Spirit of America Bookstore U.S.  Timeline  –  1801  to  1900 up to 1800    •    jump to 1901-1950    •    1951-2000    •    2001 to present Manifest Destiny    •    Civil War Era    •    Reconstruction Era    •    Robber Baron Era Manifest  Destiny 1801 Feb 27: District of Columbia placed under the jurisdiction of Congress. 1802 March 16: Congress established the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York; signed same day by President Jefferson. 1802 May 3: City of Washington, D.C. incorporated. 1803 April 30: Purchase agreement for the Louisiana Territory completed between France and the U.S., for a price of $15 million. 1803 May 25: Birthday of transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson; he died in 1882. 1803 Oct 20: Louisiana Purchase ratified by U.S. Senate. 1803 Dec 8: 12th Amendment proposed to states for ratification. 1803 Dec 20: Formal transfer of 800,000-square-mile Louisiana Territory by France to the U.S., which doubled the country's land area. 1804 March 10: Formal ceremonies transferring Louisiana Territory from France to U.S. in St. Louis on the Mississippi River, attended by Lewis & Clark. 1804 May 14: Under orders from President Jefferson, Lewis & Clarke's 'Corps of Discovery' expedition set out by keelboat up the Missouri River. 1804 July 27: 12th Amendment ratified by states. 1804 Sept 25: 12th Amendment went into effect. 1805 Nov 7: Lewis & Clark reach Gray's Bay, Washington and assume that they have reached the Pacific Ocean. 1805 Dec 5: Lewis locates site for winter camp, called Fort Clatsop. 1805 Dec 24: Ft. Clatsop completed, all move in. 1806 March 23: Having stayed the winter on the Pacific Coast at Ft. Clatsop (near present-day Astoria, Oregon}, the Lewis & Clark expedition set out for home. 1806 Sept 23: Lewis & Clark arrived back at St. Louis. 1807 Jan 19: Birthday of Gen. Robert E. Lee in rural Virginia; he died in 1870. 1809 Jan 19: Author Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts. 1809 Feb 12: Birthday of Abraham Lincoln; he died in 1865. 1812 June 4: Louisiana Territory was renamed the Missouri Territory. 1812 June 18: At the urging of President Madison, Congress declared war against Britain by a vote of 98-62.    "1812: War With America" [2007] by Jon Latimer Belknap Press 15½x9¼ hardcover [9/2007] for $23.10    "The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History" [1965] by J. Mackay Hitsman, updated by Donald E. Graves "The finest one-volume history of the War of 1812 ever published." Robin Brass Studio 9x6 pb [9/2000] for $16.88 1814 Sept 14: Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner" after witnessing the bombardment by British gunboats of Fort McHenry in Maryland. 1814 Dec 24: Signing of the Treaty of Ghent officially ended the War of 1812, although fighting in the field continued thru February. 1815 Jan 8: U.S. forces led by Gen. Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans. 1817 Feb 17: First street in America to be lighted by natural gas from America's first gas company, in Baltimore, Maryland. 1817 July 12: Birthday of transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau; he died in 1862. 1817 July 4: Construction began on the Erie Canal between Albany {on the Hudson River} and Buffalo {on Lake Erie}. 1818 April 4: Congress passed a law defining the U.S. flag as 13 red-and-white stripes and a blue field with 20 stars, with one star to be added for each additional state. 1819 Feb 22: Spain ceded Florida to the U.S. (Adams-Onís Treaty) 1819 May 31: Birthday of poet Walt Whitman; he died in 1892. 1819 Aug 1: Birthday of author Herman Melville in New York City; he died in 1891. 1820 Nov 18: U.S. Navy Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer and his crew discovered the frozen continernt of Antarctica. 1821: The Santa Fe Trail opened. 1821 Feb 24: Mexico declared its independence from Spain as rebels proclaimed the "Plan de Iguala". 1822: Englishman William Underwood set up a small condiment business on Boston's Russia Wharf; his sons put Underwood's Deviled Ham on the market in 1868 (oldest U.S. trademark still in use). 1822 Feb 23: Charter granted to Boston, Massachusetts to incorporate as a city. 1822 March 30: Florida became a U.S. Territory. 1823 Dec 2: President Monroe outlined his doctrine opposing further European expansion in the Western Hemisphere. 1825 Oct 26: The 363-mile Erie Canal in New York was opened to traffic. 1827 Feb 28: Incorporation of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the first U.S. railroad chartered for both passengers & freight. 1828 July 4: Charles Carroll, the last-surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, participated in the ceremony laying the first stone of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. 