklyn Bridge is opened.

Sports

Soccer: The first English Football Association (F.A.) Cup final is played at the Kennington Oval in London.

Sports

Soccer: The first international soccer game is held when England plays Scotland.

Sports

The first U.S. ski club is founded in New Hampshire.

Religion

The International Bible Students Association, which evolved into the Jehovah’s Witness religious sect, is founded.

Social Issues

Birth Control: The “Comstock Law” forbids the transport of contraceptives in the United States.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other feminists are arrested for trying to vote in the presidential election.

Reform

Women's Rights Movement: Congress guarantees equal pay for equal work in federal jobs.

Politics

The American Granger movement, which organizes U.S. farmers in the midwest to counter monopolistic transportation practices by the railroads, reaches its peak membership.

Government

The North West Mounted Police are formed in Canada, later to become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Government

President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) is inaugurated for a second term, and Henry Wilson (1812-1875) is inaugurated as the nation's 18th Vice President.

Science

The American Metrological Society, the first organization to improve the system of weights and measures, is formed.

Science

Astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) founds the Association for the Advancement of Women.

Medicine

Dr. Mary Jane Safford (1834-1891) joins the faculty of the newly opened Boston University School of Medicine as a professor of women’s diseases.

Inventions

African American Inventors: Lewis Latimer (1848-1928) invents a water closet (toilet system) for railroad cars.

Technology

The first color photographs are developed.

Education

Author Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, a.k.a. Susan Coolidge (1835-1905), revolutionizes school story books by blending imaginary and real-life episodes.

Education

Public Education: William T. Harris (1835-1909), Superintendent of the St. Louis school system, incorporates kindergarten into the schools

Education

The discipline of sociology is established with Herbert Spencer’s (1820-1903) "The Study of Sociology."

Education

Women’s Colleges: The College of Notre Dame of Maryland is founded.

Education

Libraries: Chicago Public Library opens.

Education

Women’s Firsts: Ellen Swallow Richards (1842–1911), the first woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earns her B.S. degree. She becomes the first female professional chemist in the U.S.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Mark Twain (1835-1910) and Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900) write "The Gilded Age;" the phrase becomes a descriptor for the era.

Ideas

“Set theory” in mathematics is established.

Hayes, Lucy

His second term as Governor over, Lucy (1831-1889) and Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1881) move to Spiegel Grove, an estate in N.W. Ohio.

Hayes, Lucy

Manning Force Hayes (1873-1874), seventh son of Lucy and Rutherford B. Hayes, is born on August 1.

Mckinley, Ida

Ida McKinley (1873), daughter of William and Ida McKinley, is born April 1 and dies 4 months later in August. After the birth of her namesake, First Lady Ida McKinley is stricken with a litany of lifelong illnesses that included epileptic seizures and phlebitis.

Economics

Jay Cooke & Co.'s Wall Street banking house fails, and the American economy collapses into a sharp depression.

Economics

American Money: The U.S. goes on the gold standard, eliminating all silver currency.

Economics

E. Remington & Sons, gunmakers, begin to manufacture typewriters.

Daily Life

Newspapers: The New York "Daily Graphic" becomes the first illustrated daily newspaper.

Daily Life

San Francisco’s first cable streetcar goes into operation.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Jesse James and his gang rob their first passenger train.

Sports

Football: The first American Football rules are formulated at a meeting in New York attended by delegates from Columbia, Princeton, Rutgers and Yale.

Sports

The modern game of lawn tennis is invented in England.

Sports

Women in Sports: 10 young women compete in a mile-long swimming contest in the Harlem River. Miss Deliliah Goboess wins the prize, a silk dress worth $175.

Popular Culture

Jules Verne publishes "Around the World in Eighty Days."

Religion

The Reform Union of Hebrew Congregations is organized in Cincinnati.

Law

Chief Justices: President U.S. Grant (1822-1885) nominates Morrison R. Waite (1816-1888) as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He is confirmed two days later and serves for fourteen years.

Government

Presidents: Herbert Hoover (1875-1964), 31st President of the United States, is born in West Branch, Iowa.

War

Federal troops stationed in New Orleans during Reconstruction quell a revolt led by the White League against Louisiana's black state government.

Medicine

The streptococci and staphylococci bacilli are discovered.

Medicine

The field of osteopathy is founded in Kansas; Dr. Andrew Still becomes its first practitioner.

Inventions

African American Inventors: Lewis H. Latimer (1848-1928) co-invents an improved water closet, or bathroom, for trains.

Technology

The process of pressure cooking is introduced as a method of canning foods.

Technology

Airplanes: Felix Du Temple builds a man-carrying steam-powered monoplane. With a young French sailor at the controls, it makes a ski-jump take-off and a brief hop but cannot sustain flight.

Education

The Chautauqua movement begins in an effort to bring greater educational opportunity to America's isolated farmers and small towns through traveling lectures and correspondence-school courses.

Arts and Letters

Painting: A group of French Impressionists, including Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Camille Pissaro, and August Renoir, hold their first show. Rejected by a formal gallery, the exhibit was held by the artists themselves.

Fillmore, Abigail

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), 13th president of the United States, dies on March 8 in Buffalo, NY. He is only the second vice president to succeed on the death of the incumbent president.

Hayes, Lucy

Manning Force Hayes, seventh son of Lucy and Rutherford B. Hayes, dies at the age of 13 months, probably of dysentery, in Fremont, Ohio on August 28.

Cleveland, Frances

Oscar Folsom Cleveland (1874-?), son of Grover Cleveland and a widow, Maria Croftis Halpin, is born. Unsubstantiated reports suggest that Oscar died in his late 20's of alcoholism.

Tyler, Letitia

Tazewell Tyler (1830-1874), the youngest of John and Letitia Tyler's children, dies January 8 as a result of alcoholism.

Hoover, Lou

Lou Henry (1874-1944), wife of Herbert Hoover, is born in Waterloo, Iowa, on March 29.

Grant, Julia

White House Weddings: Nellie Grant (1856-1922), daughter of Julia (1826-1902) and Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) marries Algernon Sartoris, a British diplomat, in the White House.

Economics

The first electric streetcar begins operation in New York City.

Economics

Stockholders of the Union Pacific railroad form a phony development bank, the Credit Mobilier. Several members of President Ulysses S. Grant’s (1822-1885) administration, including his vice president, are implicated in the scandal, though no one is ultimately indicted.

Daily Life

The first American zoo is established in Philadelphia.

Daily Life

Republican Party is first symbolized by an elephant. – drawn by Thomas Nast (1840-1902), in "Harper’s Weekly."

Sports

Women in Sports: Tennis is introduced to the U.S. by Mary Outerbridge, who saw it played in Bermuda.

Popular Culture

The original Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng (1811-1874), die. Born in Thailand of Chinese parents and joined at the chest, they were sold and exhibited in Europe and America.

Popular Culture

New York's Madison Square Garden opens under the name Barnum’s Hippodrome.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: The Rhode Island legislature passes a women’s suffrage amendment to its constitution.

Reform

Temperance Movement: The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is founded in Cleveland, Ohio.

Reform

Labor Movement: Police on horses break up a demonstration of the unemployed in New York's Tompkins Square Park, injuring hundreds who came to protest the intense poverty resulting from the depression of the 1870s.

Law

Women's Suffrage Movement: In "Miner v. Hoppersatt," the Supreme Court rules that women are “persons” under the 14th Amendment, but are not entitled to vote.

Politics

Ex-political boss and New York politician William Marcy “Boss” Tweed (1823-1878) escapes from jail, flees to Cuba. He is apprehended, returned to New York, and dies in prison three years later.

Government

Rebellion in Cuba leads to deterioration of U.S.-Spanish relations.

Government

Civil Rights Movement: Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, guaranteeing blacks equal rights in public places and banning their exclusion from jury duty.

Government

British prime minister Disraeli (1804-1881) maneuvers to bring the Suez Canal, which was completed in 1869, under British control.

Medicine

The London Medical School for Women is founded.

Medicine

The bacillus that causes lumbar pneumonia—pneumococcus— is discovered.

Inventions

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) invents a duplicating process that uses a wax stencil, an early version of the mimeograph machine.

Inventions

An electric dental drill is patented.

Technology

The world’s first radio is operated by American Elihu Thomson (1853-1937).

Education

Women's Colleges: Wellesley College for women, founded by Henry and Pauline Durant, opens in Wellesley, Massachusetts, outside of Boston.

Arts and Letters

Opera: The first performance of French composer Georges Bizet's (1838-1875) opera "Carmen" takes place at the Opera Comique, Paris.

Arts and Letters

The first Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, "Trial by Jury," is written.

Taylor, Margaret

Anne Margaret Mackell Taylor Wood (1811-1875), daughter of Zachary and Margaret Taylor, dies December 2.

Lincoln, Mary

Mary Todd Lincoln’s (1818-1882) son Robert (1843-1926) has her declared insane; she manages to get herself released from the mental hospital, and goes to live with her sister in Springfield, Illinois.

Hayes, Lucy

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) runs for his third term as Governor of Ohio, and wins.

Mckinley, Ida

Katherine "Katie" McKinley (1871-1875), the first child of William and Ida McKinley, dies June 25 from typhoid fever.

Johnson, Eliza

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), 17th President of the U.S., dies July 31 in Carter's Station, Tennessee.

Economics

Luxury hotels are opened in Saratoga Springs, New York, and San Francisco, marking the development of a luxury-seeking elite in the United States.

Economics

The first factory using the Bessemer steel-making process is built by Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).

Daily Life

Newspapers: The "Times" of London becomes the first newspaper to print a daily weather chart.

Sports

Horse Racing: The first Kentucky Derby is held at Churchill Downs, Kentucky, won by Aristides.

Sports

Capt. Matthew Webb (1848-1883) becomes the first person to swim across the English Channel.

Sports

The first roller skating rink is opened in London.

Sports

Women in Sports: Baseball: The "Blondes" and "Brunettes" play their first match In Springfield, IL on Sept. 11. Newspapers heralded the event as the "first game of baseball ever played in public for gate money between feminine ball-tossers."

Religion

Mary Baker Eddy’s (1821-1910) "Science and Health" is first published.

Social Issues

Native Americans: Comanche chief Quanah Parker (1850-1911) ends his resistance to white settlement of Texas, enabling American expansion to proceed rapidly.

Social Issues

Jim Crow Laws: Segregation: Tennessee passes a "Jim Crow" law segregating blacks and whites on railroads (which are private, and so not covered by the Civil Rights Act).

Politics

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) is elected the 19th President of the U.S., and William A. Wheeler (1819-1887) is elected as the nation's 19th Vice President. The election is so close that it is not finally concluded until 1877.

Government

New State: Colorado becomes the 38th state of the United States

War

Indian Wars: At the Battle of the Little Big Horn (Custer’s Last Stand), Sioux Indians led by Chief Crazy Horse routed the U.S. 7th Cavalry led by Col. Custer (1839-1876).

War

Indian Wars: In one of the final periods of intense Native American resistance to American expansion, Apache leader Geronimo (1829-1909) begins a 10-year reign of war and terror against white settlers in the American Southwest.

Science

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) establishes Menlo Park as America’s first research laboratory.

Medicine

The bacillus that causes anthrax is discovered by Robert Koch (1843-1910).

Inventions

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) patents the first telephone.

Inventions

The first carpet sweeper is patented by inventor Melville Bissell (1843-1889), of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Inventions

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) patents the mimeograph machine.

Education

Higher Education: Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore opens.

Education

The Kindergarten exhibit at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia enhances kindergarten’s popularity.

Education

Libraries: The American Library Association is founded.

Arts and Letters

Opera: The first complete performance of Richard Wagner’s (1813-1883) operatic Ring cycle opens in Germany.

Johnson, Eliza

Eliza McCardle Johnson (1810-1876) dies of tuberculosis in December at her daughter's, Martha Patterson, house.

Van Buren, Hannah

Smith Thommpson Van Buren (1817-1876), son of Martin and Hannah Van Buren dies.

Lincoln, Mary

A second jury finds Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) sane. Later she travels again to Europe and spends most of her time in France.

Hayes, Lucy

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) runs for President of the U.S. His election is in dispute until January of 1877 because of contested election results in several states.

Economics

Railroad History: All Southern Pacific and Central Pacific passenger cars converted to air brakes.

Daily Life

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized.

Sports

Baseball: The Chicago Cubs hold their first National League game, beating Louisville 4-0.

Sports

Baseball: The U.S. National Baseball League is established

Sports

The first tennis tournament in the U.S. is held.

Sports

Polo is introduced to the U.S. from England.

Sports

Women in Sports: Ten percent of the members of the newly created Appalachin Mountain Club are women.

Popular Culture

Mark Twain (1835-1910) publishes his book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”.

Social Issues

Immigration: California Senate committee investigates the “social, moral, and political effect of Chinese immigration.”

Reform

Prohibition: An early Prohibition Amendment to the Constitution is proposed in the House of Representatives.

Reform

Women's Rights Movement: A Declaration of the Rights of Women is distributed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Gage.

Government

Women's Suffrage Movement: The House of Representatives defeats a bill to amend the Constitution to allow women to vote where they are taxed.

Government

British imperialism is nearing its zenith as Britain annexes the South African Republic, and Queen Victoria (1819-1901) is proclaimed empress of India.

Government

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) is inaugurated as the 19th President of the U.S., and William A. Wheeler (1819-1887) is inaugurated as the nation's 19th Vice President.

War

Indian Wars: The Nez Perce tribes in the northwestern United States battle with American troops after years of passive noncompliance with treaties. The tribes ultimately surrender; their leader, Chief Joseph (1840-1904), gives a surrender speech considered one of the finest statements on Native American displacement.

Science

U.S. astronomer Asaph Hall (1829-1907) discovers Deimos, ("panic" in Greek) a satellite of Mars, at the Naval Observatory in Washington.

Medicine

The process for staining bacteria so as to see them under a microscope is invented by Robert Koch (1843-1910).

Inventions

Copper wire is invented.

Inventions

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) invents the phonograph and makes the first sound recording.

Education

Libraries: Women's Firsts: Minerva Saunders is the first librarian to end age restrictions on borrowing books and to create a seperate childern's section.

Education

The YWCA in New York City establishes the first known typing course for women.

Education

Women's Firsts: Education of Women: Helen McGill(White) becomes the first woman in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. degree; it is from Boston University, and her field is Greek drama.

Education

Public Education: Reconstruction ends in 1877 when federal troops, which had occupied the South since the end of the Civil War are withdrawn. Whites regain political control of the South and lay the foundations of legal segregation.

Education

Children’s Books: Anna Sewell (1820-1878) is known only for one book, the perennial favorite "Black Beauty, the Autobiography of a Horse."

Arts and Letters

Dance: Tchaikovsky's (1840-1893) ballet "Swan Lake" is first performed at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Arts and Letters

Painting: The third Impressionist exhibition is held in Paris.

Arts and Letters

Drama: American Theatre: Henrik Ibsen writes "Pillars of Society," an early example of the Realism in theatre that begins to compete with melodrama. With the advent of early realism, the role of the regisseur, or strong director, begins to develop.

Tyler, Letitia

Robert Tyler (1816-1877), the first son of John and Letitia Christian Tyler, dies December 3.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) and Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) celebrate their 25th anniversary in the White House.

Hayes, Lucy

A newspaper first refers to the wife of the President as the "First Lady." Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) is also the first Presidential wife to take the Oath of Office in the White House.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) oversees the first Easter egg-rolling contest at the White House.

Economics

A drink called root beer is first made and distributed by Charles Elmer Hires (1851-1937).

Economics

Railroad History: Four feuding American railroads cease their price wars and join together to cut wages, prompting the great railroad strike of 1877. Federal troops end the strike, but only after killing some workers and injuring many.

Economics

American Money: The Department of the Treasury's bureau of Engraving and Printing starts printing all U.S. currency, although other steps are done outside.

Discovery

British explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) reaches the mouth of the Congo River.

Daily Life

The first public telephones are installed in the U.S.

Daily Life

The first Westminster Dog Show is held.

Sports

Cricket: The first cricket match between Australia and England is played in Melbourne, the home side winning by 45 runs.

Sports

The first Wimbledon tennis championships are held.

Sports

Women in Sports: The first women's field hockey club is started in Surrey, England.

Social Issues

Immigration: United States Congress investigates the criminal influence of Chinese immigrants.

Social Issues

Immigration: A mob in San Francisco sets fire to two dozen Chinese laundries in the city, sparking months of anti-Chinese violence.

Social Issues

Racism: Reconstruction in the South ends, and with it any effort of the Federal government to enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments in the South for nearly 100 years.

Politics

Third Parties: The Greenback-Labor Party is formed by labor organizations and advocates cheap money.

Politics

For the first time in twenty years, Democrats win control of both houses of Congress.

War

Indian Wars: Lincoln County War erupts in southeast New Mexico.

Medicine

Epidemics: The last great epidemic of yellow fever kills more than 13,000 in the lower Mississippi valley.

Inventions

The microphone is invented by David Hughes (1831-1900).

Inventions

The phonograph, invented by Thomas Edison (1847-1931), is patented.

Inventions

Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914) is the first person to invent a practical and longer-lasting electic lightbulb.

Technology

Airplanes: Bishop Milton Wright (1828-1917), then living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, brings home a rubber band-powered Penaud-type helicopter for his sons. They build several successful copies. Orville tells his schoolteacher that he and his brother Wilbur plan to build a large enough machine to carry the both of them. But when they try to build a larger model, it doesn’t fly.

Technology

The first private connection by telephone in Great Britain was made on the Isle of Wight when Queen Victoria (1819-1901) spoke to Thomas Biddulph.

Education

Women's Colleges: Physicist Sarah Frances Whiting (1846-1927) opens the second undergraduate physics laboratory in the U.S. at Wellesley College.

Education

Public Education: Kindergarten is incorporated into the San Francisco public school system.

Arts and Letters

Dance: "Swan Lake" is first performed at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

Arts and Letters

Gilbert and Sullivan write "H.M.S. Pinafore."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) writes "Return of the Native."

Arts and Letters

Drama: Actress Ellen Terry (1848-1928) becomes a part of the Irving Company at London's Lyceum Theatre.

Ideas

Charles Pierce (1839-1914) publishes "How to Make Our Ideas Clear," developing the philosophy of Pragmatism.

Harrison, Anna

John Scott Harrison (1804-1878), son of William Henry and Anna Harrison, dies May

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) becomes widely known for her concern for and help to those in need in Washington, especially Civil War veterans and their families.

Economics

The name "Vaseline," a brand of petroleum jelly, is trademarked by Robert A. Chesebrough (1856-?).

Economics

The first commercial telephone switchboard goes into operation in New Haven, Connecticut.

Economics

The first bicycles are manufactured in the U.S.

Economics

American Money: The Department of the Treasury is authorized to issue Silver Certificates in exchange for silver dollars.

Economics

Women's Firsts: Emma Nutt becomes the first woman telephone operator when she goes to worl for Edwin Holmes and his Telephone Dispatch Company in Boston, Massachusetts.

Discovery

The largest yellow diamond ever discovered is found in the Kimberly Mine of South Africa. It is purchased by New York's Tiffany & Co. and becomes known as the Tiffany Diamond.

Daily Life

The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, CT.

Daily Life

Newspapers: The first full-page newspaper advertisements appear.

Sports

Women in Sports: Woman pedestrian Ada Anderson walks 3,000 quarter-miles in 3,000 quarter hours over the course of a month in New York' Mozart Hall, kicking off a series of "lady walker" matches.

Sports

The National Archery Association is organized.

Popular Culture

A London tunesmith introduces the word jingoism into the British parlance in the lyric: "We don't want to fight, but by jingo if we do/We've got the men, we've got the ships, we've got the money too." The word would characterize an era of British imperialism.

Popular Culture

Showboats, which had shut down during the Civil War, are revived as entertainment centers on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

Religion

Pittsburgh minister Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), who will go on to found the Watchtower Society associated with the Jehovah''s Witnesses, preaches that the second coming happened invisibly in 1874 and that the world will end in 1914.

Religion

Anna Howard Shaw (1847-1919) graduates as the only woman in her class in Boston University's divinity school; when she applies for ordination, her application is denied and her license to preach repealed

Social Issues

Abortion: Anthony Comstock, head of the New York Society for the Suppression fo Vice, entraps New York abortion provider and brothel owner Madame Restell into giving him abortifacients and contraceptives by telling her his wife is pregnant and they cannot afford another child. He then exposes her, slapping her with a lawsuit. Fearing conviction, she commits suicide.

Social Issues

Racism: The relocation of former slaves to Kansas, called the "Exoduster Movement," begins. Within the year, 30,000 blacks migrate to Kansas.

Reform

Labor Movement: Labor struggle intensifies in the United States when the Atchison, Topkea, and Santa Fe railraod cuts engineers' pay 10 percent. Striking workers shut the railroad down for five days. The militia is called in, and after a militiaman kills a bystander, labor leaders are arrested.

Law

Women’s Firsts: Belva Ann Lockwood (1830-1917) becomes the first woman admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Politics

Irish nationalist Michael Davitt (1846-1906) founds the Irish Land League to resist absentee landlords and fight for a more equitable distribution of land in Ireland and independence from Britain.

Politics

Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck (1862-1890) engineers an Austro-German alliance in which either side will offer the other aid in the event of an attack from Russia. It's one of a series of alliances that prefigure the battle lines of World War I.

Government

Immigration: A bill to restrict Chinese immigration is vetoed by President Hayes (1822-1893).

Government

President Hayes (1822-1893) tries to reform the Civil Service, and to settle the question of Indian lands; large numbers of native Americans visit with him in Washington to argue their need for justice.

Government

National Capital: Electric lighting is installed in the Capitol building.

War

The Zulu War: The Zulu War begins between the British of the Cape Colony and the natives of Zululand.

Science

Russian pathologist demonstrates by using dogs that the stomach will produce gastric juices even if there is no food, suggeting that reflexes are learned and conditioned, not natural, and that people can be taught to respond to anything.

Science

The discovery of saccharin is reported.

Medicine

Women's Firsts: Mary Mahoney(1845-1926) becomes the first black professional nurse in the U.S.

Inventions

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) invents a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Technology

An internal combustion engine is used to power a "horseless carriage" by George Selden (1846-1922).

Technology

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) gives the first public demonstration of an eletric incandescent lamp in Menlo Park, New Jeresy.

Education

Women's Colleges: The first class at what was to become Radcliffe College, then called "The Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women," begins.

Education

American educator Anna Hallowell(1831-1905) establishes free kindergartens in poor neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

Education

Native Americans: Indian Education: The Carlisle Indian School is founded in Pennsylvania, in an aggressive U.S. government campaign to "civilize" Indian children.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Among Henry James' (1843-1916) masterpieces is "Daisy Miller," in which the young and innocent American, Daisy, finds her values in conflict with European sophistication.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) writes "The Brothers Karamzov."

Arts and Letters

Opera: "Evgeny Onegin," or "Eugene Onegin," best known opera by Russian composer Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), receives its first performance at the Maily Theater in Moscow.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Henrik Ibsen's (1828-1906) modern classic about the erosion of traditional domestic roles, "A Doll's House," is performed for the first time in Copenhagen.

Arts and Letters

"The Pirates of Penzance"(or "The Slave of Duty"), an operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan, has its first performance in New York City.

Ideas

American economist Henry George (1839-1897) writes "Progress and Poverty," in which he observes increasing economic inequality in the United States.

Johnson, Eliza

Andrew Johnson Jr. (1852-1879), son of Andrew and Eliza Johnson, dies March 12.

Coolidge, Grace

Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge (1879-1957), wife of Calvin Coolidge, is born in Burlignton, Vermont on January 3.

Taylor, Margaret

Richard Taylor (1826-1879), son of Zachary and Margaret Taylor, dies April 12.

Economics

The first five-and-dime store is founded by Frank Woolworth (1852-1919) in Utica, New York; it later moves to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the same year.

Daily Life

Newspapers: Henry Grady (1850-1889) takes over the "Atlanta Constitution," in the pages of which he begins to exhort the South to attract northern capital and transform itself into a modern industrial region--to little avail.

Daily Life

Electric arc lamps are installed on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, by Charles Brush (1849-1929).

Sports

The first major skiing contest occurs in Norway.

Popular Culture

Annie Oakley (1860-1926) defeats Frank Butler in a shooting match; they later marry and tour the country in Wild West shows.

Religion

St. Patrick's Cathedral opens in New York after twenty-six years of work.

Religion

Women’s Firsts: Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) establishes the Church of Christ, Scientist, becoming the first woman to found a major religion, Christian Science.

Social Issues

Racism: With federal Reconstruction over and national troops out of the South, political repression of southern blacks starts to intensify.

Social Issues

Immigration: California adopts a new constitution which, in part, prohibits the employment of Chinese workers.

Reform

Temperance Movement: Frances Willard (1839-1898) becomes president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, campaigning also for women's rights with the motto, "Do Everything."

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Supreme Court rules that the exclusion of Blacks from jury duty is unconstitutional.

Politics

James A. Garfield (1831-1881) beats President Ulysses Grant (1822-1885) in a hotly contested election and becomes the 20th President of the U.S.; Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886) is elected as the 20th Vice President.

Medicine

The parasite that causes malaria is discovered.

Medicine

Rubber gloves are introduced in hospital operating rooms after nurse Caroline Hampton developed a skin allergy to the antiseptic solutions used; when postoperative infections dropped dramatically, such gloves became part of the surgical team’s standard uniform.

Inventions

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) is granted a patent for his incandescent light.

Inventions

The British Perforated Paper Company invents a form of toilet paper.

Inventions

Englishman, John Milne (1850-1913) invents the modern seismograph.

Technology

Airplanes: Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896), Germany, begins to test cambered wing surfaces and measures their lifting capability.

Technology

The first large furnace for making steel is developed by Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).

Technology

The first wireless telephone message is sent by Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) through a “photophone,” a devise that transmits sound on a beam of light.

Education

Libraries: The initial funding of buildings for public libraries is begun by Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).

Education

Public Education: Kindergarten is incorporated into the Chicago public school system.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) publishes "The Brothers Karamazov," a year before he dies.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Lew Wallace (1827-1905) writes "Ben Hur."

Arts and Letters

Sculpture: Rodin’s (1840-1917) sculpture, “The Thinker,” is exhibited in model form.

Arts and Letters

Gilbert and Sullivan produce "The Pirates of Penzance" in London. It runs for over 300 performances.

Garfield, Lucretia

Lucretia Rudolph Garfield (1832-1918) is the first President's wife to be kissed by her husband at his inauguration.

Arthur, Ellen

Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur (1837-1880), wife of Chester A. Arthur (1830-1886), dies of pneumonia on January 10, ten months before her husband is elected as Vice President of the United States.

Harding, Florence

Eugene Marshall "Pete" DeWolfe (1880-1915), son of Warren and Florence Harding, is born September 22.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) accepts the national presidency of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, a group that helps poor women and children.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) and Rutherford (1822-1893) spend 72 days touring the west, the first such trip by a sitting President.

Lincoln, Mary

Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) returns to the United States in 1880 and again goes to the Edwards' home in Springfield to live. She is slowly going blind.

Harrison, Caroline

Benjamin Harrison (1831-1901) is elected to the U.S. Senate from Indiana. He and Caroline Harrison (1832-1892) move to Washington, DC.

Economics

The De Beers Mining Corp. is founded by Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902) and Albert Beit (1853-1906) , both 27 years old. Rhodes will eventually acquire a near-total monopoly on the South African diamond industry.

Economics

The population of Los Angeles, California, doubles between 1870 and 1880, a sign of the urbanization of the American west.

Economics

Census: The U.S. population is 50.1 million people, including about 2.8 million immigrants.

Economics

Newspapers: Newspaper growth continues unabated in the postwar years. An astounding 11,314 different papers are recorded in the census.

Daily Life

Newspapers: The first photographs are seen in newspapers that are printed using halftones.

Daily Life

The first canned fruits and vegetables appear in stores.

Daily Life

The first telephone box for public use goes into service.

Daily Life

Electricity first lights the street lights in New York City.

Popular Culture

J.C. Harris publishes his “Uncle Remus” stories.

Popular Culture

The game of bingo is developed from an Italian lotto game.

Religion

Women Firsts: Anna Howard Shaw (1847-1919) is the first woman ordained by the Methodist Church.

Religion

Frances Cabrini (later Mother Cabrini) (1850-1917) founds the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Italy.

Social Issues

Poverty: The American Salvation Army is established in Philadelphia.

Social Issues

Immigration: Italy’s troubled economy, crop failures, and political climate begin the start of mass immigration with nearly four million Italian immigrants arriving in the United States.

Reform

Labor Movement: The word boycott comes into use when Irish tenant farmers refuse to harvest crops on an estate managed by British army captain Charles Cunningham Boycott (1832-1897).

Law

The United States Supreme Court rules that the Civil War income tax law of 1861 is constitutional.

Politics

Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891) is imprisoned for agitating for home rule. From prison, he continues to direct tenant farmers to withhold rent as a means of gaining self-government.

Government

The assassination of Czar Alexander II in 1881 prompts civil unrest and economic instability throughout Russia.

Government

James A. Garfield (1831-1881) is inaugurated as the 20th President of the U.S.; Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886) is inaugurated as the 20th Vice President.

Government

Vice President Chester A. Arthur (1830-1886) becomes the 21st President of the United States upon the assassination of James A. Garfield (1831-1881). No new Vice President is selected.

Medicine

Vaccines: Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) develops an anthrax vaccine, and vaccinates a herd of sheep against the disease.

Medicine

"Angel of the battlefield" Clara Barton (1821-1912) founds the American Association of the Red Cross.

Medicine

The idea that mosquitoes are the carriers of yellow fever is proposed.

Inventions

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) invents the first crude metal detector.

Technology

Battery Technology: Leclanche's (1839-1882) battery is quite heavy and prone to breakage; the idea of encapsulating both the negative electrode and porous pot into a zinc cup is patented by J.A. Thiebaut in 1881.

Technology

Airplanes: Louis Moulliard, France, writes another milestone in aeronautics, Empire of the Air, in which he proposes fixed-wing gliders with cambered wings, like birds.

Technology

The first color photographs are produced by Frederick E. Ives.

Education

Higher Education: Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) organizes the Normal and Industrail Institute for Negroes, which later becomes Tuskeegee Institute.

Education

Children’s Books: The very first appearance, under a pen-name, of Robert Louis Stevenson’ s(1850-1894) first and best-known children's adventure story, "Treasure Island," os published in the penny weekly, "Young Folks, A Boys' and Girls' Paper of Instructive and Entertaining Literature."

