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The first cross-country railroad cut months to a week

The transcontinental railroad, finished on May 10, 1869, shortened a journey of several months to about one week.

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The last spike was driven at a ceremony at Promontory, Utah. The line also brought conflict with American Indians, whose ancestral lands it crossed.

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A coded telegram helped pull America into World War I

In 1917 Germany's foreign secretary sent Mexico a coded message proposing a military alliance against the United States.

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One cotton gin could clean 50 pounds a day

Eli Whitney's cotton gin, patented on March 14, 1794, could produce up to fifty pounds of cleaned cotton in a day.

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A 1956 law planned 41,000 miles of interstate

The National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956 expanded the planned interstate system to 41,000 miles.

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