Significant Events of the 1920s

  • The Reemergence of the KKK

    Though the group was re-founded in 1915, it experienced a surge of national growth throughout the 1920s.
  • Prohibition

    Prohibition
    Prohibition sparked the underground clubs and speakeasies, the explosion of the bootlegging industry with gangsters, and furthered the "lude and lascivious" conduct of the roaring twenties
  • This Side of Paradise

    This Side of Paradise
    Not only is this event revealing of the growing desire for entertainment (with increased promiscuity), but it also revealed much about real goings on of the changing American society.
  • Women Get the Right to Vote

    Women Get the Right to Vote
    The 19th amendment was passed in 1919 and then ratified in 1920 to grant all American women the right to vote.
  • Babe Ruth and Yankee Stadium

    Babe Ruth and Yankee Stadium
    As sports and leisure activities became more popular so did the power of stardom. Babe Ruth drew so many people to the Polo Grounds where the Yankees first played, that an entirely new - and much larger - stadium had to be built to accommodate the crowds.
  • The Charleston

    The Charleston
    The Charleston became a hugely popular dance throughout the decade and reveals the changing manners of the time.
  • Mass Media

    Mass Media
    Commercially liscensed radio stations began in 1920, but by 1926 over 700 existed. This was the beginning of "breaking news"
  • The Jazz Singer

    The Jazz Singer
    This was the first talking film (a talkie), it marked the end of the domination of silent films and the beginning of an, even more, film-centric future.
  • The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre

    The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
    A consequence of prohibition, two gangs fighting for control over bootlegging control in Chicago. Legendary gangster Al Capone was the leader of the Italian gang and was later imprisoned in San Francisco's Alcatraz.
  • The Stock Market Crash

    The Stock Market Crash
    Black Tuesday on Wall Street marked the end of the roaring twenties.