1920s Timeline

By AleighaC

  • Sacco and Vanzetti arrested for armed robbery and murder

    Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were accused of murder. On April 15, 1920, a paymaster and a payroll guard carrying a factory payroll of $15,776 were shot to death during a robbery in Braintree, Massachusetts. Sacco and Vanzetti were charged with the crime. Their trial aroused intense controversy because it was widely believed that the evidence against the men was flimsy and that they were being prosecuted for their immigrant background.

  • KDKA goes on the air from Pittsburgh

    KDKA in Pittsburgh, most often cited as the first radio outlet in the United States, had begun as the amateur station 8XK in 1916, but it was forced off the air in World War I.

  • Teapot Dome Scandal

    Teapot Dome was regarded as the "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics". It permanently damaged the reputation of the Harding administration, already hurt by its handling of the Great Railroad Strike of 1922 and Harding's 1922 veto of the Bonus Bill.

  • 1st Miss America Pageant

    What has become known as the first Miss America pageant was, at its start in 1921, an activity designed to attract tourists to extend their Labor Day holiday weekend and enjoy festivities in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

  • 1st Winter Olympics Held

    Considered the pinnacle of winter sports, every edition of the Winter Olympics brings together the best athletes from around the world in one place for a fascinating contest on ice and snow.

  • The Great Gatsby published by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    From new money to consumer culture to lavish parties, F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel depicted the heyday of the 1920s—and foreshadowed the doom that would follow.

  • Scopes Monkey Trial

    The first highly publicized trial concerning the teaching of evolution, the Scopes trial also represents a dramatic clash between traditional and modern values in America of the 1920s.

  • 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.

  • Charles Lindbergh completes solo flight across the Atlantic

    He gained worldwide fame as the first person to fly alone across the Atlantic. He flew the Spirit of St. Louis to all 48 states to show that airplanes could provide a safe, reliable mode of transportation.

  • St. Valentine's Day Massacre

    St. Valentine's Day Massacre, mass murder of a group of unarmed bootlegging gang members in Chicago on February 14, 1929. The bloody incident dramatized the intense rivalry for control of the illegal liquor traffic during the Prohibition era in the United States.

  • Black Tuesday (Stock Market Crash)

    the United States stock market crashed in an event known as Black Tuesday. This began a chain of events that led to the Great Depression, a 10-year economic slump that affected all industrialized countries in the world.