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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1873 | |
| 2 | 1875 | - 2 Jun 1875: In the 1870s, two inventors Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell both independently designed devices that could transmit speech electrically (the telephone). Both men rushed their respective designs to the patent office within hours of each other, Alexander Graham Bell patented his telephone first. Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell entered into a famous legal battle over the invention of the telephone, which Bell won.
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| 3 | 1876 | - 1876: United States celebrates 100 years as a nation.
Almost 10 million people attend the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, which featured recent American inventions and products.
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.
Gen. George Custer and his soldiers are killed in a battle with the Sioux Indians at the Little Big Horn in Montana.
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| 4 | 1879 | - 1879: Thomas Edison invents the first practical incandescent electric light at Menlo Park, New Jersey.
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| 5 | 1883 | - 1883: United States Supreme Court rules the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which prohibited discrimination in public places, to be unconstitutional.
The United States and Canada substitute standardized time zones for local time to make it easier to coordinate railroad schedules.
Brooklyn Bridge, hailed as the eighth wonder of the world, opens.
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| 6 | 1886 | - 1886: Statue of Liberty, a gift to the United States from France, is unveiled in New York City harbor.
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| 7 | 1888 | - 1888: A box camera, the first Kodak, is introduced for use by amateur photographers.
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| 8 | 1890 | - 1890: A New York newspaper reporter completes a journey around the world in 72 days.
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| 9 | 1892 | - 1892: Ellis Island opens in New York City and the first of 12 million immigrants passes through its doors, seeking a better life in America.
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| 10 | 1893 | - 1893: The Ferris wheel is introduced at the World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois.
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| 11 | 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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| 12 | 1896 | - 1896: Henry Ford drives his first automobile through the streets of Detroit, Michigan.
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| 13 | 1901 | - 1901: L. Frank Baum writes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
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| 14 | 1902 | - 1902: Congress makes free mail delivery to rural residents a permanent part of the United States postal system.
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| 15 | 1903 | |
| 16 | 1904 | - 1904: Ice cream cones are introduced at the St. Louis World's Fair.
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| 17 | 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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| 18 | 1908 | |
| 19 | 1909 | - 1909: Coffee, a favorite American beverage since the Civil War, is now marketed in an "instant" form.
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| 20 | 1910 | - 1910: World population surpasses 1.5 billion people, 850 million of whom live in Asia.
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| 21 | 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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| 22 | 1914 | - 28 Jul 1914: World War I begins with Austria Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia
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| 23 | 1915 | - 21 Oct 1915: First transatlantic radio-telephone call is made between Arlington, Virginia and Paris, France
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| 24 | 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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| 25 | 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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| 26 | 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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| 27 | 1922 | - 26 Nov 1922: Excavation begins on the tomb of ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamen near Luxor, Egypt
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| 28 | 1924 | - 30 Nov 1924: Photographs sent in twenty minutes by radio from London to New York City
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| 29 | 1927 | - 6 Jan 1927: Wireless communication between London and New York City is established for public use
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| 30 | 1929 | - 29 Oct 1929: "Black Tuesday," the American stock market crashes plunging the country into the Great Depression
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| 31 | 1932 | - 1932: Chemists at the Imperial Chemical Industries in Great Britain synthesize the first plastic
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| 32 | 1933 | |
| 33 | 1934 | - 19 Aug 1934: Adolf Hitler becomes President of Germany
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| 34 | 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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| 35 | 1939 | - 3 Sep 1939: Great Britain and France declare war on Germany; World War II begins
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| 36 | 1941 | |
1872 - 1941 (69 years)