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Theodore Roosevelt is born
Teddy Roosevelt was born October 27th, 1858 to a wealthy family in New York City. -
Named President when McKinley is assassinated
The Republican Party nominated Roosevelt to be McKinley's vice-presidential running mate in 1900. Less than a year in his second term, McKinley was shot by an assassin on September 12th, 1901. He died two days later, and Roosevelt was named president. -
Energy crisis
The anthracite coal strike of 1902- in which workers demanded higher wages, shorter workdays, and recognition of their union- threatened to shut down the winter fuel supply to major American cities. Anthracite, or hard coal, heated most residences. On October 3, Roosevelt called a meeting to discuss the problem, regardless of having no right to do so. It was unheard of, as at this time the federal government tended to side with the employers, if they did anything at all. -
Elkins Act passed
The Elkins Act is a US federal law that amended the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. This act authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to impose heavy fines on railroads that offered rebates and the shippers that accepted them. -
Pelican Island, Florida named first national wildlife refuge
Pelican Island was established as the first federal bird reservation. This eventually led to the National Wildlife Refuge System. It was created to protect egrets among other birds from extinction through plume hunting. -
Wins first full term as President
Roosevelt defeated Alton B. Parker, the Democratic nominee, in the 1904 election. He was the first president to win his own term after having ascended presidency after his predecessor's death. Roosevelt won with 56.4% of votes, compared to Parker's 37.6%. -
Yosemite under Federal Control
Yosemite National Park was established in 1890, but was placed under federal control in 1906. The park features waterfalls, rock formations, groves of giant sequoias, and the largest granite monolith in the US. -
Passage of Pure Food And Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act was the first consumer protection law that eventually led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. Before the act, there was appalling unsanitary conditions in the country's manufacturing plants, most especially in the meatpacking industry. Congress created the act to prevent “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs or medicines, and liquors.” -
Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, named first national monument
Devil's Tower was named the first national monument by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. The monument rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River- 867 feet from summit to base. It is a butte made of igneous rock in northeastern Wyoming. -
Leaves presidency, visits Africa
Roosevelt declined to run for president in 1908. He anointed Taft as his successor and then, after Taft's inauguration, left for Africa. He landed in Mambasa with his son Kermit in April of 1909. He led a safari trekking across British East Africa, into the Belgian Congo and back to the Nile, finally ending in Khartoum. In the end, he with his expedition collected 1,100 specimens- "collecting" meaning shooting species such as lions and rhinos. He returned to the US a year later. -
Runs for presidency, unsuccessfully for Bull-Moose Party
Roosevelt ran for the Bull Moose (Progressive) party in the 1912 election. He lost the campaign, only ending with 27.4% of the votes, as compared to Wilson's 41.8%. Woodrow Wilson of the Democratic party won. William Howard Taft, Republican, also ran, along with Eugene V. Debs of the Socialist party.
