1899    The Western League is renamed the American League.

1900    The American League is organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with 8 founding teams.

1933    The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park. The American League defeats the National League 4–2.

1947    Larry Doby signs a contract with the Cleveland Indians baseball team, becoming the first black player in the American League. (Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League 11 weeks earlier.)

1973    The American League of Major League Baseball begins using the designated hitter.