BOLD Print indicates IBEW events and labor union events:

1900     New Hawaii territory is organized.

1901     President William McKinley is assassinated by Leon Czolgosz.

1902     U.S. gains control of the Panama Canal.

1903     First silent movie, “The Great Train Robbery” ---- Wright Bros.        Achieve first powered flight at Kitty Hawk.

1903     First full-time, salaried Grand President

1906     San Francisco’s great earthquake.

1906     Kellogg’s Corn Flakes sold for first time.

1908     Ford produces first Model-.T by assembly line method.

1908     Homestead rush began.

1908     General Motors first car company to develop color painted cars.

1908     Reid-Murphy split; IBEW affiliated with the Trades and Labor   Congress of Canada.

1910     The Boy and Girl Scouts introduced in America.

1912     Court decision upheld McNulty-Collins as officers of the legitimate IBEW.

1912     Massachusetts becomes first state to adopt a minimum wage. 

1912     The Titanic sinks.

1912     Arizona becomes 48th state.

1913     The Federal Reserve System is created.

1913     Delegates return to a united Convention. Split in the IBEW ended and seceding faction reabsorbed into the legitimate Brotherhood  (McNulty-Collins) by agreement in 1914.

1914     First traffic lights, red and green only, are put up in USA.

1915     Jane Addams and Carrie Chapman Catt, two women’s rights activists, organize the Woman’s Peace Party.

1915     Germans sink Lusitania-killing American passengers-one cause for      entering WW1.

1916     Woodrow Wilson reelected as President on his 14 Points of Peace       platform-platform basis for League of Nations.

1917     US enters WWI.

1917     Congress passes the Selective Service Act.

1918     Germany surrenders to the Allies.

1918     World-wide influenza epidemic killing 22 million people.

1918     Constitutional amendment renders actions of conventions final.

1919     18th Amendment ratified, starting prohibition and a prelude to the roaring twenties.

1919     Versailles Treaty marks official end of WWI.

1919     Chicago race riots occur.

1919     Telephone Operators Department established.

1920     League of Nations established.

1920     Women win right to vote.

1920     Council on Industrial Relations founded. IBEW headquarters moved from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington, D.C.

1991     The Sheppard—Towner Act is passed.

1922     Electrical Workers’ Benefit Assn. Founded.

1922     The Cable Act is passed.

1923     Warren G. Harding dies and is succeeded by Calvin Coolidge.

1924     Research Department established.

1924     Nation’s First female governor elected Nellie Taylor Ross.

1924     France hosts the very first Winter Olympics.

1925     Bruce Barton writes The Man Nobody Knows, one of the decade’s best selling books.

1926     Germany is admitted into League of Nations.

1927     Charles Lindbergh fast man to fly solo across Atlantic Ocean.

1927     Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs-breaking season record.

1927     Pension Plan established by Detroit convention.

1928     The auto, steel, rubber, glass, and housing industries in recession foreshadowing the future events of depression.

1929     The Stock Market crashes in October of 1929 -- St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

1929     IBEW moved into its own building at 1200_15th Street, N.W.

1930     The first supermarket is opened in U.S.

1931     Empire State Building opens in New York.

1932     Amelia Earhart first woman to fly solo across Atlantic ocean.

1932     Charles Lindbergh’s son kidnapped and murdered.

1933     Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated as president under his “New Deal”.-one of most popular presidents in U S history.

1933     Congress passes the Indian Reorganization Act.

1935     Social Security Act.

1935     The Wagner Act passed, guaranteeing workers’ rights to join unions and bargain collectively—under Roosevelt.

1936     Auto Workers Strike occurs in Detroit.

1936     Margaret Mitchell writes Gone with the Wind.

1937     Steel strike in Chicago.

1938     Fair Labor Standards Act makes illegal to employ child labor.

1938     Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds causes panic.

1938     Severe recession hits US economy because of depression.

1939     Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, released.

1939     The movie, Wizard of Oz, is released.

1939     Robert de Graff starts the Pocket Books company, paperback books company.

1941     Japan launches attack on Pearl Harbor - 12/7/41 ---- On 12/8/41, US declares war on Japan.

1942 The movie, Casablanca, glorifies war effort and inspires troops.

1942     The Revenue Act— increases number of Americans who pay income taxes.

1943     400,000 coal miners go on strike — Congress passes the Smith—Connally Act limiting strikes.

1944     June 6, 1944 - D- Day — allied forces invade Normandy ---- 12/44 - Battle of the Bulge: Germans launch counter attack in Belgium and Luxembourg —— unsuccessful.