Education

Women’s Colleges: Spelman College is founded in Georgia as the first black women's college.

Education

Rachel Bodley, dean of the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania conducts a statistical survey about the careers of her school’s graduates, published as the pamphlet The College Story, one of the earliest studies of women in the professions.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Henry James (1843-1916) writes "The Portrait of a Lady," in which, again, a young American woman becomes a victim of her provincialism during her travels in Europe.

Arts and Letters

D’Oyly Carte (1844-1901) builds the electrified Savoy Theatre in London.

Arts and Letters

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is founded.

Garfield, Lucretia

James Abram Garfield (1831-1881), 20th President of the U.S., is assassinated on July 2 and dies from the assault on September 19 in Elberon, New Jersey.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) and Rutherford (1822-1893) leave the White House at the end of his term and move to their home at Spiegel Grove in Ohio.

Harrison, Caroline

Benjamin Harrison (1831-1901) begins his term in the U.S. Senate. Caroline Harrison suffers a bad fall “and her health was delicate after that.”

Daily Life

The first electric tram goes into public service in Germany, near Berlin.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Brothers Wyatt (1848-1929) and Virgil Earp (1843-1905) lead the shootout of Western movie fame against Ike Clanton''s gang at the O.K. Corral in Arizona territory.

Sports

The first U.S. Lawn Tennis Championship is held.

Popular Culture

The first vaudeville theatre to feature family entertainment is opened in New York City.

Popular Culture

Twenty-one-year old William Bonney, a.k.a. Billy the Kid (1859-61 exact year unknown-1881), escapes imprisonment but is hunted down and shot. Though he had killed 21 people, he becomes a legend, and pop retellings of his life story are hawked only weeks after his death.

Popular Culture

Mark Twain (1835-1910) publishes "The Prince and the Pauper."

Religion

The Vatican archives are opened to scholars.

Social Issues

Native Americans: "A Century of Injustice" is published by Helen Hunt Jackson, about mistreatment of Indians.

Social Issues

Segregation: Tennessee legislature passes a law mandating that black passengers be segregated on railroads. "Jim Crow" legislation is soon imitated throughout the South.

Reform

Labor Movement: The American Federation of Labor is formed.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: Susan B. Anthony finances and publishes The History of Women’s Suffrage, which eventually totals six volumes

Law

Women's Rights Movement: Two U.S. judges decide that women may sue their husbands for assault and battery.

Government

Immigration: The Chinese Exclusion Act, which bars Chinese laborers from coming to the United States, goes into effect.

Government

Presidents: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), the 32nd President of the United States, is born in Hyde Park, New York.

Government

The 3-mile limit for territorial waters is agreed upon at the Hague Convention.

Medicine

Robert Koch (1843-1910) discovers the tuberculosis bacillus and establishes that the disease is communicable.

Medicine

Hypnosis is used to treat hysteria, signaling the beginning of psychoanalysis.

Medicine

Surgical sutures made from catgut thread are replaced with silk ones.

Medicine

Vaccines: Louis Pasteur (1822- 1895) develops a rabies vaccine.

Inventions

The electric fan and the electric flat iron are invented.

Inventions

African American Inventors: Lewis H. Latimer (1848-1928) patents the carbon filament for electric light bulbs.

Technology

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) designs the first hydroelectric plant in Appleton, WI.

Technology

The first motion picture is made, using a “rifle-camera” that shoots 12 images in one second.

Education

Children''s Books: Children''s classic "Pinocchio" is written by Italian author Carlo Collodi (1826-1890).

Education

Education of Women: The American Association of University Women is founded by Alice Elvira Freeman Palmer (1855-1902).

Arts and Letters

Opera: Wagner's (1813-1883) opera "Parsifal" is first performed, at Bayreuth, western Germany.

Arts and Letters

Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) writes the "1812 Overture."

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: David Belasco (1853-1931) apprenticed in San Francisco, moves to Madison Square Theatre in New York as stage manager and becomes an independent producer in 1895.

Cleveland, Frances

Grover Cleveland (1837-1906) is elected Mayor of Buffalo and then Governor of New York, as a Democrat. He wins reputation for uncovering political corruption.

Lincoln, Mary

Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) dies of “paralysis” at her sister Elizabeth’s house on July 15 in Springfield, Illinois.

Economics

American rail magnate William Vanderbilt (1856-1938) eliminates mail trains from Chicago, because they are not profitable.

Economics

John D. Rockefeller's (1839-1937) Standard Oil Trust brings 95 percent of the American petroleum industry under the control of a nine-man board.

Economics

Commercially supplied electrical power is inaugurated in New York City.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: After more than 15 years of robbing banks, outlaw Jesse James (1847- 1882) is shot in the back at St Joseph, Missouri, by Robert Ford, one of his own gang.

Daily Life

Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911) writes "The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning."

Daily Life

Holidays: The first Labor Day celebration is held in New York City.

Sports

Baseball: The American Baseball Association is founded.

Sports

Boxing: John L. Sullivan (1858-1918) wins the heavyweight boxing championship.

Sports

The National Croquet Association is founded.

Sports

Women in Sports: At the YWCA in Boston, the first athletic games for women are held.

Popular Culture

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) writes "Treasure Island."

Popular Culture

Jumbo the elephant appears in P.T. Barnum's (1810-1891) Barnum and Bailey Circus; he is advertised as the "largest elephant in or out of captivity."

Popular Culture

Clan warfare between the Hatfields and McCoys breaks out in southern Appalachia. The bloodbath, which has its roots in lingering Civil War tensions, lasts for six years until Kentucky authorities seize some of the members of the Hatfield family.

Religion

The Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization of Catholic men, is founded in Connecticut.

Social Issues

Immigration: Russia’s May Laws severely restrict the ability of Jewish citizens to live and work in Russia. The country’s instability prompts more than three million Russians to immigrate to the United States over three decades.

Social Issues

Immigration: The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspends immigration of Chinese laborers under penalty of imprisonment and deportation.

Reform

Women''s Rights Movement: Two U.S. judges decide that women may sue their husbands for assault and battery.

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Supreme Court declares the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional (except for jury duty), ruling that the government can protect political, not social, rights.

Government

The United States adopts standard time.

Government

The U.S. Civil Service Commission is established by the Pendleton Act.

War

Congress orders the building of ships that begin the modern U.S. Navy.

Science

The fact that an electrical current can be sent through space—the basis of electronics—is discovered by Thomas Edison (1847-1931).

Medicine

The bacillus that causes diphtheria is discovered.

Inventions

English engineer Hiram Maxim (1840-1916) invents the fully automatic machine gun.

Inventions

Young German-American entrepreneur Julius Schmidt invents a modern version of the condom.

Inventions

African American Inventors: Jan Ernst Matzeliger (1852-1889) patents a machine that can make up to 700 shoes a day.

Technology

The Brooklyn Bridge, the world's first suspension bridge, opens to pedestrian traffic, linking Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Technology

The first “skyscraper” is built in Chicago: it has 10 floors.

Technology

Airplanes: John J. Montgomery (1858-1911) of California builds a monoplane glider and makes the first gliding flight in America.

Technology

Airplanes: Charles Parsons, England, inventor of the turbine motor, tests a small 1/4 horsepower steam turbine engine in a model airplane, propelling it for approximately 300 feet. Although Parsons experiments had little effect on the development of aviation, some consider this to be the first jet aircraft.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Poet Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) publishes the sonnet “The New Colossus,” which will be inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

Ideas

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's (1844-1900) "Thus Spake Zarathustra" appears in print.

Tyler, Julia

John Alexander "Alex" Tyler (1848-1883), son of John Tyler and his second wife Julia, dies September 1.

Johnson, Eliza

Mary Johnson Stover Brown (1832-1883), daughter of Andrew and Eliza Johnson, dies April 19.

Hayes, Lucy

The Hayes family is happy in retirement at Spiegel Grove. Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) spends a lot of time in the garden, and supervising the farm. She also continues to correspond with national figures and to give parties.

Economics

Railroad History: The Northern Pacific Railroad across the United States is completed.

Economics

A deep drought begins on the western plains of the United States. The suffering of farmers produces radical political activity, such as the Farmer''s Alliance, one of the first demonstrations of Populism as a movement in the 19th century.

Economics

Railroad History: The Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific are completed.

Daily Life

Magazines: "The Ladies’ Home Journal" is founded.

Daily Life

Magazines: "Life Magazine" is established.

Sports

Matthew Webb (1848-1883), first man to swim the English Channel (in 1875) drowns while attempting to swim the rapids above Niagara Falls.

Sports

The first annual New York Horse Show is held in New York City.

Sports

Women in Sports: Mrs. M. C. Howell wins her first archery title. She will win the national championship for women 17 times between 1883 and 1907.

Popular Culture

The first vaudeville theater, the Gaiety Museum, opens in Boston.

Popular Culture

William F. Cody (1846-1917) organizes his first “Wild West Show.”

Popular Culture

Mark Twain (1835-1910) publishes "Life on the Mississippi."

Popular Culture

Howard Pyle (1853-1911) writes (and illustrates) "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood."

Politics

Democrat Grover Cleveland (1837-1906) defeats the Republican "plumed knight" James Blaine (1830-1893), becoming the first Democratic president of the United Staes since before the Civil War, and the 22nd President of the U.S. Thomas A. Hendricks (1819-1885) becomes the nation's 21st Vice President.

Politics

Third Parties: Belva Ann Lockwood (1830-1917) runs for president as the candidate for the Equal Rights Party; she loses.

Politics

Third Parties: The Anti-Monopoly Party and the Greenback-Labor Party join to form People's Party, supporting many liberal measures including a graduated income tax.

Government

The Bureau of Labor and the Department of the Interior are created by Congress.

Government

National Capitol: The capstone is placed on the Washington Monument.

Government

Presidents: Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) , 33rd president of the United States (1945- 53), is born in Lamar, Missouri.

Medicine

The bacillus that causes tetanus is discovered.

Inventions

Ottmar Mergenthaler (1854-1899) invents the Linotype machine, the first mechanized printing typesetter, which will speed up the presses for newspapers.

Inventions

The first practical turbine engine is invented.

Inventions

The first accurate adding machine is invented.

Inventions

The first coin-operated weighing machine is patented by Percy Everitt.

Technology

The first practical fountain pen is manufactured by Lewis E. Waterman (1837-1901).

Technology

Airplanes: Alexander F. Mozhaiski, Russia, builds a steam-powered monoplane and tests it at Krasnoye Selo, near St. Petersburg. It takes off on a jump ramp and flies for approximately 100 feet before crashing. This is the second power-assisted take-off in history.

Technology

Airplanes: Horatio F. Phillips, England, experiments with cambered wings in a wind tunnel and lays down the scientific foundation for modern airfoil design. He is the first to discover that when the wind blows across a curved surface, it creates a low pressure area on top of the surface and high pressure beneath it. This, in turn, generates lift.

Education

Native Americans: Indian Education: Educational policy regarding Native Americans is articulated at the Lake Mohonk Conference.

Education

Women's Colleges: The first state-supported college for women, Mississippi State College for women is chartered.

Education

The first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.

Education

The National Education Association forms a kindergarten department.

Roosevelt, Eleanor

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) is born in New York City on October 11. She is the seventh of ten First Ladies born in New York, the "mother state" of presidential wives.

Roosevelt, Edith

Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980), only child of first marriage of Theodore Roosevelt and Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, is born February 12.

Daily Life

The Statue of Liberty is presented to America by the people of France.

Daily Life

The first roller coaster opens at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York City.

Sports

Baseball: Baseball gets new rules and goes on to become an extremely popular sport in America. Its growth is also linked to the development of cities and urban culture.

Sports

Baseball: The first U.S. baseball championship is won by Providence (RI) of the National League, beating the New York Metropolitans, 3-0.

Sports

Women in Sports: Women's singles tennis competition is added to Wimbledon. Maud Watson wins in both 1884 and '85.

Popular Culture

American author Mark Twain (1835-1910) publishes "Huckleberry Finn."

Religion

Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) founds the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (which led to the Jehovah''''s Witnesses in the United States).

Social Issues

Native Americans: The novel "Ramona" is written by Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885) dramatizing the oppression of Indians in the American west.

Government

Immigration: The Contract Labor Act prohibits the importing of laborors who then work for the cost of transit; skilled, domestic, and professional workers are exempted.

Government

National Capitol: The Washington Monument is dedicated.

Government

Grover Cleveland (1837-1906) is inaugurated as the 22nd President of the United Staes and Thomas A. Hendricks (1819-1885) in inaugurated as the nation's 21st Vice President.

Government

President Cleveland (1837-1906) proposes the suspension of the minting of silver dollars, fearing that silver is undermining the nation’s gold reserves.

War

Indian Wars: Apache Indians leave their reservation in Arizona and continue their war against Whites under Geronimo.

Science

In memory of ornithologist James Audubon (1785-1851), the National Audubon Society is founded in the United States to study bird species.

Science

Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) establishes the uniqueness of fingerprints.

Medicine

The first appendectomy in the United States is performed in Davenport Iowa, by Dr. William Grant.

Medicine

Vaccines: Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) administers the first anti-rabies vaccine to a nine-year-old schoolboy.

Inventions

The first motorcycle is patented, built by Gottlief Daimler in Germany.

Inventions

Karl Benz (1824-1929) builds the world's first gasoline-powered vehicle. It has a traveling speed of nine miles per hour.

Inventions

The first modern bicycle is built. Bikes are a craze in America and Europe until the end of the century.

Inventions

The dictaphone, the electric transformer, the electric drill, and the thermos bottle are invented.

Inventions

African American Inventors: Women’s Firsts: Sarah E. Goode becomes the first African-American woman to receive a patent, for a bed that folds up into a cabinet.

Education

Children’s Books: Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924), writes "Little Lord Fauntleroy."

Education

Children's Books: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) publishes "A Child’s Garden of Verses."

Education

The Bryn Mawr School for Girls in Baltimore, later joined by Bryn Mawr College for Women near Philadelphia, is founded.

Arts and Letters

"The Mikado," the comic operetta by William S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900), premieres at the Savoy Theatre, London.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: Theatrical lighting with electricity is made available to theatrical productions.

Truman, Bess

Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman (1885-1982), wife of Harry S. Truman, is born in Independence, Missouri, on February 13.

Grant, Julia

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), 18th President of the United States, dies July 23 in Mount McGregor, New York.

Economics

The first commercially operated electrical streetcar begins operation in Baltimore.

Economics

Railroad History: The Santa Fe Railroad is completed.

Daily Life

History of Toys: Crayola Crayons: Edwin Binney (1866-1934) and cousin, C. Harold Smith, begin the partnership of Binney & Smith in Peekskill, N.Y. Early products include red oxide pigments for painting red barns and carbon black for car tires.

Daily Life

Special delivery mail service begins in the United States.

Daily Life

Newspapers: Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman (1867-1922), writing as Nelly Bly, becomes a reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch, reporting on poor working conditions in factories, problems of working girls, slums, divorce, and political corruption.

Sports

Golf: Golf is introduced to the U.S. from Scotland by John M. Fox of Philadelphia.

Sports

A weight-lifting strongman is reported to have lifted 3,239 pounds with a harness.

Popular Culture

H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925) writes the adventure novel, "King Solomon’s Mines."

Popular Culture

"A Thousand and One Nights" is translated by Richard Burton (1821-1890); it includes the stories of “Sindbad the Sailor,” “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp,” and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.”

Religion

The U.S. Salvation Army is officially organized.

Religion

The Mormons divide into polygamous and monogamous factions.

Law

The Supreme Court rules that “persons” under the Fourteenth Amendment refers not only to individuals but also to corporations.

Government

The U.S. Forestry Service is established as part of the Dept. of Agriculture.

Government

A new Presidential Succession Act is passed providing the presidential succession to go to the Vice President, and then to Cabinet officers in the order that their departments were created.

War

Indian Wars: The last large-scale Indian war in the United States ends when American troops capture Apache chief Geronimo (1829-1909) after four years of warfare on the Mexican border.

Science

Fluorine is first produced by French chemist Henri Moissan (1852-1907).

Inventions

German motor pioneer Karl Benz (1844-1929) is granted a patent for the first successful gasoline-powered car.

Inventions

Josephine Cochrane (1839-1913) invents the dishwasher.

Inventions

Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) builds the world's first four-wheeled motor vehicle.

Inventions

John Pemberton (1814-1881) invents Coca Cola.

Technology

Hydroelectric plants are begun at Niagara Falls.

Technology

Wax disks are developed to use with the phonograph.

Technology

Sewing machines are made with electric motors.

Education

Libraries: The main library and the first four branches of the Enoch Pratt Free Library open in Baltimore, providing service to users of all races.

Education

Children’s Books: Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886), provides the illustrations for Hallam Tennyson's (1852-1928) curious hexameter version of "Jack and the Bean-stalk."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) writes "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

Ideas

Karl Marx’ (1818-1883) "Das Capital" is published in English.

Washington, Martha

Martha Washington (1731-1802) becomes the first woman to be portrayed on U.S. paper money.

Adams, Louisa

Charles Frances Adams (1807-1886), son of President John Quincy Adams and Louisa Adams, dies of a stroke on November 21 at the age of 79.

Arthur, Ellen

Chester A. Arthur (1830-1886), 21st President of the U.S., dies November 18 in New York, New York.

Cleveland, Frances

White House Wedding: Frances Folsom (1864-1947) marries U.S. President Grover Cleveland (1837-1906) in the White House.

Wilson, Ellen

Margaret Woodrow Wilson (1886-1944), daughter of Woodrow and Ellen Wilson, is born April 30.

Economics

Johannesburg is founded in South Africa. The gold-mining town will eventually mine the vast majority of the world's gold.

Economics

Catering to farmers far from large stores, Richard Sears (1863-1914) establishes a successful mail-order house in Minneapolis, first selling watches. He hires A.C. Roebuck (1864-1948) as a watch repairmen the next year in Chicago.

Economics

The first Coca-Cola is sold in Atlanta, advertised as a hangover remedy containing coca leaves and African kola nut extract.

Economics

Aluminum is first produced independently in the U.S. and in France.

Daily Life

The first Tournament of Roses is held in Pasadena, California.

Daily Life

The Statue of Liberty is dedicated in New York Harbor.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: The first BB gun is created. Made for children, it scares many parents because it is actually a working gun that can cause injury. The BB gun is a descendant of the cap gun, which was invented soon after the Civil War, when some shotgun manufacturers converted their factories to make toys. Penny pistols and other authentic looking toy guns also began to appear in the 1880s.

Reform

Settlement House Movement: The first settlement house is established in New York City.

Reform

Labor Movement: Chicago police officers shoot four strikers at a May 1st rally for the eight-hour day. The Knights of Labor holds a rally in Haymarket Square to protest the shootings; a bomb goes off, killing a policeman, and the police open fire on the crowd, killing many workers.

Reform

Labor Movement: Samuel Gompers (1850-1924), a cigar maker, founds the American Federation of Labor.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: A bill granting women suffrage is passed by the Vermont legislature

Politics

Women's Firsts: Susanna Medora Salter (1820-1906) is elected the first U.S. woman mayor, in Argonia, Kansas.

Government

Congress creates Yellowstone National Park to be a refuge for buffalo and big game.

Government

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) celebrates her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years on the British throne.

Government

Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act, enabling the federal government to regulate railroad rates for the first time.

Government

Native Americans: The Dawes Act, which provides for the allotment of reservation land for individual Native American families, is passed by Congress.

War

Congress renews the U.S.-Hawaii Treaty, giving the U.S. exclusive rights to build a naval base at Pearl Harbor.

Medicine

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) and Jules-Francois Jourbert (1834-1910) of France first demonstrate the antibiotic effect.

Inventions

Celluloid film is invented.

Inventions

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) invents the record player.

Technology

Paris and Brussels become the first two capital cities to be linked by telephone.

Education

Special Education: Twenty-year-old teacher Anne Sullivan (1866-1936) begins to teach blind-and-deaf child Helen Keller (1880-1968) at the request of Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922). Helen soon learns to communicate.

Education

Higher Education: Women's Colleges: The Smith College Observatory is founded.

Education

The Hatch Act appropriates federal money to study agriculture in any state with a Land Grant College.

Education

Higher Education: Libraries: Melville Dewey (1851-1931) establishes a State Library School in Albany, NY.

Arts and Letters

Opera: Verdi's (1813-1901) opera "Othello" is first performed in Milan, Italy.

Ideas

Polish philologist Lazurus Ludwig Zemenhof (1859-1917) invents Esperanto, hoping that an international language will forestall war and bring about better communication between the peoples of the world.

Wilson, Ellen

Jessie Woodrow Wilson Sayre (1887-1933), daughter of Woodrow and Ellen Wilson, is born August 28.

Roosevelt, Edith

Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt (Jr.) (1887-1944), son of Theodore and Edith Roosevelt, is born September 13.

Economics

The Pennsylvania Railroad runs an electrically lighted train between New York and Chicago.

Economics

The first successful electric trolley line is built in Richmond, VA.

Daily Life

Mail is delivered free in all cities with a population of at least 10,000.

Daily Life

Disasters: Terrible blizzards devastate America''s nothern plains. Families are found frozen to death in tar-paper shacks.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: The speaking doll, which had first been invented by Johann Maelzel in 1820, is improved when Thomas Edison combines his phonograph technology with a doll, allowing it to speak.

Sports

Women in Sports: Ellen Hansell is crowned the first Women's Singles tennis champion at the US Open.

Sports

The first national women's tennis tournament is held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

Sports

Softball: Softball is invented by George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade.

Popular Culture

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) publishes his first Sherlock Holmes mystery, "A Study in Scarlet."

Social Issues

Native Americans: The Dawes Act divides tribal land into individual allotted tracts, destroying tribal relations in an attempt to promote assimilation into white culture.

Reform

Nellie Bly (1867-1922) is hired by the New York World; her reporting lays the groundwork for the reform-minded muckracking journalists who come after her.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: Utah repeals women's suffrage.

Law

Chief Justices: President Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) nominates Melville Weston Fuller (1833-1910) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He is confirmed by the Senate and serves for twenty-one years.

Politics

Benjamin Harrison (1831-1901) is elected as the 23rd President of the U.S., and Levi P. Morton (1824-1920) is elected as the nation's 22nd Vice President.

Politics

Political anthems: A Belgian woodcarver publishes the song "L'Internationale," with lyrics written during the Paris Commune uprising: "Arise, ye prisoners of starvation/ Arise, ye wretched of the earth...." The song is adopted by the Communist Party.

Politics

Belva Ann Lockwood (1830-1917) once more runs for the president for the Equal Rights Party; once again, she loses.

Government

Congress creates the Department of Labor.

Government

National Capitol: The public is first admitted to the Washington Monument.

Science

Weather fronts are first described; speculation considers thier relationship to storms.

Inventions

Artifical straws for drinking are patented.

Inventions

African American Inventors: Granville T. Woods (1856-1910) patents a system for overhead communication between trains and railroad stations.

Inventions

John Boyd Dunlop (1840-1921) takes out a patent for his pnuematic bicycle tire.

Inventions

Croation-American Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) invents an alternating-current electronic motor. He also develops early radio technology, but he gets little financial reward for his achievements.

Inventions

George Eastman (1854-1932) invents the Kodak camera.

Technology

Emile Berliner (1851-1929) gives the first demonstration of flat disc recording and reproduction before the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Technology

Incubators are used for premature infants.

Technology

The first seismograph in the U.S. is installed in California.

Technology

Airplanes: Augustus Herring, New York, builds and tests a glider. It fails to fly.

Education

Native Americans: Indian Education: Red Cloud invites the Jesuits to the reservation to establish a school for Lakota children in order to avoid sending children off the reservation.

Education

The National Geographic Society is established and publishes the first issue of its journal.

Education

A women's annex to Columbia University is voted by the trustees.

Arts and Letters

Sculpture: Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) finshes his sculpture "The Thinker" in an enlarged size.

Arts and Letters

Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) composes "Sheherazade."

Arts and Letters

John Phillips Sousa (1854-1932) writes "Semper Fidelis" for the Marines.

Ideas

American socialist Edward Bellamy (1850-1898) writes "Looking Backward," a utopian science-fiction novel depicting the United States in the year 2000.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The body of Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols and Annie Chapman, the first two victims of murderer "Jack the Ripper," are found in London. Five more London prostitues are found disemboweled and a rumor circulates that Queen Victoria is responsible for their deaths to distract the public from scandals surrounding her son.

Daily Life

Disasters: The famous "Blizzard of''88" occurs, lasting 36 hours and killing 400 people.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: New York state establishes electrocution for murderers sentenced to die.

Sports

Softball: Softball moves outdoors, played on a diamond smaller than baseball''s, and called Indoor-Outdoor Baseball.

Sports

Women in Sports: Women join bicycling clubs in Chicago and tennis clubs in New York City.

Popular Culture

The world's first beauty contest takes place at Spa in Belgium. The first prize is awarded to Bertha Soucaret. an 18-year-old Creole from Guadeloupe.

Popular Culture

"Casey at the Bat" is recited for the first time in public.

Government

New State: Four states are admitted to the Union and include North and South Dakota as the 39th and 40th states, Montana as the 41st state, and Washington as the 42nd state.

Government

Native Americans: Indian lands in Oklahoma are made available to white settlers.

Government

Benjamin Harrison (1831-1901) is inaugurated as the 23rd President of the U.S., and Levi P. Morton (1824-1920) is inaugurated as the nation's 22nd Vice President.

Science

The origin of insulin in the pancreas is discovered.

Inventions

An inexpensive method of producing aluminum is patented by Charles Hall of Ohio.

Inventions

Joshua Pusey invents the matchbook.

Inventions

Sir James Dewar (1842-1923) and Sir Frederick Abel co-invent Cordite - a type of smokeless gunpowder.

Technology

Airplanes: Lawrence Hargrave (1850-1915), Australia, builds the first rotary airplane engine. It runs on compressed air and Hargrave uses it to power his model aircraft.

Technology

The first celluloid movie in the U.S. is made.

Technology

The Eiffel Tower is completed in Paris.

Education

Catholic Univeristy opens in Washington D.C.

Education

Clinical training is established as part of medical education at John Hopkins University Medical School.

Education

Barnard College, a women's college affiliated with Columbia University and named after Columbia's president Frederick Barnard (1809-1889) is founded in New York.

Education

Children’s Books: The Scottish-born poet, classicist, folklorist, and critic Andrew Lang (1844-1912) writes "The Blue Fairy Book."

Education

Women's Firsts: Marie Louise Baldwin becomes the first black school principal in Massachusetts; she supervises 12 white teahcers and more than 500 children, 98% of them white.

Arts and Letters

Painting: In a frenzy of activity, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) finishes several famous paintings, including "The Starry Night," one of his last works.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) writes "The Master of Ballantrae."

Taft, Helen

Robert Alphonso Taft (1889-1953), son of William Howard and Helen Taft, is born September 8.

Wilson, Ellen

Eleanor "Nellie" Randolph Wilson McAdoo (1889-1967), daughter of Woodrow and Ellen Wilson, is born October 16.

Roosevelt, Edith

Kermit Roosevelt (1889-1943), son of Theodore and Edith Roosevelt, is born October 10.

Fillmore, Abigail

Millard Powers Fillmore (1828-1889), son of Millard and Abigail Fillmore, dies November 15.

Harrison, Caroline

Electric lights are installed at the White House, but President Benjamin Harrison (1831-1901) and his wife, Caroline (1832-1892) refuse to touch the swithces, so the lights must be turned on by an employee at night, then turned off in the morning.

Hayes, Lucy

Lucy Webb Hayes (1831-1889) dies of a major stroke on June 25, while sewing as she watches a tennis match at Spiegel Grove, Ohio.

Harrison, Caroline

Caroline Harrison (1832-1892) tries to get Congress to appropiate funds to enlarge the White House; she fails, but does succeed in getting them to provide money for renovations.

Tyler, Julia

Julia Gardiner Tyler (1820-1889) dies of a stroke in Richmond, Virginia on July 10.

Economics

"The man who dies rich dies disgraced." writes steel baron and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), displaying the contradictory attitudes towards wealth characteristic of the American Gilded Age.

Economics

Isaac Singer (1811-1875) markets an electric sewing machine.

Economics

The first anti-trust laws are passed in Kansas, North Caolina, Tennessee, and Michigan.

Daily Life

The first premixed self-rising pancake mix is marketed in the U.S.

Daily Life

Disasters: The Johnstown flood occurs in Pennsylvania.

Daily Life

Magazines: "Cosmopolitan Magazine" is founded.

Daily Life

Newspapers: The "Wall Street Journal" begins publishing.

Sports

Softball: George Hancock publishes the first set of Indoor-Outdoor Baseball (softball) rules.

Sports

Football: The first All-American Football Team is chosen by coach Walter Camp (1859-1925).

Sports

Boxing: The last bare-knuckled boxing championship occurs in Mississippi.

Sports

Women in Sports: The first women's six-day bicycle race ends at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Popular Culture

Mark Twain (1835-1910) writes "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court."

Popular Culture

Nelly Bly (1867-1922) circles the globe in 72 days, beating by 8 days the record of the fictional Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days."

Popular Culture

John Phillip Sousa (1854-1932) composes the "Washington Post March."

Social Issues

Native Americans: Land in Oklahoma, formerly in Indian hands, is opened to white settlers; about 50,000 settlers rushed in on the first day.

Reform

Settlement House Movement: Jane Addams (1860-1935) opens Hull House in Chigago. It''s part of the settlement-house mevement to help immigrant populations adjust to American life both materially and culturally.

Reform

Women's Rights Movement: M. Carey (1857-1935) Thomas leads the group of feminists who secure admission of women students to the John Hopkins Medical School as a condition of a large gift to its endowment.

Government

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act bans every type of restraint of trade in the United States, but the anti-monopoly law initially accomplishes little.

Government

Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks are created by an act of Congress. The national park is one sign of a developing conservation movement in the United States.

Government

Presidents: Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969), 34th President of the United States, is born in Denison, Texas.

Government

New State: Idaho is admitted to the Union as the 43rd state and Wyoming is admitted as the 44th state in the Union.

Government

Women's Firsts: Alice Sanger becomes stenographer for President Harrison, the first woman employed in U.S. executive offices.

War

Indian Wars: An army of about 500 United States soldiers massacres 300 Sioux Indian men, women, and children in a South Dakota encampment. The Battle of Wounded Knee is the final violent struggle between Native Americans and whites in the United States.

