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Prohibition begins
The 18th amendment, passed in 1919 and put into effect in 1920, outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcohol in America. Known as Prohibition, the period this amendment was active was bursting with bootleggers and speakeasies, getting alcohol to the people while bypassing the government. -
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is adopted.
The 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was a landmark piece of legislation for women's suffragists. It gave women in America the full right to vote, and started American women on the path to the role they play today in every aspect of U.S. life from industry to politics. -
KDKA in Pittsburgh
Claiming to be the oldest commerical radio station, KDKA is based in Pittsburgh and began on November 2, 1920. This was the beginning of the radio era in America, which would become the most popular media outlet until television. -
Congress enacts Emergency Quota Act
The Emergency Quota Act was put in place to limit the overwhelming influx of immigrants to America. The Act set numerical limits on the number of immigrants allowed in and put in place a system to determine that limit. -
The boll weevil ruins more than 85 percent of the South’s cotton crop.
The boll weevil, resistant to the time's pesticides, ran rampant through the South's most important crop; cotton. The Cotton Belt was ravaged by this seemingly invincible beatle that destroyed over 85% of the cotton crop over a period lasting more than thirty years. -
National Origins Act replaces Emergency Quota Act
The National Origins Act was set in place to further restrict immigrants to the U.S. It allowed for less immigrants than the Emergency Quota Act had, and specifically targeted Eastern Europeans. -
The stock market begins its spectacular rise
From 1924-1929, the stock market experienced a major bull market. Stocks rose in value, people began investing, and the market hit its peak. However, this opulent period ended terribly with the Great Depression that started in 1929. -
Scope's Trial takes place in Dayton, Tennessee
A teacher from Tennessee was taken to court for teaching the Theory of Evolution in his classroom, which the state of Tennessee said was forbidden by the Butler Act. Scopes was fined for his practice. -
Ku Klux Klan members stage a major march through Washington, D.C.
The Ku Klux Klan, reborn in the 1920's, had reached levels of membership unlike anything they had seen before. They organized a massive march on Washington D.C. to prtoest rising levels of immigration and other Klan matters. -
Langston Hughes publishes "The Weary Blues"
Langston Hughe's "The Weary Blues" showed the world of poetry through the eyes of an African American. It became synonymousn with the Harlem Renaissance and exemplified the literature of said time. -
Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic
In the Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh made the first solo flight across the Atlantic. This was a major step in aviation, and vaulted him to superstardom. -
Sacco and Vanzetti are executed
The pair of Italain immigrants were executed for robbery and murder. Later found not guilty, they were believed to have been convicted because they were immigrants and anarchists, and America was in a period of intense fear over these ideas known as the Red Scare. -
Herbert Hoover is elected President
Herbert Hoover was elected shortly before the Great Depression. His laissez faire policies towards the economy were believed to have worsened the Depression.
