The Roaring 20's

  • The IBM Corporation is founded

    The IBM Corporation is founded
    The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, the precursor to IBM, was founded on June 16, 1911. At its beginning, it was a merger of three manufacturing businesses, a product of the times orchestrated by the financier, Charles Flint.
  • The 18th amendment goes into effect

    The 18th amendment goes into effect
    Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacturing, transportation and sale of alcohol within the United States
  • The Palmer Raids arrest and deport over 6,000 suspected 'radicals"

    The Palmer Raids arrest and deport over 6,000 suspected 'radicals"
    The Palmer Raids were a series of raids conducted during the First Red Scare by the United States Department of Justice under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson to capture and arrest suspected radical leftists, mostly Italian and Eastern European immigrants
  • The League of Nations is founded

    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 by congress

    19th amendment is ratified by congress
    ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted 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. Transmitting with a power of 100 watts on a wavelength of 360 meters, KDKA began scheduled programming with the Harding-Cox Presidential election returns on November 2, 1920
  • Warren G. Harding is elected president

    Warren G. Harding is elected president
    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

    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
  • Readers digest is founded

    Readers digest is founded
    Reader's Digest is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York
  • The teapot dome scandal is uncovered

    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
  • First game in the newly built Yankee Stadium is played

    First game in the newly built Yankee Stadium is played
    It was 50 years ago on April 18, 1923 that Yankee Stadium was opened for major league baseball. In the historic first game, the Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
  • President Warren G. Harding dies

    President Warren G. Harding dies
    President Warren G. Harding died of apparent heart failure 90 years ago today while in the midst of a cross-country tour
  • President Calvin Coolidge is elected president

    President Calvin Coolidge is elected president
    President Harding died unexpectedly while in office, so the vice president, Calvin Coolidge, stepped up. Coolidge succeeded to the presidency on August 3, 1923. He went on to win the next election and therefore served as president of the U.S. for six years.
  • Beer Hall Putsch

    Beer Hall Putsch
    Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party led a coalition group in an attempt to overthrow the German government
  • The first winter Olympics are held

    The first winter Olympics are held
    a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Originally held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics, the sports competitions were held at the foot of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, and Haute-Savoie,
  • George Gerschwin releases "Rhapsody in Blue"

    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
  • Ellis Island closes as an immigration point to the United States

    Ellis Island closes as an immigration point to the United States
    Actually, the death knell for Ellis Island, as a major entry point for new immigrants, began to toll in 1921. It reached a crescendo between 1921 with the passage of the Quota Laws and 1924 with the passage of the National Origins Act.
  • The national origins act is passed limiting immigration

    The national origins act is passed limiting immigration
    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
  • The Great Gatsby is published by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    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.
  • Scopes monkey trial begins in Dayton, TN

    Scopes monkey trial begins in Dayton, TN
    a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law.
  • Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf

    Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
    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.
  • 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
    Langston Hughes was just twenty-four years old when his debut poetry collection The Weary Blues was published in 1926.
  • Gertrude Ederle is the first woman to swim the English channel

    Gertrude Ederle is the first woman to swim the English channel
    On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
  • The Ford Motor company announces the creation of a 40 hour work week

    The Ford Motor company announces the creation of a 40 hour work week
    Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford made a groundbreaking change by being one of the first significant companies to change his work policy to 40-hour weeks with five working days, with no change in wages.
  • The great Mississippi Flood displaces 700,000 people

    The great Mississippi Flood displaces 700,000 people
    The Great Flood took the lives of almost 250 people and displaced upwards of 700,000. In the aftermath
  • Charles Lindbergh makes the first non-stop Trans- Atlantic flight

    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.
  • Babe Ruth hits 60 homeruns

    Babe Ruth hits 60 homeruns
    Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run of the 1927 season and with it sets a record that would stand for 34 years.
  • The Holland Tunnel connecting NYC and NJ opens

    The Holland Tunnel connecting NYC and NJ opens
    he grand opening date of the Holland Tunnel. Construction began in 1920, and was completed within seven years or so. The tunnel connects Manhattan to Jersey City and runs under the Hudson River.
  • The first film with sound "The Jazz Singer" debuts

    The 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. The movie uses Warner Brothers' Vitaphone sound-on-disc technology to reproduce the musical score and sporadic episodes of synchronized speech
  • Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

    Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
    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 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.
  • Chicago St. Valentine's day massacre

    Chicago St. Valentine's day massacre
    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

    Herbert Hoover is elected president
    American engineer, businessman and politician who served as the 31st President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 during the Great Depression.
  • Stock market crashes on Black Tuesday

    Stock market crashes on Black Tuesday
    is the stock market crash that occurred in late October, 1929. It started on October 24 and continued until October 29, 1929, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed.
  • Amelia Earhart attempts to fly around the world

    Amelia Earhart attempts to fly around the world
    Amelia Rose Earhart plans to take off from Oakland, Calif., sometime between June 23 and 26, and return two and a half weeks later.