Medicine

Emil von Behring (1854-1917), in Germany, develops a diphtheria antitoxin.

Medicine

For the first time, rubber gloves are used in surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore.

Medicine

Dr. Ida Gray (1868-1907) becomes the first black woman dentist in the U.S.

Medicine

The standardization of diphtheria antitoxin establishes the field of immunology.

Inventions

Pans made from aluminum are invented in Ohio.

Technology

Airplanes: Clement Ader (1841-1926), France, builds a steam-powered, propeller-driven bat-wing airplane, the Eole. It rises about 8 inches in the air and flies 165 feet. It is the first manned aircraft to take off from level ground.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Emily Dickinson's (1830-1886) first volume of poetry is published posthumously.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) writes "Hedda Gabler."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) writes "The Picture of Dorian Gray."

Ideas

William James (1842-1910) publishes "The Principles of Psychology."

Harrison, Caroline

Caroline Harrison (1832-1892) helps raise funds for the Johns Hopkins Medical School, on the condition that they admit women.

Harrison, Caroline

With the help of Caroline Harrison, the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded in Washington, D.C.

Economics

Anti-trust laws are passed by 11 more states.

Economics

Ladybugs are imported to control insects threatening California's citrus trees.

Economics

Census: According to the 1890 census, the total population in the United States is nearly 63 million people.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Convicted murderer William Kemmler (1861-1890) becomes the first person to be executed in the electric chair as he is put to death at Auburn State Prison in New York.

Daily Life

German drug manufacturer Eugene Schieffelin introduces starlings to New York City. Today, starlings are one of the most common urban bird species in the United States.

Daily Life

Fashion: American women begin to wear knickerbockers for bicyclce riding.

Daily Life

Newspapers: Modern newspaper features include bold "banner" headlines, extensive use of illustrations, "funny pages," plus expanded coverage of organized sporting events.

Daily Life

The General Federation of Women's Clubs is founded.

Sports

Women in Sports: Baseball: The Bloomer Girls baseball era lasted from the 1890s until 1934. Hundreds of teams -- All Star Ranger Girls, Philadelphia Bobbies, New York Bloomer Girls, Baltimore Black Sox Colored Girls -- offered employment, travel, and adventure for young women who could hit, field, slide, or catch.

Popular Culture

The first moving picture shows (movies) are shown in New York City.

Social Issues

Native Americans: Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake) (1831-1890), the chief who led the Sioux Indians at the Battle of Little Big Horn against Lt. Col. George Custer (1839-1876), is killed. He dies while resisting arrest by Indian police.

Social Issues

Child Labor: Almost 23,000 children work in the factories of 13 southern states.

Reform

Civil Rights Movement: Mississippi institutes a poll tax, literacy tests, and other measures to prevent blacks from voting. This marks the end of the political freedoms freed slaves had enjoyed during federal Reconstruction.

Reform

Labor Movement: United Mine workers of America is founded.

Reform

Poverty: New York photographer and social critic Jacob Riis (1849-1914) publishes "How the Other Half Lives," documenting the everyday poverty in the slums of New York City; the book is instrumental in forging a coalition of reform in the years of the Progressive Movement.

Law

The newly established U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals ease the load of the Supreme Court.

Politics

Exiles from the Ottoman Empire, called Young Turks, meet in Geneva. The Young Turks later become the architects of Turkey's nationalist movement.

Government

Hawaii proclaims as its Queen Liliukalani (1838-1917), renowned for her song "Aloha Oe."

Government

The Forest Reserve Act enables the President to reserve public lands for national parks.

Medicine

The American Psychological Association is founded.

Medicine

Chicago's Provident Hospital becomes the first interracial hospital in the United States.

Inventions

American, W.L. Judson invents the zipper, though it is not widely used until 1919.

Technology

The submarine, "Monarch," lays telephone cable along the English Channel bed to prepare for the first telephone links across the Channel.

Technology

Wireless telegraphy begins.

Technology

Airplanes: Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) begins to test winged gliders, made from cloth stretched over willow frameworks.

Technology

Airplanes: Samuel Langley, Virginia, begins to experiment with steam-powered model aircraft he calls Aerodromes. The first five are failures.

Education

Higher Education: The University of Chicago is founded. The new Midwestern university, which sets out to lure academic stars away from the Northeast, gets its intial endowment from oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937).

Arts and Letters

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) conducts part of the first concert in brand new Carnegie Hall.

Arts and Letters

Literature: English author Thomas Hardy's (1840-1928) classic, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles," is published.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Emily Dickinson's 1830-1886) "Poems: Second" is published in 1891 and runs to five editions by 1893.

Taft, Helen

Helen Herron Taft Manning (1891-1987), daughter of William Howard and Helen Taft, is born August 1.

Roosevelt, Edith

Ethel Carow Roosevelt Derby (1891-1977), daughter of Theodore and Edith Roosevelt, is born August 13.

Cleveland, Frances

Ruth Cleveland "Baby Ruth" (1891-1904), daughter of Grover and Frances Cleveland, is born.

Harrison, Caroline

Caroline Harrison (1832-1892) designs the corn-and-flower pattern of the White House china used during her husband's administration.

Harrison, Caroline

Caroline Harrison (1832-1892) gives the first public address ever made by an incumbant First Lady on October 21.

Polk, Sarah

Sarah Childress Polk (1803-1891) dies at Polk Place in Nashville at the age of eighty-seven.

Economics

The United States' first full-service advertising agency opens in New York City.

Sports

The first marathon race is run in Massachusetts; it is 26 miles, 385 yards, the same distance run in 490 B.C. to carry the new of an Anthenian victory over the Persians.

Popular Culture

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) publishes "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."

Popular Culture

Madison Square Garden is designed by Stanford White (1853-1906).

Popular Culture

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) paints his first music hall posters.

Religion

Ann Spencer becomes an ordained minister of the Unitarian Church, serving in Providence, RI.

Social Issues

Native Americans: More Indian Territory land is opned to the public for settlement.

Politics

Grover Cleveland (1837-1906) is re-elected as the 24th President of the United States, and Adlai Stevenson (1835-1914) is elected the nation's 23rd Vice President.

Politics

Third Parties: Angry Southern and Western farmers found the Populist Party at a convention in Omaha, Nebraska. Their candidate for President, James Weaver (1833-1912) wins 9 percent of the vote and receives 22 electoral votes.

Government

Immigration: The Chinese Exclusion Act is extended for ten years.

Medicine

American School of Osteopathy opens in Missouri. The practice spreads rapidly and in most states is granted legal recognition identical with that of allopathic medicine.

Inventions

Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) invents the carburetor.

Inventions

The Ferris Wheel is invented by George W.G. Ferris (1859-1896) for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Inventions

The first escalator, The Reno Inclined Elevator, is patented by Jesse W. Reno (b. 1861) of New York.

Technology

The first electric car is driven from Des Moines, Iowa to Chicago, Illinois.

Technology

The first automated telephone swithcboard is introduced

Technology

Artifical textile fibers, later named Rayon, are improved.

Technology

Airplanes: Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville Wright (1871-1948) purchase "safety bicycles" and open a sales and repair shop. They give a bicycle to their friend, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906).

Education

Public Education: The National Education Association establishes what becomes known as the Committee of Ten to study the function of the American high school.

Education

The International Kindergarten Union, an organization of kindergarten teachers, is founded in the U.S.

Arts and Letters

Tchaikovsky's (1840-1893) "The Nutcracker" ballet is performed in St. Petersburg.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) publsihes her first collection of poetry.

Ideas

Charolette Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) publishes her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper."

Harrison, Caroline

Caroline Harrison (1832-1892) dies of tuberculosis in the White House on October 25, at the age of 60.

Economics

Boll weevils invade from Mexico and infest most of the South's cotton crop.

Economics

The Ohio Supreme Court outlaws John D. Rockefeller's (1839-1937) Standard Oil Trust under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. But Rockafeller simply re-incorporates in New Jersey, where corporations are allowed to hold other companies, and keeps his company under the new name Standard Oil of New Jersey.

Daily Life

Melba toast is named for opera singer Nellie Melba (1861-1931).

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Lizzie Borden (1860-1927) is acquitted in the ax murder of her parents; it is one of America''s first sensational trials.

Daily Life

Fire seriously damages New York's original Metropolitan Opera House, located at Broadway and 39th Street.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The Dalton Gang, notorious for its train robberies, is practically wiped out while attempting to rob a pair of banks in Coffeyville, Kansas.

Sports

Boxing: "Gentleman Jim" Corbett (1866-1933) wins the heavyweight boxing title by defeating John L. Sullivan (1858-1918); the fight is the first under the new Marquis of Queensbury rules.

Sports

Women in Sports: The journal Physical Education (a publication of the YMCA) devote an issue to women, saying that women need physical strength and endurance and dismis the popular idea that women are too weak to exercise.

Popular Culture

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) publishes "Barrack-Room Ballads," that include "Gunga Din" and "The Road to Mandalay."

Social Issues

Immigration: Ellis Island replaces Castle Garden as the receiving place immigrants to the United States.

Reform

Temperance Movement: Carrie Nation (1846-1911) begins her violent fight for temperance legislation, often taking an ax to saloons.

Reform

Labor Movement: Steelwokers at one of Andrew Carnegie's (1835-1919) mills in Homestead, Pennsylvania, go on strike because manager, Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), refuses to grant them a union contract. The workers lose after five months in one of the owrst defeats the American Labor movement has ever suffered.

Reform

Environmental Movement: The Sierra Club organizes to protect America's enviroment.

Law

Immigration: The Chinese Exclusion Act is declared constitutional by the Supreme Court.

Government

Hawaii is proclaimed a republic; it is annexed by treaty to the U.S. in February; in March, the treaty is withdrawn.

Government

France acquires a protectorate over Laos and governs it as part of Indochina.

Government

The rank of Ambassador is created by Congress under the Diplomatic Appropriations Act.

Government

A second Irish Home Rule bill is passed by the British House of Commons but rejected in the House of Lords.

Government

Congress defeats an attempt to switch the U.S. to the metric system.

Government

Grover Cleveland (1837-1906) is inaugurated as the 24th President of the United States, and Adlai Stevenson (1835-1914) is inaugurated the nation's 23rd Vice President.

Government

Stamps: The first U.S. commemorative stamps are issued. They depict scenes of Columbus' voyage to America.

Science

The length of the meter is standardized using a measurement based on the wavelength of red cadmium light.

Science

A forerunner to the theory of relativity is set forth by physicists George Fitzgerald, Jr. (1851-1901) and Hendrik Lorenz (1853-1928), stating that objects get smaller as they approach the speed of light.

Science

The "Journal of Geology" is founded by Thomas C. Chamberlin (1843-1928).

Inventions

Henry Ford (1863-1947) builds his first successful gasoline engine.

Inventions

Chemist Leo H. Baekeland (1863-1944) develops "Velox," the first photographic paper sensitive enough to be printed by artificial light.

Inventions

Karl Benz (1844-1929) builds a four-wheel car.

Technology

Chlorine is first used to treat sewage in Brewster, New York.

Technology

Airplanes: Hiram Maxim (1840- 1916) predicts that even "under the most unfavorable circumstances, aerial navigation will be an accomplished fact inside of ten years."

Technology

Airplanes: Lawrence Hargrave (1850-1915), Australia, invents the box kite. Because it is remarkably stable and generates large amounts of lift, it creates a sensation in aeronautical circles. It's general form influences all early airplane designers.

Education

Public Education (1893-1913): Size of school boards in the country's 28 biggest cities is cut in half. Most local district (or "ward") based positions are eliminated, in favor of city-wide elections. This means that local immigrant communities lose control of their local schools. Makeup of school boards changes from small local businessmen and some wage earners to professionals (like doctors and lawyers), big businessmen and other members of the richest classes.

Education

Women's Colleges: Mt. Holyoke Seminary becomes Mt. Holyoke College.

Education

Lillian Wald (1867-1940) organizes Home nursing classes for immigrant families in New York City.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) writes "A Woman of No Importance."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Henry Blake Fuller (1857-1929) publishes "The Cliff-Dwellers," considered to be the first American novel about the city.

Arts and Letters

Opera: Englebert Humperdinck composes the opera "Hansel and Gretal."

Arts and Letters

Italian actress Eleanora Duse (1858-1924) makes her debut in New York City.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Stephen Crane's (1871-1900) first novel, "Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets," (1893) is a milestone in the development of literary naturalism.

Arts and Letters

Willa Catha (1873-1947) becomes a regular contributor to the "Nebraska State Journal"; she begins to review plays and write a Sunday column. She is also managing editor of "The Hesperian" and contributes numerous pieces.

Ideas

"The Psychic Mechanism of Hysterical Phenomena" is published by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and Josef Breuer (1842-1925), laying the foundations of psychoanalysis.

Ideas

Psychologist Milicent Washburn Shinn (1858-1940) publishes "Notes on the Development of a Child."

Ideas

Matilda Gage publishes her classic feminist analysis, "Women, Church, and State."

Hayes, Lucy

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893), 19th President of the U.S., dies January 17 at Spiegel Grove in Fremont, Ohio.

Cleveland, Frances

Esther Cleveland (Bosanquet) (1893-1980), daughter of Grover and Frances Cleveland, is born September 9.

Economics

A financial panic in the U.S. is touched off because gold reserves fall below $90 million.

Economics

L C. Tiffany (1838-1933) develops fervile glass, an elegant type of stained glass with which he makes screens, lampshades, and other items.

Economics

Railroad History: On May 10th locomotive #999 of the New York Central & Hudson River RR hauled four heavy Wagner cars of the Empire State Express down a 0.28% grade at record-braking speed.

Discovery

The World Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago and celebrates the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America.

Sports

Boxing: The longest recorded boxing match occurs in New Orleans between Andy Bowen and Jack Burk; it lasts for 110 rounds, 7 hours, 4 minutes.

Sports

A relay race is first run at the University of Pennsylvania.

Sports

Ice hockey is introduced from Canada at Yale and Johns Hopkins Universities.

Sports

The first cross-country skiing competition for women takes place in Sweden.

Sports

Baseball: The stories differ, but some time during these years baseball meets the hot dog and an American classic is born.

Popular Culture

The words to "America the Beautiful" are written by Katherine Lee Bates (1859-1929).

Popular Culture

Having killed him off in "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes," Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is subjected to major public outrage and demands that the detective be brought back to life.

Popular Culture

Calamity Jane (1848-1903) tours Europe and the U.S. in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

Popular Culture

Mildred Hill (1859-1916), from Kentucky, publsihes her song, "Good Morning to All"; Robert H. Coleman adds a second verse beginning, "Happy Birthday to You."

Social Issues

Native Americans: Cherokee land between Kansas and Oklahoma is declared open to settlement.

Reform

Settlement House Movement: Lillian Wald (1867-1940) and Mary Brewster found the Henry Street Settlement on the lower east side of New York City, providing, among other things, visiting nursing to poor families.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: Colorado adopts suffrage for women.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: New Zealand adopts suffrage for women.

Reform

The first World Congress of Women is held in Chicago.

Politics

French army Captain Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) is arrested for treason; he is convicted "in camera," and deported to Devil's Island, French Guiana. This case, widely known as the "Dreyfus Affair," is, in part, an example of anti-Semitic persecution.

Government

Nicholas II (1868-1918) becomes the last czar of Russia.

Government

Congress passes the first graduated income tax law as part of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which lowers tariffs.

War

The Sino-Japanese War over control of Korea begins.

Science

Florence Bascom (1862-1945) becomes the first woman elected as a fellow of the Geological Society of America.

Science

Lord Rayleigh (1842-1919) and William Ramsay (1852-1916) discover argon.

Science

The Lowell Observatory is built in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Medicine

Alexander Yersin (1863-1943) and Kitasato Shibasaburo (1853-1931) independently discover the plague bacillus.

Medicine

The Boston Board of Health begins medical examination of school-children.

Medicine

The first effective antitoxin against diphtheria is developed by Anna Wessel Williams (1863-1954).

Inventions

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) demonstrates the kinetoscope, a device for peep-show viewing using photographs that flip rapidly in sequence.

Inventions

Louis Lumiere (1864-1948) invents the cinematograph.

Inventions

A small hand-powered submarine is launched by inventor Simon Lake (1866-1945).

Inventions

Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) invents the diesel engine.

Technology

Airplanes: Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) is regularly making glides of over 1000 feet. He begins to outfit his gliders with a "rebound bow" at the front to absorb the shock of a rough landing. It saves his life on at least one occasion.

Education

Children’s Books: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) uses his own upbringing in India for his Mowgli stories in "The Jungle Book."

Education

Libraries: North Carolina A&T State University's Bluford Library is founded in Greemsboro.

Education

Women's Colleges: Radcliffe College recieves its formal charter as a women's college associated with Harvard University; Elizabeth Agassiz (1822-1907) becomes its first president.

Education

Women's Colleges: Martha Carey Thomas (1857-1935) becomes president of Bryn Mawr College.

Education

Ellen Gates Scott, co-founder of Hull House, founds the Chicago Public School Art Society in an effort to keep great art before the eyes of slum dwellers.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) writes "Arms and the Man."

Arts and Letters

Jean Silbelius (1865-1957) composes "Finlandia."

Arts and Letters

Debussy (1862-1918) composes "The Afternoon of a Fawn" (L'Apres-midi d'un faune).

Arts and Letters

Literature: "The Prisoner of Zenda" is published by English author Anthony Hope (1863-1933).

Arts and Letters

Literature: The character of the hypnotist Svengali is introduced in the novel, "Trilby," by George du Maurier (1834-1896).

Arts and Letters

Emily Dickinson's (1830-1886) two volumes of letters, heavily edited and selected, are published.

Roosevelt, Edith

Archibald "Archie" Bulloch Roosevelt (1894-1981), son of Theodore and Edith Roosevelt, is born April 9.

Daily Life

Newspapers: Comics first appear in Sunday newspapers.

Sports

Horse Racing: The New York Jockey Club is founded.

Sports

A committee is established to organize the modern Olympic Games.

Sports

Golf: The United States Golf Association is founded.

Sports

Women in Sports: Golf: The first Australian women''s national golf championship is held.

Popular Culture

Mark Twain (1835-1910) publishes "Tom Sawyer Abroad" and "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson."

Religion

The World's Young Women's Christian Association (WYWCA) is founded in Geneva, Switzerland.

Religion

Children’s Books: Talbot Baines Reed (1852-1893) bibliographer whose twenty-plus books include "The Master of the Shell," written for the Religious Tract Society.

Reform

Labor Movement: In a year of major labor unrest, Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) leads the American Railway Union in support of Pullman strikers; railroad traffic out of Chicago comes to a halt; federal troops break the strike; Debs is jailed.

Reform

A band of unemployed men led by Jacob S. Coxey (1854-1951) engages in a march on Washington to petition Congress for public works projects to help the jobless. Coxey is arrested for trespassing and the "army" disbands.

Law

In "Pollack v. Farmers Loan and Trust Company," the Supreme Court finds the income tax unconstitutional.

Law

Labor Movement: The Supreme Court upholds the use of the injuction as a strike-breaking device.

Government

The British South Africa Company territory south of Zambezi becomes Rhodesia.

War

The Sino-Japanese War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Science

Wilhelm Rontgen (1845-1923) discovers x-rays.

Science

The Yerkes Observatory is established at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Medicine

A group of black doctors form the National Medical Association, asserting that their interests are not being met by the American Medical Association.

Medicine

Alexander Yersin (1863-1943) develops a serum to fight bubonic plague.

Medicine

Women's Firsts: Lillian Murray (1871-1960) becomes Britain's first woman dentist.

Medicine

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) publishes "Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women."

Inventions

The safety razor is invented by King C. Gillette (1855-1932).

Inventions

Italian physcist Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) invents a wireless telegraph system.

Technology

The Lumiere brothers (Auguste (1862-1954) and Louis (1864-1948) are granted a patent in France for the earliest movie projectors. In March, thry first demonstrate motion pictures using celluloid film in Paris.

Technology

Pneumatic (air-filled) tires are produced by the Hartford Rubber Works in Connecticut.

Technology

Airplanes: Percy Pilcher, Scotland, builds a glider, the Bat. Visits Otto Lilienthal and asks for advice. Makes suggested improvement and flies the Bat. Builds two more gliders, the Beetle and the Gull, making improvements on each one.

Education

Libraries: The Astor and Lenox libraries and the Tilden Trust merge to form the New York Public Library.

Education

Troy Female Seminary becomes the Emma Willard School.

Education

Higher Education: The London School of Economics and Political Science is founded.

Arts and Letters

Painting: The Art Nouveau style of painting is fashionable.

Arts and Letters

Dance: The first complete performance of the ballet, "Swan Lake," by Tchaikosvky (1840-1893) occurs in St. Petersburg.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Stephen Crane (1871-1900) publishes "The Red Badge of Courage."

Arts and Letters

Painting: Impressionist art is introduced to the U.S.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) writes the play "The Importance of Being Earnest."

Ideas

Thomas Masaryk (1850-1937) publishes "The Czech Question."

Ideas

Volume 3 of "Das Kapital" by Karl Marx (1818-1883) is published posthumously.

Cleveland, Frances

Marion Cleveland (Dell Amen) (1895-1977), daughter of Grover and Frances Cleveland, is born July 7.

Economics

Railroad History: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad begins using electric locomotives.

Economics

The commercial production of pasteurized milk is begun by Lewis B. Halsey (1851-1919).

Economics

Sears Roebuck Company opens a mail-order business.

Economics

Women''s Firsts: Florence Kelley (1859-1932) becomes the first woman to head a state factory-inspection service.

Daily Life

Magazines: "Field and Stream" magazine begins publication.

Daily Life

The first national organization of Black women's clubs, the National Federation of Afro-American Women, is organized by Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Mary Church Terrell, Fannie Barrier Williams, and Margaret Washington.

Sports

The American Bowling Congress is established to govern the game.

Sports

Football: The first professional football game is played in the U.S. at Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

Sports

Golf: The first U.S. Open Golf Championship is held.

Sports

Women in Sports: Annie Smith Peck is the first woman to reach the peak of the Matterhorn. She climbed in a pair of knickerbockers, causing a sensation with the press. She helps to found the American Alpine Club in 1902.

Popular Culture

Katharine Lee Bates(1859-1929) publishes "America the Beautiful."

Popular Culture

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) writes "The Time Machine."

Popular Culture

The first public film show occurs in Paris at the Hotel Scribe.

Religion

The National Baptist Convention if the U.S.A. is founded by the merger of Negro Baptist groups.

Religion

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) publishes "The Woman's Bible."

Reform

Settlement House Movement: Lillian D. Wald(1867-1940) founds a nurses' settlement on Henry Street in New York City.

Reform

Civil Rights Movement: Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) publishes her famous work on lynching, "Red Record," the first comprehensive work on the topic supported by statistical data.

Reform

Settlement House Movement: Jane Addams (1860-1935) publishes "Hull House Maps and Papers," a detailed study of conditions of Chicago immigrants served by the settlement house.

Law

Education: In "Plessy v. Ferguson," the Supreme Court rules that "separate but equal" facilities for whites and blacks are constitutional; the ruling marks the beginning of the "Jim Crow" era, legalizing segregation and forming the central legal basis for school segregation in the United States.

Politics

Third Parties: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) gives his "Cross of Gold" speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; he is nominated for president by both the free-silver democrats and the Populist Party.

Politics

William McKinley (1843-1901) is elected the 25th President of the United States, and Garrett A. Hobart (1844-1899) is elected the nation's 24th Vice President.

Government

Rural free mail delivery is established.

Government

New State: Utah becomes the 45th state in the Union; it reinstates women's suffrage, which was lost in 1887.

Government

Stamps: Rural free delivery beings bringing mail to homes in the country.

Science

Ohio physicist Wallace Sabine (1868-1919), develops a reverberation equation that becomes the basics of acoustics.

Science

Helium is discovered by William Ramsey (1852-1916).

Science

Radioactivity is discovered by Frech physicist A. H. Becquerel (1852-1908).

Science

Lord Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), English chemist, discovers alpha and beta waves.

Science

Swedish anatomist, Magnus G. Retzius (1842-1919), publishes "The Human Brain," the most complete work in his topic today.

Inventions

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) invents the flouroscope and the flourescent lamp.

Inventions

American, H. O'Sullivan invents the rubber heel.

Technology

Airplanes: Percy Pilcher builds a much-improved glider, the Hawk, and glides up to 750 feet. He plans a powered version

Technology

H.L. Smith takes the first X-ray photograph, a hand with a bullet in it.

Education

Public Education: Plessy v. Ferguson decision. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the state of Louisiana has the right to require "separate but equal" railroad cars for Blacks and whites. This decision means that the federal government officially recognizes segregation as legal. One result is that southern states pass laws requiring racial segregation in public schools.

Arts and Letters

German opera singer Lilli Lehmann (1848-1929) debuts in Prague, Danzig, and Leipzig, and receieves a lifetime appointment at the Royal Opera in Berlin.

Arts and Letters

Opera: "La Boheme," by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), is performed in Turin.

Arts and Letters

The last of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, "The Grand Duke," is performed in London.

Arts and Letters

John Phillips Sousa (1854-1932) composes "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

Arts and Letters

Drama: Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) write the play "The Seagull."

Arts and Letters

Edward Elgar (1857-1934) composes "Enigma Variations."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916) publishes "Quo Vadis."

Ideas

The Nobel Prizes are established in physics, phisiology and medicine, chemistry, literature, and peace.

Tyler, Letitia

John Tyler, Jr. (1819-1896), son of John and Letitia Tyler, dies January 26.

Economics

A hydroelectric plant opens in Niagara Falls.

Economics

Successful off-shore oil wells are drilled near Santa Barbara, California.

Economics

The Wright brothers begin to manufacture their own bicycles.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: A westernized version of the Indian game Parcheesi is introduced in England under the name Ludo.

Daily Life

Fanny Farmer (1857-1915), principal of the Boston Cooking School, publsihes "The Boston Cooking School Cookbook," which introduces precise measurement and instructions to cooking; revisions of the cookbook, which is renamed "The Fanny Farmer Cookbook," make the cook book a standard throughout the 20th century.

Daily Life

The tootsie roll is introduced by Leo Hirschfield.

Daily Life

Newspapers: Harriet Hubbard Ayer(1849-1903) joins the New York World as a beauty columnist, becoming the first coordinator of a "women's page."

Daily Life

"Book" matches become popular.

Sports

Women in Sports: Basketball: Women play in their first intercollegiate basketball game, between the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University; no males were allowed at the Berkeley game.

Sports

The first modern Olympic Games open in Athens, Greece.

Sports

The first U.S. hockey league, The Amateur Hockey League, is established in New York City.

Sports

Athlete James B. Connolly (1870-1916) becomes the first Olympic champion in 1500 years at the revival of the Olympic Games in Athens.

Sports

Women in Sports: Susan B. Anthony says that "the bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world."

Popular Culture

Women’s Firsts: Alice Guy Blaché (1873-1968), the first American woman film director, shoots the first of her more than 300 films, a short feature called La Fee aux Choux (The Cabbage Fairy).

Popular Culture

The first close-up, prolonged embrace on the movie screen, The John Rice-May Irwin Kiss, scandalizes audiences across the country.

Popular Culture

Motion pictures are introduced into vaudeville shows.

Religion

The Mormon Church abandons polygamy, the practice of a man having more than one wife.

Religion

Former baseball player Billy Sunday (1862-1935) begins a career of evangelism, preaching at 300 revivals and to 100 million people before his death in 1935.

Social Issues

Poverty: The Volunteers of America is founded by Salvation army leader Maud Charlesworth Booth (1865-1948).

Reform

Labor Movement: The Union for Industrial Progress is organized by Mary Morton Kehew (1859-1918) and Mary Kenney (O'Sullivan)(1864-1943) to support bookbinders, laundry and tobacco workers, and women clothing workers.

Law

The Supreme Court supports the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Law

Women's Firsts: Sophonisba Preston Breckeridge (1866-1948) is the first women to be admitted to the Kentucky bar.

Politics

Mathieu Dreyfus (1857-1930) discovers that the document on which his brother, Alfred (1859-1935), was convicted was actually written by Major M. C. Esterhazy.

Government

William A. McKinley (1843-1901) is inaugurated as the 25th President of the United States, and Garrett A. Hobart (1844-1899) is inaugurated as the nation's 24th Vice President.

Government

Immigration: President McKinley (1843-1901) vetoes a bill that would require literacy tests for immigrants.

Government

This year marks Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, marking her 60th year as Queen of Great Britain.

Science

Marie Curie (1867-1934) publsihes her first paper, on the magnetism of tempered steel, the year her daughter, Irene, was born.

Science

Scottish physicist Joseph J. Thompson (1884-1956) discovers the electron.

Science

Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), who later achieved prominance as a children's author, discovers that lichen is not a kind of plant, but a symbiotic relationship between algae and fungi; her discovery would not be accepted for another decade

Medicine

The malaria bacillus is discovered by Ronald Ross (1857-1932).

Medicine

The bacterium that causes dysentery is discovered by Japanese bacteriologist Shiga Kiyoshi (1871-1951).

Medicine

Dutch physician Chistiaan Ejikman (1858-1930) determines that the disease beriberi is caused by dietary deficiency.

Medicine

America's first hospital for crippled children opens in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Inventions

The oscilloscope is invented by Karl F. Braun (1850-1918).

Inventions

African American Inventors: Andrew Beard (c.1849-1910), patents an improvement to railroad car couplers, called the Jenny Coupler, which did the dangerous job of hooking railroad cars together.

Technology

The first full-length x-ray of a human body is produced by William Morton (1819-1868).

Technology

The world's largest telescope (40 inch lens) is installed at Yerkes Observatory.

Technology

A 36-foot long gasoline powered submarine, the Argonaut II, with wheels for rolling along the ocean floor, in launched.

Technology

The first practical subway is completed in Boston.

Education

Education of Women: John Hopkins University's medical school becomes the first major American medical school to admit women, after recieving a large contribution from Mary Elizabeth Garrett (1854-1915) on the condition that it do so.

Education

The National Congress of Mothers, forerunner of the National Parent-Teacher Association, is founded by Pheobe Apperson Hearst (1842-1919) and Alice McLellan Birney (1858-1907).

Arts and Letters

Literature: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) writes "Captain's Courageous."

Arts and Letters

Drama: Edmund Rostand (1868-1918) writes and produces the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" in France.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) writes the play, "Candide."

Arts and Letters

Women’s Firsts: H.H.A. Beach's (1867-1944) "Gaelic Symphony" is the first symphony by a woman performed in the United States, and possibly the world.

