Major Events
Machu Picchu is an ancient Inca site "discovered" by U.S. citizen Hiram Bingham on July 24, 1911. It is an astounding 2430 meters (7970 feet) above sea level! Machu Picchu's presence was already known by the locals, but Bingham was the first person to introduce it internationally. Many archaeologists think Machu Picchu was built as a dwelling place for the Inca emperor Pachacuti sometime around 1450. However, the Incas abandoned Machu Picchu about 100 years later, around the time of the Spanish Conquest. To this day, it is a very popular tourist attraction, and, more importantly, a famous symbol of Inca civilization.
One of the most shocking tragedies the United States has ever witnessed happened on April 15, 1912. At least 1,517 people lost their lives as a result of this horrific calamity. 914 passengers boarded the Titanic on the morning of April 10, 1912 at Southampton, England. From there, the Titanic stopped at Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland before heading to New York. After leaving Queenstown, the Titanic was carrying over 2,200 people. The first two days went well, but tragedy would soon strike! Late at night on April 14, 1912, lookouts rang the warning bell upon sighting the iceberg. Approximately 37 seconds later, the Titanic hit the iceberg. The captain ordered for lifeboats to be uncovered early in the morning on April 15, 1912 and for distress calls to be sent. However, only 20 lifeboats were available, so after the last lifeboat was launched at 2:05 a.m., some people remained on the boat while others jumped off and tried to float on various objects. The Titanic snapped in half on April 15, 1912 at 2:18 a.m. and sank two minutes later. The Carpathia picked up the survivors and landed in New York on April 18, 1912. 705 people were saved, while 1,517 unfortunately died.
In 1913, Henry Ford introduced a revolutionary process for making automobiles: the assembly line. Henry Ford opened the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and released the first Model T five years later. In order to build more of these, Henry Ford constructed a new plant in 1910 in Highland Park, Michigan. After observing the assembly line concept from slaughterhouses, Ford began looking into using the idea for his automobile industry. Ford introduced the first large-scale assembly line at his plant in Michigan on December 1, 1913. Ford used interchangeable parts, which meant all the parts where the same. Consequently, this made manufacturing speedy and organized. By introducing this process for manufacturing, Ford changed the way we work and live to this very day.
World War I began on July 28, 1914, but the United States did not enter the war until April 6, 1917. It was a war between the Allies (France, the U.K., the U.S., and Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). The United States did not even want to enter this war, but after a German U-boat sank the British's Lusitania, which carried 159 Americans, the U.S. began to become concerned. Then, in 1917, Germany sent Mexico a coded messaging telling them that they would give them parts of U.S. land if Mexico joined Germany to fight against the United States. However, this message was caught by Britain and, after being translated, shown to the United States. This was known as the Zimmermann Telegram, and, in addition to the incident with the Lusitania, persuaded the United States to enter World War I. This war lasted until 1919 and caused about 120,000 American deaths.