Ragtime

Era of Ragtime
1895
The Lumiere Brothers develop the movie camera.

1899
Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" is published, sparking an international craze for Ragtime's syncopated rythms.

1901
President William McKinely is assassinated in Buffalo, New York. Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the United States.

1903
Edward S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery ushers in the age of motion pictures.

Orville and Wilbur Wright achieve the first powered manned flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1904
The first section of the New York City subway opens, running from the Brooklyn Bridge to 145th Street.

George M. Cohan introduces Give My Regards To Broadway in the smash-hit musical Little Johnny Jones.



The National Child Labor Committe is formed.

President Theodore Roosevelt is re-elected by a landslide.

1905
Albert Einstein publishes his "Special Theory of Relativity" and ushers in the nuclear age with the climactic formula of his law of mass-energy equivalence, E=mc2.

1906
In the rooftop restaurant atop Madison Square Garden, architect Stanford White is shot by and murdered by millionaire Harry K. Thaw whose wife, Evelyn Nesbit, was once White's lover. Newspapers called it the "Crime of the Century."

1907
European Immigration peaks as 1.2 million immigrants arrive at Ellis Island and begin new lives across North America.

Construction of Manhattan's Pierpont Morgan Library, home to financier J.P. Morgan's vast collection of rare books, historic objects, and fine paintings is completed.


1908
Henry Ford introduces his "Model T" the first car built on an assembly line. Over 15 million are sold in the first two decades.

William Howard Taft is elected as the 27th President of the United States.

1909
Admiral Robert Perry reaches the North Pole.

Master Illusianist Harry Houdini executes the greatest escape of his career after being handcuffed, nailed inside a wooden box, and then dropped into New York City's East River.

1910
Construction of Pennsylvania Station, which began in 1906, is completed. Designed by McKim, Mead and White the railway station is called a "civic masterpiece."

1911
Irving Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" is introduced selling more than a million copies of sheet music. He is called "The King of Ragtime."

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole.
1912
The Pride of J.P. Morgan's International Merchant Marine, a new luxury liner named Titanic, departs Southampton on her maiden voyage.

Olympic hero Jim Thorpe is hailed "the greatest athlete in the world."

In the mill town of Lawrence, Massachusettes, widespread violance erupts as thousands of workers go on strike.

(Thomas) Woodrew Wilson is elected as the 28th President of the United States.

1914
The Panama Canal opens.

On June 28, Archduke Franz Ferdinand is killed in Sarajevo. Dubbed "the shot heard 'round the world" the assassination triggers the beginning of World War I.

1915
D.W. Griffith's landmark film The Birth Of A Nation premieres in New York City.

The British passenger ship Lusitania is torpedoed off the coast of Irland.

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