Ideas

Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) writes "Studies in the Psychology of Sex."

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) defines the "Oedipus Complex" and suggests that dreams play an important psychological role.

Cleveland, Frances

Richard Folsom "Dick" Cleveland (1897-1974), son of Grover and Frances Cleveland, is born October 28.

Harrison, Caroline

Elizabeth Harrison Walker (1897-1955), daughter of Benjamin and Caroline Harrison, is born February 21.

Roosevelt, Edith

Quentin Roosevelt (1897-1918), son of Theodore and Edith Roosevelt, is born November 19.

Taft, Helen

Charles Phelps Taft (1897-1983), son of William Howard and Helen Taft, is born September 20.

Economics

American Money: A National Monetary Commission meets at Indianapolis and endorses the existing gold standard.

Economics

Marconi (1874-1937) achieves radio tansmission over long distances and establishes the Wireless Telegraph Company.

Daily Life

Newspapers: The first American comic strip, the "Katzenjammer Kids," is begun by Rudolph Dirks (1877-1968).

Daily Life

Sophie Levy Lyons (1848-1924) adandons a successful acreer as a famous international bank robber to become the first society columnist in the U.S.

Daily Life

Novelist Willa Cather (1873-1947) begins her career as a newspaperwoman in Pittsburgh

Sports

Softball: Softball becomes international with the creation of a league in Toronto, and the publication of the Indoor Baseball Guide.

Sports

Boxing: In the first boxing match to be photographed with a moving picture camera, Corbett (1866-1933) is defeated by Bob Fitzsimmons (1863-1917) in a 14-round bout.

Sports

Women in Sports: The first Women's French Tennis Championship is held.

Popular Culture

Bram Stroker, Jr. (1847-1912) publishes "Dracula."

Reform

Abolition Movement: Harriet Tubman (c.1820-1913) wins a $20 per month pension for her Civil War service to the Union.

Politics

French writer Emile Zola(1840-1902) is imprisoned for writing his "'J' Accuse" letter accusing the government of anti-Semitism and wrongly jailing Captain Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935).

Politics

An anti-foreign, anti-Western organization called the Boxers is formed in China.

Politics

Third Parties: Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) helps found the Social Democratic Party, later called the Socialist Party.

Government

The U.S. annexes Hawaii.

Government

The first Food and Drug Act is passed in response to public outcry over the meat supplied to U.S. troops in the Spanish-American War.

War

Spanish-American War: The USS Maine blows up in Havana harbor, touching off the Spanish-American War, which begins on April 21 when the U.S. declares war on Spain; Spain declares war on the U.S. on April 24.

Science

William Ramsay (1852-1916) discovers xenon, crypton, and neon.

Science

Radium and polonium are discovered by Marie Curie (1867-1934), who coins radioactivity.

Medicine

The bacillus that causes dysentery is discovered by Japanese bacteriologist Shiga Kioshi (1871-1951).

Medicine

Isolating a hormone for the first time in a laboratory, Ohio pharmacologist John J. Abel (b. 1818) extracts epinephrine (adrenalin) from the adrenal glands of a sheep.

Medicine

English bacteriologist Sir Ronald Ross (1857-1932), determines that malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes.

Medicine

An Army Nurse Corps is created to provide trained militaty nurses to the armed forces in the Spanish-American War, thanks in large measure to Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee (1864-1940); its first superintendent is Mrs. Rita Kenney.

Medicine

Clara Barton (1821-1912) again organizes private relief for the wounded in the Spanish-American War, as she did in the Civil War.

Inventions

Edwin Prescott patents the roller coaster.

Technology

The first dirigible airship is built by German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917).

Technology

The first photographs utilizing artificial light are taken.

Technology

The Paris Metro is opened.

Technology

Argonaut II is the first submarine to travel in the open seas—300 milesfrom Virginia to New York.

Technology

Powered by electricity when underwater and by a gasoline engine when on the surface, John Holland (1841-1914) launches the Holland, a 53-foot long, cigar-shaped submarine.

Education

Highr Education: The first college of forestry is established at Cornell University.

Education

Women's Colleges: The first Phi Beta Kappa chapter at an American women's college is founded at Vassar.

Education

Women's Colleges: Florence Bascom (1862-1945) begins her long association with Byrn Mawr College, where she founded the geology department.

Education

Higher Education: Peking University is founded in China.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) writes the play "Caesar and Cleopatra."

Arts and Letters

The National Institute of Arts and Letters is founded.

Arts and Letters

Konstantin Stanislavsky (1863-1938), known for his techniques of "method acting," founds the Moscow Art Theatre.

Arts and Letters

Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) is appointed the musical director of La Scala Opera House in Milan.

Arts and Letters

Drama: George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) produces "Mrs. Warren's Profession;" it opens in New York City to a storm of protest over its content—the story of a former prostitute whose earnings allow her daughter to be raised in middle-class refinement.

Ideas

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) publishes "Women and Economics," a study of the economic contributions of women and the discrimination they suffer.

Daily Life

Newspapers: Hearst (1863-1951) can truthfully boast that his newspapers manufactured the public hysteria toward the war on Spain.

Daily Life

Newspapers: This is the time of media consolidation, as many independent newspapers are swallowed up into powerful "chains"; with regrettable consequences for a once fearless and incorruptible press, many were reduced to vehicles for the distribution of the particular views of their owners, and so remained, without competing papers to challenge their viewpoints.

Sports

Women in Sports: Baseball: Women''s Firsts: Lizzie Arlington becomes the first woman to sign a professional baseball contract, appearing in her first professional game pitching for the Philadelphia Reserves.

Sports

Women in Sports: Gertrude Dudley (b.1865) becomes director of women''''s athletics at the University of Chicago, becoming a major figure in American collegiate athletics for women.

Popular Culture

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) writes "War of the Worlds."

Social Issues

Native Americans: The Curtis Act re-affirms allotment of tribal lands on Indian reservations and ends tribal sovereignty in the territories.

Reform

Temperance Movement: Lillian M. N. Stevens (1844-1914) becomes president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, succeeding Fracnes Willard; the organization begins campaigning for national prohibition.

Law

The Women's Lawyer's Club is founded.

Politics

The U.S. participates in the first peace conference at the Hague with 25 other nations; the Monroe Doctrine is upheld in the Western Hemisphere; a permanent Court of International Justice and Arbitration is set up.

Politics

Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) is pardoned by a presidential decree.

Government

U.S. federal law raises the age of consent for homosexual relations from 16 to 21.

Government

The U.S. annexes Wake Island in the central Pacific for use as a cable station.

War

Boer War (1899-1902) begins, between the British Empire and two Boer republics, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic.

Science

Physioligist Jacques (1859-1924) Loeb demonstrates that cell division is controlled chemically.

Medicine

America's first tuberculosis hospital opens in Denver, Colorado.

Medicine

Ohio surgeon George W. Crile (1864-1943) develops new, more successful methods for treating shock.

Medicine

Although it has been used for centuries, aspirin is introduced as a "modern" medicine.

Inventions

I.R. Johnson patents the bicycle frame.

Inventions

J.S. Thurman patents the motor-driven vacuum cleaner.

Technology

Airplanes: The Wright brothers experiment with twisting wings, trying to deform the front edges. They can’t come up with a device light enough or strong enough to control a glider in flight.

Technology

The first magnetic recording of sound occurs.

Education

John Dewey (1859-1952) publishes "The School and Society," stressing the role of experience in learning.

Education

Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911) heads a series of summer conferences at Lake Placid, in which she teaches ways of improving the home enviroment; the new field is called home economics.

Education

Education of Women: Cornell University begins accepting women in its medical school, thus enabling the Blackwell sisters to close their Women's Medical College.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Kate Chopin’s (1850-1904) second novel, "The Awakening," was published to much outrage and harsh criticism based upon moral, rather than literary, standards. Her best-known work, it is the story of a dissatisfied wife who explores her sexuality.

Arts and Letters

The sousaphone, a bass tuba designed for parade use, is developed and named after John Phillip Sousa (1854-1932).

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) publishes "Studies in Hysteria," putting the case for extreme repression of women's sexuality as a key factor in many sociophychological problems.

Mckinley, Ida

President McKinley (1843-1901) becomes the first president to ride in an automobile when he takes a spin in a Stanley Steamer.

Economics

The first public garage was opened in Boston, MA; space for selling, storing, and repairing vehicles was available.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The last bandit to rob a stagecoach in the U.S. is Pearl Hart (1878-1925).

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Through the Chicago Women's Club, Hannah Solomon (1858-1942) sparked the establishment of Cook County's pioneering juvenile court.

Sports

Boxing: James J. Jeffries (1875-1953) knocks out Bob Fitzsimmons (1863-1917) to become world hevayweight boxing champion.

Sports

Women in Sports: Two teams of women ice hockey players play a game on the artifical ice at the Ice Palace in Philadelphia.

Popular Culture

Scott Joplin (1868-1917) publishes "The Maple Ragtime Leaf," helping to popularize ragtime music.

Popular Culture

Illustrator Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944) introduces his "Gibson Girls" in a book of sketches called "The Education of Mr. Pipp."

Religion

The Gideons, Christian Commercial Men's Association, are organized by three traveling salesmen in Jamesville, Wisconsin; the first Gideon Bible is placed in the Superior Hotel, Iron Mountain, Montana, in 1908.

Reform

Civil Rights Movement: African-American suffragist Lottie Wilson Jackson proposes a resolution at NAWSA that addresses the segregation on trains that forces black women to ride in the smoking cars; her proposal is defeated.

Reform

Temperance Movement: Temperance reformer Carrie Nation (1846-1911), armed with bricks, hatchets, and hymns, enters a saloon, sings, shouts imprecations and biblical passages, and smashes bottles, furniture, and decorations.

Reform

American Protest Music: William E. Barton composes the slave spiritual “Before I’d be a Slave (Oh, Freedom).”

Politics

William McKinley (1843-1901) is reelected as the 25th President of the United States, and Theodore Roosevelt is elected as the nation's 25th Vice President.

Politics

Third Parties: The Social Democratic Party nominates Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) for president.

Politics

Third Parties: Both the Populist and the Democratic Party nominate William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) for President, running on a platform of free silver and anti-imperialism.

Government

Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States.

Government

Congress enacts the Gold Standard Act, allowing other forms of money to be redeemable in gold.

Government

Stamps: First U.S. stamps issued in booklet form.

War

The Boxer Rebellion against Europeans in China occurs.

Science

The element radon is discovered by F. E. Dorn.

Science

Quantum theory—the idea that energy occurs in tiny packets called quanta—is proposed.

Medicine

The first three blood groups—A, B, and O—are discovered by Karl Lansteiner (1868-1943), an Austrian physician, opening the door to safe blood transfusions.

Inventions

The rigid airship, the Zeppelin, is invented by German military officer, Ferdinand Zeppelin (1838-1917).

Technology

Work begins on the New York subway.

Technology

Airplanes: October 10 — The Wright brothers experience their first crash. They rebuild the glider, and once again test it like a kite.

Education

Crayola Crayons: The Company begins producing slate pencils for schools.

Education

Children’s Books: The best-known American children''s fantasy is undoubtedly "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919).

Education

Children''s Books: Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) writes “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.”

Education

Public Education: There are 15.5 million children in public schools in the U.S.; only one in ten stay beyond the age of 14.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) writes "Uncle Vanya."

Arts and Letters

Opera: Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) composes "Tosca," which opens in Rome.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Theodore Dreiser writes “Sister Carrie.”

Arts and Letters

The Philadelphia Orchestra is founded.

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) publishes "The Interpretation of Dreams."

Mckinley, Ida

Ida McKinley (1847-1907) helps her husband conduct his famous “front porch” campaign for the Presidency from their house in Canton, Ohio.

Economics

The first Browning revolvers are manufactured.

Economics

Census: U.S. population is 75 million; life expectancy is 48 years for males and 51 years for females.

Economics

Railroad History: Casey Jones (1863-1900) rides the "Cannonball" into history on April 30th.

Discovery

Anthropologist Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941) begins excavations of the Palace of Knossos in Crete, leading to the discovery of the Minoan civilization.

Daily Life

Dancing: The Cake Walk becomes the most fashionable dance.

Daily Life

There are more than a million miles of telephone lines in the U.S.

Sports

D. F. Davis (1879-1945) first presents the international lawn tennis cup that bears his name.

Sports

William Muldoon (1845-1933) is proclaimed the first professional wrestling champion.

Sports

Women in Sports: Women''s Firsts: The first 19 women to compete in the modern Olympics Games in Paris, France, play in just three sports: tennis, golf, and croquet. Margaret I. Abbott is the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. An art student in Paris, she won the nine-hole golf tournament by shooting a 47.

Sports

Black Athletes: Mace Montgomery of Georgetown University is the first African-American member of an Olympic delegation; he is a trainer.

Religion

There are 73 million Christians, 1.5 million Jews, and 10,000 Muslims in the United States.

Social Issues

Immigration: There are 3.7 new immigrants since 1891.

Reform

Labor Movement: The International Ladies’ Garment Worker’s Union is founded in New York.

Reform

Temperance Movement: Carrie Nation (1846-1911), temperance advocate, denounces saloons and liquor and supports prohibition laws.

Reform

Women's Rights Movement: By now, every state has passed legislation modeled after New York’s Married Women’s Property Act (1848), granting married women some control over their property and earnings.

Politics

Third Parties: The Socialist Party of America is organized.

Government

The treaty allowing the U.S. to build the Panama Canal is signed.

Government

William McKinley (1843-1901) is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States, and Theodore Roosevelt is inaugurated as the nation's 25th Vice President.

Government

Vice President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) becomes the nation’s 26th President after the assassination of Presdient William A. McKinley (1843-1901). No new Vice President is selected.

War

The Boxer Rebellion ends with an agreement between China and the Great Powers.

War

Spanish American War: The Platt Amendment authorizes U.S. intervention in Cuba; Cuba becomes a U.S. protectorate.

Science

William Roentgen (1845-1923) wins the first Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of X-rays.

Science

The hormone adrenalin is first isolated.

Medicine

The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research is established.

Medicine

Proof that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes is demonstrated by a Commission headed by Walter Reed (1851-1902).

Inventions

The safety razor with disposable blades is invented by King C. Gillette (1855-1932).

Technology

Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) transmits telegraphic radio messages from Cornwall to Newfoundland with radio waves.

Technology

Airplanes: The Wright brothers, encouraged by their initial success, plan their second glider.

Education

Libraries: A Carnegie library is built at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Education

Higher Education: The Army War College is organized.

Education

Higher Education: The first public junior college is established in Juliet, Illinois.

Arts and Letters

Painting: This year sees the beginning of painter Pablo Picasso’s (1881-1973) “blue period.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: Theodore Dreiser’s (1871-1945) second novel, "Jennie Gerhardt," is published.

Ideas

Nobel Prizes are awarded for the first time.

Ideas

Philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) founds Anthroposophy, a system of thought that underlies his Waldorf schools

Mckinley, Ida

President William McKinley (1843-1901) is assassinated while visiting the Pan American Exhibition in Buffalo, NY.

Taft, Helen

William Howard Taft (1857-1930) becomes Governor-General of the Philippines, and Helen Taft settles happily into her role as "first lady" of the Philippeans.

Economics

The first motor-driven bicycles appear.

Economics

J.P. Morgan (1837-1913) forms the U.S. Steel Corporation, the first billion-dollar corporation in the world.

Discovery

Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) leads an exploration of Antarctica, sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society.

Daily Life

Children have only a 79 percent chance of living past age 15.

Daily Life

The first state regulations regarding the speed, registration, and license plates of automobiles are passed by Connecticut.

Daily Life

Women’s Firsts: Annie Edson Taylor (1838- 1921), a schoolteacher from Michigan, becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: At just twenty-two years old, Joshua Lionel Cowen creates a battery-powered train engine as an "animated advertisement" for products in a store's display window. To his surprise, customers are more interested in purchasing his toy train, than the merchandise in the display. Lionel Trains is born.

Sports

Women in Sports: The ambidextrous May Kaarlus, 16, performs a sereis of amazing billard shots in New York City. Male experts try and fail to duplicate her shots.

Sports

Boxing: Boxing is recognized as a legal sport in England.

Sports

The first American Bowling Club tournament is held in Chicago.

Popular Culture

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) writes the novel, "Kim."

Popular Culture

Ragtime music becomes popular in the United States.

Religion

The Newcastle (England) Conference of the Catholic Truth Society meets to define the term “Roman Catholic” as a generic one, meaning all Catholics.

Reform

Civil Rights Movement: Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) publishes his autobiography “Up from Slavery.”

Reform

Labor Movement: The United Textile Workers Union is founded.

Government

The Secret Service assumes full time responsibility for protection of the President.

Government

National Capitol: The 19th-century conservatories are razed in White House, and a new "temporary" Executive Office Building, later called the West Wing, is erected.

Government

Immigration: The United States extends the Chinese Exclusion Act, again.

Government

The United States acquires perpetual control over the Panama Canal.

War

The Boer War between British and Dutch colonists in southern African ends with the British in control of South Africa.

Science

The radioactive element radium is isolated by Marie (1867-1934) and Pierre Curie (1859-1906) in France.

Science

The hormone secretin is discovered.

Science

Genes are found on chromosomes, which are discovered to come in pairs.

Inventions

Willis H. Carrier designs a system for indoor air conditioning.

Technology

Airplanes: October 8 — The Wright brothers' modified glider works perfectly, with no tendency to spin.

Education

Crayola Crayons: Listening to the needs of teachers, Binney & Smith makes the first dustless school chalk. It’s so successful it wins a gold medal at the St. Louis World Exposition.

Education

Libraries: The cornerstones are laid for NYPL's Humanities and Social Sciences Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.

Education

Public Education: Every state and territory in the United States except Arizona has a law requiring temperance instruction in schools.

Arts and Letters

Painting: Claude Monet (1840-1926) paints “Waterloo Bridge."

Arts and Letters

Edward Elgar (1857-1934), British composer, writes the first of his “Pomp and Circumstance” marches.

Ideas

William James (1842-1910) writes "The Varieties of Religious Experience."

Washington, Martha

Martha Washington (1731-1802) becomes the first woman to appear on an American postage stamp.

Tyler, Julia

Lachlan Tyler (1851-1902), son of John Tyler and his second wife Julia, dies January 25.

Economics

The first national advertisement for Jello is published in the Ladies Home Journal.

Discovery

A Tyrannosaurus Rex is discovered in Montana by Barnum Brown (1873-1963), a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History.

Daily Life

Disasters: Mt. Pelee on Martinique erupts, destroying the town of St. Pierre and killing more than 30,000 people.

Daily Life

The Aswan Dam is opened in Egypt.

Daily Life

Transportation: The 20th Century Limited travels from New York City to Chicago in 20 hours, a new record for train travel.

Sports

Football: The first Tournament of Roses football game takes place in Pasadena, California; Michigan beats Stanford, 49-0.

Sports

Women in Sports: Britian's Madge Syers opens the door for women figure skaters when she enters the all-male 1902 world championships and places second. Her second place finish causes officials to ban women from the championships for quite some time.

Popular Culture

A. Conan Doyle (1859-1930) writes "The Hound of the Baskervilles."

Popular Culture

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) writes the "Just-So Stories."

Popular Culture

The first motion picture theatre opens in Los Angeles.

Popular Culture

Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) makes his first phonograph recording.

Popular Culture

Hot Air Balloons: The first balloon trip across the Irish Channel is completed.

Religion

The Young Women’s Hebrew Association is founded in New York City.

Social Issues

Immigration: Record numbers of immigrants continue to come to the United States, this year mostly from Italy, Russia, and Austro-Hungary.

Reform

Labor Movement: There is a coal strike in the U.S. from May to October.

Politics

The Russian Social Democratic Party splits into Mensheviks and Bolsheviks.

Government

A dispute with Canada over the boundaries of Alaska is finally resolved.

Government

The Departments of Commerce and Labor are established by Congress.

War

The U.S. supports an uprising in Panama against Colombian rule. Panama forms a new government which enables the building of the Panama Canal.

Science

Marie and Pierre Curie receive the Nobel Prize for their work in radioactivity.

Medicine

The electrocardiograph is invented by Wilhelm Einthoven (1860-1927).

Inventions

Mary Anderson invents windshield wipers.

Inventions

Transportation: The Wright Brothers invent and fly the first airplane powered by an engine.

Inventions

Electrification: The steam turbine generator is invented by Charles G. Curtis and is developed into a practical steam turbine by William Le Roy Emmet (1859-1941).

Technology

Airplanes: December 17 — At 10:35 am, Orville Wright (1871-1948) makes the first powered flight in a fully controllable aircraft capable of sustaining itself in the air. The flight lasts just 12 seconds and stretches only 120 feet.

Technology

The first crossing of the American continent by automobile takes 52 days.

Education

Higher Education: The Universities of Liverpool and Manchester in England are founded.

Education

Crayola Crayons: Noticing a need in schools for safe and affordable wax crayons, Binney (1866-1934) & Smith makes the first box of eight Crayola crayons. The box sold for a nickel and contained black, brown, blue, red, violet, orange, yellow and green — the same colors in the box of eight today.

Education

Libraries: A new central Carnegie library is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Henry James (1843-1916) writes "The Ambassadors."

Arts and Letters

Drama: George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) writes “Man and Superman.”

Arts and Letters

Oscar Hammerstein, Sr. (1847-1919) builds the Manhattan Opera House in New York City.

Arts and Letters

Opera: “Ernani,” by Guiseppe Verdi (1813-1901) becomes the first opera ever recorded.

Ideas

Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) publishes “Science and Hypothesis,” saying that every scientific theory is a hypothesis that must be tested and retested.

Roosevelt, Edith

During Edith Roosevelt's tenure, the famous “gold Steinway” was presented to the White House in celebration of Steinway’s 50th anniversary; the piano established the East Room as a major setting for the performing arts.

Roosevelt, Eleanor

Women in Sports: Eleanor Roosevelt enrolls in the Junior League of New York where she teaches calisthenics and dancing to immigrants.

Economics

Railroad History: New York state enacts legislation prohibiting the operation of steam locomotives on Manhattan Island in New York City south of the Harlem River after June 30, 1908. This spurred the electrification of New York City's trackage.

Economics

Henry Ford (1863-1947) founds the Ford Motor Company.

Economics

J. P. Morgan (1837-1913) founds the International Mercantile Marine Company.

Discovery

Space Exploration: Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935), prophet of space exploration, publishes “The Exploration of the World’s Space with Reactive Instruments.”

Daily Life

Automobile regulations in England set a 20 mile-per-hour speed limit.

Sports

The first Tour de France bicycle race takes place.

Sports

Baseball: The first post-season baseball series (the World Series) occurs.

Popular Culture

Jack London (1876-1916) writes “Call of the Wild.”

Popular Culture

The longest film to date, “The Great Train Robbery,” lasts 12 minutes.

Popular Culture

Richard Steiff introduces the first jointed teddy bears, named after President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).

Religion

Anti-Semitism: There occur many anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia.

Religion

The Sixth Zionist Congress refuses an offer from the British for a Jewish settlement in E. Africa.

Social Issues

Items coming soon.

Reform

Women’s Suffrage Movement: Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) founds the National Women’s Social and Political Union in England.

Law

Immigration: In "Gonzales v. Williams," the U.S. Supreme Court decides that citizens of Puerto Rico are not aliens and can enter the U.S. freely.

Politics

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) is re-elected President of the U.S., and Charles W. Fairbanks (1852-1918) is elected the 26th Vice President.

Government

Stamps: Meters to pay postage were first used in New Zealand. The first use in the United States was on December 10, 1920, at Stanford, Connecticut.

Government

Immigration: The Chinese Exclusion Act is extended indefinitely.

Government

Several U.S. government agencies, including the Navy, the Department of Agriculture, and the Army’s Signal Corps, all begin setting up their own radio transmitters, with little or no coordination among them.

War

The Russo-Japanese war begins when the Japanese launch a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur in northeast China.

War

The first trenches used in warfare are used in the Russo-Japanese War.

Science

Hartmann discovers interstellar matter.

Medicine

Yellow fever is eradicated in the Panamal Canal Zone by Army doctor W. C. Gorgas (1854-1920).

Inventions

Teabags are invented by Thomas Sullivan.

Inventions

Benjamin Holt (1849-1920) invents the “caterpillar” tractor; it moves on continuous treads rather than wheels.

Inventions

The first ultraviolet lamps are invented.

Technology

The Broadway Subway is opens in New York City.

Technology

The first radio transmission of music occurs at Graz, Austria.

Technology

The first telegraphic transmission of pictures occurs in Germany.

Technology

The first railroad tunnel under the Hudson River is built between Manhattan and New Jersey.

Education

Education of Women: Helen Keller (1880-1968) graduates from Radcliffe College.

Education

Higher Education: American Theatre: George Pierce Baker (1866-1935) establishes a course in playwriting at Radcliffe and then at Harvard.

Education

Libraries: Carnegie library buildings begin construction at Alabama A&M, Atlanta University, Benedict College, Talladega College, and Wilberforce University.

Arts and Letters

Opera: The opera “Madama Butterfly,” by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), premiers in Milan.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) writes “The Cherry Orchard.”

Arts and Letters

The Abbey Theatre in Dublin, part of the National Theatre of Ireland, opens its doors for the first time.

Arts and Letters

The London Symphony Orchestra gives its first concert.

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) publishes “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life.”

Ideas

Max Weber (1864-1920) writes “The Protestant Ethic and the Birth of Capitalism.”

Roosevelt, Edith

Edith Roosevelt (1861-1948) and her six children spend the summer of this election year at the “Summer White House” at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, New York, while the President remains in Washington.Gould, Am. First Ladies

Economics

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis--one of the world's fairs—introduces ice cream cones and iced tea to the United States.

Economics

Work begins on the Panama Canal.

Discovery

The ship, "Discovery" sails out of McMurto Sound, ending Robert Falcon Scott’s first Antarctic expedition.

Daily Life

Disasters: A disastrous fire destroys more than 1,500 buildings in downtown Baltimore.

Sports

The Olympic Games are held in the United States for the first time, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Sports

The National Ski Association of America is founded at Ishpeming, Michigan.

Sports

Women in Sports: Softball: The Spalding Indoor Baseball Guide calls attention to the game of women’s softball.

Sports

Women in Sports: Bertha Kapernick becoms the first woman to give bronco riding exhibitions at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo.

Sports

Black Athletes: Olympic medalist (summer games): George Poage (1899-1987) wins two bronze medals in the 200 m hurdles and 400 m hurdles.

Popular Culture

Author Jack London (1876-1916) writes "The Sea Wolf."

Popular Culture

James Barrie (1860-1937) writes "Peter Pan."

Religion

The institutions of the church and the state are officially separated in France.

Social Issues

Immigration: Steerage rates for immigrants to the U.S. are cut to $10.00 by foreign steamship lines.

Social Issues

Immigration: The Chinese Exclusion Act is extended indefinitely.

Reform

Labor Movement: A 10-hour word day is established in France.

Reform

Women’s Rights Movement: A New York Policeman arrests a woman for smoking a cigarette in public.

Law

Labor Movement: In "Lochner v. New York," the Supreme Court rules that it is unconstitutional to limit the number of hours that bakers can work.

Politics

In Ireland, Arthur Griffith (1871-1922) founds the Sinn Fein political movement calling for Irish independence.

Politics

Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925) develops a political philosophy based on his "three principles": nationalism, democracy, and livelihood for the people.

Government

The provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan are formed in Canada.

War

Revolution breaks out in Russia in January after "Bloody Sunday" when czarist troops fire on marchers in St. Petersburg. The unrest leads to the creation of a State Duma and previews the Russian Revolution of 1917.

War

The Russo-Japanese War ends.

Science

Albert Einstein (1879-1955), a former patent clerk, proposes his Special Theory of Relativity.

Science

The National Audubon Society meets for first time, during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), champion of environmental conservation.

Medicine

“Typhoid Mary,” an infamous carrier of typhoid fever, is found and jailed.

Medicine

The term “allergy” is introduced into medicine.

Inventions

A patent for windshield wipers is obtained by Mary Anderson (1866-1953).

Technology

The Mount Wilson observatory is completed in California.

Education

John Dewey leaves the University of Chicago and his Lab School to move to Teachers College, Columbia University.

Education

Libraries: The first public library on wheels is a horse-drawn book wagon designed by Mary Lemist Titcomb (1857-1932), head of the Hagerstown (Md.) Public Library.

Education

Public Education: The U.S. Supreme Court requires California to extend public education to the children of Chinese immigrants.

Arts and Letters

Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) completes his innovative office block, the Larkin Building, in Buffalo, New York. Centered on an atrium, it is fully air-conditioned and contains the first metal office furniture.

Arts and Letters

Fauvism, named for its use of bright colors and bold brushwork, evolves in Paris. Participants include Henri Matisse (1869-1954), George Braque (1882-1963), and Raoul Dufy (1877-1953).

Arts and Letters

Drama: George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) writes “Major Barbara.”

Arts and Letters

Opera: David Belasco (1853-1931) produces “The Girl of the golden West” in Pittsburgh; it is later made into an opera by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924).

Arts and Letters

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) composes “La Mer” in Paris.

Ideas

Philosopher George Santayana writes “The Life of Reason.”

Roosevelt, Edith

Edith Roosevelt (1861-1948)purchases a cabin and five acres of land for a family “get-away” in Virginia from a relative for $195.

Economics

The Rotary Club is founded by lawyer Paul Percy Harris (1868-1947) in Chicago.

Economics

Rayon yarn is manufactured commercially through a viscose process.

Discovery

The world’s largest diamond, the Cullinan (3106 carats), is discovered near Pretoria, South Africa.

Daily Life

Disasters: An earthquake kills 370,000 in Kangra, India.

Daily Life

The first neon light signs appear.

Sports

Baseball: Ty Cobb (1886-1961) begins his major league baseball career with the Detroit Tigers.

Popular Culture

In Pittsburgh, the first nickelodeon opens, showing early movies.

Popular Culture

“The Merry Widow,” an operetta by Franz Lehár (1870-1948) .is produced in Vienna.

Popular Culture

“The Red Mill,” an operetta by Victor Herbert (1859-1924) is produced in New York.

Religion

The Islamic Salafiyyah movement begins in Paris with its main sphere of influence in Egypt.

Social Issues

Item coming soon.

Reform

Labor Movement: The Industrial Workers of the World is founded in Chicago. Its members, called the Wobblies, advocate strikes and sabotage over collective bargaining.

Politics

The British Labour party is formed from the Labour Representation Committee.

