1920's Timeline

  • Sacco and Vanzetti arrested for armed robbery and murder

    Sacco and Vanzetti arrested for armed robbery and murder
    Sacco and Vanzetti were charged with committing robbery and murder at the Slater and Morrill shoe factory in South Braintree. On the afternoon of April 15, 1920, payroll clerk Frederick Parmenter and security guard Alessandro Berardelli were shot to death and robbed of over $15,000 in cash.
  • KDKA goes on the air from Pittsburgh

    KDKA goes on the air from Pittsburgh
    Already they were known as broadcast pioneers. So began the first broadcast by a commercially-licensed radio station. KDKA went on the air in Pittsburgh as the world's first commercially licensed station on November 2, 1920.
  • Teapot Dome Scandal

    Teapot Dome Scandal
    Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming, as well as two locations in California, to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding. The leases were the subject of an investigation by Senator Thomas J. Walsh.
  • 1st Miss American Pageant

    1st Miss American Pageant
    The first Miss America Pageant was a spectacular two-day festival, culminating with a beachfront parade called the Bather's Revue. The only rule for the competition was that all participants "must positively be attired in bathing costumes." A board of censors had been appointed to review questionable entries.
  • Charles Lindberg completes solo flight across the Atlantic

    Charles Lindberg completes solo flight across the Atlantic
    After traveling more than 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) in 33.5 hours, Lindbergh landed safely in Paris. A crowd of 100,000 swarmed around the plane, hoisting the pilot on their shoulders and cheering his achievement. The papers called him the "Lone Eagle" and "Lucky Lindy."
  • 1st Winter Olympics Held

    1st Winter Olympics Held
    The first Winter Games were held in Chamonix (France), in 1924. Initially called the “International Winter Sports Week”, this event was renamed the “1st Olympic Winter Games” only in 1926 at the IOC Session in Lisbon. The decision to create a separate Winter Games cycle was taken at the 1925 IOC Session in Prague.
  • The Great Gatsby published by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    The Great Gatsby published by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    It tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth. Set in 1920s New York, the book is narrated by Nick Carraway.
  • Scopes Monkey Trial

    Scopes Monkey Trial
    The Scopes “monkey trial” was the moniker journalist H. L. Mencken applied to the 1925 prosecution of a criminal action brought by the state of Tennessee against high school teacher John T. Scopes for violating the state's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools.
  • The Jazz Singer debuts (1st movie with sound)

     The Jazz Singer debuts (1st movie with sound)
    The Jazz Singer, American musical film, released in 1927, that was the first feature-length movie with synchronized dialogue. It marked the ascendancy of “talkies” and the end of the silent-film era.
  • Black Tuesday (Stock Market Crash)

    Black Tuesday (Stock Market Crash)
    The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, Crash of '29, or Black Tuesday, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in late 1929. It began in September with a sharp decline in share prices on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and ended in mid-November.
  • St. Valentine's Day Massacre

    St. Valentine's Day Massacre
    seven members and associates of George “Bugs” Moran's bootlegging gang were lined up against a wall and shot dead inside the garage at 2122 North Clark Street. Al Capone's Chicago Outfit was widely suspected of ordering the hit, but no one was ever prosecuted.