1945     In the desert at Alamogrodo, New Mexico, scientists detonated the world’s first atomic bomb. US drops 1st atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, called “Little Boy”. 2nd atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan - “Fat Man”. — 9/2/45 - Japanese leaders accept the American terms of surrender.

1945     The United Nations becomes established.

1946     Winston Churchill gives his famous “iron curtain” speech in Fulton, Mo., telling of his plan to keep West Germany out of Russia’s hands.

1946     Number of vice presidential districts increased from 10 to 12; National Employees’ Benefit Agreement signed by IBEW and NECA

1947     Congress passes Taft-Hartley Act to curb the power of unions.

1947     Jackie Robinson first African American to play baseball for the Major leagues.

1947     Permanent National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for the Electrical Industry formed. Government Employees Department established. Progress meetings for vice presidential districts instituted. National Electrical Benefit Fund went into effect.

1948     Transistor is invented: the novel by George Orwell is published “1984” about communism.

1948     Pres. Truman bans racial segregation in the armed forces.

1949     The North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) is established.

1950     Members voted to submit to referendum vote the holding of the International Convention every four years instead of every two. Affirmative decision reached in 1952.

1950     Pres. Truman authorizes production of H-Bomb.

1950     Albert Einstein develops his “General Field Theory”.

1950     McCarthyism.

1950     Korean War begins - 6/27/50 - United Nations declares war on North Korea.                                                                                                                   

1951     Color T.V.

1951     J D. Salinger published classic novel, “The catcher in the Rye”.

1951     U.S. Presidency is restricted down to eight years.

1951     Broadcasting and Recording Department established.

1952     Dwight D. Eisenhower elected President.

1953     First microwave oven.

1953     Rosenbergs executed for traitorous espionage

1954     Segregation by race in schools declared unconstitutional by Supreme Court.

1954     Chicago IBEW Convention was the largest labor union convention ever held in the world.

1955     The two largest labor unions, the AFL and ClO merge as one union.

1955     The movie, Rebel Without a cause, released.

1955     Construction and Maintenance, Manufacturing, Telephone and Utility Departments established; previously existed as divisions within the IBEW.

1956     The first transatlantic telephone cable begins operation.

1957     The Sputnik is launched by the Soviets.

1958     The first U.S.A. satellite, the Explore 1, is launched.

1959    US severs its diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro rises to power and Cuba becomes communist.

1959     Alaska becomes 49th state & Hawaii becomes 5Oth state.

1959     Skill Improvement, Safety Departments established.

19601955    Kennedy and Nixon debate appears as first presidential debate on TV.

1961     Kennedy established U.S. Peace Corps.---Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba fails---Freedom Riders challenge segregation on interstate buses.

1962     U S. astronaut, John Glenn, orbits earth in spacecraft: Cuban missile crises occurs. James Meredith, first African American to attend Univ. Of Mississippi: Kennedy issues order that protects federal employees’ right to organize amid bargain collectively, but not to strike.

1963     11/1/63 Vietnamese and America stage a coup in Vietnam.

1963     Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C..

1963     11/22/63 President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

1963     Supreme Court ruling supported authority of IBEW Constitution.

1964     The Beatles gain int’l. Fame as rock band.

1964     Congress ratifies the Civil Rights Act. --- Three civil rights activists killed in Mississippi.

1965     Congress establishes Medicaid, Medicare, and passes the Voting Rights Act.

1965     Black Leaders Malcolm X is assassinated in New York.

1965     Cesar Chavez organizes farm workers.

1966     Founders’ Scholarship Program instituted to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the IBEW.

1966     National Organization for Women is founded-sparks women’s movement for women’s rights.

1966     Black Panther party is founded.

1966     Court ruling establishes that suspects must be read their rights before they are questioned.

1967     Martin Luther King leads an anti-Vietnam protest in New York —- Green Bay Packers win first-ever Super Bowl.

1968     Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Are assassinated.

1969     Neil Armstrong first astronaut to step down on the moon’s surface. This led to his famous quote “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.

1970     Environmental Protection Agency set up by government.

1970     Rock stars Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix die of drug overdoses.

1970     Four Kent State University students were killed in a Vietnam War protest by the National Guard.

1971     12/31/70 -- U.S. starts to withdraw troops from Vietnam.

1971     Voting age - 18: Nixon imposes freeze on prices and wages: value of dollar goes down.

1971     Walt Disney World opens.

1971     lBEW moved to new, permanent address at 1125_151hSt. N.W. Special Services, Organizing Departments established.