Politics

The French Supreme Court of Appeals exonorates Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), ending the ten-year long Dreyfus Affair.

Government

Self-government is granted to the Transvaal and Orange River colonies in Africa.

Government

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) visits the Canal Zone on the first trip outside of the United States made by a President in office. While in Puerto Rico, he pledges U.S. citizenship for Puerto Rican people.

Government

A new Pure Food and Drug Act offers American consumers protection from adulterated and tainted food products and patented medicines, occasioned, in part, from the concerns raised in “The Jungle.”

War

U.S. troops occupy Cuba.

Science

William Morgan suggests that the Milky Way has a spiral structure.

Science

Pierre Weiss (1865-1940) proposes a theory of iron magnetism.

Medicine

German doctor August Wasserman (1866-1925) develops a test for syphilis.

Medicine

Frederick Hopkins (1861-1947) suggests the existence of vitamins and suggests that a lack of vitamins causes scurvy and rickets.

Inventions

Alva Fisher (1862-1947) invents the electric washing machine.

Technology

Canadian Reginald Fessenden (1866-1931) becomes the first person to broadcase words and music over radio waves.

Education

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) opens the first day-care center in Rome. Her Montessori method of early childhood education, part of the progressive education movement spreads through the world.

Education

Higher Education: The first annual meeting of the American Sociological Society occurs.

Education

Libraries: A Carnegie library is erected at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) publishes "The Jungle," a muck-raking novel about the American meat-packing industry.

Arts and Letters

Painting: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) paints his portrait of American expatriate Gertrude Stein (1874-1946).

Arts and Letters

Drama: George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) has four plays open in New York: “Caesar and Cleopatra,” “Arms and the Man,” Man and Superman,” and “John Bull’s Other Island.”

Roosevelt, Edith

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War.

Roosevelt, Edith

White House Wedding: Alice Rosevelt (1884-1980), daughter of Edith (1861-1948) and Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) marries Nicholas Longworth (1869-1931).

Economics

The Rolls Royce company is founded in England.

Economics

A fully submerged hydro-electric plant is built inside Ambursen Dam in Maryland.

Discovery

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) explores the Northwest Passage and determines the position of the magnetic North Pole.

Daily Life

The famous Cunard passenger liner Lusitania is launched. In 1915, it is sunk by a German U-boat.

Daily Life

Disasters: An earthquake strikes San Francisco. The quake and resulting fires devastates the city, leaving more than 200,000 people homeless and more than 2,500 dead.

Sports

The first grand prix motor race is held over two days at Le Mans, France.

Popular Culture

The world's first feature film, "The Story of the Kelly Gang," is premiered at the Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne, Australia.

Religion

The Jesuit Order, under Franz X. Wernz (1842-1914) reforms its plan of studies.

Religion

A papal encyclical against the separation of church and state is issued.

Reform

Conditions in the meat-packing industry, revealed in Upton Sinclair’s novel, “The Jungle,” lead to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Reform

Women’s Suffrage Movement: Finnish women win the right to vote, making Finland the first European nation to grant women suffrage.

Reform

Lawyer Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) begins a campaign of nonviolent resistance to protest the treatment of Indians in South Africa.

Politics

President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) shakes a record 8,513 hands in one day.

Government

The first American Indian senator, Charles Curtis (1860-1936) of Kansas, begins his term in office.

Government

New States: Oklahoma becomes the 46th state in the Union.

Government

Women's Firsts: The first women members of parliament are elected in Finland when 19 constituencies return women members. They take their seats on May 23.

Government

Japan receives a protectorate over Korea thus giving Japan control over the Korean government.

Government

The first federal corrupt election practices law is passed.

War

The U.S. invades Honduras.

War

The world's first air force is established with the formation of the Aeronautical Division of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. army.

War

Forty-four nations meet in The Hague for the second Hague Peace Conference.

Science

The use of uranium to date the age of rocks is pioneered by American chemist and physicist, Bertram Boltwood (1870-1927).

Medicine

A chemotherapeutic cure for sleeping sickness is developed by Paul Erlich (1854-1915).

Inventions

The first synthetic plastic, called Bakelite, is invented by Leo Baekeland (1863-1944).

Inventions

The very first helicopter is invented, though the design is unsuccessful.

Technology

Image reproduction methods using electromagnetic scanning are developed simultaneously in Russia and England.

Education

Higher Education: repositories for government documents.

Education

Libraries: Carnegie libraries begin construction at Howard University and Knoxville College.

Arts and Letters

The first exhibition of cubist paintings is held in Paris.

Arts and Letters

Painting: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) paints "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon."

Ideas

Swiss chemist Svante August Arrhenius (1859-1927) suggests that life on earth began with inter-stellar microorganisms.

Hoover, Lou

Allan Henry Hoover (1907-1993), son of Herbert and Lou Hoover, is born July 17.

Roosevelt, Eleanor

James “Jimmy” Roosevelt (1907-1991), son of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, is born December 23.

Economics

The panic of 1907 is averted when J.P. Morgan (1837-1913) and a pool of investors shore up American financial institutions.

Economics

The first canned tuna is packed in San Pedro, California.

Economics

Railroad History: Ground is broken on Sept. 7th by San Diego mayor John F. Forward dedicating the start of John D. Spreckels' (1853-1926) San Diego & Arizona Railway.

Discovery

Swedish explorer Sven Anders Hedin (1865-1952) discovers the source of the Indus River in Tibet.

Daily Life

Taxis first begin running in New York City.

Daily Life

Holidays: The second Sunday in May is established as Mother’s Day in Philadelphia.

Sports

Baseball: The Chicago Cubs beats the Detroit Tigers 4-0 for the World Series.

Sports

Women in Sports: The first organized bowling league for women begins in St. Louis, MO. The first of three women's bowling tournaments organized by the American Bowling Congress is held. The 1908 tournament is held in Cincinnati and the 1909 tournament in Pittsburgh.

Popular Culture

Ringling Brothers Greatest Show on Earth buys Barnum and Bailey circus.

Religion

Pope Pius X (1835-1914) declares modernism "the synthesis of all heresies."

Social Issues

Immigration: A record 1.29 million immigrants enter the United States.

Social Issues

Immigration: Japanese immigration is barred in the U.S.

Social Issues

Immigration: The United States and Japan form a “Gentleman’s Agreement” in which Japan ends issuance of passports to laborers and the U.S. agrees not to prohibit Japanese immigration.

Reform

Labor Movement: The San Francisco Streetcar Workers Union in crushed after 25 workers are killed and hundreds wounded in battles with strikebreakers.

Law

The Women’s Lawyers Club becomes the Women’s National Bar Association.

Law

Labor Movement: The Supreme Court rules that a union boycott violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Politics

William Howard Taft (1857-1930) is elected the 27th President of the United States, and James S. Sherman (1855-1912) is elected as the nation's 27th Vice President.

Government

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is founded as a division of the Department of Justice; it is referred to as Office of the Chief Examiner and becomes the FBI in 1935.

Government

Stamps: First U.S. coil stamps (stamps sold in a roll only one stamp wide) are distributed.

War

Crete revolts against Turkey and aligns with Greece.

Science

The U.S. astronomer George Ellery Hale (1868-1938) installs a 60-inch reflector telescope, then the largest in the world, at Mount Wilson, California.

Medicine

The tuberculin test, a skin test for tuberculosis based on immune reactions, is introduced for the first time.

Medicine

Victor Horsley (1857- 1916) and R. H. Clarke invents the stereotactic method in neurosurgery.

Inventions

The Geiger counter is invented.

Inventions

Electrification: William J. Bailley of the Carnegie Steel Company invents a solar collector with copper coils and an insulated box.

Inventions

Hydrofoil boats are co-invented by Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) & Casey Baldwin.

Technology

Airplanes: Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville (1871-1948) Wright patent their flying machine.

Technology

Henry Ford (1863-1947) improves the assembly line for automobile manufacturing.

Education

Libraries: Louisville's Western Colored Branch Library relocates to a new building paid for by Carnegie.

Arts and Letters

The Oskar Strauss operetta, “The Chocolate Soldier,” is performed in Vienna.

Coolidge, Grace

Calvin Coolidge, Jr.(1908-1924), son of Grace (1879-1957) and Calvin (1872-1933) Coolidge, is born.

Economics

Henry Ford (1863-1947) develops the first Model T automobile, which sells for $850.

Economics

The first large deposit of petroleum is discovered in Persia, marking the beginning of the Middle East oil boom.

Discovery

Members of Ernest Shackleton’s (1874-1922) expedition climb the 13,280-foot Mt. Erebus in Antarctica.

Daily Life

The Singer Building in New York, designed by Ernest Flagg (1857-1947), becomes the tallest building in the world.

Daily Life

Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) founds the Boy Scouts in England.

Daily Life

A huge explosion rocks eastern Siberia. Believed to be an exploding meteorite, the resulting earth tremor is felt as far away as central Europe.

Sports

Boxing: American Jack Johnson (1878-1946) becomes the first black boxer to win the world heavyweight title when he defeats Canadian Tommy Burns (1881-1955) in Sydney.

Sports

Baseball: The Mills Commission, a “blue-ribbon panel” appointed by A.G. Spalding, concludes that baseball was invented by Gen. Abner Doubleday, in Cooperstown, NY, in 1839—declaring it a purely American sport.

Sports

Black Athletes: Jack Johnson (1878–1946) is the heavyweight boxing champion.

Sports

Black Athletes: Olympic gold medalist (summer games): John Baxter "Doc" Taylor wins a gold medal as part of the 4 x 400 m relay team.

Popular Culture

The ball representing the new year is dropped for the first time at Times Square in New York City.

Religion

Newspapers: "The Christian Science Monitor" is founded by Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910).

Social Issues

Items coming soon.

Reform

Labor Movement: Women''s Rights Movement: Muller v. State of Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1908): The U.S. Supreme Court upholds Oregon’s 10-hour workday for women. The win is a two-edged sword: the protective legislation implies that women are physically weak.

Law

The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, giving Congress the power to tax personal income, is passed by Congress.

Politics

Women's Suffrage Movement: A mob of 100,000 suffragists storms Britain’s Parliament.

Government

William Howard Taft (1857-1930) is inaugurated as the 27th President of the United States, and James S. Sherman (1855-1912) is inaugurated as the nation's 27th Vice President.

Government

Congress passes the United States Copyright Law.

Government

National Capitol: The West Wing is doubled in size and includes the first presidential Oval Office centered on the south facade.

War

U.S. military forces leave Cuba for the second time.

Science

Russian-American chemist Phoebus Aaron Theodor Levene (1869-1940) discovers that the sugar ribose is found in some nucleic acids, those that we now call ribonucleic acids (RNA).

Medicine

Charles-Jules-Henri Nicolle (1884-1936) discovers that typhus fever is transmitted by the body louse.

Technology

Airplanes: Louis Bleriot (1872-1936) makes the first crossing of the English Channel by air, flying his monoplane from Les Baraques, near Calais, to Dover, in 37 minutes.

Technology

Airplanes: The first 100-mile flight is completed by Henri Farman (1874-1958).

Technology

Battery Technology: Later battery manufacturing produces smaller, lighter batteries, and the application of the tungsten filament creates the impetus to develop batteries for use in torches.

Education

Education of Women: Women are admitted to German universities.

Education

Public Education: Indianola Junior High School in Columbus, Ohio, becomes the first junior high school in the United States.

Arts and Letters

Opera: “The Blue Bird,” by Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) is written.

Arts and Letters

Gustav Mahler (1861-1911) composes his "Symphony No. 9."

Ideas

Emilio Marinetti (1876-1944), an Italian poet, publishes his manifesto of futurism.

Ideas

The first kibbutz is founded in Jordan Valley, Palestine.

Ideas

William James (1842-1910) writes “The Pluralistic Universe.”

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) lectures in the U.S. on psychoanalysis.

Taft, Helen

Helen Taft (1881-1943) becomes the first First Lady to ride to the inauguration with her husband.

Taylor, Margaret

Mary Elizabeth Taylor Bliss Dandridge (1824-1909), daughter of Zachary and Margaret Taylor, dies July 26.

Economics

Standard Oil’s John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), scion of the Rockefeller family, becomes the world’s first billionaire. Rockefeller’s fortunes were accumulated in the oil industry.

Economics

The first instant coffee is marketed to the world by English chemist George Constant Washington.

Discovery

Explorers Robert Peary (1856-1920) and Matthew Henson (1886-1955) become the first to reach the North Pole.

Discovery

British explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) finds the magnetic South Pole.

Daily Life

Girl Guides are established in Britain.

Daily Life

The first permanent waves are given in London.

Daily Life

The Metropolitan Life Tower in New York, designed by Pierre L. Lebrun (1846-1924), is completed and becomes the world’s tallest building.

Daily Life

The SOS distress signal is used for the first time by the Cunard liner SS Slavonia, wrecked off the Azores.

Sports

Baseball: Honus Wagner (1874-1955) orders the American Tobacco Company to take his picture off its "Sweet Caporal" cigarette packs, fearing they would lead children to smoke. The shortage makes the Honus Wagner card the most valuable of all time, worth close to $500.

Sports

Women in Sports: On Jan. 11, a dozen woman-driven cars left New York in a long distance race for Philadelphia. Mrs. J. Newton Cuneo won in a Lancia, followed by 8 eight other cars. Four cars didn't make it past Burlington, NJ, in a series of mishaps.

Popular Culture

The first newsreels are shown in the U.S.

Religion

15th century French heroine Joan of Arc (1412-1431) is beatified at a ceremony at the Vatican.

Social Issues

Items coming soon.

Reform

Civil Rights Movement: The National Negro Committee is organized in New York to benefit African Americans. W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) is selected to lead the organization.

Law

Chief Justices: President William H. Taft (1857-1930) nominates Edward Douglass White (1845-1921) as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He is the first Chief Justice to be appointed from the ranks of the Associate Justices. He is confirmed by the Senate and serves for ten years, making his total tenure on the Court twenty-six years.

Politics

For the first time since 1894 a Democratic majority is elected to Congress.

Government

Britain establishes the Union of South Africa; it consists of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal. It becomes a dominion within the British Empire. Louis Botha is chosen its first Prime Minister.

Government

The Mann Act, prohibiting transportation of women across states lines for immoral purposes, is passed.

Government

Congress establishes a postal savings bank system.

Government

In New Mexico, a Constitution is drafted in preparation for statehood.

War

The U.S. sends military forces into Mexico because of a Mexican revolution, which changes the nature of Mexican-American relations.

Science

Halley’s Comet makes its 75-year appearance.

Science

William Ramsay (1852-1916) discovers the inert element radon.

Medicine

An effective treatment for syphillis--a "magic bullet"--is introduced by Paul Erlich (1854-1915) and Sahachiro Hata (1873-1938); it heralds the beginning of modern chemotherapy.

Inventions

Georges Claude (1870-1960), French chemist, invents the neon light.

Technology

Electric washing machines are introduced.

Technology

The kinetophone is introduced by Thomas Edison (1837-1931); it makes talking pictures possible.

Education

Public Education: The first junior high schools in the nation open in California.

Education

The Flexner Report is published, advocating major reform in medical education.

Education

Libraries: A special reading room is established for unemployed immigrants at the Minneapolis Public Library.

Education

Of people over 25 years old in the U.S., fewer than half have completed grade school and about 4% have graduated from college.

Arts and Letters

Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) becomes well known and influential in Europe for his domestic architecture.

Arts and Letters

Opera: “The Girl of the Golden West,” an opera by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) is performed in New York.

Arts and Letters

Dance: “The Firebird,” a ballet by Igor Stravinski (1882-1971) is performed in Paris.

Arts and Letters

“Naughty Marietta,” an operetta by Victor Herbert (1859-1924) is first performed in New York.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: The Community Theatre Movement begins. These theatres aspired "to produce significant thought-provoking plays and to involve the maximum number of participants from the communities they serve.”

Ideas

British author, Sir Edward Durning-Lawrence suggests that Shakespeare's works contain many of Francis Bacon's ideas.

Taft, Helen

William Howard Taft (1857-1930) is the first President to pitch a ball to open baseball season. He starts the game between Washington and Philadelphia in the American League.

Roosevelt, Eleanor

Elliot Roosevelt (1910-1990), son of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, is born September 23.

Economics

The Interstate Commerce Commission orders a reduction in Pullman car rates and in railroad freight rates.

Economics

Brazil produces nine-tenths of the world’s rubber and three-fourths of the world’s coffee.

Economics

American Money: The Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing assumes all currency production functions, including engraving, printing, and processing.

Discovery

Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941) finishes the excavation of Knossos in Crete.

Daily Life

The “week-end” becomes popular in the United States.

Daily Life

Holidays: Father’s Day is first celebrated in Spokane, Washington.

Daily Life

The Boy Scouts of America and the Camp Fire Girls are established.

Daily Life

Newspapers: By this time, all the essential features of the recognizably modern newspaper have emerged. In our time, radio and television have gradually supplanted newspapers as the nation's primary information sources. As a result, though initially difficult to appreciate, it is important to recognize the role that newspapers have played in our nation’s history.

Sports

Baseball: William Howard Taft becomes the first U.S. President to throw out the first pitch on opening day.

Sports

Women in Sports: Australia's Annette Kellerman is arrested for swimming in Boston Harbor in an "indecent" one-piece swimsuit for exposing her legs.

Sports

Barney Oldfield (1878-1946) drives a Benz at 133 m.p.h. at Daytona Beach, Florida.

Popular Culture

Lee DeForest (1873-1961) produces a radio program from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York starring singer Enrico Caruso (1873-1921).

Religion

The Dalai Lama flees Tibet as the Chinese invade Lhasa.

Social Issues

Slavery: China abolishes slavery.

Social Issues

Immigration: Criminals, anarchists, paupers, and the sick are forbidden to immigrate to the U.S.

Reform

Civil Rights Movement: The National Negro Committee changes its name to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Reform

Labor Movement: Ironworkers Union members John McNamara and his brother James bomb the Los Angeles Times building; 20 workers die.

Law

The Supreme Court, under the Sherman Antitrust Act, orders the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company.

Politics

Robert M. La Follette (1855-1925), Senator from Wisconsin, helps found the National Progressive Republican League, which seeks adoption of direct primaries, direct elections of senators, and state constitutional reform.

Government

U.S. abrogates (cancels) the treaty of 1832 with Russia. This treaty allows Russia to exclude Jewish-American citizens.

Government

The Hamburg speech of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) asserts Germany’s “Place in the Sun.”

War

U.S. troops are sent to Mexican border protect U.S. citizens and property; fighting during the Mexican Revolution occurs so close to the U.S. – Mexican border that U.S. citizens gather to watch.

Science

Marie Curie (1867-1934) wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Medicine

Walter B. Cannon (1871-1945), the first physician to use x-rays to study physiology, publishes "The Mechanical Factors of Digestion."

Inventions

Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958) develops the first practical electric self-starter for automobiles.

Inventions

Willis Carrier (1876-1950) invents the air conditioner.

Inventions

Glenn H. Curtiss (1878-1930), N.Y. aviator, invents the hydroplane.

Technology

Airplanes: Claudius Dornier (1884-1969), German aircraft builder, constructs the first all-metal aircraft.

Education

Carnegie (1888-1955) establishes the Carnegie Corporation of New York with an endowment of $125 million to support educational projects.

Education

Libraries: The NYPL Humanities and Social Sciences Library opens.

Education

Children''s Books: Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924), writes "The Secret Garden."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Edith Wharton (1862-1937) writes “Ethan Frome”.

Arts and Letters

Leonardo da Vinci’s (1452-1519) “Mona Lisa” is stolen from the Louvre, it is found in Italy in 1913.

Arts and Letters

Opera: “Der Rosenkavalier,” an opera by Richard Strauss (1864-1949), is performed in Dresden.

Arts and Letters

Architecture: Architects design the Culberton House in Pasadena, which popularizes the mission revival style in California.

Ideas

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) publishes "Principles of Scientific Management."

Ideas

Franz Boas (1858-1942) publishes "The Mind of Primitive Man."

Taft, Helen

The Public Library Building at 5th Avenue in New York City is dedicated by President Taft.

Economics

Railroad History: The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad begins its first extra-fare, named passenger train, the "Santa Fe Deluxe" that runs between Chicago and Los Angeles.

Discovery

Explorer Roald Amundsen (1872- 1928) reaches the south pole.

Daily Life

Transportation: The first flight from Munich to Berlin reaches a record height of 12,800 ft.

Daily Life

Newspapers: On behalf of journalists, Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) calls for the establishment of the now coveted Pulitzer Prize.

Sports

Golf: At the age of 9, American golfer, Robert T. (Bobby) Jones (1902-1971), wins his first title, the Junior Championship of Atlanta.

Popular Culture

Irving Berlin (1888-1989) composes “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”.

Religion

The World Missionary Conference of Protestant Churches is held in Edinburgh, Scotland. This is the beginning of the modern ecumenical (universal Christian unity and church union) movement.

Social Issues

Aging population: the first old age home is opened in Prescott, Arizona.

Social Issues

Immigration: The Dillingham Commission identifies Mexican laborers as the best solution to the Southwest labor shortage. Mexicans are exempted from immigrant “head taxes” set in 1903 and 1907.

Reform

Labor Movement: As a result of the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City, which kills 146 workers, the International Ladies Garment Worker’s Union succeeds in improving working conditions and safety for its members.

Reform

Child Welfare Movement: Illinois passes the first state law to assist mothers with dependent children.

Law

The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, providing for the election of Senators by the people of a state rather than by the state legislature, is passed by Congress.

Politics

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) is elected the 28th President of the United States, and Thomas Marshall (1854-1925) is elected the nation's 28th Vice President.

Politics

Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) establishes a connection with Stalin (1879-1953) and takes over editorship of “Pravada”.

Politics

Third Parties: After failing to gain the nomination of his own party, former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) defects, forming the Progressive (or Bull-Moose) party. It is the first time in American history that a third-party candidate receives more votes (electoral and popular) than one of the major two parties. However, he splits the Republican vote, thereby enabling Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) to win.

Government

American Flag: The Executive Order of President Taft dated June 24, 1912 establishes the proportions of the flag and provides for the arrangement of the stars in six horizontal rows of eight each and a single point of each star to be upward.

Government

New States: Arizona and New Mexico become the 47th and 48th states of the U.S.

Government

Alaska becomes an organized U.S. territory.

Government

The U.S. Public Health Service is established.

Government

Labor Movement: Congress authorizes an 8-hour day for all workers under federal contracts.

War

The "U.S.S. Jupiter," America’s first shop propelled by electric motors, is launched.

Science

Charles Thomson Rees Wilson’s (1869-1959) cloud-chamber photographs lead to the detection of protons and electrons.

Science

Alfred Sturtevant (1891-1970), Alabama biologist, determines that genes are lined up in a row on the chromosomes.

Science

Henry G. Mosely, English physicist. proposes the law which states that an atomic number is based on the number of protons in the nucleus. He sets 92 as the total number of elements.

Science

Alfred Wegener (1880-1930), German geologist, proposes that the modern continents were once part of a huge landmass that over time split apart. This theory is called continental drift.

Medicine

Polish chemist Kasimir Funk (1884-1967) coins the term “vitamine”.

Inventions

Edwin Bradenberger invents a process for manufacturing cellophane.

Inventions

Glenn H. Curtiss (1878-1930) invents a “flying boat” or seaplane.

Technology

Western Union and Western Electric develop a multiplex telegraph that allows eight messages to be sent over one wire at the same time.

Education

The Children’s Bureau is formed; it remains today as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Education

The National Education Association creates a separate department for classroom teachers.

Education

American psychologists Henry Goddard, Lewis M. Terman, and others adapt Binet’s work to create the Intelligence Quotient, or IQ—calculated by dividing a person’s “mental age” by his chronological age.

Arts and Letters

Drama: John M. Synge (1871-1909) write his drama, “Playboy of the Western World”.

Arts and Letters

Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) is named conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.

Arts and Letters

Rudolf Friml (1879-1972) composes “The Firefly,” an operetta performed in New York. to much acclaim.

Taft, Helen

Helen Taft (11861-1943) plants the first cherry tree, a gift from Japan, in Washington, DC.

Nixon, Pat

Thelma Catherine (Pat) Ryan (1912-1993), wife of President Richard Nixon (1913-1994), is born on March 16, in a mining tent in Ely, Nevada.

Economics

The F.W. Woolworth (1852-1919) Company is founded.

Discovery

Explorer R.F. Scott (1868-1912) reaches the South Pole, only to discover Amundsen (1872-1928) had been there first.

Discovery

C. Dawson announces the discovery of remains of Piltdown man, believed to be 50,000 years old near Lewes, England.

Daily Life

London has 400 cinemas; in the U.S. approximately 5,000,000 people visit cinemas daily.

Daily Life

Disasters: The "RMS Titantic” sinks on her maiden voyage after colliding with and iceberg; 1,513 people drown.

Daily Life

Dancing: Ragtime introduces a series of “animal dances.” Among them are the fox trot, crab step, kangaroo dip, camel walk, turkey trot, and the bunny hug.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The first automobile driver is jailed for speeding.

Sports

The first successful parachute jump occurs.

Sports

The International Lawn Tennis Federation is formed.

Sports

Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) is the outstanding sportsman at the Stockholm Olympic Games; when it is discovered that he played semi-professional baseball in 1911, his gold medals and trophies are taken from him and his records erased from the books.

Sports

Captain Albert Louis makes the first parachute jump in the U.S. from an airplane.

Sports

Women in Sports: Many young American college women take up the latest sports craze: wall scaling.

Popular Culture

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), writer and poet of the "Harlem renaissance,” publishes the novel, "Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man."

Popular Culture

Zane Grey (1872-1939) publishes his popular work, "Riders of the Purple Sage."

Popular Culture

Rudolph Dirks (1877-1968) renames his comic strip “The Captain and the Kids.”

Popular Culture

Attendance at motion-picture theatres reaches 5 million daily.

Popular Culture

French photographer Charles Pathe (1863-1957) produces the first news film.

Popular Culture

"Life Magazine" lists the slang expressions of the year: flossy, beat it, peeved, sure, classy, it’s a cinch, what do you know about that, and fussed.

Religion

Pope Pius X writes his Encyclical, “Singulari quadam,” in which he encourages Catholics to belong to trade unions, but only if they are entirely composed of Catholic workers.

Social Issues

Poverty: Massachusetts passes first minimum wage law for women and children (invalidated by the Supreme Court in 1923).

Social Issues

Immigration: Illiterate immigrants are prohibited from entering the United States.

Reform

Labor Movement: New York passes 54-hour week labor law; Congress passes eight-hour day labor law for federal employees.

Reform

Labor Movement: Textile workers in Lawrence Massachusetts strike for more than two months when their wages are lowered following the new hours law.

Law

The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, giving Congress the power to tax personal income, is ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Law

'The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, providing for the election of Senators by the people of a state rather than by the state legislature, is ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Politics

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), leader of Passive Resistance Movement, is arrested in South Africa after leading a march protesting unfair taxes.

Government

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) is inaugurated as the 28th President of the United States, and Thomas Marshall (1854-1925) is inaugurated as the nation's 28th Vice President.

Government

The domestic parcel post system begins.

Science

H. Geiger introduces the first successful electrical device capable of counting individual alpha rays.

Science

Niels Bohr (1885-1962) formulates his theory of atomic structure.

Science

Frederick Soddy (1877-1956) coins the term “isotope”.

Science

The composition of chlorophyll is discovered by Richard Willstatter

Science

Vitamins A and B are isolated by biochemist, Elmer V. McCollum, at Yale University.

Science

Rene Lorin (1877-1933) states the basic ideas of jet propulsion.

Science

Sturtevant develops a method of mapping chromosomes.

Medicine

A diphtheria immunity test is developed by Bela Schick (1877-1967).

Medicine

Frank Mallory (1862-1941) isolates the bacterium that causes whooping cough.

Inventions

William D. Coolidge (1873-1975), Massachusetts physicists, invents a hot-filament cathode tube that produces x-rays.

Technology

Airplanes: Igor Sikorski (1889-1972), Russian-American engineer, builds and flies the first multi-engine plane.

Education

John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) founds the Rockefeller Institute with initial grant of $100 million.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Willa Cather (1873-1947) writes “O Pioneers!”.

Arts and Letters

Literature: D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) writes “Sons and Lovers”.

Arts and Letters

Drama: “Pygmalion,” by George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is first performed in Vienna.

Arts and Letters

The “Armory Show” introduces Postimpressionism and cubism to New York.

Arts and Letters

Painting: J.S. Sargent (1856-1925) paints “Portrait of Henry James”.

Arts and Letters

Bruno Walter becomes director at the Munich Opera (-1922).

Arts and Letters

Victor Herbert (1859-1924) opens his operetta, “Sweethearts,” in New York.

Ideas

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) publishes “Phenomenology.”

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) writes “Totem and Taboo.”

Wilson, Ellen

Jesse Wilson (1887-1933), daughter of Ellen and Woodrow Wilson, marries Francis Bowes Sayre in the White House in November.

Economics

Because of assembly line technology, Ford is able to produce 1000 Model T’s per day. Ford pays workers an unheard of minimum wage of $5 per day and establishes a 40-hour workweek.

Economics

President Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act, which divides the country into 12 districts, each with a federal reserve bank.

Economics

American Money: After 1893 and 1907 financial panics, the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 is passed.

Daily Life

Newspapers: The first crossword puzzle published in American newspapers was one composed by Arthur Wynne for the "New York World" on December 1, 1913.

Daily Life

Fashion: Zippers (in use since 1891) become popular.

Daily Life

Dancing: The foxtrot comes into fashion.

Daily Life

Disasters: The Dayton flood in the Miami Valley (Ohio) kills more than 400 people; property damage is $100 million.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: Former Olympian (Gold, Pole Vault, 1908) and medical doctor A.C. Gilbert invents the Erector Set.

Sports

The U.S. team wins the Davis Cup tennis trophy 3-2.

Sports

Baseball: Walter Johnson (1887-1946) pitches 56 consecutive innings, allowing no runs, and sets a record for the baseball season.

Sports

Football: In the first Army-Notre Dame football game, little known Notre Dame defeats Army by using the forward pass. This victory helps popularize the game by showing that a small and clever team can defeat a large and powerful one.

Popular Culture

Hollywood becomes the center of the Motion Picture industry, replacing New York City.

Popular Culture

Mack Sennett (1880-1960) begins directing the Keystone comedies, which introduce classic slapstick humor to the U.S. cinema.