1830: Founding of Woolrich Outdoor Clothing in Woolrich, Pennsylvania. 1830 April 6: Joseph Smith established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York. 1830 May 24: First U.S. passenger railroad began service between Baltimore & Elliott's Mills, Maryland. 1831: Camden & Amboy Railroad of New Jersey imported the 'John Bull' locomotive from England; the steam engine is now the oldest operative self-propelled vehicle in the world, on exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. 1832: Hot Springs, Arkansas was designated a 'National Preserve'; eventually received National Park status in 1921. 1832 May 21: Democratic National Party opened its first convention in Baltimore, Maryland. 1832 Nov 26: Launch of public streetcar service in New York City. 1835 Nov 30: Birthday of author / humorist Mark Twain in Hannibal, Missouri; he died in 1910. 1836 Feb 23: Start of the seige at The Alamo near San Antonio, Texas. 1836 Feb 25: Inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver. 1836 March 2: Texas declared its independence from Mexico. 1836 March 6: The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas fell to Santa Ana's army after a 13-day siege. San Jacinto? 1838 Jan 6: First public demonstration of the telegraph by Samuel F.B. Morse and Alfred Vail in Morristown, New Jersey. 1843: Hand-cranked ice cream freezer patented by Nancy Johnson. 1844 May 24: America's first telegraph line opened from Washington, DC to Baltimore, Maryland with inventor Samuel F.B. Morse transmitting the message 'What hath God wrought!'. 1844 June 15: Charles Goodyear received a patent for his process to strengthen rubber. 1845 Jan 29: First publication of Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven", in the New York Evening Mirror. 1846 April 25: Beginning of the U.S. War with Mexico. 1846 May: Founding of the Associated Press. 1846 June 14: A group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma, California proclaimed the Republic of California. 1846 July 7: Mexican garrison at Monterey surrendered to U.S. forces, who then claimed annexation of California. 1846 Aug 10: Congress established the Smithsonian Institution, named after donor James Smithson. 1846 Aug 22: The U.S. annexed New Mexico (which included present-day Arizona). 1846 Sept 10: Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine. 1847: New England ship captain Hanson Gregory invented the hole in the doughnut, to improve his mother's deep-fried pastries; commemorated by a bronze plaque at his hometown of Rockport, Maine. 1847 Feb 11: Birth of inventor Thomas Alva Edison in Milan, Ohio. 1847 Sept 14: U.S. forces under Gen. Winfield Scott took control of Mexico City. 1848 Jan 24: James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill on the American River in California, leading to the 'Gold Rush' of 1849. 1848 Feb 2: U.S. War with Mexico ended (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo). 1848 Feb 21: Karl Marx [1818-83] and Friedrich Engels [1820-95] published the pamphlet "Communist Manifesto" in London, U.K. 1848 March 19: Birthday of lawman Wyatt Earp; he died in 1929 in Los Angeles, California. 1848 May 30: William G. Young of Baltimore, MD received a patent for an 'Ice Cream Freezer'. 1848 August: First U.S. women's suffragist convestion in upstate New York. 1849 March 3: Congress established the Department of Interior. 1849 Oct 7: Author Edgar Allen Poe died in Baltimore, Maryland at age 40. 1850 April 4: Incorporation of the City of Los Angeles, California. 1850 April 15: Incorporation of the City of San Francisco, California. 1850 July 9: Zachary Taylor, 12th U.S. President, died after 16 months in office. 1851 Sept 18: First edition of the New York Times published. 1851 Nov 14: Herman Melville's masterpiece "Moby-Dick, or The Whale" was published by Harper & Bros. in New York City. 1852 March 13: First use of the Uncle Sam character, in the New York Lantern newspaper. 1852 March 20: Publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin". [historical site]    "The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin" [2006] Edited & with notes by Henry Louis Gates Jr. & Hollis Robbins W.W. Norton 10¼x8¾ hardcover [9/2006] for $26.37 1853 July 8: U.S. Navy expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Yedo {Tokyo} Bay in Japan on a mission to open diplomatic & trade relations with the Emperor. 1853 Aug 24: When railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt complained that his fried potatoes were too thick, the chef at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York, an American Indian named George Crum, retaliated by slicing paper thin strips of potatoes and frying them to a crisp; Vanderbilt loved them, and 'Saratoga Chips' became an instant success. 