1876 Lt. Col. George A. Custer's regiment is wiped out by

Sioux Indians under Sitting Bull at the Little Big Horn River, Mont.

1886 Statue of Liberty is dedicated (Oct. 28). American Federation of Labor is organized

1890 Last major battle of the Indian Wars occurs at Wounded Knee in South Dakota. The frontier is

closed.

1896 Plessy v. Ferguson: Landmark

Supreme Court decision holds that racial segregation is constitutional, paving the

way for the repressive Jim Crow laws in the South.

1898 Spanish-American War: USS Maine is blown up in Havana harbor. U.S. declares war on Spain.

(Spain gives up control of Cuba, which becomes an independent republic, and cedes Puerto Rico, Guam, and (for $20 million) the Philippines to the U.S.

1903 U.S. acquires Panama Canal Zone .Wright brothers make the first

controlled, sustained flight in heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk, N.C.

1914 World War I: begins in 1914 U.S. enters World War I in 1917.

War ends in 1919

1916 Jeannette Rankin of Montana is the first woman

elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

1918 Worldwide influenza epidemic strikes; by 1920,nearly

20 million are dead. In U.S., 500,000 die.

1919 Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified,

granting women the right to vote