November 3, 1908 - Republican William Howard Taft was elected President of the United States; defeated William Jennings Bryan.

March 4, 1909 - President Taft inaugurated as 27th president during 10" snowstorm.

April 9, 1909 - Congress passed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act; called for a list of free goods, to go along with lower rates-provisions that readily appealed to Progressives, importers and exporters; promised to help pry open foreign markets to American goods, as well as to provide U.S. industrialists with a steady flow of cheap raw materials; when passed - lacked the free list of goods and only lowered rates on a select set of items. The modified tariff also hiked the duties on a number of goods.

July 1, 1909 - Effective date of third general revision of the copyright law. Admission of certain classes of unpublished works to copyright registration. Term of statutory protection for a work copyrighted in published form measured from the date of publication of the work. Renewal term extended from 14 to 28 years.

November 13, 1909 - Ballinger-Pinchot scandal begins: Collier's magazine accuses US Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger of questionable dealings in Alaskan coal fields; charged that Ballinger improperly used his office to help the Guggenheims and other powerful interests illegally gain access to Alaskan coal fields; Gifford Pinchot (Roosevelt's chief forester) openly criticized both Ballinger and Taft, claimed they were violating the fundamental principles of both conservation and democracy; Taft immediately fired Pinchot, inspiring yet another round of scandalous headlines; soon became a major factor in splitting the Republican Party; Roosevelt concluded that Taft had so badly betrayed the ethics of conservation that he had to be ousted. Roosevelt mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Taft on the independent Bull Moose ticket in 1912; subsequent research has shown that Ballinger had not technically misused the power of his office and the charges of corruption were unjustified.

March 26, 1910 - U.S. forbid immigration to criminals, anarchists, paupers and the sick.

April 14, 1910 - President Taft begins tradition of throwing out ball on opening day.

May 11, 1910 - Glacier National Park in Montana was established.

May 31, 1910 - The Union of South Africa was founded.

June 25, 1910 - Congress passed the Mann Act, also known as the White Slave Traffic Act, in attempt to criminally enforce morality; law actually had little to do with slavery; it was aimed at stopping the supposed problem of innocent girls being lured into prostitution. Law made it illegal to "transport any woman or girl" across state lines "for any immoral purpose." This last clause may not have seemed important to the drafters believing that they were striking at prostitution. However, "for any immoral purpose" began to take on a much greater meaning. Most famous prosecutions under the law were those of Charlie Chaplin in 1944 and Chuck Berry in 1962, who took unmarried women across state lines for "immoral purposes." Chaplin was acquitted, but left the country under FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's threats. Berry was convicted and spent two years in the prime of his musical career in jail. After Berry's conviction, the Mann Act was enforced only sparingly; 1986 - removed from the books.

May 31, 1910 - Act of the British Parliament officially established Union of South Africa, a united self-governing dominion of the British empire (unitary state vs. a federation); comprised four states representing the British and Boer populations of South Africa following the end of the Second Boer War in 1902. The two British colonies, the Cape Colony and Natal Colony, were combined with the two defeated Boer states, the South African Republic and Orange Free State, known thereafter as the Cape Province, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, respectively.

October 5, 1910 - Portugal was proclaimed a republic when King Manuel II was driven from the country by revolutionaries.

March 25, 1911 - Fire began in a rag bin of the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. factory in New York City; 600 workers at the factory, 146 immigrant workers died. Factory was owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, was located in the top three floors of the Asch Building, on the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place, in Manhattan. It was a true sweatshop, employing young immigrant women who worked in a cramped space at lines of sewing machines. Nearly all the workers were teenaged girls who did not speak English and made only about $15 per week working 12 hours a day, every day. In 1911, there were four elevators with access to the factory floors, but only one was fully operational and the workers had to file down a long, narrow corridor in order to reach it. There were two stairways down to the street, but one was locked from the outside to prevent stealing and the other only opened inward. The fire escape was so narrow that it would have taken hours for all the workers to use it, even in the best of circumstances. The International Ladies Garment Workers Union was formed in the aftermath of the fire and the Sullivan-Hoey Fire Prevention Law was passed in New York that October. Both were crucial in preventing similar disasters in the future.

May 15, 1911 - The Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil Company, ruling it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act on the ground that it is a combination in unreasonable restraint of inter-State commerce. The decree of the Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit directing the dissolution of the Oil Trust was affirmed, with minor modifications in two particulars. So far as the judgment of the court is concerned the action was unanimous, but Justice Harlan dissented from the argument on which the judgment was based. The two modifications of the decree of the Circuit Court are that the period for execution of the decree is extended from thirty days to six months, and the injunction against engaging in inter-State commerce on petroleum and its products pending the execution of the decree is vacated. This latter modification is made distinctly in consideration of the serious injury to the public which might result from the absolute cessation of that business for such a time.