1853 Dec 30: U.S. bought 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico, known as the 'Gadsden Purchase'. 1854 Feb 28: Anti-slavery political party created in Ripon, Wisconsin, which later became the Republican Party. 1854 Aug 9: Henry David Thoreau published "Walden". 1854 Aug 26: Launch of the last all-sail-powered U.S. warship Constellation, now a floating museum in Baltimore, Maryland. [Postage stamp issued 30 June 2004] 1855 July 4th: First edition of Walt Whitman's self-published "Leaves of Grass"; many revisions & additions until his death in 1892. 1856 May 15: Birthday of author L. Frank Baum, creator of "The Wizard of Oz"; he died in 1919. 1856 July 9: Birthday of genius inventor Nikola Tesla; he died in 1943 in New York City. 1857: Joseph C. Gayette of New York City invented toilet paper. 1857 March 6: U.S. Supreme Court Dred Scott vs. Sanford decision, holding that a slave could not sue for his freedom in federal court. 1857 July 30: Birthday of sociologist / economist Thorstein Veblen; he died in 1929. 1858 April 6: President Buchanan declared Mormons in the Utah Territory rebels against the U.S. government. 1858 Nov 30: Patent 22,186 issued to tinsmith John Landis Mason for metal screw-on lids for glass fruit jars; the distinctive rubber ring of the 'Mason jar' was added later. 1859: The Great American Tea Company opened its first store; the name was changed to Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company in 1870; in 1912, the company began expanding into the A&P Economy Stores, America's first grocery chain. 1859 March 1: Birthday of author / activist Charles Fletcher Lummis; he died in 1928. 1859 Aug 27: Col. Edwin L. Drake drilled the first successful U.S. oil well, near Titusville, Pennsylvania. 1859 Oct 16: Kansas abolitionist John Brown and 19 men captured the Armory at Harper's Ferry, {West} Virginia. The insurrectionists were overtaken next day by U.S. Marines led by Lt.Col. Robert E. Lee & Lt. J.E.B. Stuart. Brown's men had killed four civilians and wounded nine; ten of Brown's men were killed, including two of his sons. 1859 Nov 20: Birthday of outlaw William Bonney aka 'Billy the Kid' in New York City; he died in 1881 at age 21. 1859 Nov 24: Publication of "On The Origin of Species" in London, U.K. by British naturalist Charles Darwin [1809-82]. 1859 Dec 2: Hanging of abolitionist John Brown for his October raid at Harper's Ferry.

Civil  War  Era War Film Festival - Civil War Movies 1860 April 3: Launch of the Pony Express mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California. 1860 Dec 20: South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, largely in reaction to Abraham Lincoln's election as President, and his statement that "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free." 1861 Jan 9: Mississippi seceded from the Union. 1861 Jan 10: Florida seceded from the Union. 1861 Jan 11: Alabama seceded from the Union. 1861 Jan 19: Georgia seceded from the Union. 1861 Jan 21: Jefferson Davis and four other Southerners resigned from the U.S. Senate. 1861 Jan 26: Louisiana seceded from the Union. 1861 Feb 1: Texas voted to secede from the Union. 1861 Feb 4: Delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, Alabama to form the Confederate States of America. 1861 Feb 8: The Montgomery convention announced the establishment of the Confederate States of America and declared itself the provisional Congress. 1861 Feb 9: Jefferson Davis was elected President of the C.S.A., with Alexander Stephens as his Vice President. 1861 Feb 11: President-elect Lincoln departed Springfield, Illinois for Washington, DC. 1861 Feb 18: Jefferson Davis & Alexander Stephens were sworn into office in Montgomery, Alabama. 1861 March 4: Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as America's 16th President. 1861 March 11: The Confederate convention in Montgomery, Alabama adopted a constitution. 1861 April 12: U.S. Civil War began when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. 1861 April 15: President Lincoln declared a state of insurrection and called out Union troops. 1861 April 17: The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union. 1861 April 29: Maryland's House of Delegates voted against secession from the Union. 1861 May 6: Arkansas seceded from the Union. 1861 May 20: The capital of the Confederacy moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. 1861 June 8: Tennessee seceded from the Union. 1861 July 21: The first Battle of Bull Run was fought at Manassas, Virginia; won by Confederate forces. 1861 July 20: Congress of the Confederate States convened in Richmond, Virginai. 1861 Oct 24: First transcontinental telegraph message sent, from California to President Lincoln in Washington, DC. 1861 Nov 6: Running unopposed, Davis & Stevens were re-elected to head the Confederacy. 