1920’s timeline

  • The IBM Corporation is founded

    At its beginning, it was a merger of three manufacturing businesses, a product of the times orchestrated by the financier, Charles Flint.
  • The Palmer's Raids arrest and deport over 6,000 suspected "radicals"

    Palmer Raids, also called Palmer Red Raids, raids conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1919 and 1920 in an attempt to arrest foreign anarchists, communists, and radical leftists, many of whom were subsequently deported.
  • The 18th amendment goes into effect

    On January 29, 1919, Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacturing, transportation and sale of alcohol within the United States; it would go into effect the following January.
  • Charles Lindbergh makes the first non-stop Trans-Atlantic flight

    Charles Lindbergh would make his historic flight between New York and Paris to win the Orteig Prize. It was the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic and the first to link the two major cities.
  • Charles Lindbergh makes the first non-stop Trans-Atlantic flight

    Airplane flies over the Atlantic and lands in a bog in Clifden, Ireland.
  • The League of Nations is Founded

    League of Nations, an organization for international cooperation established on January 10, 1920, at the initiative of the victorious Allied Powers at the end of World War I.
  • 19th Amendment is ratified

    The 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote.
  • Radio station KDKA airs the first commercially broadcast program

    Radio station KDKA airs the first commercially broadcast program
    Westinghouse Radio Station KDKA was a world pioneer of commercial radio broadcasting.
  • Warren G. Harding is elected president

    Warren G. Harding was the 29th President of the United States from 1921 until his death in 1923, a member of the Republican Party.
  • Sacco and Vanzetti Trial concludes

    The authorities concluded that the behavior of Sacco and Vanzetti meant that the men were guilty of something—presumably the payroll murders. The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti for the South Braintree murders was held in Dedham, Massachusetts, from May 31 to July 14, 1921.
  • Reader's Digest is Founded

    First issue of the Reader's Digest, in 1922, DeWitt Wallace started the magazine while he was recovering from shrapnel wounds received in World War I. Wallace had the idea to gather a sampling of favorite articles on many subjects from various monthly magazines, sometimes condensing and rewriting them, and to combine them into one magazine.
  • The Teapot Dome Scandal is uncovered

    Warren G. Harding transferred supervision of the naval oil-reserve lands from the navy to the Department of the Interior in 1921, Fall secretly granted to Harry F. Sinclair of the Mammoth Oil Company exclusive rights to the Teapot Dome (Wyoming) reserves (April 7, 1922).
  • First game in the newly built Yankee Stadium is played

    First game in the newly built Yankee Stadium is played
    Yankees beat the sox 4-2
  • President Warren G. Harding dies

    He was the 29th President of the United States from 1921 until his death in 1923, a member of the Republican Party.
  • President Calvin Coolidge is elected president

    ohn Calvin Coolidge Jr. was an American politician and the 30th President of the United States. A Republican lawyer from New England, born in Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor
  • Adolf Hitler leads a failed attempt to overthrow the German government

    It was a failed coup d'état by the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler
  • The National origins act is passed limiting immigration

    In 1924 Congress passed a discriminatory immigration law that restricted the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans and practically excluded Asians and other nonwhites from entry into the United States.
  • George Gerschwin releases "Rhapsody in Blue"

    Rhapsody in Blue is a 1924 musical composition by American composer George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. The composition was commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman.
  • The first winter Olympics are held

    The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games.
  • The Great Gatsby is published by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional towns of West Egg and East Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922.
  • Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf

    1925 autobiographical book by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany.
  • Scopes Monkey Trial begins in Dayton, TN

    an American legal case in July 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposely incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant.
  • Langston Hughes publishes his first set of poems in his the weary blues

    Langston Hughes publishes his first set of poems in his the weary blues
    published his first set of poems
  • The Ford Motor Company announces the creation of a 40 hour work week

    Ford Motor Company becomes one of the first companies in America to adopt a five-day, 40-hour week for workers in its automotive factories. The policy would be extended to Ford’s office workers the following August.
  • Gertrude Ederle is the first woman to swim the English Channel

    an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
  • The Great Mississippi Flood displaces 700,000 people

    The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood.
  • The Holland Tunnel connecting NYC and NJ opens

    At the time of its opening, the Holland Tunnel was the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in the world.
  • Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run

    On September 30, 1927, Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run of the 1927 season and with it sets a record that would stand for 34 years.
  • First film with sound, "The Jazz SInger", debuts

    The Jazz Singer, the first commercially successful full-length feature film with sound, debuts at the Blue Mouse Theater at 1421 5th Avenue in Seattle.
  • Alexander Fleming discovers Penicillin

    In 1928 Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, made from the Penicillium notatum mold, but he did not receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery until 1945.
  • Mickey Mouse makes his first appearance in the short film "Steamboat Willie"

    Mickey Mouse made his movie debut in Steamboat Willie, one of the earliest animated cartoons. This seven-minute film, directed by Walt Disney, was the first to combine animation technology with synchronized sound.
  • The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre

    The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre is the name given to the 1929 Valentine's Day murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park garage on the morning of Valentine's Day, where they were made to line up against a wall and shot by four unknown assailants.
  • Herbert Hoover is elected president

    America’s 31st president, took office in 1929, the year the U.S. economy plummeted into the Great Depression.
  • Stock Market Crashes on 'Black Tuesday'

    Black Tuesday hit Wall Street as investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors.
  • Amelia Earhart attempts to fly around the world

    Amelia Earhart's Last Flight. She decided that her next trip would be to fly around the world.
  • Ellis Island closes as an immigration point to the United States

    Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shuts it doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892. Only two percent of all immigrants were denied entrance into the U.S.