Timeline

1825–1899 ∼ Developing Transportation

George Stephenson builds the first public railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio (B & O) (1825) / First railroad sleeping cars constructed (1829) / Congress makes the first federal land grants for development of U.S. railroads (1850) / First transcontinental railroad completed at Promontory Point, Utah (1869) / Yellowstone, the first national park, is established (1872) / Philadelphia Centennial draws big crowds (1876) / Children’s Aid Society of New York City offers a summer home for children at Bath, Long Island (1885) / Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act to control certain economic practices of U.S. railroads (1887) / Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition is held (1893)

MILESTONES: Fugitive Slave Law requires the return of runaway slaves (1850) • Colorado gold rush begins (1858) • Homestead Act promises land to pioneer settlers (1862) • Capture of Geronimo (Chiricahua Apache leader) ends formal warfare between whites and Native Americans (1886) • Thomas Edison invents the motion picture (1889) • Henry Ford begins production...