May 23, 1911 - resident William Howard Taft dedicated the New York Public Library, largest marble structure ever constructed in United States; occupied two-block section of Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets, beaux-arts structure took 14 years to complete at cost of $9 million; 1886 - former New York Governor Samuel J. Tilden died, bequeathing to the city $2.4 million to "establish and maintain a free library and reading room in the city of New York"; May 23, 1895 - New York's two largest libraries, Astor and Lenox, agreed to combine with the Tilden Trust to form a new entity that would be known as The New York Public Library.

June 22, 1911 - Britain's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

July 24, 1911 - Hiram Bingham discovers Macu Picchu, Lost City of the Incas.

October 10, 1911 - Revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen overthrew China's Manchu dynasty; October 30, 1911 - P'u-Yi, emperor of China, aged five, granted a new constitution and officially ended three centuries of the Manchu dynasty.

November 6, 1911 - Francisco Madeiro inaugurated president of Mexico.

December 7, 1911 - President Taft addressed the need for a "central organization in touch with associations and chambers of commerce throughout the country and able to keep purely American interests in a closer touch with different phases of commercial affairs", April 12, 1912 - U. S. Chamber of Commerce formed.

December 30, 1911 - Sun Yat-sen was elected the first president of the Republic of China.

January 6, 1912 - New Mexico became the 47th state. 1821 - Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, New Mexico became a province of Mexico, and trade was opened with the United States. 1822 - American settlers began arriving in New Mexico via the Santa Fe Trail. 1846 - the Mexican-American War erupted, and U.S. General Stephen W. Kearny captured and occupied Santa Fe without significant Mexican opposition. 1848 - the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded New Mexico to the United States; 1853 - the territory was expanded to its present size through the Gadsden Purchase (December 30, 1853). The Apache and the Navaho resisted the colonial efforts of the U.S. as they had those of Spain and Mexico. 1886 - after three decades of bloodshed, Indian resistance finally ended with the surrender of Geronimo, chief of the Chiricahua Apaches. 1879 - After the suppression of New Mexico's natives, the population of New Mexico expanded considerably, and many came to participate in the ranching boom brought on by the opening of the Santa Fe Railroad.

February 12, 1912 - Hsian-Tung, the last emperor of China, is forced to abdicate following Sun Yat-sen's republican revolution. A provisional government was established in his place, ending 267 years of Manchu rule in China and 2,000 years of imperial rule. The former emperor, only six years old, was allowed to keep up his residence in Beijing's Forbidden City, and he took the name of Henry Pu Yi. Pu Yi was enthroned as emperor in 1908 after his uncle, the Kuang-hsu emperor, died. He reigned under a regency and underwent training to prepare him for his coming rule. However, in October 1911, his dynasty fell to Sun Yat-sen's revolution, and four months later he abdicated. The new Chinese government granted him a large government pension and permitted him to live in the imperial palace until 1924, when he was forced into exile.

February 14, 1912 - Arizona became the 48th state of the Union.

March 27, 1912 - Helen Taft, wife of President William Taft, and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, plant two Yoshina cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River (along the Potomac River's Tidal Basin), near the Jefferson Memorial. The event was held in celebration of a gift, by the Japanese government, of 3,020 cherry trees from the famous collection on the bank of the Arakawa River in Adachi Ward, a suburb of Tokyo to the U.S. government; first proposed by socialite Eliza Scidmore, who raised money for the endeavor. Helen Taft had lived in Japan while her husband was president of the Philippine Commission, and knowing the beauty of cherry blossoms she embraced Scidmore's idea. After learning of the first lady's interest, the Japanese consul in New York suggested making a gift of the trees to the U.S. government from the city of Tokyo.

April 15, 1912 - The British luxury liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, less than three hours after striking an iceberg. About 1,500 people died. At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the British ocean liner Titanic sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. The massive ship, which carried 2,200 passengers and crew, had struck an iceberg two and half hours before. designed by the Irish shipbuilder William Pirrie and built in Belfast, and was thought to be the world's fastest ship. It spanned 883 feet from stern to bow, and its hull was divided into 16 compartments that were presumed to be watertight. Because four of these compartments could be flooded without causing a critical loss of buoyancy, the Titanic was considered unsinkable (ruptured at least five of its hull compartments). Titanic's compartments were not capped at the top, water from the ruptured compartments filled each succeeding compartment, causing the bow to sink and the stern to be raised up to an almost vertical position above the water. Because of a shortage of lifeboats and the lack of satisfactory emergency procedures, more than 1,500 people went down in the sinking ship or froze to death in the icy North Atlantic waters. One hour and 20 minutes after Titanic went down, the Cunard liner Carpathia arrived. Later discovered that the Leyland liner Californian had been less than 20 miles away at the time of the accident but had failed to hear the Titanic's distress signals because its radio operator was off duty. September 1, 1985 - a joint U.S.-French expedition located the wreck of the Titanic lying on the ocean floor at a depth of about 13,000 feet.

