1920-1941

By isaac davenport

  • Warren G. Harding is inaugurated as the 29th president.

  • Lincoln Memorial dedicated in Washington D.C.

  • Harding dies; Calvin Coolidge becomes thirtieth President of the United States

  • The Indian Citizenship Act grants full U.S. citizenship to American Indians

  • The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes

    , known as the Scopes Monkey Trial, highlights the growing conflict in America between scientific truth and biblical truth, particularly over evolution. Clarence Darrow represents the defendant, while William Jennings Bryan aids the prosecution.

  • Henry Ford institutes the five day work week

  • Charles Lindbergh flies solo from New York to Paris

  • Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

  • Herbert Hoover inaugurated as thirty-first President of the U.S.

  • Stock market crashes in October, beginning of Great Depression; a decade of world-wide economic depression is worsened in the United States by a long period of severe drought in the Midwest and Southwest.

  • Public Law 823

    President Hoover signs Public Law 823 of the 71st Congress which states: "That the composition consisting of the words and music known as "The Star-Spangled Banner is designated the national anthem of the United States of America."

  • Empire State Building opens in New York City

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated as thirty-second President of the U.S.

    He declares, "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." New Deal begins.

  • Social Security Act is passed

  • FDR reelected president; will be first president to be inaugurated in January, per change mandated by the 20th Amendment

  • Hoover Dam completed on the border of Nevada and Arizona

  • The Golden Gate Bridge opens in San Francisco

  • Hindenburg disaster, in which the dirigible caught fire as it prepared to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey

  • World War II begins in Europe

  • President Roosevelt proclaims the U.S. to be the "arsenal of democracy" during December radio broadcast

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated for the third time

  • Pearl Harbor

    On December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor is attacked, initiating U.S. military involvement in World War II.