1862 Feb 22: Jefferson Davis was formally re-inaugurated to a 6-year term as President of the Confederate States of America, as was Vice President Andrew Stevens. 1863 Jan 1: President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declaring that slaves in rebel states were free became effective. 1863 May 2: Confederate Gen. Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own troops in battle at Chancellorsville, Virginia; he died eight days later. 1863 Oct 3: President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November a National Day of Thanksgiving. 1863 Oct 6: Opening of the world's first 'Turkish' bath, in Brooklyn, New York. 1863 Nov 19: President Lincoln delivered a short address at the dedication of the new Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania. 1864 March 19: Birthday of Western artist Charles M. Russell; he died in 1926. 1864 April 22: Congress authorized use of the phrase 'In God We Trust' on U.S. coinage. 1864 Nov 29: Colorado militia killed at least 150 peaceful Cheyenne at the Sand Creek Massacre. 1865 Jan 31: Gen. Robert E. lee was named general-in-chief of the Confederate armies. 1865 Feb 10: Birthday of New Mexico lawman Elfego Baca; he died in 1945. 1865 March 20: Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" became the first novel in history to sell a million copies. 1865 April 9: U.S. Civil War ended as Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. 1865 April 14th: Actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC; Lincoln died early next day. 1865 April 26: Union soldiers killed Booth at a farm in Virginia. 1865 May 10: Union forces captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, Georgia. 1865 Dec 18: 13th Amendment abolishing slavery declared to be in effect. 1866 Aug 20: President Johnson formally declared the Civil War to be over.

Reconstruction  Era 1867 March 29: Britain's Parliament created the Dominion of Canada by passing the North America Act. 1867 March 30: U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. 1867 June 8: Birthday of visionary architect Frank Lloyd Wright; he died in 1959. 1867 Oct 18: United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. 1868: Founding of McIlhenny Company, producer of Tabasco® brand products, at Avery Island, Louisiana. 1868 Feb 24: The House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson for attempting to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. 1868 May 16: Impeachment trial of President Johnson ended with acquittal by the Senate on all charges. 1868 July 25: Congress created the Territory of Wyoming. 1868 July 28: 14th Amendment, guaranteeing due process of law, was declared to be in effect. 1869: Founding of Joseph A. Campbell Preserve Co. in Camden, New Jersey; renamed Campbell's Soup Company in 1922. 1869: Founding of the Illinois candy company that invented natural-flavor Jelly Belly Candy in 1976. 1869 April: George Westinghouse received his first patent for a 'fail-safe' air brake system for use on railroad cars. 1869 May 10: Completion of the U.S. Transcontinental Railroad noted with a ceremonial 'Golden Spike' driven at Promentory Point, Utah. 1869 Dec 10: Women gained the right to vote in the Wyoming Territory. 1870 Jan 10: Formation of Standard Oil Corporation. 1870 Jan 26: Virginia was readmitted to the Union. 1870 Feb 12: Women gained the right to vote in the Utah Territory. 1870 Feb 23: Mississippi was readmitted to the Union. 1870 March 30: 18th Amendment, giving black men the right to vote, declared to be in effect. 1870 March 30: Texas was readmitted to the Union. 1870 April 13: Founding of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (which opened in 1872). 1870 Feb 9: Congress established the U.S. Weather Bureau. 1870 June 22: Congress established the Department of Justice. 1870 July 15: Georgia became the last Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union. 1870 Dec 12: Joseph H. Rainey was sworn in to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first black U.S. Congressman. 1872 Jan 31: Birthday of Western author Zane Grey; he died in 1939. 1872 Feb 20: Opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (founded in April 1870). 1872 March 1: Congress established Yellowstone National Park, the world's first. 1872 April 5: George Westinghouse received a patent for an improved air brake system for use on railroad cars. 1872 Dec 11: Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback took office as Acting Governor of Louisiana, becoming America's first black governor. 1874: Invention of the ice cream soda in Philadelphia. 1874 Feb 3: Birthdate of author-feminist Gertrude Stein in Allegheny, PA.