June 4, 1912 - Massachusetts passes first U.S. minimum wage law.

August 7, 1912 - The Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party), group of Republicans dissatisfied with the re-nomination of President William Howard Taft, nominated Theodore Roosevelt for president. Platform called for the direct election of U.S. senators, woman suffrage, reduction of the tariff, and many social reforms

August 24, 1912 - Territory of Alaska organizes.

October 8, 1912 - First Balkan War begins - Montenegro declares war on Turkey.

October 12, 1912 - Minutes before a campaign speech in Milwaukee, Theodore Roosevelt was shot at close range by anarchist William Schrenk, who was immediately detained.  Offered as his motive that any man looking for a third term ought to be shot. Roosevelt, who suffered only a flesh wound from the attack, went on to deliver his scheduled speech, declaring, "You see, it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose!" The former "Rough Rider" later collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. He recovered quickly but in November was defeated by Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson, who benefited from the divided Republican Party.

November 5, 1912 - Woodrow Wilson was elected 28th president of the United States (Thomas R. Marshall as vice president); defeated incumbent William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt; electoral count = 435 votes to 8 for Taft, 88 for Roosevelt; only election in American history in which a candidate defeated two former presidents.

November 28, 1912 - Albania declared its independence after more than 400 years of Turkish rule.

December 3, 1912 - Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro signed an armistice with Turkey, ending the first Balkan War. During the two-month conflict, a military coalition between Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Montenegro--known as the Balkan League--expelled Turkey from all the Ottoman Empire's former European possessions, with the exception of Constantinople (now Istanbul). January 1913 - a coup d'etat in Turkey led to a resumption of fighting, but the Balkan League was again victorious. 1913, the Second Balkan War began after Serbia and Greece demanded that Bulgaria cede to them portions of Macedonia. Serbia and Greece formed an alliance against Bulgaria, and Macedonia was partitioned between the victors. Nationalist tension persisted in the Balkans, and Serbia was particularly bitter about being forced to give up some of its conquests by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

February 3, 1913 - The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified (passed in 1909). Government implemented the first graduated income tax later in the same year as part of the Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act which slashed import duties as a means of promoting free trade and boosting the nation's industrial efforts. In turn, the tax was viewed as a necessary means of recouping some of the funds that the government would lose as a result of the tariff reform.

February 17, 1913 - First minimum wage law in U.S. takes effect in Oregon.

February 18, 1913 - Raymond Poincare, a conservative politician who had been elected president of the French Republic over the objections of Georges Clemenceau and the French Left a month earlier, takes office. As prime minister in the years before World War I, Poincare worked to strengthen France’s alliances with both Britain and Russia. While Poincare was convinced that the system of alliances in Europe would preserve the balance of power and avert a war, in reality the solidification of the Triple Entente (an alliance among France, Britain and Russia) in the years before 1914 made Germany increasingly nervous and only intensified the atmosphere of tension that would soon explode into world war. 1917 - appointed his liberal nemesis, Georges Clemenceau, as prime minister. 1920 - declined to stand for reelection and returned to the Senate. 1922 - again appointed prime minister; he enforced the payment of German reparations. January 1923 - when struggling country defaulted, he sent French troops to seize the industrial zones of the Ruhr Valley. 1924 - stepped down with the victory of a left-wing coalition. 1926 - returned to the post of prime minister; headed two more ministries; 1929 - retired from government service for health reasons.

March 4, 1913 - President William Howard Taft, the defeated and departing incumbent, signed Public Law 426-62 creating the U. S. Department of Labor just hours before Woodrow Wilson took office. Initially consisted of the new U.S. Conciliation Service (USCS), which mediated labor disputes, plus four pre-existing bureaus: the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Bureau of Immigration, the Bureau of Naturalization and the Children's Bureau. Woodrow Wilson's appointee as Secretary of Labor was Scottish-born Congressman William B. Wilson (1913-1921), a founder and former Secretary-Treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America. Department was created "in the interest of the wage earners", but must be administered in fairness to labor, business and the public at large.

March 11, 1930 - President Howard Taft becomes the first US President to be buried in the National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.