Popular Culture

Jack Judge, an Englishman and music-hall comedian, writes the song “Tipperary”.

Popular Culture

Irene (1893-1969) and Vernon (1887-1918) Castle, dancers, make their debut in New York in “The Sunshine Girl”.

Popular Culture

Eleanor H. Porter (1868-1920) publishes “Pollyanna.”

Religion

Alsatian doctor and missionary Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) opens a hospital in Lambarene, part of the French Congo.

Social Issues

Immigration: California’s Alien Land Law rules that aliens “ineligible to citizenship” were ineligible to own agricultural property.

Reform

Women’s Suffrage Movement: Suffragette demonstrations in London; Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) is sentenced for inciting persons to place explosives in Lloyd George’s house.

Reform

Labor Movement: 150,000 garment workers strike in New York City. The Strike ends 3 months later and workers win wage concessions, reduced hours, and recognition of their union.

Politics

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) returns to India after 21 years in South Africa and begins a non-violent campaign against British rule.

Government

President Wilson (1856-1924) signs an order establishing a permanent civil government in the Panama Canal Zone.

Government

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is established to police business practices in interstate commerce.

Government

Labor Movement: The Clayton Antitrust Act strengthens the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. It seeks to restrict the use of court injunctions in labor disputes and exempts labor and farm organizations from antitrust laws.

War

After the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand (1863-1914 ), heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, World War I breaks out in Europe.

War

The city of Vera Cruz in Mexico is seized by the U.S. Marines.

Science

American, Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945), begins his rocketry experiments.

Medicine

American, E.C. Kendall (1886-1972) prepares pure thyroxin for treatment of thyroid deficiencies.

Medicine

Dr. Alexis Carrel (1873-1944) performs first successful heart surgery on a dog.

Inventions

Edwin H. Armstrong (1890-1954), N.Y. electrical engineer, patents the regenerative (feedback) circuit.

Inventions

Charles Lawrence, aeronautical engineer, develops the first successful air-cooled airplane engine. This makes long distance flights possible.

Technology

The 35 mm camera is developed.

Education

A document called "Infant Care" is published by the U.S. Government; it is intended to provide mothers with practical information on child health and nutrition, and emphasizes the importance of strict routines and rules.

Arts and Letters

Literature: James Joyce ( 1882-1941) writes “Dubliners”.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918) writes “Trees”.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Elmer Rice ( 1892-1967) writes “On Trial,” the first drama to use the device of a flashback.

Arts and Letters

National Capital: Henry Bacon ( 1839-1912) designs the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Arts and Letters

Women’s Firsts: Mary Davenport-Engberg (1881-1951) is the first woman to conduct a symphony orchestra, in Bellingham, Washington.

Ideas

John B. Watson (1878-1958) publishes "Behavior; an Introduction to Comparative Psychology.”

Wilson, Ellen

Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914), first wife of President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) dies on august 6th of Bright''s disease in the White House.

Roosevelt, Eleanor

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. (1914-1988), son of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, is born August 17.

Economics

The world’s first airline, St. Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, starts operation in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Economics

The Panama Canal is completed. It is 40 miles long from Atlantic to Pacific coasts and cost an estimated $365 million to complete.

Discovery

Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) begins a trans-Anarctic expedition with his ship, "Endurance."

Daily Life

The last known passenger pigeon dies in the Cincinnati Zoo.

Daily Life

Dancing: The Cotillion, once the most fashionable dance of society, takes second place to the waltz and the two-step.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: Charles Pajeau develops a toy similar to the Erector Set, but designed for younger children, called Tinker Toys.

Sports

Women in Sports: The American Olympic Committee formally opposes women's athletic competition in the Olympics. The only exception is the floor exercise, where women are allowed to only wear long skirts.

Sports

Women in Sports: Basketball: Basketball rules change to allow half-court play, expanded from the original one-third court rules. Full court play for women doesn''t come in until the 1970''s.

Sports

Boxing: Jack Dempsey (1895- 1983) starts fighting under the name “Kid Blackey.”

Sports

Golf: Walter Hagen (1892-1969) wins the U.S. Golf Association Open.

Popular Culture

William Christopher Handy (1873-1958) composes “St. Louis Blues.”

Popular Culture

E.R. Burroughs ( 1875-1950) writes “Tarzan of the Apes”.

Religion

The Assembly of God denomination is founded during an 11-day convention in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Social Issues

Immigration: World War I in Europe breeds strong anti-immigration feelings in the United States.

Social Issues

Immigration: Almost 10.5 million immigrants enter the U.S. from southern and eastern Europe from 1905 until 1914.

Reform

Labor Movement: The Ford Motor Company begins paying its workers a basic wage of $5.00 for an 8-hour day, up from $2.40 for a 9-hour day.

Reform

Labor Movement: The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) founded.

War

The U. S. Coast Guard is created by an act of Congress.

War

Terrorism: Erich Muenter, German instructor at Cornell University, plants bomb that destroys U.S. Senate reception room (July 2), then shoots J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr. (July 3); commits suicide (July 6).

War

World War I: German airship bombs E. Anglian ports; first German submarine attack, Le Havre; German blockade of England begins; Germans sink “Lusitania”; first Zeppelin attack on London. 6(1-12)

War

U.S. states that loss of U.S. ships and lives is a violation of neutrality for which Germany is held responsible, but President Wilson acceeds to the isolationist spirit in the U.S. by refusing to enter the war in Europe.

Science

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) postulates his General Theory of Relativity.

Science

Hermann Muller, geneticist, publishes "The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity," a classic in genetics.

Medicine

Joseph Goldberger (1874-1929) discovers that pellagra is caused by a vitamin deficiency.

Medicine

British chemist James Kendall isolates dysentery bacillus.

Inventions

The electric neon sign is patented in the United States by Georges Claude (1870-1960) of Paris, France.

Technology

Airplanes: Hugo Junkers (1859-1935) constructs the first fighter airplane.

Technology

Henry Ford (1863-1947) develops a farm tractor.

Technology

The first transcontinental telephone call is made between Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) in New York and Dr. Thomas A. Watson in San Francisco.

Education

The multiple choice test is invented.

Education

Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas adopt similar compulsory school attendance laws.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: The Theatre Guild is formed. It is designed as a professional theatre for quality production and introduction of European stagecraft and dramatic styles. This company eventually builds its own playhouse and has a touring production through 1960.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) writes “Victory.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: W. Somerset Maugham ( 1874-1965) writes “Of Human Bondage.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: Edgar Lee Masters (1869-1950)writes “A Spoon River Anthology.”

Ideas

In “Climate and Evolution,” William Mathew suggests that animals once moved from continent to continent via natural land bridges.

Wilson, Edith

President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) marries Mrs. Edith Galt (1872-1961).

Economics

Ford produces its one millionth car.

Economics

The taxi industry emerges when automobile owners discover that people will pay for a short automobile ride. Fare is a “jitney” (a nickel); drivers are called “hackers” or “hackies” in the East and “cabbies” in the Midwest.

Economics

William Fox (1879-1952) founds the Fox Film Company

Discovery

British archaeologist Aurel Stein (1862-1943) on an expedition to South Mongolia discovers Marco Polo’s “city of Etzina.”

Daily Life

The first Kiwanis Club is founded in Detroit.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: Johnny Gruelle, a newspaper cartoonist, begins to sell Raggedy Ann dolls based on one he had made for his daughter, Marcella.

Sports

Automobile speed record of 102.6 mph set at Sheepshead Bay, N.Y., by Gil Anderson driving a Stutz.

Sports

Boxing: Jesse Willard takes the heavyweight boxing championship from Jack Johnson in a 23-round fight at Havana, Cuba.

Popular Culture

Ivor Novello (1893-1951), a Welsh composer, writes “Keep the Home Fires Burning,” a popular patriotic war song.

Popular Culture

Films: “Birth of a Nation” (D.W. Griffith (1875-1948)); “Carmen” Cecil B. De Mille (1881-1959); “The Lamb” (Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939); “The Fire” (Italy).

Religion

Yeshiva College (later University) and its Rabbi Issac Elchanan Rabbinical Seminary is established in New York for training in a Modern Orthodox milieu.

Social Issues

Immigration: President Wilson vetoes U.S. Senate bill requiring literacy tests for all immigrants.

Social Issues

Immigration: The Supreme Court rules in Ozawa v. United States that first-generation Japanese are ineligible for citizenship and cannot apply for naturalization.

Reform

Women''s Suffrage Movement: The U.S. House of Representatives rejects a proposal to give women the right to vote.

Reform

Birth Control Movement: Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) publishes "Family Limitation" and is jailed for supporting birth control.

Law

Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) is named to U.S. Supreme Court by President Wilson (1856-1924). He is the first Jewish Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

Politics

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) is re-elected President of U.S., barely defeating Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948); Thomas R. Marshall (1854-1925) is also re-elected.

Politics

Women’s Firsts: Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973), of Montana, is the first woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Politics

Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) leaves the Supreme Court to run for President on the Republican ticket.

Government

The National Park Service is established under U.S. department of the Interior.

Government

The Jones Act restates U.S. intention to grant independence to the Philippine Islands when a stable government is formed.

War

World War I: First Zeppelin raid on Paris; Germans introduce steel helmets; military tanks are used for the first time in Europe.

War

Francisco “Pancho” Villa (1878-1923), Mexican revolutionary general, crosses border with guerrillas and raids Columbus, New Mexico, killing 17.

War

Brig.-Gen. John J. Pershing (1860-1948) pursues Villa with 6,000 troops but cannot find him; withdraws (1917) after differences are settled by arbitration.

Science

Einstein (1879-1955) proposes a general theory of relativity to explain all laws of physics in terms of mathematical equations.

Science

National Research Council is established by the National Academy of Sciences.

Medicine

Blood for transfusions is refrigerated.

Medicine

Treatment of war causalities leads to the development of plastic surgeries.

Medicine

“Heparin,” a natural anticoagulant produced by the liver is discovered.

Medicine

Epidemics: America's worst polio epidemic occurs, killing over 7,000 and infecting more than 27,000 people.

Inventions

General John Thompson (1860-1940) invents the submachine gun, popularly called the “Tommy Gun.”

Technology

Electric clocks are introduced.

Education

John Dewey (1859-1952) publishes “Democracy and Education.”

Education

Psychologist John Watson proposes that learning is actually a series of conditioned responses.

Education

Libraries: The first presidential library, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Library, opens in Fremont, Ohio.

Arts and Letters

Literature: James Joyce (1882-1941) writes “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”.

Arts and Letters

Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) designs the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

Ideas

Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) writes “Mind and Society.”

Roosevelt, Eleanor

John Aspinwall Roosevelt (1916-1981), son of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, is born March 13.

Economics

U.S. purchases Danish West Indies (Virgin Islands) for $25 million.

Economics

The Keating-Owen Act is passed, forbidding the transportation among states of products of factories, shops or canneries employing children under 14 years of age, of mines employing children under 16 years of age, and the products of any of these employing children under 16 who worked at night or more than eight hours a day.

Discovery

Space Exploration: I. P. Grave from Russia''s Artillery Academy submits a proposal for rockets burning smokeless gun powder.

Daily Life

“Summertime” (daylight-saving time) introduced in Britain.

Daily Life

Magazines: The “Saturday Evening Post” uses its first Norman Rockwell painting as its cover.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: John Lloyd Wright, the son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright invents Lincoln Logs, interlocking toy logs children use to build imaginative structures.

Sports

Women in Sports: 100 women compete in the first "Championship of the World" bowling tournament on Nov. 26-19 in St. Louis. The total purse was $222. The Women's National Bowling Association is organized as a result of the success of the tournament.

Sports

Women in Sports: Women’s International Bowling Congress established in America.

Sports

Golf: Bobby Jones (1902-1971) makes his debut in U.S. golf.

Sports

Golf: The Professional Golf Association (PGA) is formed.

Sports

Black Athletes: Fritz Pollard (1894-1986) is the first black All-America RB (1916 at Brown); 1st black to play in Rose Bowl; 7-year NFL pro (1920-26); first black NFL coach, at Milwaukee and Hammond, Ind.

Popular Culture

Jazz sweeps U.S.

Religion

Martin Buber (1878-1965) writes “The Spirit of Judaism.”

Reform

Anti-Child Labor Movement: Child labor laws in South Carolina raise the minimum age of children for work in the mills, factories, and mines from 12-14.

Reform

Labor Movement: A law establishing eight-hour work day for railroad prevents a nation-wide strike.

Reform

Birth Control Movement: Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) joins in opening first birth control clinic.

Reform

Temperance Movement: Prohibition gains ground as 24 states vote against alcoholic beverages.

Law

Prohibition: The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors, is passed by Congress.

Government

Literacy requirements for U.S. citizenship are passed over Wilson’s (1856-1924) veto.

Government

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) is inaugurated again as President of U.S., as is Thomas R. Marshall (1854-1925) as Vice President.

Government

The U.S. Senate rejects President Wilson’s suffrage bill.

Government

The U.S. Congress passes the Jones-Shafroth Act, making Puerto Rico a territory of the United States and its inhabitants U.S. citizens.

War

World War I: First U.S. division arrives in France; October Revolution in Petrograd November 7 (old style calendar October 26).

War

World War I: The Allies execute dancer Mata Hari (1876-1917) as a Spy.

War

World War I: President Wilson (1856-1924) signs the declaration of war against the Axis powers on April 7; anti-German sentiment swells at home. The names of schools, foods, streets, towns, and even some families, are changed to sound less Germanic.

Science

100-inch reflecting telescope installed at Mount Wilson, California.

Science

Einstein (1879-1955) proposes his theory of a static (unchanging) universe.

Medicine

Vaccines: Ralph Parker develops a vaccine for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

Medicine

Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940) discovers the malarial fever shock therapy for general paresis of the insane.

Technology

Radios are used for ground-to-air and air-to-air communication.

Education

Public Education: Smith-Hughes Act passes, providing federal funding for vocational education. Big manufacturing corporations push this, because they want to remove job skill training from the apprenticeship programs of trade unions and bring it under their own control.

Arts and Letters

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), 72, begins last tour of America.

Arts and Letters

Painting: J.S. Sargent (1856-1925) paints “Portrait of John D. Rockefeller.”

Arts and Letters

Chicago becomes the world’s jazz center.

Arts and Letters

Sigmund Romberg (1887-1951) composes his operetta, “Maytime,” in New York.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Millay (1892-1950) publishes "Renascence and Other poems."

Ideas

C.G. Jung (1875-1961) writes “Psychology of the Unconscious.”

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) writes “Introduction to Psychoanalysis.”

Eisenhower, Mamie

Doud Dwight (Ikky) Eisenhower (1917-1921), son of Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower, is born September 24.

Economics

Charlie Chaplin’s (1889-1977) yearly salary reaches one million dollars.

Economics

Railroad History: The first Diesel-electric locomotive in the U.S. was a prototype built by G.E. Number 4 had one model GM50 air injection two-stroke V8 rated at 225 HP @ 550 rpm powering one of two trucks. The cylinders had the same 8" x 10" dimensions as the GM16. It was never sold, serving only as a laboratory model at the Erie Works.

Economics

Ford Motor Company begins producing trucks and tractors.

Daily Life

Fashion: Bobbed hair as a ladies hair fashion sweeps Britain and the U.S.

Sports

Baseball: First baseball game played on Polo Grounds on a Sunday between New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds; the game results in the arrest of managers John McGraw (1873-1934) (Giants) and Christy Mathewson (1880-1925) (Reds) for violating New York blue law.

Sports

Women in Sports: Lucy Diggs Slowe wins the singles title at the first American Tennis Association (ATA) national tournament, becoming the first female African-American national champion in any sport.

Popular Culture

Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) reveals the joys of male adolescence in “Seventeen.”

Popular Culture

Buster Keaton (1895-1966), actor and director, establishes his comedy trademark of deadpan expressions in the film The Butcher Boy.

Popular Culture

George M. Cohan (1878-1942) writes American war song “Over There.”

Social Issues

Immigration: The U.S. enters World War I and anti-German sentiment swells at home. The names of schools, foods, streets, towns, and even some families, are changed to sound less Germanic.

Reform

Labor Movement: I.W.W. demonstrations against war result in raids on their offices.

Reform

Women''s Suffrage Movement: Four women are arrested for picketing for woman’s suffrage (the right to vote) in front of the White House; they are sentenced to 6 months in prison.

Politics

Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926), American socialist and presidential candidate, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for violating espionage and sedition laws (sentence is commuted in 1921).

Politics

In the U.S. Congressional elections, Republicans win a majority of 43 seats.

Politics

T.G. Masaryk (1850-1937) is elected president of Czechoslovakia .

Government

Iceland becomes sovereign state.

Government

Serbo-Croatian-Slovene Kingdom of Yugoslavia proclaimed.

Government

Stamps: U.S. Airmail stamps go on sale for 24 cents. The United States began airmail service on May 15, 1918. Special stamps were issued to indicate prepayment of mail carried on the first flights. The first route, flown by Army pilots in Army planes, linked Washington, DC and New York City via Philadelphia, PA. The rate was 24 cents an ounce. This rate included special delivery to the addressee.

War

Russian Revolution: Ex-Czar Nicholas II (1868-1918) and family executed.

War

World War I: mobilized forces: 63 million; casualties: approx. 8.5 million killed, 21 million wounded, 7.5 million prisoners and missing.

War

World War I: Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) propounds Fourteen Points for world peace; Germany offensive on Western front; Czechoslovakia proclaimed independent republic; Allies sign armistice with Austria-Hungary on November 3; Allied conference at Versailles agrees on peace terms for Germany; Armistice signed between Allies and Germany.

Science

Nobel Prize for Physics: Max Planck (1858-1947), German physicist, for introducing quantum theory.

Science

Herbert M. Evans (1882-1971) determines that human beings have 48 chromosomes.

Medicine

Epidemics: An influenza epidemic, traveling west from Europe, begins in the eastern U.S. and spreads to 46 states. Before it ends in 1919, about 500,000 people die in the U.S. Throughout the world, 20 million people die and one billion are ill.

Inventions

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) invents a hydrofoil boat that goes 60 mph during a test run.

Technology

The Mount Wilson telescope is completed near Pasadena, California.

Education

Higher Educaton: A second Moscow University is founded (first university founded 1755).

Education

Mississippi passes school attendance laws for children between the ages of six and seventeen.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Willa Cather (1873-1947) writes “My Antonia”.

Arts and Letters

Essay: H.L. Mencken (1880-1956): “In Defense of Women”.

Arts and Letters

Painting: Joan Miro (1893-1983) first exhibits his works.

Arts and Letters

The New York Philharmonic Society bans composition by living German composers.

Arts and Letters

Opera: Paris Opera, despite daily bombardment, opens with Gounod’s (1818-1893) “Faust”.

Arts and Letters

Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1864-1953) gives the first of her music festivals in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (Tanglewood).

Arts and Letters

Henry Adams (1851-1921) writes “The Education of Henry Adams,” which later wins the Pulitzer Prize.

Ideas

Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929), pioneer in the development of American sociology, publishes “Social Process.”

Ideas

Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) writes “Untergang des Abendlandes” (“Decline of the West”) (-1922).

Ideas

There is major controversy over the new psychology of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and C.G. Jung (1875-1961).

Ford, Betty

Elizabeth Anne ("Betty") Bloomer, wife of Gerald Ford, is born in Chicago on April 8.

Economics

Railroad History: The first Diesel-electric locomotive to be built and sold commercially was Jay Street Connecting RR #4. G.E. slightly revised its standard steeple cab straight electric locomotive car body and installed a single GM50.

Economics

The Pittman Act is passed, permitting the government to sell silver to Britain as a wartime measure.

Discovery

Harlow Shapley (1885-1972), American astronomer, discovers the true dimensions of the Milky Way.

Discovery

Archaeologists Hall and Leonard Woolley (1880-1960) begin excavations in ancient sites in Babylonia (present-day Iraq).

Daily Life

Regular airmail established between New York City and Washington; first airmail postage.

Daily Life

Daylight saving time introduced in America.

Daily Life

Census: Total population in the U.S.: 103.5 million.

Daily Life

First Chicago-New York airmail delivered: flying time 10 hrs. 5 min.

Sports

Football: Knute Rockne (1888-1931) is named head football coach at the University of Notre Dame.

Sports

Boxing: Jack Dempsey (1895-1983), American heavy-weight boxing champion, knocks out Carl Morris in 14 seconds.

Sports

Women in Sports: Eleanora Sears (a great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson, born in 1881) takes up squash, after excelling at polo (which she rode astride, shocking conventions of the day), baseball, golf, field hockey, auto racing, swimming, tennis, yachting and speedboat racing. She accumulated 240 trophies during her athletic career. She demonstrated that women could play men's games and was a prime liberator of women in sports.

Popular Culture

Composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) writes the song “Swanee” for the Broadway show Sinbad.

Religion

United Lutheran Church established (U.S.).

Social Issues

Censorship: U.S. Post Office burns installments of James Joyce’s (1882-1941) “Ulysses,” published in the “Little Review”.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: Women over 30 get the right to vote in Britain.

Reform

Birth Control Movement: New York v. Sanger; Margaret Sanger wins her suit in New York to allow doctors to advise their married patients about birth control for health purposes.

Law

Women's Suffrage Movement: The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote, is passed by Congress.

Law

The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors, is ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Politics

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) founds the political party, Fasci del Combattimento.

Politics

In Paris, the League of Nations comes into being. The Hague is selected for the International Court of Justice.

Politics

The Republican convention nominates Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) for the presidency with Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) as his running mate.

Politics

The Democratic convention nominates James M. Cox (1870-1957) for the presidency with Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) as his running mate.

Government

Women's Firsts: Lady Astor (1879-1964) becomes the first woman to be elected as a Member of Parliament in Britain.

Government

Capital Punishment: Austria abolishes the death penalty.

Government

President Woodrow Wilson presents his Fourteen Points for world peace to the American Congress; these Conditions of Peace are intended to guarantee future cooperation among the nations of the world and contain the foundations for a world organization called the League of Nations.

Government

League of Nations: The plenary session of the Peace Conference accepts the proposals for the creation of a League of Nations; the U.S. Senate, however, votes against joining the League.

War

World War I: The Treaty of Versailles is signed, officially ending World War I. Part 1, Articles 1 to 26 of this and other Peace Treaties contain the Covenant of the League of Nations.

Science

English scientist F.W. Aston (1877-1945) builds mass-spectrograph and establishes the phenomena of isotopy.

Science

Observation of the total eclipse of the sun bear out Albert Einstein’s (1879-1955) theory of relativity.

Science

Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945), “Father of American Rocketry” writes “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes”.

Science

Rutherford (1871-1937) demonstrates that the atom is not the final building-block of the universe.

Science

First experiments with shortwave radio (under 100 meters).

Science

In collaboration with Massolle and Engl, Hans Vogt (1903-1986) experiments on a new sound film system.

Inventions

Glenn L. Martin (1886-1955) invents the Martin Bomber, a warplane.

Education

Higher Education: New universities are founded in Hamburg, Posen, Bratislava, and Cologne.

Education

Higher Education: A.D. Juilliard ( -1919)dies leaving 20 million dollars to endow Juilliard School of Music.

Education

Children's Books; Hugh Lofting (1886-1947): the first of the “Dr. Doolittle” stories.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) writes “Corn Huskers,” which wins the Pulitzer Prize.

Arts and Letters

Bauhaus, founded and built by Walter Gropius (1883-1969) in Weimar, Germany, revolutionizes the teaching of painting, sculpture, architecture, and industrial arts.

Arts and Letters

Jazz arrives in Europe.

Arts and Letters

The Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra gives its first concert.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) writes “Main Street”.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953) writes “The Emperor Jones” and “Beyond the Horizon."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) writes “Winesburg, Ohio,” a volume of interrelated short stories.

Ideas

Johan Huizinga (1872-1945) writes “The Waning of the Middle Ages.”

Ideas

C.G. Jung (1875-1961) writes “Psychological Types.”

Roosevelt, Edith

Former President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) dies in Oyster Bay, New York.

Hoover, Lou

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) is named Director-General of International Organization for European Relief.

Economics

J.M. Keynes (1883-1946) writes “The Economic Consequence of the Peace.”

Economics

The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is established.

Economics

Ford Motor Company: A conflict with stockholders over the millions to be spent building the giant Rouge manufacturing complex in Dearborn, Michigan leads to the company becoming wholly owned by Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, who then succeeds his father as president.

Daily Life

Transportation: J.W. Alcock and A. Whitten Brown (1886-1948) make first nonstop flight across the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours 27 minutes.

Daily Life

Railroad lines operated in America total 265,000 miles.

Daily Life

The American Legion is formed.

Sports

Boxing: Jack Dempsey (1895-1983), U.S. heavyweight boxer, takes the world championship from Jess Willard.

Sports

Baseball: Babe Ruth (1895-1948) hits a 587 ft. home run in a Boston Red Sox versus. New York Giants game in Tampa, Florida.

Sports

Jim Thorpe (1888-1953), the great American all around athlete, finishes his 6-year major league baseball career with the Boston Braves; plays in 60 game; hits .327.

Sports

Horse Racing: Sir Barton is first horse to win triple crown: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes; J. Loftus jockey in all three.

Sports

The development of a mechanical rabbit by Oliver Smith (1893-1977), of California, marks origin of modern greyhound racing.

Sports

Baseball: Black Sox Scandal: Eight players on the Chicago White Sox conspire with gamblers to throw the World Series. They are acquitted in a court of law—but they are banned from baseball forever.

Religion

Karl Barth (1886-1968): “Der Romerbrief” (“The Epistle to the Romans”), beginning of Protestant dialectical theology.

Religion

Church and State separated in Germany.

Religion

Joan of Arc (1412-1431) canonized by Pope Benedict XV.

Reform

Labor Movement: Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), governor of Massachusetts, calls out the National Guard to end Boston Police Strike.

Reform

Labor Movement: An International Labor Conference in Washington endorses eight-hour workday.

Reform

Labor Movement: The great American steel strike occurs, lasting until January 1920.

Law

A year after ratification, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages, goes into effect.

Law

The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote, is ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Politics

The German Worker’s Party is renamed the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ or Nazi Party.

Politics

Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) is elected as the 29th President of the U.S., and Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) is elected as the nation's 29th Vice President.

Government

The Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles and the Covenant of the League of Nations for the second time.

Government

The League of Nations comes into existence with its headquarters in Geneva; the Versailles Peace Treaty and the Covenant of the League of Nations enter into force.

Government

The Water Power Act establishes the Federal Power Commission to regulate the generation of electricity from waterways on public lands and from navigational streams.

Government

The “Red Scare’ results in nationwide raids by federal agents, with mass arrests of “anarchists, Communists, and labor agitators.

Science

William D. Harkins (1873-1951) proposes the existence of an uncharged subatomic particle, which he calls the “neutron.”

Medicine

Harvey Cushing (1869-1939) pioneers new techniques in brain surgery.

Medicine

Insulin is isolated for the first time by Canadian Sir Frederick Banting (1891-1941) and Charles Best (1899-1978).

Inventions

Nobel Prize for Physics goes to Charles Guillaume (1861-1938), a Swiss physicist, for the invention of Invar, an alloy of iron containing nickel.

Arts and Letters

Literature: F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), an important novelist of the period, publishes his first novel entitled "This Side of Paradise."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) publishes "Main Street," a novel that exposes the cultural vacuum of a small Midwestern town.

Ideas

In "Easy Lessons in Einstein," Edwin E. Slosson explains the theory of relativity in a simple and clear manner.

Economics

The Jones Act prohibits shipping merchandise between U.S. ports "in any other vessel than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States.''''

Economics

Ford Motor Company: The Detroit-Toledo-Ironton (DTI) railroad proves to be a smart purchase for the Ford Motor Company (FMC). After purchasing the railway, FMC uses it for the next 8 years to control transport of materials and supplies to the massive Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

Sports

Baseball: The Negro National League, the first financially successful all-black league, is founded by Hall-of-Famer Rube Foster.

Sports

Women in Sports: The skimpy fashions of the '20's put a new emphasis on athletic bodies and narrow the gap between health and glamour. Advertisers, like Grape-Nuts, say, "Grandmother went bathing - girls like Molly go in to swim."

Sports

Baseball: The Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth (1895-1948) to the New York Yankees.

Sports

William T. Tilden (1893-1953) wins Wimbledon Lawn Tennis; after this victory, he dominates world tennis until 1925.

Popular Culture

KDKA, America’s first commercial radio station, begins operation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by broadcasting the results of the presidential election.

Religion

Use of religion in Turkey for political ends is made punishable by death.

Reform

Women''s Suffrage Movement: Women get the right to vote when the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified. By this time, 15 states have women suffrage laws.

Law

Chief Justices: President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) nominates William Howard Taft (1857-1930) as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Senate confirms his appointment on the same day. Taft is the only person in history to have been both President and Chief Justice.

Law

League of Nations: The Permanent Court of International Justice comes into being.

Government

Immigration: Congress passes the Quota Act, which limits immigration in the United States.

Government

The Department of Agriculture enforces regulations of the Packers and Stockyards Act to stop manipulation of prices in meat-packing industries.

Government

Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) is inaugurated as the 29th President of the U.S., and Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) is inaugurated as the nation's 29th Vice President.

War

The joint resolution of Congress declares that World War I has ended. Separate U.S. treaties with Germany, Austria, and Hungary are signed and ratified.

Science

Langmuir (1881-1957) and Lewis (1875-1946) independently propose atomic theories.

Medicine

James B. Collip (1892-1965) isolates pure insulin.

Medicine

Edward Mellanby (1884 - 1955) discovers vitamin D and shows that its absence causes rickets.

Inventions

Physician Alvan L. Barach designs a vented oxygen tent.

Technology

John Couch Adams (1819-1892) uses a spectroscope to study and determine the distance of 2000 stars.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) publishes "Michael Robartes and the Dancer," a collection that includes his famous poem, Easter 1916.

Arts and Letters

Women’s Firsts: Literature: American novelist Edith Wharton(1862-1937) becomes the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. She wins the award for her novel "The Age of Innocence."

Ideas

Ernst Kretschmer (1888-1964) publishes "Physique and Character," in which he suggests that body build is closely related to mental state.

Eisenhower, Mamie

Doud Dwight (Ikky) Eisenhower (1917-1921), son of Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower dies January 2 from scarlet fever.

Reagan, Nancy

Anne Frances “Nancy” Robbins is born on July 6, 1921 at Sloane Hospital, Flushing, Queens, New York. She is the ninth of ten First Ladies born in New York, the “mother state” of presidential wives.