1972     Watergate Scandal set off by break-in at Democratic headquarters.

1972     Equal Rights Amendment passed.

1972     IBEW membership reached one million in October; Telephone Department operations relocated to I.O.

1973     Senate investigates Watergate: Vietnam War peach pacts were signed in Paris: end of military draft was announced.: Henry Kissinger wins Nobel Peace prize: Native American stage a protest at Wounded Knee, S D : last of American forces finally leave Vietnam.

1974     Nixon resigned.

1975     Soviet Sojuz and U S Apollo link up in space.

1976     200” Anniversary of U.S. independence.

1976     North and South Vietnam are united, bringing an end to the Vietnam War.

1977     IBEW and NECA agreed to improve NEBF benefits and increase employer contribution from 1% to 3%.

1977     President Jimmy Carter establishes the Dept. Of Energy: Star Wars is released.

1978     U.S. Senate votes to turn over the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999.

1979     Iranians seize the American Embassy in Tehran, taking 63 Americans hostage----Three Mile Island-nuclear accident.

1980     Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed.

1981     Electrical Industry Health and Welfare Reciprocal Agreement established; achieve l00% participation in 1985.

1981     PC is launched by IBEW: AIDS is identified by scientists: Space shuttle “Columbia” world’s first reusable space craft, sent into space: Reagan’s tax cut - largest in history: Reagan shot and wounded: Air traffic controllers - illegal strike Reagan fired them all.

1982     IBEW affiliated with the Canadian Federation of Labor.

1982     Equal Rights Amendment fails to be ratified by Congress.

1982     First permanent artificial heart.

1983     “CD” is launched. US troops invade on the Caribbean island of Grenada.

1984     Electrical Industry Pension Reciprocal Agreement established; achieve 100% participation in 1989.

1984     Geraldine Ferraro become first w woman to run for the vice-presidency of major party ticket.

1985     US defense budget being spent at half a million dollars per minute.

1986     Martin Luther King, Jr. Day observed as holiday effective 1/20/86.

1986     Iran-Contra scandal.

1987     Pension Investment and Employee Benefits Dept. Established in response to 33rd Convention resolution.

1987     Reagan and Gorbachev sign agreement calling for dismantling of U.S. and Soviet missiles.

1988     Skill Improvement Department renamed Technical Services Department; Safety Department renamed Safety and Health Department; Telephone and Cable TV Departments combined into the Telecommunications Department; Education Program established (became Education Department in 1991).

1989     Research and Education Dept. Renamed Research and Economics Department; Organizing Department renamed Special Projects Department. Canada IBEW-COPE established.

1989     Berlin Wall falls uniting East and West Germany.

1990     Iraq invades Kuwait.

1991     Persian Gulf War - Desert Storm - war lasted 42 days.

1991     Centennial Exposition and the 34th and 100th Anniversary Convention held in St. Louis.  Delegates vote to hold convention every five years.  Special Services.

1991     START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) called for dramatic reductions in the US’s and Soviet Union’s long mange nuclear weapons.

1992     Bylaw Approval Department and the Appeals Department consolidated into Bylaws and Appeals Department.

1992     Russia and US sign a treat officially ending the Cold War.

1993     World Trade Center in New York is bombed:  O.J. Simpson is chased by police for murder of wife and boyfriend:  51 day siege of Waco, Texas ends in fire storm.

1994     New database established for agreement approval/analysis, Research and Economics, Technical Services Departments merged to become Research and Technical Services Department. Public Relations Department established.

1994     Violent earthquake rocks city of Los Angeles: US troops seize country of Haiti.

1995     Journal, Public Relations Departments merged as the Journal amid Media Relations Department. First IBEW’-wide opinion p011 of rank amid file members conducted.

1995     Car bomb destroys the federal building in Oklahoma City, Ok1a.

1996     Electronic voting used for first time at an IBEW Convention. Committee appointed to study IBEW’s structure and Constitution.

1996     Bill Clinton defeats Robert Dole for President of U.S.

1997     Princess Di killed in automobile accident Sadam Hussein allows weapons inspectors into Iraq.

1997     IBEW re-affiliates with the Canadian Labor Congress.

1998     Mark McQuire 62 home runs broke Roger Mans’ record of 61 home runs.  Ken Starr Report:  Bill Clinton - Watergate affair - Monica Lewinsky.

1999     Clinton Impeachment Trial:  Columbine shooting: Kosovo: JFK, Jr. Dies: Hurricane Floyd.

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