Key Events in American History: 1872

President: Ulysses S. Grant

VP: Schuyler Colfax

Date, Event

Feb 20th The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in NY City

Mar 1st President Grant establishes Yellowstone National Park as the world's first national park

Mar 5th George Westinghouse patents the air brake for railways

May 22nd President Grant signs the Amnesty Act of 1872 restoring full civil rights for nearly all Confederate sympathizers

Sep 24th The Credit Mobilier Scandal is discovered where high-level politicians received stock for RR construction contracts

Nov 5th President Grant defeats Horace Greeley by a landslide in the U.S. Presidential election for a second term

Nov 5th In defiance of the law, Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time

Nov 9th Great Boston Fire of 1872: 65 acres burn including 77 buildings and $75 million in damages

Nov 29th The Modoc War: Modoc Indians fought Captain Jack and his cavalry in northern CA

Dec 28th The U.S. Army defeats the Apache Indians in Salt River Canyon, AZ

Reconstruction era (1865-1877)

Pillsbury Company is founded

The Great Epizootic kills approximately 4 million horses due to an equine virus that disrupts transportation significantly

Montgomery Ward is founded

Jul 4th Calvin Coolidge (30th President)

Oct 27th Emily Post (Author, Etiquette)

Apr 2nd Samuel B. Morse (Inventor, Telegraph)

Nov 29th Horace Greeley (Newspaper Editor, Publisher)