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J.Edgar Hoover Becomes Head of the FBI
On May 10, 1924, Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone appointed the 29-year-old Hoover acting director of the Bureau, and by the end of the year, Mr. Hoover was named Director. As Director, Mr. Hoover put into effect a number of institutional changes to correct criticisms made of his predecessor's administration. -
Mein Kampf is Published
Mein Kampf is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto 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. -
Stock Market Crash Begins Great Depression
Simply put, the stock market crash of 1929 caused the Great Depression because everyone lost money. Investors and businesses both put significant amounts of money into the market and when it crashed, tremendous amounts of money were lost. Businesses closed and people lost their savings. -
The Dust Bowl Begins
The Dust Bowl, also known as “the Dirty Thirties,” started in 1930 and lasted for about a decade, but its long-term economic impacts on the region lingered much longer. Severe drought hit the Midwest and southern Great Plains in 1930. Massive dust storms began in 1931. -
Adolf Hitler Become Chancellor of Germany
Following several backroom negotiations – which included industrialists, Hindenburg's son, the former chancellor Franz von Papen, and Hitler – Hindenburg acquiesced and on 30 January 1933, he formally appointed Adolf Hitler as Germany's new chancellor. -
Franklin Roosevelt is Elected President (1st Time)
Franklin Roosevelt became the first Democrat in 80 years to win the presidency by a majority vote, rather than a plurality. On Capitol Hill, House Democrats gained 97 seats for a nearly three-to-one margin over the Republicans. -
CCC is Created
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. -
WPA is Created
The Works Progress Administration was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads it was set up on May 6, 1935, by presidential order, as a key part of the Second New Deal. -
J.J. Braddock Wins Heavyweight Boxing Title
James J. Braddock, original name James Walter Braddock, (born June 7, 1905, New York, New York, U.S.—died November 29, 1974, North Bergen, New Jersey), American world heavyweight boxing champion from June 13, 1935, when he outpointed Max Baer in 15 rounds at the Long Island City Bowl in New York City, until June 22, 1937, when he was knocked out by Joe Louis in Chicago. -
Olympic Games in Berlin
Berlin 1936 Olympic Games, an athletic festival held in Berlin that took place August 1–16, 1936. The Berlin Games were the 10th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom, was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung paramilitary and Schutzstaffel paramilitary forces -
Grapes of Wrath is Published
Since the day it was published on April 14, 1939, The Grapes of Wrath has captured the American imagination, pulling back the curtain on a way of life that most of us could scarcely imagine, and showing us the powerful ways that literature can touch society. -
Wizard of Oz Premiers in Movie Theaters
When a tornado rips through Kansas, Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her dog, Toto, are whisked away from their house to the magical land of Oz. -
Germany Invades Poland
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, War of Poland of 1939, and Polish Defensive War of 1939, was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union; which marked the beginning of World War II. -
The Four Freedoms Speech
Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address, commonly known as the “Four Freedoms” speech. In it, he articulated a powerful vision for a world in which all people had freedom of speech and of religion and freedom from want and fear. It was delivered on January 6, 1941, and it helped change the world.