Economics

The end of the wartime boom causes business depression and high unemployment. The National Conference proposes a job program.

Economics

Unemployment throughout the U.S. is 5.7 million. Widespread wage cuts in many industries include those of New York Central railroad employees (by 22.5%) and clothing workers (by 15%).

Daily Life

Iowa imposes the first state tax on cigarettes.

Daily Life

Magazines: Publisher DeWitt Wallace (1889-1981) founds the Reader’s Digest.

Daily Life

Knee-length skirts for women become the fashion, causing much comment in the press.

Sports

Baseball: Station KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcasts radio’s first live major league game. (Fewer than 10 percent of Americans own a radio.)

Sports

Women in Sports: The National Women's Athletic Association is organized.

Social Issues

Immigration: California’s Supreme Court declares the state’s Alien Poll Tax unconstitutional and a violation of the treaty between the U.S. and Japan.

Social Issues

Hate Groups: The Ku Klux Klan promotes “white supremacy” and seeks to control politics in many southern communities.

Reform

Birth Control Movement: National Birth Control League and Voluntary Parenthood League are combined to form the American Birth Control League in New York City; Margaret Sanger heads the league.

Law

The Supreme Court declares that the Federal Child Labor Law is unconstitutional.

Politics

Women's Firsts: Soledad Chacon is elected Secretary State of New Mexico, the first woman elected to that position.

Government

Women’s Firsts: Rebecca Felton (1835 – 1930), of Georgia, is appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill a temporary vacancy. The first woman senator, she serves for only two days.

Government

League of Nations: The first meeting of the Permanent Court of International Justice occurs.

Government

U.S. and Japan sign Yap Treaty, permitting U.S. cable and radio stations in the Yap Islands.

Government

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) is arrested by the British in India for inciting his countrymen to violence in their fight for independence.

War

U.S. Open Doors Policy is implemented in China. Nine major powers also sign treaties limiting warships, restricting the use of submarines, and outlawing poisonous gas.

Science

Alfred C. Lane begins experiments to determine the age of the earth.

Medicine

Elmer McCollum (1879-1967) discovers vitamin D in cod liver oil. He uses the oil in the successful treatment of rickets.

Inventions

British watchmaker John Howard invents the self-winding watch.

Technology

Ship to shore radio communication begins.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: James Joyce (1882-1941) publishes "Ulysses."

Arts and Letters

Literature: F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) publishes "The Beautiful and the Damned."

Ideas

Herman Julius Oberth (1894-1989) writes "The Rocket into Interdisciplinary Space," in which the concept of escape velocity is introduced.

Eisenhower, Mamie

John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower (1922-), son of Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower, is born August 3.

Daily Life

Lt. Harold Harris becomes the first member of the Caterpillar Club by parachuting from a defective plane during a flight test in Dayton, Ohio. The club is made up of individuals who have escaped death by using a parachute.

Daily Life

Marriages in the U.S. total 1,126,000 and divorces total 148,000.

Sports

Golf: The oldest American international team golf match takes place between the U.S. and Great Britain. It is established at the National Golf Links of America, Southampton, NY.

Sports

Women in Sports: The National Amateur and Athletic Federation (NAAF) is founded, committed to boys and girls being on an "equal footing with the same standards, the same program and the same regulations."

Social Issues

Racism: Oklahoma is placed under marshal law to control violence and curb Ku Klux Klan activity.

Reform

Birth Control Movement: Dr. Marie Stopes (1880-1958) holds a series of meetings in Queen’s Hall, London to advocate birth control.

Government

Intermediate Credits Act expands credit to farmers and encourages farm cooperatives in an effort to ease agricultural depression.

Government

Vice President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)becomes the nation's 30th President on the death of President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923). No new Vice President is selected.

War

Payment of British war debt to the U.S. begins.

War

U.S. troops on the Rhine River in Germany are ordered to return by President Haring (1865-1923).

Science

Louis A. Bauer analyzes the Earth’s magnetic field.

Medicine

Insulin becomes generally available to people with diabetes.

Medicine

Vaccines: First vaccine for Diphtheria is used.

Inventions

The bulldozer is invented.

Arts and Letters

Drummer Buddy Rich tours the U.S. and Australia as a child prodigy on the drums.

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) publishes his theories on the human mind in "The Ego and the Id."

Harding, Florence

President Harding (1865-1923) dies suddenly in San Francisco on his return trip from Alaska. His father in Vermont swears in Coolidge (1872-1933) as President.

Economics

The DuPont Company acquires the rights to manufacture Cellophane; the first U.S. made Cellophane is produced in 1924.

Economics

In order to build a Model T automobile, Ford required approximately 250 feet of lumber for each car that it built. As a result, Henry Ford authorized the purchase of several hundred thousand acres of forestland in northern Michigan.

Discovery

Native Americans: Oil is discovered on the Navajo Reservation.

Daily Life

Disasters: An earthquake in Japan destroys Yokohama and half of Tokyo; about 100,000 people die.

Daily Life

Magazines: Time Magazine hits the newsstands for the first time, at $.15 a copy.

Sports

Finnish Paavo Nurmi runs the mile in 4 minutes and 10.4 seconds.

Sports

Women in Sports: 22% of U.S. colleges have varsity sports teams for women.

Popular Culture

Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959), film director and producer, releases the Biblical spectacle The Ten Commandments.

Popular Culture

"e Covered Wagon," voted as one of the 10 best movies of the year by Film Daily, sets the style and popularity for Westerns.

Social Issues

Racism: The African-American town of Rosewood, Florida is burned by a white mob.

Reform

Women''s Rights Movement: National Woman’s Party proposes Constitutional amendment stating that “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and in every place subject to its jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

Politics

The Progressive Party, backed by the American Federation of Labor, Farm-Labor Party and the Socialist Party, nominates senator La Follette of Wisconsin for President.

Politics

Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) is elected President of the U.S. in his own right, and Charles Dawes (1865-1951) is elected the nation's 30th Vice President.

Government

Greece is proclaimed a republic.

Government

The diplomatic and consular services of the U.S. government are consolidated.

Government

Native Americans: Congress passes the Indian Citizenship Act, granting U.S. citizenship to Native Americans.

Government

Immigration: Immigration Act of 1924 establishes fixed quotas of national origin and eliminates Far East immigration.

War

The U.S. Marines land at Shanghai, China to help suppress the civil war.

Science

Scientist Harry Steenbock discovers that sunlight increases the amount of vitamin D in certain foods. After tests prove that it is the ultraviolet part of sunlight, which has this effect, Steenbock patents a process of using artificial ultraviolet light to increase the vitamin D content in food.

Medicine

The portable electrocardiograph is introduced. It uses vacuum tubes to amplify the weak electrical signals produced by the heart.

Technology

RCA demonstrates wireless telegraph transmission of photographs from New York City to London; the process takes about 25 minutes per photograph.

Education

Children's Books: A.A. Milne (1882-1956), English humorist, publishes When We Were Very Young, a collection of stories for his son, Christopher.

Arts and Letters

Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) commissions George Gershwin (1898-1937) to write the symphonic jazz-style “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Truman, Bess

(Mary) Margaret Truman Daniel (1924-), daughter of Harry and Bess Truman, is born February 17.

Coolidge, Grace

Calvin Coolidge Jr. (1908-1924), son of Calvin and Grace Coolidge, dies July 7.

Economics

Harry Cohn founds Columbia pictures.

Discovery

Hubble determines that Cepheid variables (stars) in the Andromeda nebula are hundreds of thousands of light years beyond the Milky Way. This is conclusive proof that there are other galaxies besides our own.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The gas chamber is used for the first time as a method of execution in the United States when gangster Gee Jon is put to death in Nevada.

Daily Life

The publisher Simon and Schuster market the first crossword puzzle book.

Daily Life

There are 2.5 million radios in the U.S.; in 1920 there were only 5000, mostly used by professionals.

Sports

The first Winter Olympic games open at Chamonix, France.

Sports

Football: Notre Dame''s “Four Horseman” – Layden, Stuhldreher, Miller, and Crowley – star as Notre Dame upsets Army.

Sports

Black Athletes: Olympic gold medalist (summer games; individual): DeHart Hubbard (1903-1976) is the gold medalist for the long jump.

Social Issues

Immigration: The Johnson-Reed Act is passed, severely limiting immigration.

Reform

Women's Rights Movement: Radice v. New York, a New York state case, upholds a law that forbade waitresses from working the night shift but made an exception for entertainers and ladies' room attendants.

Politics

Nellie Taylor Ross (1876-1977) becomes the Governor of Wyoming, being the first woman to be elected as governor of a state.

Government

The Senate ratifies 20-year-old treaty, which recognizes the right of Cuba to the Isle of Pines.

Government

The U.S. and Canada agree to improve the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Lake Ontario.

Government

The boundary between Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) is established.

Government

Women’s Firsts: Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1997) becomes the first woman to serve as governor of a state, in Wyoming.

Government

Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) is inaugurated as President of the U.S., and Charles Dawes (1865-1951) is inaugurated as the nation's 30th Vice President.

Science

Millikan (1868-1953) discovers that cosmic rays are absorbed (not produced) by the atmosphere.

Science

The meter is standardized.

Medicine

George H. Whipple (1878-1976) demonstrates that iron is a major factor in the formation of red blood cells.

Inventions

Berliner (1851-1929) invents acoustic tiles for soundproofing.

Inventions

Railroad History: The American Locomotive Company (ALCO), along with G.E. and IR, builds its first Diesel electric loco.

Education

Higher Education: Trinity College in North Carolina agrees to change its name to Duke University to meet the terms of a $40 million trust fund established by James B. Duke, a tobacco millionaire.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) publishes "In Our Time."

Arts and Letters

Literature: F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) publishes "The Great Gatsby."

Arts and Letters

Writer DuBose Heyward (1885-1940) publishes "Porgy," on which the musical "Porgy and Bess" is later based.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: Since Harvard was not supportive of the theatre movement on their campus, the efforts were relocated to Yale in 1925. As a result, Yale established the Drama School as a graduate program that was committed to providing American theatre with gifted artists of superior training.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Theodore Dreiser’s (1871-1945) first commercial success was "An American Tragedy" (1925), which was made into a film in 1931 and again in 1951.

Ideas

John Watson publishes "Behaviorism," a book that sparks popular interest in psychology.

Nixon, Pat

At the age of 13, “Pat” Ryan (Nixon) assumes the role of housewife for her family when her mother, Kate Halberstadt Bender Ryan, a native of Germany, dies of cancer.

Bush, Barbara

Barbara Pierce is born on June 8 in New York City. She is the tenth of ten First Ladies born in New York, the "mother state" of presidential wives.

Economics

The Ford Motor Company acquires the Lincoln Motor Company, thus branching out into luxury cars.

Daily Life

Disasters: The most violent tornado is U.S. history, the “Tri-State Tornado,” hits Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois, killing 689 people and injuring 13,000 others.

Daily Life

Magazines: The New Yorker magazine is founded.

Popular Culture

Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946), blindfolded, plays 28 simultaneous games of chess.

Religion

A copy of the Bible costs the equivalent of about $2000 in the 14th century, $500 in 1455, $100 by the 17th century, and $3 in 1925.

Religion

Public Education: Tennessee teacher John T. Scopes is arrested for teaching the Theory of Evolution, which is forbidden by state law. This dispute known as the “Monkey Trial” attracts enormous attention; Scopes is convicted and fined $100.

Politics

Third Parties: The Progressive Party wins seats in Congress in the fall election.

Government

The U.S. fails to join the Permanent Court of International Justice and Arbitration at The Hague.

Government

Senate ratifies World War debt funding agreements with European countries.

Government

Congress passes the Revenue Act which reduces income and inheritance taxes and abolishes many nuisance taxes.

Government

League of Nations: The first meeting of the Preparatory Disarmament Commission occurs in Geneva.

War

Congress establishes the Army Air Corps.

Science

German physicist, Max Born (1882-1970), formulates the mathematical basis of the quantum theory.

Medicine

George Minot (1885-1950), William Murphy (1892-1987), and George Whipple (1878-1976) use a diet rich in raw liver to cure patients who are suffering from pernicious anemia, a usually fatal disease. Later, Minot and Edwin Cohn prepare liver extract that remains the basic treatment for this disease until 1948.

Medicine

Vaccines: First vaccine for Pertussis is used.

Technology

The first liquid fuel rocket is successfully launched by Professor Robert Goddard at Auburn, Massachusetts; the rocket traveled 184 feet in 2.5 seconds.

Technology

The Radio Corporation of America, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, and the British General Post office hold the first successful transatlantic radiotelephone conversation between New York City and London.

Education

Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) founds Negro History Week, which later evolves into Black History Month.

Education

Children's Books: A.A. Milne (1882-1956) publishes "Winnie the Pooh," one of the most popular children’s books ever written.

Education

Libraries: Los Angeles Public Library is dedicated.

Arts and Letters

Literature: William Faulkner (1897-1962) publishes his first novel, "Soldier’s Pay."

Arts and Letters

Painting: Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) paints “Black Iris,” and abstract work in which the flowers assume human anatomical shapes.

Ideas

T.H. Morgan (1866-1945) publishes "Theory of the Gene."

Ideas

Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) publishes "Measurement of Intelligence."

Daily Life

Explorers Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957) and Floyd Bennett (1890-1928) fly over the North Pole.

Daily Life

Airmail service starts between New York City and Boston.

Sports

H. Bierkottes swims the English Channel in 12 hours and 4 minutes.

Sports

Women’s Firsts: American Gertrude Ederle (1906-2003) becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

Popular Culture

English filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), known for his gripping thrillers, directs The Lodger.

Popular Culture

Writer Edna Ferber (1887-1968) publishes "Show Boat."

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Supreme Court rules that a Texas law forbidding Negroes from voting in Democratic primary elections is unconstitutional.

Politics

A Socialist uprising and a general strike occurs in Vienna, Austria, after acquittal of Nazis for political murder.

Government

League of Nations: The Spanish Government announces that it will continue to collaborate in the work of the League.

War

U.S. Marines land in Nicaragua to protect U.S. lives and property during civil war.

Science

Jan Hendrik Oort (1900-1992), Dutch astronomer, further clarifies Lindblad’s theory about the rotation of the Milky Way galaxy.

Science

Clinton Davisson (1881-1958) and Lester Germer (1896-1971) discover that electrons are diffracted when they pass through crystal. This discovery supports the wave theory of electric behavior.

Medicine

Frank A. Hartman isolates “cortin” from the adrenal glands and suggests that absence of this hormone may cause Addison’s disease.

Medicine

Vaccines: First vaccine for Tuberculosis is used.

Inventions

The History of Toys: A tough, durable kind of plastic, polystyrene, is invented. Although the first plastic, celluloid, was invented in the 1860s, polystyrene is the first type strong enough to really suit toy making.

Inventions

The pentode (a 5-element vacuum tube) is developed. It permits distortion free amplification of sound.

Technology

Ernst Alexanderson (1878-1975) receives the first American television broadcast at his home.

Education

Libraries: The Central library of the Free Library of Philadelphia is dedicated.

Ideas

Pavlov (1849-1936) publishes "Conditioned Reflexes," based on his experiments in which dogs, fed at the sound of a bell, salivated at the sound of the bell alone.

Ideas

Cosmologist Georges Lemaitre (1894-1966) proposes the Big Bang Theory to explain the origin of the universe.

Tyler, Julia

David Gardiner "Gardie" Tyler (1846-1927), the first son born to John Tyler and his second wife Julia, dies September 5.

Economics

The Federal Reserve reduces the discount rate by half a point and purchases $230 million of government securities.

Daily Life

Transatlantic commercial telephone service begins between New York City and London.

Daily Life

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), then U.S. Secretary of Commerce, gives a speech in Washington, D.C. that is seen and heard in New York via the first long-distance television transmission.

Daily Life

Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974) makes the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic in the Spirit of Saint Louis, from Long Island to Paris.

Daily Life

The Holland Tunnel, designed by Clifford M. Holland, opens to vehicular traffic. More than 1.5 miles long, the tunnel travels under the Hudson River and connects New York with New Jersey.

Sports

Baseball: Babe Ruth (1895-1948) sets home run record when he hits 60 for the season.

Sports

Boxing: The first Golden Gloves amateur boxing matches, sponsored by the New York Daily News, are held.

Sports

Women in Sports: The International Federation of Women's Field Hockey Associations (IFWHA) is formed to provide competition for teams from the US, England, Scotland and Ireland.

Popular Culture

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.

Popular Culture

Bandleader and composer, Duke Ellington (1899-1974), organizes a band that begins a five-year stand at Harlem’s Cotton Club.

Religion

Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) produces his second Biblical epic called "The King of Kings."

Politics

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) is elected the 31st President of the U.S., and Charles Curtis (1860-1936) is elected as the nation's 31st Vice President.

Government

McNary-Haugen Bill for relief of farmers is vetoed on the grounds that it would fix prices and stimulate overproduction.

Government

Flood Control Bill provides $325 million to curb flooding in the Mississippi River Valley.

Government

Prohibition: Congress appropriates $32 million to enforce Prohibition during the next year.

Government

Britain recognizes the Chinese National government at Nanking.

War

U.S. signs Briand-Kellogg Act Pact, outlawing war. Eventually, 63 nations sign it also.

Science

Karl Ziegler (1898-1973) explains the chemical procedure for making artificial rubber.

Medicine

Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) discovers penicillin, founding the field of antibiotic therapy.

Inventions

Railroad History: The first Diesel-electric passenger locomotive built in North America was a two-unit 2-D-1-1-D-2.

Technology

Mount Palomar Observatory installs a 200-inch reflecting telescope designed by George Hale (1868-1938).

Education

Libraries: The West Virginia Supreme Court rules that Charleston libraries cannot exclude black patrons since, as taxpayers, they are equally entitled to library service.

Ideas

John Von Neumann (1903-1957) develops as part of his theory games, the minimax theorem, a strategy for minimizing a player’s maximum loss.

Daily Life

The first seeing eye dog was presented to Morris S. Frank.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: The Mickey Mouse character is created by Walt Disney.

Popular Culture

The first annual Calaveras County “Frog Jumping Jubilee” is held in Angel’s Camp, CA.

Popular Culture

Jerome Kern (1885-1945) and Hammerstein (1895-1960) write the score for Show Boat, which includes the song “Ol’ Man River.”

Politics

The National Revolutionary Party is organized in Mexico; it becomes the chief political party.

Government

The Lateran Treaty, in which Italy agrees to recognize the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City, is signed.

Government

Immigration: The National origins plan goes into effect. U.S. consuls are told to reject any immigrant who might become a “public charge.”

Government

The Agriculture Marketing Act establishes the Federal Farm Board to stabilize farm prices.

Government

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) is inaugurated as the 31st President of the U.S., and Charles Curtis (1860-1936) is inaugurated as the nation's 31st Vice President.

Science

Hubble measures the red shift and discovers that the galaxies are moving away from each other. This universal recession of galaxies indicates that the universe is expanding.

Science

Nobel Prize for Physics goes to Broglie (1892-1987) for his electron wave theory.

Medicine

Hans Berger (1873- 1941) discovers human electroencephalography.

Technology

Ernst Alaxanderson (1878-1975) measures the altitude of an airplane by using reflected radio waves. This is an early use of radar.

Technology

Kodak introduces 16mm movie film.

Technology

In the first instrument flight, Lt. James Doolittle (1896-1993) flies entirely by radio signals received in his airplane.

Education

Higher Education: University of Pennsylvania establishes a department of Medical Physics (biophysics).

Education

Libraries: Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), a merchant and philanthropist, helps fund libraries in 13 southern states to be used in both urban and rural areas, regardless of race.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) publishes the novel "A Farewell to Arms."

Ideas

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) publishes “A Room of One’s Own.”

Ideas

Robert M. Yerkes (1876-1956), psychologist, publishes "The Great Apes" and establishes the Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology (Florida) to study animal behavior and intelligence.

Hoover, Lou

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) was the first president to have a telephone installed on his desk on March 27. White House phones came next.

Kennedy, Jackie

Jacqueline Bouvier is born on July 28, 2919 in Southhampton, New York. She is the eighth of ten First Ladies born in New York, the "mother state" of presidential wives.

Economics

American Money: Currency is reduced in size by 25 percent and standardizes with uniform portraits on the faces and emblems and monuments on the backs.

Economics

President Hoover (1874-1964) meets with important businessmen at the White House in order to stabilize the nation’s business.

Economics

The stock market crash brings depression, with widespread unemployment and many business failures.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Gang members working for Al Capone (1899-1947) kill rival gang members in the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago.

Daily Life

The first reindeer are born in the United States, in North Beverly, MA.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: The yo-yo is popularized in the United States.

Sports

Women in Sports: Tuskegee Institute in Alabama forms one of the first women's college track teams, offering scholarships to promising women athletes, and adding women's event to their Tuskegee relays track meets.

Popular Culture

The first Academy Awards are bestowed; the statues that served as symbols of the award are not called Oscars until 1931.

Popular Culture

The first all-color talking picture, "On With the Show," opens.

Popular Culture

“Amos ‘n’ Andy,” a popular radio show heard each weekday through the 1930’s, makes its national premier.

Religion

Presbyterian churches in Scotland unite to form the Church of Scotland.

Social Issues

Immigration: Congress makes annual immigration quotas permanent.

Law

The Supreme Court rules that buying bootleg liquor is not a violation of the 18th amendment.

Law

Chief Justices: President Herbert Hoover nominates Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; he is confirmed by the Senate ten days later and serves in the position for eleven years.

Politics

In the German elections, Nazis gain 107 seats from the center parties.

Government

The Passfield White Paper on Palistine suggests that Jewish immigration be halted.

Government

The names of the cities of Constantinople and Angora in Turkey change to Istanbul and Ankara.

Government

Ras Tafari (1892-1975) becomes Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.

Government

League of Nations: First session of the Commission of Enquiry for European Union.

War

France begins building the Maginot Line.

War

Last Allied troops leave Rhineland.

War

The War Department amends Army regulations to make any violation of the federal prohibition law a military offense.

Medicine

Nobel Prize for Medicine awarded to Karl Landsteiner (1868-1943) (U.S.) for the grouping of human blood.

Inventions

Vannevar Bush, electrical engineer, develops a differential analyzer, the first analog computer.

Inventions

Quartz-crystal clocks are introduced.

Technology

Bell Laboratories develops a two-way television communication system.

Technology

The photoflash bulb comes into use.

Education

Public Education: Civil Rights Movement: The NAACP brings a series of suits over unequal teachers' pay for Blacks and whites in southern states. At the same time, southern states realize they are losing African American labor to the northern cities. These two sources of pressure resulted in some increase of spending on Black schools in the South.

Education

Civil Rights Movment: Brown v. Board: The NAACP began to challenge segregation in graduate and secondary schools in the mid-1930s. Early successes in the Supreme Court barred law schools from denying applicants on the basis of race alone.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959)writes “Elizabeth the Queen."

Arts and Letters

Drama: Noel Coward (1899-1973) writes “Private Lives."

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: The Group Theatre is formed by the Theatre Guild for the purpose of producing social protest works. Members were generally committed to largely communal projects.

Ideas

Technocracy, the absolute domination of technology, becomes talked-of phenomenon.

Ideas

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)writes “About Zionism.”

Ideas

Compton suggests that cosmic rays are made of particles.

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)publishes “Civilization and Its Discontent."

Taft, Helen

William Howard Taft (1857-1930), 27th President of the United States dies; he is the first U.S. president to be buried in the National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.

Economics

New York City’s Bank of the United States closes because of the stock market crash. The bank has 60 branches and almost half a million depositors. During this year more than 1300 banks are forced to close.

Economics

Ford creates the Mercury division to establish a division centered on mid-priced cars. Ford Motor Company continues to grow.

Discovery

Pluto, the ninth planet in the solar system, is discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh (1906-1997).

Daily Life

Prepackaged frozen food is sold for the first time by Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956) in Springfield, MA.

Daily Life

Contract bridge gains in popularity as a card game.

Daily Life

Comic strips grow in popularity in the U.S. (“Blondie” series).

Popular Culture

Bestseller “Cimarron,” is written by Edna Ferber (1885-1968).

Popular Culture

Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) writes “The Maltese Falcon."

Popular Culture

The films “Blue Angel,” (Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992))and “All Quiet on the Western Front,” both win Academy Awards (Milestone).

Politics

German millionaire Alfred Hugenberg (1865-1951) undertakes to support the 800,000-strong Nazi Party; Emil Kirdorf (1847-1938), Fritz Thyssen (1873-1951), and Schroder (1841-1902) follow his example.

Government

League of Nations: The Council decides to convene the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments.

Government

League of Nations: European Conference for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs.

Science

Swiss chemist Paul Karrer (1889-1971) isolates vitamin A.

Science

American physicist E.O. Lawrence (1901-1958) invents the cyclotron.

Inventions

Julius A. Nieuwland (1878-1936) devises a process for producing neoprene, a synthetic rubber.

Technology

The Empire State Building opens.

Technology

The George Washington Bridge, extending from New Jersey to New York, is completed.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) writes “The Good Earth."

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Robert Frost (1874-1963) publishes his “Collected Poems,” which wins the Pulitzer Prize.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953) writes “Morning Becomes Electra.”

Ideas

John Dewey (1859-1952 ) publishes “Philosophy and Civilization.”

Discovery

Australian explorer G.H. Wilkins (1888-1958) captains “Nautilus” submarine, navigating it under the Arctic Ocean to latitude 82 degrees, 15 minutes.

Daily Life

The U.S. officially adopts “The Star-Spangled Banner” as its national anthem on March 3.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Alphonse (“Scarface”) Capone (1899-1947), gangster with reputed $20 million annual income, is jailed for income tax evasion.

Daily Life

Women’s Firsts: Maxine Dunlap becomes first American woman to earn a glider pilot license.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: Alfred M. Butts, an unemployed architect from Poughkeepsie, New York, invents a word game called the Criss Cross Game. In 1948, Butts sells rights to the game to entrepreneur James Brunot who trademarks the game under the name Scrabble.

Daily Life

Population (in millions): China 410, India 338, U.S.S.R. 168, U.S. 122, Japan 75, Germany 64, Great Britain 46.

Sports

The northern face of the Matterhorn is climbed for the first time by Franz and Toni Schmid.

Sports

Women in Sports: Women begin competing in skiing events at the world championships sponsored by the International Ski Federation.

Popular Culture

Popular songs of the year include “Minnie the Moocher”; “Mood Indigo”; Goodnight Sweetheart”; and “When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain.”

Popular Culture

Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) stars in the film, “City Lights."

Popular Culture

Walt Disney (1901-1996) produces his first color film, "Flowers and Trees."

Popular Culture

The musical comedy, "Of Thee I Sing," composed and written by George Gershwin (1898-1937), Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) George S. Kaufman (1889-1961), and Morrie Ryskind (1895-1985), becomes the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Religion

Jehovah’s Witnesses formed from International Bible Students Association.

Religion

Pope Pius XI (1857-1939): “Quadrigesimo Anno," encyclical noting dangers of unrestrained capitalism and totalitarian communism, and calling for a new social order.

Law

The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution, setting January 20 as the day the President is inaugurated, is passed by Congress.

Politics

Women's Firsts: Hattie W. Caraway (1878-1932), a democrat from Arkansas, becomes the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Politics

Running on the idea of a "New Deal" for the American people, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is elected as the 32nd President of the U.S. in a Democratic landslide; John Garner (1868-1967) is elected as the nation's 32nd Vice President.

Government

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is created to conserve area resources.

Government

The Revenue Act of 1932 is passed; it is the largest peacetime tax increase in the nation''s history to that date.

Government

Women’s Firsts: Hattie Wyatt Caraway (1878-1950), of Arkansas, becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

Government

League of Nations: A two-year Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments opens in Geneva; Germany withdraws from the Conference.

Government

Congress changes the name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico".

Science

W.H. Carothers (U.S.) (1896-1937) synthesizes polyamide (nylon by 1936).

Science

James Chadwick (1891-1974) discovers the neutron.

Science

Nobel Prize for Physics: Werner Heisenberg (Germany) for the creation of the matrix theory of quantum mechanics.

Science

Fritz Mietzch (1896-1958) and Josef Klarer (1898-1953): sulfonamide.

Inventions

Sperry Gyroscope Co. develops an automatic pilot.

Technology

A balloon tire is produced for farm tractors.

Technology

RCA demonstrates electric TV using a cathode-ray picture tube receiver.

Education

Libraries: The Folger Library opens in Washington.

Education

Higher Education: Bennington College opens in Vermont.

Education

Basic English is proposed as a prospective international language.

Education

Public Education: A survey of 150 school districts reveals that three quarters of them are using so-called intelligence testing to place students in different academic tracks.

Education

Libraries: Howard University School of Divinity Library is founded.

Economics

In May and June, 17,000 ex-servicemen arrive in Washington D.C., to urge the passage of a law that will permit them to cash their bonus certificates; this bill is defeated by the Senate; government offers expenses for return home, but troops led by General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) finally drive out last 2,000.

Economics

13.7 million people are unemployed in the United States.

Economics

The first unemployment insurance law is enacted in Wisconsin.

Daily Life

Crime and punishment: The infant son of Charles (1902-1974) and Anne Lindbergh (1906-2001) is kidnapped.

Daily Life

Women''s Firsts: Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) becomes the first woman to complete a solo nonstop transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland in about 15 hours.

Daily Life

Women''s Firsts: Amelia Earhart, 34, becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in a red Lockheed Vega in 15 hours and 39 minutes.

Sports

The first Winter Olympic Games held in the U.S., opens at Lake Placid, N.Y.

Sports

The Summer Olympic Games at Los Angeles include 23 sports, 124 events, and 1,408 participants from 37 nations.

Sports

Black Athletes: Louise Stokes (1905-1974) and Tydia Pickett are the first African-American women to be included on a U.S. Olympic team.

Popular Culture

Johnny Weissmuller (1904-1984) appears in his first “Tarzan” film; Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) writes “The Thin Man;" and Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) writes “Brave New World.”

Reform

Women''s Rights Movement: The National Recovery Act forbids more than one family member from holding a government job, resulting in many women losing their jobs.

Law

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution, setting January 20 as the day the President is inaugurated, is ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Law

Prohibition: The Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution, repealing prohibition, is passed by Congress, ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Government

U.S. Congress votes independence for Philippines.

Government

League of Nations: Both Germany and Japan give notice of withdrawal from the League of Nations.

Government

The Federal Securities Act requires sworn statements about all securities for sale to be filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Government

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is inaugurated as the 32nd President of the U.S., and John Garner (1868-1967) is inaugurated as the nation's 32nd Vice President.