Robber  Baron  Era 1875 Jan 22: Birthday of cinema pioneer D.W. Griffith; he died in 1948. 1875 Sept 1: Birthday of author Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan; he died in 1950. 1875 Dec 4: William Marcy 'Boss' Tweed, head of New York City's corrupt Tammany Hall political organization, escaped from jail and fled the country. 1876: Founding of Adams Sons & Co., makers of chicle-based chewing gum; added licorice flavoring in 1884, introduced Adams' Black Jack Gum, the first flavored gum in America. 1876 Feb 2: Founding of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs in New York. 1876 March 7: Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his telephone. 1876 March 10: First voice transmission by telephone, as Alexander Graham Bell's lab assistant heard him say "Mr. Watson, come here." 1876 June 25: Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana: Sioux & Cheyenne warriors wiped out LtCol George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry troops. 1876 Aug 8: Thomas Alva Edison received a patent for his mimeograph duplicator. 1877 Nov 21: Edison announced that he had invented the phonograph. 1878 Jan 28: The first commercial telephone switchboard began operation in New Haven, Connecticut. 1878 Feb 19: Edison received a patent for his phonograph. 1878 Aug 21: The American Bar Assn. was founded in Sarasota, Florida. 1878 Sept 20: Birthday of muckraker Upton Sinclair; he died in 1968. 1879: F.W. Woolworth opened his first store in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania; the chain folded in 1997.    "Remembering Woolworth's: A Nostalgic History of The World's Most Famous Five-and-Dime" [1999] by Karen Plunkett-Powell St. Martin's Griffin 9x7 pb [7/2001] out of print/used St. Martin 9¼x7¼ hardcover [12/99] out of print/used 1879 May 5: U.S. Supreme Court decided in Reynolds vs. U.S., finding that religious beliefs, such as polygamy, are not a defense in criminal prosecutions. 1879 Oct 21: Edison perfected a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. 1879 Dec 20: Edison privately demonstrated the incandescent electric light at Menlo Park, New Jersey. 1879 Dec 31: First public demonstration of Edison's incandescent light at Menlo Park, New Jersey. 1880: Samuel Bath Thomas purchased a bakery in Manhattan and featured Thomas' English muffins (unknown in England). 1880 Jan 27: Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp. 1880 Sept 12: Birthday of author / curmudgeon H.L. Mencken; he died in 1956. 1880 Nov 4: The first cash register was patented by James & John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio. 1881 May 21: Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. 1881 July 2: Charles J. Guiteau shot President Garfield at the Washington, DC railroad station; Garfield died the following September. 1881 July 8: Druggist Edward Berners of Two Rivers, Wisconsin served the first 'ice cream sundae', putting ice cream in a dish and pouring flavoring syrup for soda water (not allowed on Sundays) on top. 1881 Oct 26: 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' took place in Tombstone, Arizona; Ike Clanton's gang fought against U.S. Deputy Marshal Virgil Earp, his deputized brothers Wyatt & Morgan, and dentist 'Doc' Holliday; three Clantons were killed and Doc, Virgil & Morgan were wounded. 1881 Dec 31: Mayor James R. Toberman switched on new electric street lighting in Los Angeles, California. 1882 March 22: Congress outlawed polygamy. 1882 Sept 5: The first Labor Day Parade, in New York City. 1883: Oscar Mayer opened a butcher shop in Chicago with his brother; company acquired by General Foods in 1981. 1883: Legend has it that when a printer in Cheyenne, Wyoming ran out of white paper for the local telephone directory, he used yellow paper and thus invented the Yellow Pages. 1883 Jan 30: James Ritty and John Birch received a patent for the first cash register. 1883 May 24: New York's Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan Island, opened to traffic. 1883 Nov 18: The General Time Convention, a system of standard time zones, went into effect in the U.S. & Canada replacing local time settings. 1884 March 13: Standard Time went into effect across the U.S. 1885: Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas invented Dr. Pepper® soft drink. [Dr. Pepper Museum [est. 1991]] 1885 Feb 21: Dedication of the Washington Monument cenotaph. 1885 March 26: Eastman Dry Plate & Film Company of Rochester, New York manufactured the first commercial motion picture film. 1885 June: Arrival of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor from France, aboard the sailing ship Isere. 