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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1893 | - 1893: The Ferris wheel is introduced at the World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois.
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| 2 | 1895 | - 1895: In the first practical demonstration of of large-scale power generation, Westinghouse Electric Co. harnesses the power of Niagara Falls to supply low-cost energy for hundreds of miles.
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| 3 | 1896 | - 1896: Henry Ford drives his first automobile through the streets of Detroit, Michigan.
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| 4 | 1901 | - 1901: L. Frank Baum writes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
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| 5 | 1902 | - 1902: Congress makes free mail delivery to rural residents a permanent part of the United States postal system.
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| 6 | 1903 | |
| 7 | 1904 | - 1904: Ice cream cones are introduced at the St. Louis World's Fair.
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| 8 | 1905 | - 1905: The first nickelodeon, a theater where people could see a short "moving picture" for a nickel, opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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| 9 | 1908 | |
| 10 | 1909 | - 1909: Coffee, a favorite American beverage since the Civil War, is now marketed in an "instant" form.
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| 11 | 1910 | - 1910: World population surpasses 1.5 billion people, 850 million of whom live in Asia.
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| 12 | 1912 | - 14 Apr 1912: April 14-15: The Titanic, strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage and sinks within hours; 1,517 of 2,100 passengers drown
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| 13 | 1914 | - 28 Jul 1914: World War I begins with Austria Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia
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| 14 | 1915 | - 21 Oct 1915: First transatlantic radio-telephone call is made between Arlington, Virginia and Paris, France
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| 15 | 1917 | - 6 Apr 1917: President Woodrow Wilson signs a declaration of war against Germany, bringing the U.S. into World War I
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| 16 | 1918 | - 11 Nov 1918: The eleventh month, the eleventh day and the eleventh hour of 1918, World War I ends with a declared armistice.
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| 17 | 1919 | - 1919: Shortwave radio is invented
- 4 Jan 1919: Jack Dempsey defeats Jess Willard in three rounds for the World Heavyweight Boxing championship
- 29 Jan 1919: The 18th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified prohibiting the manufacture, sale and transport of intoxicating liquors.
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| 18 | 1922 | - 26 Nov 1922: Excavation begins on the tomb of ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamen near Luxor, Egypt
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| 19 | 1924 | - 30 Nov 1924: Photographs sent in twenty minutes by radio from London to New York City
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| 20 | 1927 | - 6 Jan 1927: Wireless communication between London and New York City is established for public use
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| 21 | 1929 | - 29 Oct 1929: "Black Tuesday," the American stock market crashes plunging the country into the Great Depression
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| 22 | 1932 | - 1932: Chemists at the Imperial Chemical Industries in Great Britain synthesize the first plastic
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| 23 | 1933 | |
| 24 | 1934 | - 19 Aug 1934: Adolf Hitler becomes President of Germany
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| 25 | 1938 | - 1938: The ballpoint pen invented by Ladislo Biro.
Strobe lighting invented.
Roy J. Plunkett invented tetrafluoroethylene polymers or Teflon.
The Nescafé brand, which introduced a more advanced instant coffee refining process.
The first working turboprop engine
- 26 May 1938: The Volkswagen (People's Car) factory dedicated in Wolfsburgh, Germany; this low cost, beetle designed by Ferdinand Porsche on commission from Adolf Hitler
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| 26 | 1939 | - 3 Sep 1939: Great Britain and France declare war on Germany; World War II begins
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| 27 | 1941 | |
| 28 | 1944 | - 1944: Allies invade Normandy on D-Day (June 6). G.I. Bill of Rights enacted. Bretton Woods Conference creates International Monetary Fund and World Bank (July 1–22). Dumbarton Oaks Conference—U.S., British Commonwealth, and USSR propose establishment of United Nations (Aug. 21–Oct. 7). Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 16). Woody Guthrie records “This Land is Your Land.” Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma.
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| 29 | 1947 | - 1947: Mobile phones first invented. Although cell phones were not sold commercially until 1983, AT&T came up with the idea way back.
Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invent the transistor.
Earl Silas Tupper patented the Tupperware seal.
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| 30 | 1949 | |
| 31 | 1950 | - 31 Jan 1950: Truman orders development of hydrogen bomb
- Jun 1950: North Korean Communist forces invade South Korea (June 25).
UN calls for cease-fire and asks UN members to assist South Korea (June 27). Truman orders U.S. forces into Korea (June 27). North Koreans capture Seoul (June 28). Gen. Douglas MacArthur designated commander of unified UN forces (July 8). Pusan Beachhead—UN forces counterattack and capture Seoul (Aug.–Sept.), capture Pyongyang, North Korean capital (Oct.). Chinese Communists enter war (Oct. 26), force UN retreat toward 38th parallel (Dec.)
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| 32 | 1951 | - Mar 1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg sentenced to death for passing atomic secrets to Russians (March).
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| 33 | 1952 | - 1952: Edward Teller and team build the hydrogen bomb.
