1890		Jacob Riis publishes, How the Other Half Lives, exposing the wretched living conditions of people in the slums of New York City.
		Beginning of "Jim Crow" legislation in the South that promoted disenfranchising of African Americans and enforced racial segregation.
		A New York newspaper reporter completes a journey around the world in 72 days.
1891		YMCA trainee James Naismith invents basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts. Within 10 years the indoor team sport was very popular not only among YMCA programs, but also at colleges, high schools and athletic clubs.
1892		Carnegie Steel Works at Homestead, Pennsylvania lock outs employees in a labor contract dispute, and several strikers and plant guards are killed.
		Ellis Island opens in New York City and the first of 12 million immigrants passes through its doors, seeking a better life in America.
1893		J. Frank and Charles Duryea build the first successful gasoline-powered automobile in the United States.
		The Ferris wheel is introduced at the World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois.
1894		Economic depression which began the previous year leaves 1 in 5 American workers without a job.
		American Railway Union members support Pullman Palace Car Company workers in the most notable strike in American history, tying up most of the railroads in the midwestern United States.
1895		W.E.B. DuBois becomes the first African American to obtain a doctorate degree at Harvard University.
		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.
1896		In the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, the United States Supreme Court rules that it is legal to provide "separate but equal" public facilities," allowing for racial segregation at places like railways, hotels, restaurants and hospitals.
		Henry Ford drives his first automobile through the streets of Detroit, Michigan.
1897		The first Boston Marathon is held.
1898		New York City's population of almost 3.5 million makes it the second largest city in the world.
		The United States wins a war with Spain which lasts only four months, and America is established as a world power.
1899	Americans tap their toes to ragtime music, based on lively African-American syncopated rhythms. Black composer Scott Joplin, the "king of ragtime," writes "Maple Leaf Rag."

The Henry Ford ~ http://www.TheHenryFord.org