1886: Opening of the first golf course in the U.S. by John Hamilton Gillespie in Sarasota, Florida. 1886: Milton Hershey founded a candy company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 1886 May 4: 'The Haymarket Massacre' of labor strikers in Chicago, Illinois. 1886 May 8: Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton of Atlanta, Georgia invented the flavor syrup for Coca-Cola soft drink. 1886 May 10: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company" that corporations are 'persons' having the same rights as human beings, based on the 14th Amendment (which was intended to protect the rights of former slaves). [story] 1886 Oct 10: Debut of the tuxedo dinner jacket at the Autumn Ball in Tuxedo Park, New Jersey. 1886 Oct 28: Dedication of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor by President Cleveland. 1886 Dec 8: Founding of the American Federation of Labor in Columbus, Ohio. 1887 Jan 20: U.S. Senate approved an agreement to lease Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a naval base. 1888 July 23: Birthday of mystery author Raymond Chandler in Chicago, Illinois; he died in 1959. 1888 Sept 4: George Eastman received a patent for his roll-film camera and registered his Kodak trademark. 1888 Oct 16: Birthday of playwright Eugene O'Neill; he died in 1953. 1888 June 13: Congress established the Department of Labor. 1889 Founding of McCormick Spice Co. in Baltimore, Maryland. First U.S. pedestrian killed by an automobile, when Arthur Smith ran over Henry Bliss at the corner of 74th Street and Central Park West in New York City. The first coin-operated telephone was installed at a bank in Hartford, CT. 1889 Jan 5: First printed mention of the hamburger sandwich, in a Walla Walla, Washington newspaper. 1889 April 16: Birthday of silent film star Charles Chaplin; he died in 1977 in Switzerland. 1889 July 8: First publication of The Wall Street Journal. 1889 July 17: Birthday of author Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of lawyer Perry Mason; he died in 1970. 1890: George Bayle, Jr. invented peanut butter. 1890: Founding of the American Biscuit Co. by Adolphus Green in Chicago; New York Biscuit Co. formed by merger of 8 companies; those two and United States Baking Co. merged in 1898 to form the National Biscuit Co.; first used Nabisco trademark in 1901. 1890 Jan 25: Founding of the United Mine Workers of America. 1890 Sept 25: President Benjamin Harrison signed the law establishing Sequoia National Park. 1890 Oct 11: Founding of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, DC. 1890 Dec 29: 'Wounded Knee Massacre' of 300 Sioux Indians in South Dakota, killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them. 1891: William Wrigley Jr. began selling powdered soap, the baking powder; added chewing gum packs as an incentive; introduced first Wrigley chewing gum brands in 1892. 1891 Aug 24: Thomas Alva Edison filed patents for the Kinetograph 35mm camera & the Kinetoscope viewer. 1892: Founding of Geo. A. Hormel & Co. as a small retail store in downtown Austin, Minnesota. 1892 May 28: Founding of the Sierra Club in San Francisco. 1892 Summer: Earliest documented ice cream sundae, advertised by the Platt & Colts Soda Fountain in Ithaca, New York after invention by owner Chester Platt & Rev. John Scott. 1892 June-Oct: The Homestead Strike at the Carnegie Steel Mill. 1892 Aug: The Pledge of Allegiance was created by socialist Francis Bellamy. 1892 Oct 18: Formal opening of the first long-distance telephone line, between Chicago and New York City. 1893 William Wrigley Jr. introduced chewing gum brands Spearmint & JuicyFruit. Good & Plenty candy - oldest branded candy in the United States - introduced by Quaker City Confectionery Co. in Philadelphia. World's Fair {aka Columbian Exposition) introduced electric lighting [constructed by Nikola Tesla], Aunt Jemima's Pancake Mix, Cracker Jack® & the Ferris Wheel. 1893 Jan 17: A group of businessmen and sugar planters forced Queen Liliuokalani to abdicate, ending Hawaii's monarchy. 1893 June 20: Founding of the first U.S. industrial union, the American Railway Union in Chicago, led by Eugene V. Debs. 1893 June 27: 'The Panic of 1893': A crash of the New York stock market caused by a run on the gold supply, the worst economic crisis to hit the nation in its history to that point. 1893 Aug 29: Founding of Southern California Fruit Exchange by independent citrus growers in California; brand name Sunkist introduced in 1908. 