- 6 Feb 1952: George VI dies; his daughter becomes Elizabeth II
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| 34 | 1953 | |
| 35 | 1954 | |
| 36 | 1956 | - 1956: Rosa Parks refuses to sit at the back of the bus. Martin Luther King, Jr., leads black boycott of Montgomery, Ala., bus system (Dec. 1);
desegregated service begins Dec. 21, 1956. AFL and CIO become one organization—AFL-CIO (Dec. 5). Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof wins Pulitzer.
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| 37 | 1957 | |
| 38 | 1960 | - 1960: There are 900 U.S. military advisers in South Vietnam.
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| 39 | 1961 | - 1961: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., rockets 116.5 miles up in 302-mile trip (May 5).
Virgil Grissom becomes second American astronaut, making 118-mile-high, 303-mile-long rocket flight over Atlantic (July 21). Gherman Stepanovich Titov is launched in Soviet spaceship Vostok II: makes 17 1/2 orbits in 25 hours, covering 434,960 miles before landing safely (Aug. 6). East Germans erect Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin to halt flood of refugees (Aug. 13).
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| 40 | 1962 | - 20 Feb 1962: John Herschel Glenn Jr.,born July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio,is a former astronaut and U.S. politician who became the first American to orbit the Earth on the Mercury 6 space mission , and later, United States Senator. Glenn began his career as a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program, NASA's original astronaut group. He orbited the Earth aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. After retiring from NASA, he ran as a Democrat and represented the state of Ohio in the United States Senate from 1974 to 1999.
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| 41 | 1963 | - 1963: Michael E. De Bakey implants artificial heart in human for first time at Houston hospital; plastic device functions and patient lives for four days (April 21).
Pope John XXIII dies (June 3)—succeeded June 21 by Cardinal Montini, who becomes Paul VI. U.S. Supreme Court rules no locality may require recitation of Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools (June 17).
- 22 Nov 1963: President Kennedy shot and killed by sniper in Dallas, Tex. Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president same day (Nov. 22). Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of President Kennedy, is shot and killed by Jack Ruby, Dallas nightclub owner (Nov. 24). Kenya achieves independence. Betty Friedan publishes The Feminine Mystique. There are 15,000 U.S. military advisers in South Vietnam.
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| 42 | 1965 | - 1 Jul 1965: Medicare, senior citizens' government medical assistance program, begins
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| 43 | 1968 | - 1968: The computer mouse invented by Douglas Engelbart.
The first computer with integrated circuits made.
Robert Dennard invented RAM (random access memory).
- 1968: North Korea seizes U.S. Navy ship Pueblo; holds 83 on board as spies (Jan. 23).
Tet offensive, turning point in Vietnam war (Jan.–Feb.). My Lai massacre (March 16). President Johnson announces he will not seek or accept presidential renomination (March 31). Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader, is slain in Memphis (April 4)—James Earl Ray, indicted in murder, captured in London on June 8. In 1969 Ray pleads guilty and is sentenced to 99 years. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy is shot and critically wounded in Los Angeles hotel after winning California primary (June 5)—dies June 6. Sirhan B. Sirhan convicted 1969.
- 4 Jun 1968: Life sentence meted out to Terry Nichols, convicted in Oklahoma City bombing fatal to 168
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| 44 | 1969 | - 1969: Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated 37th president of the U.S. (Jan. 20).
Apollo 11 astronauts—Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins—take man's first walk on moon (July 20). Sen. Edward M. Kennedy pleads guilty to leaving scene of fatal accident at Chappaquiddick, Mass. (July 18), in which Mary Jo Kopechne was drowned—gets two-month suspended sentence (July 25). Woodstock Festival (Aug. 15–17). Sesame Street debuts. Internet (ARPA) goes online.
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| 45 | 1970 | |
| 46 | 1971 | |
| 47 | 1974 | - 1974: House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment charging President Nixon with obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce material subpoenaed by the committee (July 30).
Richard M. Nixon announces he will resign the next day, the first president to do so (Aug. 8). Vice President Gerald R. Ford of Michigan is sworn in as 38th president of the U.S. (Aug. 9). Ford grants “full, free, and absolute pardon” to ex-president Nixon (Sept. 8).
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| 48 | 1975 | - 1975: Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge take over Cambodia (April). American merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodian forces, is rescued in operation by U.S. Navy and Marines, 38 of whom are killed (May 15).
Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft take off for U.S.-Soviet link-up in space (July 15). President Ford escapes assassination attempt in Sacramento, Calif. (Sept. 5). President Ford escapes second assassination attempt in 17 days (Sept. 22).
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| 49 | 1977 | - 1977: MRI - Magnetic resonance imaging invented by Raymond V. Damadian.
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| 50 | 1978 | - 1978: Pope Paul VI, dead at 80, mourned (Aug. 6);
New Pope, John Paul I, 65, dies unexpectedly after 34 days in office (Sept. 28); He is succeeded by Karol Cardinal Wojtyla of Poland as John Paul II (Oct. 16).
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1893 - 1979 (86 years)