Government

Women’s Firsts: Frances Perkins (1882-1965) is appointed secretary of labor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), making her the first woman member of a presidential cabinet.

Government

Adolph Hitler (1889-1945) is named Chancellor of Germany.

Science

Tadeusz Reichstein (1897-1996) synthesizes pure vitamin C.

Science

Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) recognized by R. Kuhn, Szent-Gyorgyi, and Wagner von Jauregg.

Medicine

Manfred Sakel (1900-1957) discovers insulin shock therapy.

Technology

Edwin H. Armstrong (1890-1954) develops frequency modulation (FM) radio broadcasting.

Technology

Philo T. Farnsworth (1906-1971) develops an electronic TV receiver.

Arts and Letters

“Ulysses,” by James Joyce (1882-1941), is allowed in the U.S. after court ruling.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Erskine Caldwell (1903-1987)writes “God’s Little Acre.”

Arts and Letters

George Balanchine (1904-1983) and Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996) found the School of American Ballet.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) writes “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.”

Ideas

C.G. Jung (1875-1961) writes “Modern Man in Search of Soul.”

Economics

American banks are closed March 6 - March 9 by presidential order.

Economics

The U.S. goes off gold standard on April 19.

Economics

Unlike his father, Edsel Ford was more interested in vehicle design than mechanics. He helped bring the company''s products to new heights of elegance and style by creating the company’s first dedicated, in-house design (or “styling”) department. The department’s creations become some of the most influential automotive designs in the industry.

Discovery

The theory that Neanderthal Man is in the line of decent of homo sapiens is rejected following the discovery of the Steinheim skull.

Discovery

R.E. Byrd, begins his second South Pole expedition.

Daily Life

The board game Monopoly is invented.

Daily Life

All books by non-Nazi and Jewish authors are burned in Germany.

Daily Life

Chicago World’s Fair (A Century of Progress International Exposition) opens.

Daily Life

President Roosevelt delivers the first radio “fireside chat” to restore the public’s confidence in the American currency and banking system.

Sports

Baseball: The first baseball all-star game is played.

Sports

Boxing: Italian Primo Carnera (1906-1967) knocks out Jack Sharkey (1902-1994) to win heavyweight-boxing crown.

Popular Culture

Some popular films of the year are “Little Women,” starring Katherine Hepburn (1907-2003), and “She Done Him Wrong,” starring Mae West (1892-1980).

Popular Culture

Some popular songs are “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”; “StormyWeather”; “Easter Parade”; “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”; and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

Social Issues

Holocaust: The Germans at Dachau open the first concentration camp; by 1945 8 to 10 million prisoners have been interned and at least half of them killed. Boycott of Jews begins in Germany.

Social Issues

Immigration: Approximately 60,000 artists (authors, actors, painters, and musicians) emigrate from Germany.

Government

League of Nations: Meeting of the General Commission of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments.

Government

Congress passes the Gold Reserve Act, empowering the President to regulate the value of the U.S. dollar.

Government

President Roosevelt signs Securities Exchange Act, establishing Securities and Exchange Commission. The first chairman of the SEC is Joseph Kennedy.

Science

Adolph Butenandt (1903-1995) isolates the first crystalline male hormone, androsterone.

Science

Enrico Fermi (1901-1954 ) suggests that neutrons and protons are the same fundamental particles in two different quantum states.

Technology

Osoviakhim, U.S.S.R. balloon, ascends 13 miles into stratosphere.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Robert Graves (1895-1985) writes “I, Claudius” and “Claudius the God.”

Arts and Letters

Painting: Salvador Dali (1904-1989) paints “William Tell,” in surrealistic style.

Arts and Letters

Drama: William Saroyan (1908-1981) writes “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze.”

Ideas

Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) writes “A Study of History.”

Ideas

Ruth Benedict (1887-1948) publishes “Patterns of Culture.

Economics

Women’s Firsts: Lettie Pate Whitehead (1872-1953) becomes the first American woman to serve as a director of a major corporation, The Coca-Cola Company.

Discovery

Women’s Firsts: On October 23, 1934, American adventurer Jeanette Piccard (1895 – 1985) sets an altitude record for female balloonists when she ascends 57,579 feet.

Daily Life

Transportation: The S.S. “Normandie” (France) launched; the largest ship afloat until “Queen Elizabeth.”

Daily Life

The Dionne quintuplets are born in Callendar, Ontario.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The F.B.I. shoots John Dillinger (1903-1934), “Public Enemy No. 1.”

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The infamous pair of Bonnie (Parker) (1910-1934) and Clyde (Barrow) (1909-1934), die in a police shootout.

Sports

Golf: The first Masters golf tournament at Augusta National in Georgia is won by Horton Smith (1908-1963).

Sports

Boxing: Max Baer (1909-1959) wins world heavyweight boxing title.

Sports

Boxing: Joe Louis (1914-1981) wins his first fight against Jack Kracken (Chicago).

Popular Culture

Shirley Temple (1928- ) stars in her first film, Stand Up and Cheer.

Social Issues

Poverty: Evangeline Booth (1865-1950), daughter of the Salvation Army’s founder, elected General of the Salvation Army.

Politics

Huey Long (1893-1935) is assassinated by Dr. Carl Weiss in Louisiana Capitol Building.

Government

President Roosevelt (1882-1945) signs U.S. Social Security Act.

Government

Chiang Kai-shek is named President of China.

Government

T.G. Masaryk (1850-1937) resigns as President of Czechoslovakiaand is succeeded by Eduard Benes (1884-1948).

Government

Persia changes its name to Iran.

Government

The Social Security Act establishes a federal payroll tax to finance a cooperative federal-state system of unemployment insurance.

Government

League of Nations: The American Senate refuses to ratify the accession of the United States to the Permanent Court of International justice.

War

World War II: The Saarland is incorporated into Germany following a plebiscite; Nazis repudiate Versailles Treaty and reintroduce compulsory military.

Medicine

Ladislas J. Meduna (1896-1964)discovers metrazol shock therapy.

Medicine

German chemist Gerhard Domagk (1895-1964) announces the discovery of Prontosil, the first sulfa drug for treating streptococcal infections.

Technology

RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) is first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt (1892-1973).

Technology

The first round-the-world telephone conversation covers more than 23,000 miles. It is routed from New York to San Francisco, Indonesia, Holland, England, and back to NY-to an office less than 50 feet from the phone where the call originated.

Technology

Railroad History: EMC builds #511 and #512, the first self-contained Diesel passenger locomotives in the US.

Education

Libraries: The Works Progress Administration library service program gives support in labor and funds to all types of libraries.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: The Federal Theatre Project is established by Works Progress Administration (WPA) under the leadership of Hallie Flanagan (1890-1969). It lasted 4 years and employed over 30,000 theatrical artists and workers. Eventually Congress challenged the content of the productions as being subversive propaganda and dangerous.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Clarence Day (1874-1935) writes “Life with Father.”

Arts and Letters

Drama: T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) writes “Murder in the Cathedral.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) writes “It Can’t Happen Here.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: John Steinbeck (1902-1968) writes “Tortilla Flat.”

Economics

Electrification: The first generator at Hoover Dam along the Nevada-Arizona border begins commercial operation.

Daily Life

Transportation: The S.S. “Normandie” crosses the Atlantic in 107 hours and 33 minutes.

Daily Life

Dancing: The rumba becomes a fashionable dance.

Daily Life

Alcoholics Anonymous is organized in New York.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Bruno R. Hauptmann (1899-1936) goes on trial for the kidnap and murder of the Lindburgh baby.

Daily Life

Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

Sports

Baseball: The Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies play the first major league night baseball game at Crosley Field I Cincinnati.

Reform

Labor Movement: The Committee for Industrial Organizations is founded by the leaders of eight unions in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Its goal is to develop industry-wide unions that include clerical and unskilled workers, as well as skilled-workers who are eligible for the AFL.

Law

The Supreme Court upholds constitutionality of TVA in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority.

Politics

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) is reelected President of the U.S. by a landslide, as is John Garner (1868-1967) as Vice President.

Government

League of Nations: The Secretariat moves into the new League of Nations buildings, Geneva.

War

The U.S. Army adopts the semi-automatic rifle.

War

World War II: German troops occupy Rhineland; elections in Germany give Hitler (1889-1945) 99% of the vote; Four-Year Plan inaugurated.

War

Spanish Civil War begins in July; Franco appointed Chief of State by the insurgents in October; siege of Madrid begins; Spanish government moves to Valencia.

War

World War II: Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) declares war on Japan.

Medicine

Dr. Alexis Carrel (1873-1944) develops an artificial heart.

Medicine

Egas Moniz (1874-1955) discovers prefrontal lobotomy for treating mental diseases.

Technology

The dirigible “Hindenburg” lands at Lakehurst, N.J., after transatlantic flight.

Technology

Mrs. Amy (Johnson) Mollison (1903-1941) flies from England to Cape Town in 3 days, 6 hours, and 25 minutes.

Technology

Boulder (Hoover) Dam on Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona is completed; this creates Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the world.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Beatrice Kaufman and Moss Hart collaborate on the play, “You Can’t Take it With You.”

Economics

The Ford Foundation is established.

Daily Life

Magazines: Henry Luce (1898-1967) begins publication of “Life” magazine.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Bruno Richard Hauptman (1899-1936) is convicted of kidnapping and killing the Lindbergh baby.

Daily Life

Disasters: Floods sweep Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: Parker Brothers introduce Monopoly.

Sports

Baseball: Ty Cobb (1886-1961), Babe Ruth (1895-1948), Honus Wagner (1874-1955), Christy Mathewson (1880-1925) and Walter Johnson (1887-1946) are the first players elected to the newly founded Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Sports

Boxing: Max Schmeling (1905-2005) (German) defeats Joe Louis (1914-1981) (U.S.) to win world heavyweight boxing championship.

Popular Culture

Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) writes “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

Popular Culture

Walter D. Edmunds (1903-1998) writes “Drums Along the Mohawk.”

Popular Culture

Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) writes “Gone with the Wind,” a Pulitzer Prize Novel.

Law

Women's Rights Movement: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of a minimum wage law for women.

Government

President Roosevelt (1882-1945) signs U.S. Neutrality Act.

Government

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) is inaugurated President of the U.S., as is John Garner as Vice President.

War

World War II: Riots in Sudeten area of Czechoslovakia; Sudetan Germans leave Czech Parliament.

War

Spanish Civil War: The German Luftwaffe (air force) destroys the Spanish town of Guernica.

Medicine

The nation’s first blood bank is established at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

Medicine

Crystalline vitamin A and vitamin K concentrates are first obtained.

Medicine

The National Cancer institute is established.

Inventions

Wallace H. Carothers (1896-1937) patents Nylon for the Du Pont Company.

Inventions

The first jet engine is built by Frank Whittle (1907-1996).

Technology

George VI (1895-1952) is crowned King of Great Britain; the broadcast of ceremonies is first worldwide program heard in the U.S.

Technology

The Lincoln Tunnel provides a second major vehicular tunnel between New York and New Jersey.

Technology

San Francisco’s Gold Gate Bridge opens; the main section is 4200 ft. long; it is the longest bridge up to this time.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Ernest Hemmingway (1899-1961) writes “To Have and to Have Not.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: John P. Marquand (1893-1960) writes “The Late George Apley,” which wins a Pulitzer Prize.

Arts and Letters

Painting: Picasso (1881-1973) paints “Guernica,” a mural for the Paris World Exhibition.

Arts and Letters

Paul Mellon (1907-1999) endows the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Economics

Wall Street stock market decline signals serious economic recession in the U.S.

Daily Life

In Connecticut, automobile license places are issued for the first time.

Daily Life

Disasters: The German airship Hindenberg bursts into flames as it is trying to land at Lakehurst, NJ. News of its occurrence is described in the first transcontinental radio broadcast.

Daily Life

Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) is lost on a Pacific flight.

Sports

Women in Sports: The US becomes the first country to win the men's (Swaythling Cup) and women's (Marcel Corbillon Cup) team table tennis championships in the same year.

Sports

Boxing: Joe Louis (1914-1981) regains world heavyweight boxing title by defeating James J. Braddock (1905-1974).

Sports

U.S. Tennis Team wins Davis Cup Tournament in England.

Popular Culture

John Steinbeck (1902-1968) writes “Of Mice and Men.”

Popular Culture

Walt Disney (1901-1996) produces “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Social Issues

Poverty: Public Housing: One of the first public housing projects in New York City, the Harlem River Houses, is built. They were 4 and 5-story walk-ups that were connected.

Reform

Women''s Rights Movement: Minimum wage law for women is upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Reform

Labor Movement: A major strike against Republic Steel takes place: 4 killed and 84 injured in Chicago.

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Supreme Court rules that the University of Missouri Law School must admit Negroes because of a lack of other facilities in the area.

Government

Martin Dies (1900-1972) (Texas Democrat), becomes chairman of the newly formed House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of U.S. House of Representatives.

War

World War II: Hitler (1889-1945) appoints himself War Minister, Ribbentrop Foreign Minister; meets Schuschnigg at Berchtesgaden and marches into Austria; Mussolini (1883-1945) and Hitler meet in Rome; programs in Germany.

War

World War II: Eden resigns in protest against Chamberlain’s (1869-1940) policy; Winston Churchill (1874-1965) leads country’s outcry; Duff Cooper (1890-1954) resigns as First Lord of the Admiralty; President Benes (1884-1948) resigns; Slovakia and Ruthenia granted autonomy; Hungary annexes southern Slovakia; Emil Hacha (1872-1945) installed as puppet President of Czechoslovakia.

Science

Karter, Salomon, and Fritzsche chemically identify vitamin E.

Science

Isolation of pyridoxine (vitamin B6).

Medicine

Robert E. Gross, physician, surgically repairs a congenital heart defect.

Medicine

Ugo Cerletti (1877- 1963) and Lucio Bini (1908-1964) discover electroconvulsive therapy.

Education

The Cloisters, endowed by Rockefeller (1839-1937), is built in upper Manhattan as a branch of the Metropolitan Museum to house medieval art.

Education

Higher Education: Education of Women: African American Education: Harvard University grants and honorary doctorate to Negro singer Marian Anderson (1897-1993).

Education

Civil Rights Movement: Higher Education: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the University of Missouri Law School must admit Negroes because of a lack of other facilities in the area.

Arts and Letters

Drama: "Our Town," by Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), is performed publicly for the first time in Princeton, NJ.

Arts and Letters

Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) writes “Rebecca.”

Arts and Letters

Drama: Robert Sherwood (1896-1955): “Abe Lincoln in Illinois."

Arts and Letters

Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) builds Taliesin West in Phoenix, Arizona.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953) writes “The Yearling,” a Pulitzer Prize novel.

Ideas

Johan Huizinga (1872-1945) writes “Homo Ludens.”

Ideas

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) writes “Modes of Thought.”

Economics

Dupont markets the first nylon product-a toothbrush.

Economics

The Fair Labor Standards Act passed, enacting first national minimum wage law.

Daily Life

The 40 hour work week is established in the United States.

Daily Life

20,000 TV sets are in service in New York City.

Daily Life

The S.S. “Queen Elizabeth” is launched.

Daily Life

32,000 people die in auto accidents in the U.S.

Sports

Horse Racing: Eddie Arcado rides his first Kentucky Derby winner, “Lawrin.”

Popular Culture

The New Orleans jazz classic, "When the Saints Go Marching In," is recorded by Louis Armstrong (1901-1971).

Popular Culture

The popular radio quiz show Information Please is broadcast by NBC.

Popular Culture

Orson Welles’s (1915- 1985) radio production of H.G. Well’s (1866-1946) “War of the Worlds” causes considerable panic.

Popular Culture

Benny Goodman’s (1909-1986) band brings new style to jazz music.

Popular Culture

Kurt Weill (1900-1950): “Knickerbocker Holiday,” musical comedy, New York.

Social Issues

Anti-semitism: Anti-Jewish legislation enacted in July.

Reform

Labor Movement: Women''s Rights Movement: The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage without regard to sex.

Law

President Roosevelt appoints the first Jewish Associate Justice to the Supreme Court, Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965); at the same time, he appoints William O. Douglas (1898-1980), who hold the record for longest service on the Court -- 36 years, 7 months.

War

The Spanish Civil War ends.Rooseveltasks Congress for $552 million for defense and demands assurance from Hitler and Mussolini that they will not attack 31 named states.

War

World War II: Germany occupies Bohemia and Moravia, places Slovakia under “protection,” annexes Memel, renounces nonaggression pact with Poland and naval agreement with England, and concludes both the 10-year alliance with Italy and the nonaggression pact with U.S.S.R.

War

World War II: Japanese occupy Hainan and blockade British concession at Tientsin; U.S. renounces Japanese trade agreement of 1911.

War

World War II: Britain and France recognize Franco’s government; U.S. recognition follows; Spanish Civil War ends; Spain joins Anti-Comintern Pact and leaves League of Nations.

War

World War II: Germany invades Poland and annexes Danzig on September 1; Britain and France declare war on Germany on September 3; Roosevelt declares that the U.S. is neutral; Germans overrun western Poland and reach Brest-Litovsk and Warsaw; U.S.S.R. invades Poland from the east; the British Expeditionary Force (158,000 men) are sent to France.

Science

Joliot-Curie demonstrates the possibility of splitting apart the atom.

Science

Polyethylene is invented.

Science

Nobel Prize for Physics awarded to Ernest O. Lawrence (U.S.) for the development of cyclotron.

Technology

Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972) constructs the first helicopter.

Technology

Radar stations are used in Britain to give early warning of approaching enemy aircrafts.

Arts and Letters

“Grandma Moses” (Anna M. Robertson) becomes famous in the U.S.

Arts and Letters

Dance: Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid” ballet opens in New York.

Arts and Letters

Literature: C.S. Forester writes “Captain Horatio Hornblower.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: James Joyce writes “Finnegan’s Wake.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: Richard Llewellyn writes “How Green was My Valley.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: John Steinbeck writes “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Arts and Letters

Drama: George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart write “The Man Who Came to Dinner.”

Ideas

John Dewey (1859-1952) publishes “Freedom and Culture.”

Ideas

Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” is made available in a complete English translation.

Economics

After the 1938 recession, the U.S. economy begins to recover and, by autumn, is booming from orders of European countries for arms and war equipment.

Daily Life

Transportation: Pan-American Airways begins regularly scheduled commercial flights between the U.S. and Europe on the “Dixie Clipper.”

Daily Life

Fashion: Nylon stockings appear for the first time.

Daily Life

Holidays: President Roosevelt moves the national Thanksgiving Celebration to the third Thursday of November in order to extend the Christmas shopping season and boost the economy.

Sports

Baseball: Baseball great Lou Gehrig sets of major-league record when he plays his 2,130th game.A baseball game is first televised in the U.S.

Sports

Baseball: The first televised major league game is broadcast from Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

Sports

Baseball: Little League Baseball is founded.

Popular Culture

The first public television broadcast is made from the Empire State Building.

Popular Culture

War songs in England are “Roll out the Barrel’ and “The Last Time I Saw Paris.”

Popular Culture

Popular Films include “Gone With the Wind”, “The Wizard of Oz” (Judy Garland), and “Stagecoach” (John Ford).

Popular Culture

Popular Songs in America are “God Bless America”, “Over the Rainbow”, and “I’ll Never Smile Again.”

Religion

Pope Pius XI dies; Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected to be Pope Pius XII (-1958).

Religion

The Methodist Church, rent by schisms of 1830 and 1844, is reunited.

Reform

Labor Movement: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that sit-down strikes are illegal.

Politics

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is re-elected to a third term as President of the U.S., and Henry A. Wallace (1888-1965) is elected as the nation's 33rd Vice President.

Government

Stamps: Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) is the first African-American honored on a stamp.

Government

Immigration: The Smith Act (Alien Registration Act) requires the registration of all aliens and makes it illegal to advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government by force.

Government

Conservation: Congress establishes the Fish and Wildlife Service to develop and administer a wildlife conservation program.

Government

Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) is succeeded by Winston Churchill (1874-1965) as Prime Minister of England.

Government

The U.S. does not renew its commercial treaty with Japan.

Government

The Transportation Act passes, giving ICC authority to regulate common carriers operating in interstate commerce in the coastal, inter-coastal, and inland waters of the U.S.

War

National Defense Advisory Commission coordinates U.S. civilian defense protection.

War

Congress creates the Selective Service System, the first U.S. peacetime program of compulsory military service. It requires all men between ages 21 and 36 to register.

Science

Fritz A. Lipmann (1899-1986), biochemist, proposes that ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) is a common form of energy in many cells.

Medicine

N.M. Gregg discovers that German measles during pregnancy may cause birth defects in the unborn child.

Medicine

Linus Pauling (1901-1994) and Max Delbruck (1906-1981) determine that antigens cause the body to produce antibodies.

Inventions

V. Zworykin (1889-1982) and James Hillier (1915-) invent the electronic microscope.

Inventions

Hellmuth Walter (1900-1980), a German engineer, invents a propulsion system for submarines.

Education

The first large-scale urban college building of modern design, Hunter College, is built in New York City.

Arts and Letters

The Museum of Modern Art sets up a separate department of photography.

Arts and Letters

Painting: Picasso’s (1882-1973) lithograph, “Dove” is selected as the symbol of the World Peace Congress.

Discovery

Prehistoric drawings that are at least 20,000 years old are found in the Lascaux Caves in France.

Daily Life

The first social security check is issued to Ida Fuller for $22.54.

Daily Life

Fashion: Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time in the U.S.

Daily Life

The suspension bridge over the Narrows at Tacoma, Washington called “Galloping Gertie,” collapses because of wind vibration; the Bridge tumbles into Puget Sound.

Sports

Cornelius Warmerdam (1915-2001) is the first to pole-vault 15 feet. Two years later he sets the new record of 15 ft. 7.75 inches.

Popular Culture

Oglethorpe University (Georgia) deposits a bottle of beer, an encyclopedia, and a movie fan magazine along with 1000 of other items in its “Crypt of Civilization,” a time capsule scheduled to be opened in the year 8113.

Popular Culture

John Ford (1894-1973) wins an Oscar for directing "The Grapes of Wrath."

Reform

Labor Movement: The 40-hour workweek, part of Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, goes into effect.

Law

Chief Justices: After sixteen years of service as an Associate Justice, Harlan Fiske Stone (1872-1946) is nominated Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945); he is confirmed by the Senate and serves for five years until his death in 1946.

Government

The Lend-Lease Act passes, giving the president the authority to aid any nation whose defense he believed vital to the United States and to accept repayment "in kind or property, or any other direct or indirect benefit which the President deems satisfactory."

Government

The Lend-Lease Act lends war materials to friendly nations.

Government

The Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply is organized. It immediately freezes steel prices and later announces the need for tire rationing to conserve rubber.

Government

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is inaugurated for a third term as President of the U.S., and Henry A. Wallace (1888-1965) is inaugurated as the nation's 33rd Vice President.

War

Puerto Rico: US Congress establishes two thirds of the island of Vieques as a military training ground. Residents are given 24 hours to leave their homes.

War

The Selective Service System repeals the 900,000-man limitation of the Army and extends the length of service of draftees to 18 months.

War

U.S. lends the U.S.S.R. $1 billion worth of war material.

War

World War II: Japan attacks the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, destroying many war ships; the U.S. declares war on Japan.

War

World War II: U.S. forces land in Iceland to defend it against possible attack.

Science

The Manhattan Project, under the direction of Leslie Groves, begins top-secret research to develop an atomic bomb.

Medicine

Women's Firsts: Eleanor J. Macdonald (1906-?1995), the first cancer epidemiologist, establishes the world’s first cancer registry in Connecticut.

Medicine

Radioactive iodine is used to treat cancer of the thyroid.

Inventions

Aerosol spray cans are introduced.

Technology

RCA develops the “alert receiver,” a radio that is turned on or off by a special radio wave signal.

Technology

LORAN (long range aid to navigation) uses fixed radio signals to determine positions at sea.

Technology

An electron microscope is used to obtain the first photograph of a virus. The virus, only 4 ten-millionths of an inch in diameter, is magnified 65,000 times.

Reagan, Nancy

Maureen Reagan Revell (1941-2001), daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, is born January 4.

Economics

The FCC authorizes TV broadcasting. By the end of the year, 1 million sets are sold.

Daily Life

Gasoline curfew begins in 17 eastern states; gasoline stations are closed from 7am-7pm.

Daily Life

“Utility” clothing and furniture are encouraged in Britain; clothes rationing starts.

Daily Life

A National Nutrition Program begins; vitamins and minerals are added to milk, bread, and other common foods.

Daily Life

Holidays: After much protest, President Roosevelt returns the official Thansgiving to the fourth Thursday of November.

Sports

Baseball: New York Yankee center-fielder Joe DiMaggio (1914-1999) hits in 56 major league games and sets a major league record.

Popular Culture

The classic movie, "Citizen Kane," starring Orson Welles (1915-1985), premiers in New York City.

Popular Culture

The famous wartime phrase “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition” is said by Howell M. Forgy, chaplain on the U.S. cruiser New Orleans, which is attacked at Pearl Harbor.

Popular Culture

Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967), arranger-composer for Duke Ellington, composes the band’s theme song, “Take the A-Train.”

Popular Culture

The USO is founded in New York City to raise the morale of American troops by supplying recreation, education, and entertainment.

Social Issues

Immigration: Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii galvanizes America’s war effort. More than 1,000 Japanese-American community leaders are incarcerated because of national security.

Social Issues

Immigration: President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 8802, forbidding discrimination in federal hiring, job-training programs, and defense industries. The newly created Fair Employment Practices Commission investigates discrimination against black employees.

Government

Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945) signs an executive order resulting in the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast.

Government

Immigration: Congress allows for importation of agricultural workers from within North, Central, and South America. The Bracero Program allows Mexican laborers to work in the U.S.

War

World War II: Congress enacts measures to form the Women’s auxiliary corps of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

War

World War II: The Nazis formulate their “Final Solution” regarding the Jews at the Wannsee Conference.

War

World War II: Government wartime agencies take control of housing, alien property, shipping and transportation, foreign relief, censorship, and scientific research.

War

World War II: U.S. begins strict rationing of food and materials needed for the war effort.

Science

Russian Academy of Sciences awards honorary memberships to Americans for the first time: W. Cannon, E.O. Lawrence, and G. Lewis.

Medicine

French chemists prepare the first usable antihistamines.

Inventions

Henry Ford (1863-1947) patents the plastic automobile body.

Inventions

Magnetic recording tape is introduced.

Inventions

Bell Aircraft builds and tests the first U.S. jet, the XP-59.

Technology

Henry Kaiser (1882-1967) and Howard Hughes (1905-1976) design the Spruce Goose, an 8-engine airplane with room for 700 people.

Technology

Sonobuoys are used to detect submarines.

Technology

Radio signals (interference) are received from the Sun.

Technology

The first V-mail is sent overseas from New York City to London.

Arts and Letters

Dance: Copland (1900-1990) composes the ballet Rodeo, staged and choreographed by Agnes DeMille (1881-1959).

Ideas

Sister Elizabeth Kenny (1880-1952) publishes "Kenny Concept of Infantile Paralysis and Its Treatment."

Economics

The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington State is completed.

Discovery

Mildenhall Treasure, a hoard of Roman silverware, is discovered in Suffolk, England.

Daily Life

Disasters: Mine explosions in Honkeiko, Manchuria kill 1549 people.

Daily Life

Disasters: The ocean liner Queen Mary collides with a British cruiser; 388 people on board the cruiser are killed.

Sports

Football: The Army-Navy football game that is usually seen by 100,000 fans in Philadelphia is played in Annapolis, Maryland for fewer than 12,000. By Presidential order, tickets are sold only to resident within a 10-mile radius of the stadium.

Sports

Baseball: Just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt declares, “it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.”

Popular Culture

Band leader Glenn Miller (1904-1944) receives the first ever gold record for selling a million copies of “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

Religion

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) publishes "The Screwtape Letters," an extremely popular Christian novel.

Religion

Lloyd Douglas, a Lutheran clergyman, publishes "The Robe," a novel based on the New Testament.

Government

Immigration: The Magnuson Act of 1943 repeals the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, establishes quotas for Chinese immigrants, and makes them eligible for U.S. citizenship.

War

U.S. Army engineers complete the Pentagon building. This 5-sided building, headquarters of the Department of Defense, remains the largest office building in the world.

War

World War II: President Roosevelt (1882-1945) and Prime Minister Churchill (1874-1965) meet at the Casablanca Conference.

War

World War II: The Nazi siege of Leningrad is broken.U.S. bombers sink Japanese convoy of 22 ships at the Battle of Bismarck Sea.

War

World War II: U.S. naval and amphibious forces begin island-hopping operations in the Pacific, capturing key bases.

Science

The hallucinogenic drug LSD is first produced by Albert Hoffman (1906-?) at Sandoz Laboratory in Basil, Switzerland.

Science

50,000 scientists and aides, all conducting secret atomic research suddenly populate the tiny town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Medicine

Large-scale production of penicillin begins to meet the demand as the drug is being used to treat a variety of infectious diseases.

Medicine

Epidemics: An infantile paralysis (polio) epidemic kills 1151 people and cripples thousands more.

Inventions

Alvarez develops a radar-controlled bombsight.

Inventions

Polyethylene plastic is introduced.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) begin their successful partnership when they produce the musical Oklahoma.

Arts and Letters

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), conductor and composer, becomes the assistant composer of the N.Y. Philharmonic.

Economics

The “Big Inch,” world’s longest oil pipeline, is dedicated. It is 1300 miles long and stretches from Texas to Pennsylvania.

Daily Life

Women in England are no longer required to wear hats in law courts.

Daily Life

Dancing: The jitterbug is the most popular dance.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: While searching for a suspension device to ease rough sailing on battleships, navy engineer Richard James discovers that a torsion spring will "walk" end over end when knocked over. James brought the discovery home to his wife, who named the new toy "Slinky."

Sports

Women in Sports: Baseball: Philip K. Wrigley starts what will become the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the country’s only professional female league.

Sports

The Detroit Red Wings win the last 4 games in the Stanley Cup finals, defeating the Boston Bruins 2-0 to become the National League Hockey Champions.

Sports

Women in Sports: In its June 14th issue, Time estimates there are 40,000 semi-pro women's softball teams in the US.

Religion

Public Education: U.S. Supreme Court reverses 1940 decision and holds that children cannot be required to salute the flag in school if their religion prohibits it; case brought to court by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.