1893 Sept 16: Oklahoma Cherokee Strip Land Rush. 1893 Oct 6: Introduction of Cream of Wheat® brand farina hot cereal, by Diamond Milling Co. of Grand Forks, North Dakota. 1893 Nov 7: Women gained the right to vote in Colorado. 1894: While experimenting with shredded wheat cereal, the Kellogg brothers accidentlally invented flaked wheat cereal; created flaked corn cereal in 1898; founded Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co in 1906. 1894: Founding of Robinson-Danforth Commission Co. to produce animal feed; line of Purina human food products introduced in 1898; company name changed to Ralston Purina in 1902. 1894 May 27: Birthday of mystery author Dashiell Hammett; he died in 1961. 1894 May-Aug: The Pullman Strike in Illinois. 1894 June 24: Congress passed a bill making Labor Day a national holiday, on the First Monday of September; soon signed into law by President Garfield. 1894 Aug 18: Congress established the Bureau of Immigration. 1895: Charles William Post introduced cereal-based Postum coffee substitute; introduced Grape-Nuts ready-to-eat cereal in 1897; introduced corn flakes cereal in 1908, later renamed Post Toasties; purchased Jell-O Company in 1925; company renamed General Foods on 24 July 1929. 1895: Introduction of condensed canned soup by Joseph A. Campbell Preserve Co. 1895 June 4: Henry Ford made a successful test run in his 'quadricycle' horseless carriage thru the pre-dawn streets of Detroit, Michigan. 1895 July 12: Birthday of inventor / thinker R. Buckminster Fuller; he died in 1983. 1895 Oct 4: Birthday of film comic Buster Keaton in Piqua, Kansas; he died in 1966. 1895 Oct 15: Patent for shredded wheat awarded to Henry D. Perky of Denver, Colorado; credited as the first mass-produced & nationally-distributed ready-to-eat cereal. 1896: Ice cream cone invented by New York City street vendor Italo Marchiony; received patent for con-making mold in 1903. 1896: Leo Hirschfield introduced a chewy, chocolate-flavored candy at his store in New York City, named for his daughter 'Tootsie'. 1896 April 20: The first time people paid to see a movie in the United States, at Koster & Bial's Music Hall in New York City. 1896 July 9: William Jennings Bryan delivered his 'cross of gold' speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 1896 Aug 17: Discovery of gold in Alaska, touching off the Klondike Gold Rush. 1896 Aug 29: The chef to visiting Chinese Ambassador Li Hung-chang invented the Chinese-American dish 'chop suey' in New York City. 1896 Sept 24: Birthday of author F. Scott Fitzgerald; he died in 1940. 1897: Jerome Monroe Smucker began selling prepared apple butter in Orrville, OH; incorporated J. M. Smucker Co. in 1921; introduced preserves & jellies in 1923. 1897 May 18: Birthday of producer-director Frank Capra; he died in 1991. 1897 May 28: Introduction of Jell-O® fruit-flavored gelatin dessert in LeRoy, New York. 1897 Sept 25: Birthday of Pulitzer- & Nobel-winning author William Faulkner; he died in 1962. 1897 Nov: Ransom E. Olds received a patent for his 'horseless carriage'. 1898: Merger of eighteen west coast canning companies (including the Del Monte brand) to form the California Fruit Canners Association, which merged with three more canners in 1916 to form California Packing Corp. 1898: Pepsi-Cola® soft drink was invented. 1898 Jan 1: The five boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens & Staten Island were consolidated to form New York City. 1898 Feb 15: The U.S. battleship 'Maine' mysteriously blew up in the harbor at Havana, Cuba; over 260 crewmen were killed. 1898 April 24: Spain declared war on the U.S. after America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. 1898 April 25: The U.S. declared war on Spain. 1898 Aug 12: Peace protocol signed ending the Spanish-American War. 1898 Aug 29: Birthday of filmmaker Preston Sturges; he died in 1959. 1898 Sept 26: Birthday of composer George Gershwin; he died in 1937] 1898 Oct 18: American flag raised over Puerto Rico. 1898 Dec 10: Spanish-American War officially ended (Treaty of Paris). 1899: Introduction of Dentyne® gum by New York druggist Franklin V. Canning. 1899 July 21: Birthday of Ernest Hemingway in Oak Park, Illinois; he died in 1961. 1899 Dec 18: #6 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 8.72%. 1900 Oct 3: Birthday of author Thomas Wolfe; he died in 1938. 1900 Dec 27: Militant prohibitionist Carry A. Nation's first public destruction of a saloon, the bar at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas. up to 1800    •    1801-1900 { this page }    •   next: 1901-1950    •    1951-2000    •    2001 to present

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